Talk:Holy Spirit is God

Todo

Is this another example of the words of Yahweh ascribed to the Holy Spirit? Heb 3:7–11 (Ps 95:7–11) — Joey 17:22, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

Jones of Nayland’s proof texts

Transcribe Jones’s proof texts from his Catholic Doctrine of a Trinity.

Ericksen’s proof texts

Proof texts from Ericksen’s Making Sense of the Trinity. Deleting as I go.

Moreover, Jesus attributed to the Holy Spirit the ability to change human hearts and personalities: it is the Spirit who works conviction (John 16:8–11) and regeneration (John 3:5–8) within us. Elsewhere he had said with respect to this ability to change human hearts: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:25–26). While these texts do not specifically affirm that the Spirit is omnipotent, they certainly indicate that he has power which presumably only God has.

Yet another attribute of the Spirit which brackets him with the Father and the Son is his eternality. In Hebrews 9:14 he is spoken of as “the eternal Spirit” through whom Jesus offered himself up. All creatures are temporal; only God is eternal (Heb. 1:10–12). So the Holy Spirit must be God.

In addition to having divine attributes, the Holy Spirit performs certain works that are commonly ascribed to God. He was and continues to be involved with the creation, in both originating and providentially keeping and directing it. In Genesis 1:2 we read that the Spirit of God was brooding over the face of the waters. Job 26:13 notes that the heavens were made fair by the Spirit of God. The psalmist says, “When you send your Spirit, they [all the parts of the creation previously enumerated] are created, and you renew the face of the earth” (Ps. 104:30).

The most abundant biblical testimony regarding the role of the Holy Spirit concerns his spiritual working on or within humans. We have already noted Jesus’ attribution of regeneration to the Holy Spirit (John 3:5–8). This is confirmed by Paul’s statement in Titus 3:5: “[God our Savior] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

In addition, the Spirit raised Christ from the dead and will also raise us; that is, God will raise us through the Spirit: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11).

Giving the Scriptures is another divine work of the Holy Spirit. In 2 Timothy 3:16 Paul writes, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” Peter also speaks of the Spirit’s role in giving us the Scriptures, but emphasizes the influence on the writer rather than the end product: “prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).

One question which deserves attention is the status of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament references. Here the usual form of expression is “the Spirit of God” or “the Spirit of the Lord.” Is this to be regarded as the same as the Holy Spirit? Might it be merely God’s spirit, or might it be a personification of God’s working? If these are valid possibilities, are we justified in using the Old Testament texts as evidence in constructing our understanding of the Holy Spirit and thus of the Trinity? At least one New Testament reference indicates that the Spirit of God in the Old Testament is to be identified with the Holy Spirit. In Peter’s speech at Pentecost he explains the coming of the Holy Spirit in the dramatic fashion evidenced by speaking in tongues. He indicates that this is the fulfillment of what Joel had prophesied: “I will pour out my Spirit” (Acts 2:17; cf. Joel 2:28, 32). Thus, we are dealing with the same person, and are justified in using the Old Testament references to God’s Spirit in formulating our understanding of the third person of the Trinity.

Incommunicable attributes

Draft inferences

“Who is a teacher like him?”

Job 36:22