The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

Far too often we hear people speak of the Holy Spirit as an “it,” not a “who.” One reason why this might be the case is that the nature of the Holy Spirit’s work is to bring glory to Jesus Christ, not to himself. J. I. Packer once described the Holy Spirit as the “shy member of the Trinity.” But this self-effacing role of the Spirit does not mean that the Holy Spirit is impersonal (a mere “force” or God’s “power”) nor a distinct member of the Godhead. Even as we speak of the Father as God, the Son as God, so too we must speak of the Holy Spirit as God. As we will see, Scripture teaches us that he is the third person of the Holy Trinity.

While there is not as much biblical evidence for the deity of the Holy Spirit as there is for the deity of Jesus, it would be a mistake to conclude that the evidence is neither clear nor decisive. We start with the Bible’s direct assertion that the Holy Spirit is God. In Acts 5:3-4, we read of the story of Ananias and Saphirra, specifically of their deceit and the charge brought against them—“You have not lied to men but to God.” To lie to the Holy Spirit (as they did) is to lie to God. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul tells us that the Spirit who indwells us, is God’s Spirit. He makes the same point in 1 Corinthians 6:19. At the very least, both of Paul’s comments are indirect assertions of the deity of the Holy Spirit.

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