Christopher L. Scott

Doctrinal Summary of the Holy Spirit

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SUBTLE INDICATIONS FROM SCRIPTURE THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD1

  • Titles. The Bible gives the Holy Spirit titles that indicate He is God. He’s called “Spirit of our Father”2 (Matt 10:20); “Spirit of the LORD” (Jud 3:10; Isa 40:13), “Another Helper” (Jn 14:16; 26; 15:26; 16:7); “Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:11), “Spirit of the Lord God” (Isa 61:1), “Spirit of the Living God” (2 Cor 3:3), “Spirit of Christ” (Rom 8:9; 1 Pet 1:11), “Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:19), “Spirit of His Son” (Gal 4:6), “Spirit of the Lord” (Acts 5:9; 8:39), “Spirit of Jesus” (Acts 16:7).
  • Works. There are characteristics ascribed to the Holy Spirit that would only characterize God. These are the creation of the World (Gen 1:2; Isa 40:12; Pss 33:6), comfort given to us (Jn 14:16), agent of inspired Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16; Heb 3:7; 10:15; 2 Pet 1:21), conviction of sin along with a role in judgment (Jn 16:8–11), cause of the virgin birth (Matt 1:10; Luke 1:35), making us temples of God (1 Cor 3:16), regenerating Christians (John 3:5–7), indwelling believers (Rom 8:13–14; 1 Cor 6:19), making us sons (1 John 3:9), sealing us (Eph 4:30), restraining sin in the world (Gen 6:2), interceding for us to God (Rom 8:26–27), and sanctifying us (2 Tim 2:13).
  • Relationships.3 The relationship of the Holy Spirit to God the Father and Jesus the Son suggests the Holy Spirit is God.
    • The Spirit as Yahweh. Acts 28:25–27 connects the Holy Spirit with Yahweh in Isaiah 6:8–10; Hebrews 10:5–15 connects the Holy Spirit with Yahweh in Jer 31:31–34.
    • Spirit and God. It appears that to blaspheme the Holy Spirit (Matt 12:31–32) or lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3–4) is equal to blaspheme God or lie to God.
    • Equality. Numerous passages appear to describe the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit on an equal basis. See Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14.
  • Attributes. There are characteristics ascribed to the Holy Spirit that would only characterize God. These are, just to name a few,4 omniscience (Isa 40:13-14; 1 Cor 2:10-12), omnipotence (Gen 1:2; Job 33:4; Pss 104:30; Isa 40:13-17), omnipresence (Pss 139:3, 7–19), holiness (Luke 11:13; Eph 4:30), truth (John 14:17; 15:26-27; 1 John 8:6), life (Rom 8:2), grace (Heb 10:29), wisdom (Isa 40:13), eternal (Heb 9:14), glory (1 Peter 4:14).

SCRIPTURE CLEARLY INDICATING THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD

  • The Holy Spirit at Creation (Gen 1:2)
  • The Holy Spirit in David’s Life (Pss 51:11)
  • The Holy Spirit Alongside Jesus (Matt 12:31–32)
  • The Holy Spirit in The Early Church (Acts 5:1–4)
  • The Holy Spirit in Our Lives (2 Cor 3:17–18)

SUGGESTIONS FROM SCRIPTURE ABOUT THE PERSONHOOD OF THE HOLY SPIRIT5

  • “I” and “For me” in Acts. The Holy Spirit says “I” and “for me” in the course of the church’s choosing Paul and Barnabas for missionary work (Acts 13:2).
  • In various passages the Holy Spirit displays intelligence consistent with what a person has (John 14:26; 15:26; Rom 8:26–27; 1 Cor 2:10–13).
  • Activities of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John appear to show he is a person. The activities of the Holy Spirit are predicted by Jesus as things that a personal agent would do. For example, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would teach the disciples (John 14:26), be a witness of Christ (15:26-27). Furthermore, the Holy Spirit was to convict the world, guide the disciples, hear, speak, glorify, and declare (John 16:8-15). This person (the Holy Spirit) the Father was sending (John 16:7) was to be another of the same kind as Jesus (John 14:16, allon parakleton).
  • In numerous books written by different authors shows both emotion and affection of the Holy Spirit. Starting with his title, paraletos, which means “Mediator” or “Intercessor” or “Helper.”6 It can also mean “Counselor,” “Comforter,” “Advocate” (John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 1 John 2:1). Additionally, we see the Holy Spirit is at times encouraging others (Acts 9:31), helping us in our weaknesses (Rom 8:26), grieving when we sin (Isa 63:7-11; Eph 4:30), and insulted (Heb 10:29).
  • The masculine pronoun used by John for the Holy Spirit suggests the Holy Spirit is a person. The masculine pronoun used to refer to the Holy Spirit in John 14:26; 15:26; 16:8, 13-14 is a masculine pronoun even though the word for Spirit is neuter.
  • The personhood of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated several times when the Holy Spirit expresses both a will and volition (Acts 5:9; 13:2; 15:28; 1 Cor 12:11).
  • The Holy Spirit appears to be a person because he stands parallel to the Son as the “Other Counselor” (John 14:16-17; Rom 8:26; 1 John 2:1).
  • A survey of Paul’s description of the Holy Spirit in Romans 8 indicates the Holy Spirit is a person. In Romans 8 Paul writes about the leading of the Holy Spirit (v. 14), the witness of the Holy Spirit (v. 16), and the help of the Holy Spirit (v. 26). These are all the activities we would expect of a person.
  • While controversial, Scripture is clear that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin (Matt 12:31–32). Thus, it appears that to speak against the Holy Spirit, as a person, is what this sin would be.
  • With all this already shared about the personhood of the Holy Spirit, we should also note that the Holy Spirit7 can be obeyed (Acts 10:19–21), lied to (Acts 5:1–4), resisted (Acts 7:51), reverenced (Pss 51:11), blasphemed (Matt 12:31–32), grieved (Eph 4:30), and outraged (Heb 10:29).

SALIENT EVIDENCE THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON

  • The Holy Spirit’s Personal Presence (Jn 14:16)
  • The Holy Spirit’s Personal Instruction (Jn 14:26)
  • The Holy Spirit’s Personal Testimony (Jn 15:26)
  • The Holy Spirit’s Personal Intercession (Rom 8:26–27)
  • The Holy Spirit’s Personal Knowledge (1 Cor 2:10–13)
  • The Holy Spirit’s Personal Response to Sin (Eph 4:30)

Christopher L. Scott is a pastor and author of the book, Walking Straight When Life Goes Sideways: Essential Christian Truths for Enduring Life’s Trials (Wipf and Stock). He provides hundreds of free articles, videos, and Bible study resources at his website ChristopherLynnScott.com.

1 These notes have been compiled by Christopher L. Scott.

2 Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

3 Notes in this section are adapted from Charles Ryrie, Basic Theology (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1999), 398.

4 Adapted from notes from J. Scott Horrell, forthcoming book on the Trinity as well as John Walvood, The Holy Spirit (Galaxie Software, 2008), 8–17.

5 Notes in this section are adapted from “The Spirit as a Person” by Graham Cole (He Who Gives Life, [Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007], 65-69 and J. Scott Horrell’s forthcoming book on the Trinity, I believe will be published by Baker.

6 Arndt, William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 766.

7 Notes in this section are adapted from Charles Ryrie, Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, 1995 update, expanded ed. *(Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), 2061–62.