THE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

THE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT A Brief Study A Brief Study PBtop: WILL, MIND, WAY, PLEASING of the HOLY TRINITY PBtop: The Sovereignty of the Spirit of God The three Divine Persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are co-essential, co-eternal, and co-equal. In this writing, we address the Sovereignty and Deity of the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit of God was instrumental in the creation of the universe, the inspiration of the Scriptures, the formation of the humanity of Christ Jesus, the regeneration, and sanctification of the elect. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is God and, consequently, Sovereign. Paul said in2 Corinthians 3:17, "Now the Lord is that Spirit."

We find inActs 5:3-4the following language: "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." It is, therefore, concluded that the Holy Spirit must be God. Paul says in1 Corinthians 3:16, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" Paul here equates the Spirit of God with the very essence of God. Again, in1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul speaks of the Spirit as being God: "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s." In2 Corinthians 6:16, Paul calls the Holy Spirit "the living God".Also, in2 Thessalonians 3:5, Paul equates the Holy Spirit with God by saying, "And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ." He calls the Holy Spirit "the Lord". In certain Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is referred to as Jehovah. This term can only be applied to the Supreme Sovereign God.Luke 1:68;Luke 1:70teaches that the Lord God of Israel (Jehovah) spake by the mouth of His holy prophets which have been since the world began. Recapturing this very thought, Peter records in2 Peter 1:20-21that those same prophets spake by the Holy Spirit. Notice the reading: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Observe that the Spirit of God actively and sovereignly did this "moving". According toPsalms 78:17-18, David says that Israel tempted Jehovah in the wilderness: "And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust." This correlates withIsaiah 63:10, when he used the terminology, "But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them." These two verses, together, teach that the Holy Spirit is God.Deuteronomy 32:12tells us, "So the LORD alone did lead him",whileIsaiah 63:14reads, "... the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name." Both Moses and Isaiah equate the Spirit of God as being the LORD Jehovah Himself. Thus, the Holy Spirit is taught in God’s inspired word as being equivalent to, and co-essential, co-eternal, and co-equal with the Supreme Sovereign God.

All the attributes and perfections of God are "intrinsic" properties of the Spirit of God, according to the Scriptures. The Spirit possesses absolute holiness- thus the title "Holy Spirit". This third Person in the Trinity is called "the Spirit of Holiness"and is here equated with the Son of God. {Romans 1:4} This language refers to the holiness of the Spirit’s nature and the Deity of His Person. Paul says the Spirit of God is eternal. {Hebrews 9:14;Psalms 139:7-10} teaches that the Spirit is omnipresent:" Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me." The Spirit is also omniscient: "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God".{1 Corinthians 2:10-11} The Spirit is omnipotent: "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee".{Luke 1:35} The Deity of the Spirit in His Godhead reveals His absolute sovereignty and supremacy. In creation, The Spirit sovereignly moved upon the waters: "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." {Genesis 1:2} Note that rather than the Spirit being "moved", He sovereignly did the "moving".As proof of His Deity, the Spirit of God was not only concerned in the creation of all things, garnishing the heavens, and moving upon the face of the waters on the earth; but also in the formation of man. Consider that Elihu said to Job, "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life".{Job 33:4} Elihu calls the Spirit of God "the Almighty".The Spirit of God functioned in His sovereignty when He "came upon Saul when he heard those tidings..." {1 Samuel 11:6} The Spirit of God also acted sovereignly in1 Samuel 19:20when, "The Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul and they also prophesied." The Spirit of God also officiated sovereignly when He "came upon Azariah the son of Oded".{2 Chronicles 15:1} The Spirit also was not dependently "directed"when He "came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? Because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you".{2 Chronicles 24:20} Ezekiel, speaking of the sovereignty of the Spirit, said, "Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity..." {Ezekiel 11:24} As we now turn to the New Testament, we find the Holy Spirit functioning within the bounds of His own sovereignty. It is recorded inMatthew 3:16: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him." At this solemn occasion, the Spirit condescended within the sphere of His own sovereignty without being directed by any external source or force, as He sanctioned the baptism of Jesus Christ, the very One Whom the Spirit had Himself Fathered in the Son’s humanity. {Luke 1:35} Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness. {Matthew 4:1} The Divine Person of the Holy Spirit had the right to direct and lead the Lord Jesus, and to Whom Jesus submitted. InJohn 3:8, Jesus speaks of the Spirit’s sovereignty when He used the analogy between the wind and the operations of the Holy Spirit in regenerating the elected objects of His love.

