The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is one of those Bible doctrines that have tended to be either over-done or under-done. Some Christians have made so much of the Holy Spirit that they have made too much of him, and other Christians have made so little of the Holy Spirit that they have made too little of him. However, fundamental to a right understanding of what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit are two very important truths - firstly, that the Holy Spirit is a person (what theologians call the personality of the Holy Spirit) and secondly, that the Holy Spirit is divine (the divinity or deity of the Holy Spirit).

From the Scriptures we understand God to be triune, one God in three distinct persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - and whereas the terms ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ immediately suggest personality, the term ‘Spirit’ seems a little vague. There are also Scriptures that appear, at a superficial level, to support this impression, likening the Spirit to a breath or a wind for example. Nevertheless, the Scriptures allow no room for vagueness in our thinking regarding the personality of the Holy Spirit. He is no mere force or influence, as the cults and others would have us to believe.

Many passages of Scripture could be referred to in order to demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is indeed a person, but one of the most striking passages is John 14-16. Within these three chapters alone there are so many evidences of the personality of the Spirit, including references to his teaching Christians, The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and shall bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever, I have said unto you (14:26). We also read of his testifying of Christ, the Comforter …even the Spirit of truth … he shall testify of me (15:26), and his convicting sinners, When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment (16:8). Furthermore, within these chapters, Christ repeatedly refers to the Holy Spirit as ‘he’ - such as in 16:8. These references alone, and there are many more like them, should be enough to convince us that the Holy Spirit is not simply an ‘it’, but rather a ‘he’ - a real person.

However, it is one thing to prove that the Holy Spirit is a person, and it is an altogether different thing to prove that he is a divine person. Nevertheless, the Scriptures are equally clear on this point. Firstly, the Holy Spirit is called God. For example, Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, refers to the Christian’s body as the temple of God because the Holy Spirit indwells him. 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. Paul is clear that when someone becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit comes and lives within him, and the Spirit’s presence there makes him a very house of God. Consider also Acts 5:1-11 where Peter equates lying to the Holy Spirit with lying to God.

Secondly, the attributes of God are the same as those of the Holy Spirit. Constantly, the Scriptures describe the Spirit in similar terms to how they describe the Father and the Son, and his title, the Holy Spirit is one clear example of that. God the Father is holy - Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts (Isaiah 6:3); God the Son is holy - Christ … did no sin (1 Peter 2:21-22) - so is God the Holy Spirit.

Thirdly, the works of God are attributed to the Holy Spirit. God created man (Genesis 1:26-31), yet in Job 33:4, Elihu credits his creation to the Spirit. The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. God sustains all things, works miracles, imparts spiritual life to dead sinners, and much more, and all of these things and more are credited to the Spirit in different passages of Scripture.

Fourthly, the Scriptures are clear that the worship and honour due to God alone is due to the Holy Spirit. There is such a thing as blasphemy against the Spirit, which is the most serious blasphemy of all, even the unforgivable sin (Mark 3:28-29), and in the apostolic benediction of 2 Corinthians 13:14, the Holy Spirit is invoked along with the other two persons of the Trinity as God’s blessing is pronounced upon his people. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

So it is clear that even from a very cursory glance at some of the relevant Scriptures, the historic Christian belief in the Holy Spirit as a divine person is biblical and right. In these days of ever increasing doctrinal confusion, among our own churches as well as elsewhere, we need to rededicate ourselves to a correct understanding of the Holy Spirit, as we pray earnestly for his ever increasing influence both in our own lives and in the lives of our churches and communities.

For further reading, I cannot recommend too highly Stuart Olyott’s little book on the Trinity, The Three are One - What the Bible teaches about the Trinity, published by Evangelical Press, and I gladly acknowledge my indebtedness to that work in my preparation of this article.