His Deity And Personality

by Reg Jones, Aberkenfig, South Wales | Category: The Holy Spirit | Jan 1993

The Bible starts with the word God without giving any explanation of who God is, and in the second verse we are introduced to the SDirit of God.

The word for God in Genesis 1:1 is plural, whereas the verb created is singular. This illustrates the truth that there is more than one Person in the Godhead, but they act in unity. The second verse of Genesis 1 refers to one of those Persons in the Godhead as the Spirit of God. Thus very early in the divine record the Deity of God's Holy Spirit is implied.

In Hebrew there are three ways of indicating number by the verb and noun forms; these are singular, dual and plural. Most other languages have only singular and plural. In Genesis 1:7, God is in the plural form and so is the verb "made". From this some Bible students argue that there are more than two Persons in the Godhead and they worked as One to create the heaven and the earth.

Again in Genesis chapter 1 we see the plurality of the Godhead when God said, "Let Us make man" (v.26). Jewish expositors hold that the use of plurals in reference to God indicates the plural of majesty, so upholding the Unitarian view. This we reject as being inconsistent with other scri~ tures referred to in this article.

There are three Persons in the Godhead as witnessed by statements in Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians

13:14, but as the Jews do not believe in the Trinity they quote Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, 0 Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD" in support. But the literal rendering here is "Jehovah our Elohim is one Jehovah". Now Elohim is a Hebrew plural and the word one translates a Hebrew word indicating "composite" rather than "unitary". It is mdre than the Trinity acting as one, it is an inherent oneness within the Godhead - one God.

There is plenty of evidence in the Old Testament for the operation of the Holy Spirit, as witness Psaim 51:11 and Isaiah 63:10. Men prophesied under the direction of the Holy Spirit ~um. 11:17,26,29) and He enabled men to speak powerful God-given words of encouragement (1 Chron. 12:18). The Holy Spirit gave David the pattern of the great temple to be erected by his son Solomon. The Spirit of the Lord came upon men of valour to strengthen and encourage them in fighting the Lord's battles; for example, Othniel (Judg. 3:10), Gideon (Judg. 6:34), Jephthah (Judg. 11:29), Samson (Judg. 13:25; 14:6,19 etc).

An important activity of the Holy Spirit in Old Testament times was the inspiration of Scripture, especially noticeable with reference to Messianic

prophecies (See 2 Sam. 23:2; 1 Pet. 1:1O~12).

If the Holy Spirit is God then He must have the attributes of God and the following scriptures testify to this:-

(a) The Holy Spirit is eternal (Heb. 9:14).

(b) The Holy Spirit is omnipresent

(Ps. 139:7).

(d) The Holy Spirit is omnipotent

(MaL 12:28).

(e) The Holy Spirit can see everything (1 Cor. 2:9,10).

(f) The Holy Spirit, in conjuction

with the Father and the Son, is the

Creator (Job 33:4).

(g) The new birth is brought about by the life-imparting activities of the Holy Spirit (John 1:11-13; 3:5-7; 1 Pet. 1:23).

The Holy Spirit is linked with the Father and the Son in the following two scriptures which we have already mentioned: Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14. Note particularly that in the Matthew scripture the Trinity has only one Name: it is not the Names of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit but the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. When Peter was facing Ananias with his deceit he tells him he has lied to the Holy Spirit, whereas in the next verse he says that Ananias has not lied to men but to God (Acts 5:3,4). The Holy Spirit is therefore clearly seen to

be God. The comparison of the scri~

ture from Jeremiah 31 and its quotation in the epistle to the Hebrews shows that the Holy Spirit is God. In Jeremiah 31:33 the words of the prophecy are attributed to the Lord whereas when they are quoted for us in Hebrews 10:15 and 16 they are attributed to the Holy Spirit. This truth is further borne out in Matthew 12:31 where speaking against the Holy Spirit is described as blasphemy.

The Holy Spirit is referred to in many different ways in the Bible, showing so conclusively His inherent oneness with both the Father and the Son.

Acts 16:7 The Spirit of Jesus,

2 Corinthians

3:3 Spirit of the Living

God,

2 Corinthians

3:18 The Lord the Spirit,

1 Peter 1:11 The Spirit of Christ.

Having shown that the Holy Spirit is God there is really no need to "prove" that He is a Person, for our God is a personal God - man was made in the image of God and we all have personality. The Holy Spirit likewise has personality. It is interesting to note the various things that are said about Him in Scripture which show Him to be a Person who acts gently and humbly (see for example Neh. 9:20; Ps. 143:10; John 1:32; Rom.

8:26; Gal. 5:22,23).

Reg Jones, Aberkenfig, South Wales | Jan 1993
The Holy Spirit