I do not believe it can be stated more accurately than has been written by Elder Michael Gowens in his pamphlet Born Again, The Doctrine of Effectual Calling, pages 7 and 8:

"... Salvation by God’s sovereign grace through the direct work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart is a method of salvation that will reach the infant, the infidel, the heathen, the mentally deficient, the Old Testament Jew, and the individual who has all the privileges of New Testament Christianity available to him. All are born again in precisely the same way, by the sovereign and mysterious operation of the Holy Spirit within the soul."

Elder Michael Gowens continues by saying: "So what is the method by which men are born again? It is nothing more or less than the sovereign and direct work of the Holy Spirit. Regeneration is immediate. God does not use the works of the sinner, on the one end, neither the efforts of the gospel preacher, on the other end, as either the basis or the method for imparting life to the soul. Faith is the gift of God in regeneration. {Ephesians 2:8} What does that mean? It means that the sinner responds to the life giving voice of the Lord Jesus Christ {John 5:25} like Lazarus responded to the command of Jesus inJohn 11:1-57. It is an involuntary response, below the level of consciousness, a perfect obedience to the Divine imperative of Jesus. The Lord God is the active cause; the sinner is the passive recipient. This is irresistible grace! The gift of faith enables the new born soul to function in the spiritual realm, an ability he did not have prior to his quickening..."{John 3:3;John 3:5;1 Corinthians 2:14} These are Biblically based statements to which we agree. When Jesus said inJohn 3:8, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit",He meant that the wind blows sovereignly where it pleases, not being at the disposal or direction of any creature. In other words, Jesus was saying, "the Spirit sovereignly operates in the new birth as He pleases." This is in harmony with the testimony of Paul inColossians 2:11-14: "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." Paul said in1 Corinthians 12:13: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." This is spiritual baptism, occasioned only by the Sovereign Spirit of God.

InJohn 6:63, we read, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." It is scripturally obvious that all the Divine operations in the management of salvation proceed from the Father, are through the Son, and are executed by the Spirit. Quickening is the Holy Spirit’s initial work in the elect. It is by the sovereign and supernatural act by which He brings His elect out of the depravity of spiritual death by resurrecting them to righteousness in Christ Jesus. In this "Spiritual Creation",the Holy Spirit sovereignly imparts a principle of grace and habit of holiness, which is a communication of the life of God to the soul. {2 Corinthians 5:17} The elect become God’s "workmanship"through the quickening "Omnipotency"of the Holy Spirit. {Ephesians 2:10} In this work, the Spirit of God does not act capriciously, or without reason or motive, but acts as a "Sovereign".This means that He is above any obligation to, and is uninfluenced by the creature in all that He does. The Spirit extends mercy to whom He will, for Paul says inRomans 9:16, "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." As the Quickening Spirit and Agent from Heaven, He is absolutely free to work sovereign grace in whom He pleases. None of the fallen offspring of Adam have the slightest claim upon Him, nor can any influence Him in any manner. It is an act of amazing and sovereign grace for the Spirit to give a new heart to the object of His love. This act of "quickening"is by the instantaneous and invincible operation of the Almighty Spirit. Consider also that the Spirit of God even raised the body of Jesus from the grave: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." {1 Peter 3:18} The question is sometimes asked, "Does the Spirit have a mind and/or a will?" In1 Corinthians 12:11, Paul, in speaking of the diversities of gifts communicated to men, recorded, "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will." This verse teaches that the Person of the Holy Spirit has a "will." This "will" resides in, and is synonymous with, the mind of the Spirit. Yes, the Person of the Spirit does have a "mind": "And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." {Romans 8:27} The "mind of the Spirit" and the "will of the Spirit" speak expressly to the fact that the Holy Spirit, as God, possesses supremacy, authority, and sovereignty. In this brief study and in our feebleness, we cannot begin to exhaust the Biblical teachings of the Sovereign Deity of the Holy Spirit of God. As a necessary conclusion to this inexhaustible subject, consider that, by His Sovereign Deity, the Holy Spirit of God "inspired the Scriptures," "creates," "quickens," "enlightens," "convicts," "comforts," "draws," "works faith," "unites to Christ," "sanctifies," "indwells," "teaches," "cleanses," "leads," "assures," "witnesses," "seals," "assists," "intercedes," "transforms," "preserves," "confirms," and "endows with His many gifts;" all of this, in addition to the many other things of which I have no cognizance even to mention. With a view to these many things, we should all be convinced that the Holy Spirit of God is indeed sovereign. May we always honor the Sovereign Deity of the Holy Spirit of God.