While most people have a clear understanding about the divinity of the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, many are still uncertain if the Holy Spirit possesses the same attribute, and whether the Holy Spirit should also be worshipped and revered the way we worship and revere the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Actually, even religious leaders vary in their regard of the Holy Spirit. There are groups who say that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, while there are also those who believe that it is just an active force.
But before we make any conclusions as to whether the Holy Spirit is a god or not, I am first inviting you to look at this matter from a broader perspective.
Let us begin with the prophetic pronouncements of the prophet Isaiah.
ISAIAH 53:1-5 (KJV) says,
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
In the given verses, the Lord Jesus Christ had been referred to as “the arm of the Lord.” Specifically, He was the arm that delivered the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
As it is written in DEUTERONOMY 5:15 (KJV),
And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm...
The Israelites were brought out from the land of Egypt by a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm. All of us know what an arm is and what a hand is; they are parts of the human body. The arm and the hand are connected to each other such that the hand cannot function without the arm.
In another verse, this is what it says,
LUKE 11:20 (KJV)
But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
According to the Lord Jesus Christ, He was casting out devils using the finger of God. The “finger of God,” which Christ used in casting out devils, should not be taken literally because it was used to represent something else.
In MATTHEW 12:28 (KJV) it says,
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come upon you.
The finger of God symbolizes the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit. In other words, it is the Holy Spirit that the Lord Jesus Christ used in casting out demons or devils.
The point that I am trying to drive at is this: The Lord Jesus Christ is the Word, which in the beginning was with God, and according to the Bible, the Word was God.
REVELATIONS 19:13 (KJV)
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
JOHN 1:1 (KJV)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Now, if the Lord Jesus Christ, which was called or whose name is the Word and the arm of God, is God, we wouldn’t be wrong if we believe and regard the Holy Spirit as God, too, since it is the finger of God, also a part of God. If the “arm” of God is God, then, the “finger” of God must also be God. (I hope you are able to follow the equation.) In the first place, there could never be a part of God which is not God.
Just like a guava tree, there is no part of a guava tree that is not guava. From its roots, to its branches and leaves, up to its fruits, they are all guava. What I say is not merely a sophist’s point of view because there is biblical wisdom in my argument.
ROMANS 11:16 (KJV)
For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Here, the Apostle Paul used the olive tree figuratively; and he also made reference to the parts of an olive tree. Its roots, branches, leaves, and fruits share a common attribute because all of them are components of one particular tree.
God is a vast, enormous, immeasurable and unfathomable power in which the Holy Spirit is a part of, being the finger of God; Christ is also a part of God because He is the arm of God and also the Word. Again, let me reiterate, if the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Word and the arm of God, is God, it follows that the Holy Spirit, which is the finger of God, is likewise God. All the parts of the One Person whom the Bible calls God, is God; no part of Him is not God.
I don’t think that is difficult to understand. Only feebleminded pastors would say that the Holy Spirit is merely an active force, and not God, just like pastors of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are not only undermining the Holy Spirit but they are also insulting it.
The Holy Spirit is part of God’s deity and it has a separate person that is why we are also praying to Him.
JUDE 1:20 (KJV)
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Surely, Jude would not admonish Christians to pray to the Holy Spirit if it has no person and if it does not exist. We do not pray to something that does not exist and has no being. We pray to the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ because they have their respective beings; we also pray to the Holy Spirit because it also has a being that is distinct from that of the Father and Christ.
That is why the Holy Spirit was sent to the apostles — for them to have another Comforter. When the Lord Jesus Christ was still with the apostles and the early Christians, He was the Comforter. As Christ couldn’t be with them much longer, before He ascended to heaven He told the apostles that He would pray to the Father to send them another Comforter.
JOHN 14:16 (KJV)
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Indeed, the Comforter now is the Holy Spirit, also called the Holy Ghost.
JOHN 14:26 (KJV)
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
As the Comforter, the Holy Spirit shall teach the apostles and remind them of all the things that the Lord Jesus Christ has told them.
Practically, there is really no reason for us to doubt the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Remember, both the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ are part of the Elohim (in Hebrew), or Theotes (in Greek), which means gods. So, if the Lord Jesus Christ is God, so is the Holy Spirit.
May God bless us all!
Actually, even religious leaders vary in their regard of the Holy Spirit. There are groups who say that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, while there are also those who believe that it is just an active force.
But before we make any conclusions as to whether the Holy Spirit is a god or not, I am first inviting you to look at this matter from a broader perspective.
Let us begin with the prophetic pronouncements of the prophet Isaiah.
ISAIAH 53:1-5 (KJV) says,
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
In the given verses, the Lord Jesus Christ had been referred to as “the arm of the Lord.” Specifically, He was the arm that delivered the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
As it is written in DEUTERONOMY 5:15 (KJV),
And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm...
The Israelites were brought out from the land of Egypt by a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm. All of us know what an arm is and what a hand is; they are parts of the human body. The arm and the hand are connected to each other such that the hand cannot function without the arm.
In another verse, this is what it says,
LUKE 11:20 (KJV)
But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
According to the Lord Jesus Christ, He was casting out devils using the finger of God. The “finger of God,” which Christ used in casting out devils, should not be taken literally because it was used to represent something else.
In MATTHEW 12:28 (KJV) it says,
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come upon you.
The finger of God symbolizes the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit. In other words, it is the Holy Spirit that the Lord Jesus Christ used in casting out demons or devils.
The point that I am trying to drive at is this: The Lord Jesus Christ is the Word, which in the beginning was with God, and according to the Bible, the Word was God.
REVELATIONS 19:13 (KJV)
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
JOHN 1:1 (KJV)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Now, if the Lord Jesus Christ, which was called or whose name is the Word and the arm of God, is God, we wouldn’t be wrong if we believe and regard the Holy Spirit as God, too, since it is the finger of God, also a part of God. If the “arm” of God is God, then, the “finger” of God must also be God. (I hope you are able to follow the equation.) In the first place, there could never be a part of God which is not God.
Just like a guava tree, there is no part of a guava tree that is not guava. From its roots, to its branches and leaves, up to its fruits, they are all guava. What I say is not merely a sophist’s point of view because there is biblical wisdom in my argument.
ROMANS 11:16 (KJV)
For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Here, the Apostle Paul used the olive tree figuratively; and he also made reference to the parts of an olive tree. Its roots, branches, leaves, and fruits share a common attribute because all of them are components of one particular tree.
God is a vast, enormous, immeasurable and unfathomable power in which the Holy Spirit is a part of, being the finger of God; Christ is also a part of God because He is the arm of God and also the Word. Again, let me reiterate, if the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Word and the arm of God, is God, it follows that the Holy Spirit, which is the finger of God, is likewise God. All the parts of the One Person whom the Bible calls God, is God; no part of Him is not God.
I don’t think that is difficult to understand. Only feebleminded pastors would say that the Holy Spirit is merely an active force, and not God, just like pastors of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are not only undermining the Holy Spirit but they are also insulting it.
The Holy Spirit is part of God’s deity and it has a separate person that is why we are also praying to Him.
JUDE 1:20 (KJV)
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Surely, Jude would not admonish Christians to pray to the Holy Spirit if it has no person and if it does not exist. We do not pray to something that does not exist and has no being. We pray to the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ because they have their respective beings; we also pray to the Holy Spirit because it also has a being that is distinct from that of the Father and Christ.
That is why the Holy Spirit was sent to the apostles — for them to have another Comforter. When the Lord Jesus Christ was still with the apostles and the early Christians, He was the Comforter. As Christ couldn’t be with them much longer, before He ascended to heaven He told the apostles that He would pray to the Father to send them another Comforter.
JOHN 14:16 (KJV)
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Indeed, the Comforter now is the Holy Spirit, also called the Holy Ghost.
JOHN 14:26 (KJV)
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
As the Comforter, the Holy Spirit shall teach the apostles and remind them of all the things that the Lord Jesus Christ has told them.
Practically, there is really no reason for us to doubt the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Remember, both the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ are part of the Elohim (in Hebrew), or Theotes (in Greek), which means gods. So, if the Lord Jesus Christ is God, so is the Holy Spirit.
May God bless us all!