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Responding to the Spirit Who is Divine
June 30, 2024, 4:00 PM

When we discuss the nature of Jesus, we find two truthful but seemingly divergent statements.  Jesus is truly a human being.  He came to be like us, feeling the pain of human existence.  At the same time, He is fully divine.  He is God in flesh.  Only by being God in human form can Jesus die to purchase the salvation of humankind.

The nature of the Holy Spirit has just such a set of diverging truths.  He is a personal part of the Deity.  He has the feeling, will, and intellect discussed in last week’s blog.  While not a physical being, He is a personal being.

It is incredibly important that we understand that believers grasp the truth that the Holy Spirit is the third part of the Deity. He is God.

This truth is so simple.  The Spirit is the divine third person of the Trinity.  Historically, so many have erred on this doctrine.

The ancient lie of modalism still rears its ugly head.  This fallacy that the Deity came in three subsequent forms. He was first God the Father, then God the Son, and finally God the Spirit.  Since the Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381), modalism has been universally understood by every major branch of Christianity as heretical falling outside the boundaries of theological orthodoxy.

A more recent fallacy is the belief in the unitarian monotheism.  This lie believes in one divine Being and in one eternal person, namely, God the Father. In that view, Jesus Christ is seen merely as a man with a strong God-consciousness, and the Holy Spirit is reduced to a title for God’s activity in the world. The unitarian approach thus denies the personality of the Holy Spirit.

More treacherous is the subtle lie that divides believers into two groups. Many in the charismatic community has separated the Christian community into the spiritual “have’s” and “have nots.”  If you have not had the experience with the Spirit as they have defined it, you do not quite measure up to the rest of believers. 

Each group defines the “in” group based on their own experience.  Later in this series I will address the specific arguments put forward to foment this destructive belief.  For now, allow me to say that the Spirit is NOT sent to divide people.

The essential assertion is this, the Spirit is divine.  This doctrine states the fact that the Holy Spirit is divine in the same sense as are the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is equal in His personal nature to the Father and the Son.  He is as fully God as the Father, and the Son are God. 

Scripture gives seven indisputable truths proving the Deity of the Spirit.

First, the Characteristics of Deity Describe the Spirit

Scripture lists many descriptions of Deity.  Each of the following applies the Divine descriptions to the Spirit.  This section is offered for your future study, I will not include a commentary on each passage.

    • The names of God are ascribed to him (Ex. 17:7; Ps 95:7; comp. Heb 3:7-11).
      • He is called God.
      • Lying to God is equal to lying to the Holy Spirit. (Acts 5:3-4)
    • He is holy. Ps. 51:11; Isa. 63:10–11; Mark 1:8; Luke 1:35; John 14:26; Acts 1:8; Acts 7:51; Acts 10:44–46; Acts 15:28; Acts 28:25; Rom. 1:4; Rom. 5:5; Rom. 14:17; Rom. 15:13; Rom. 15:16; 1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:6; Eph. 1:13; Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 1:5–6; 2 Tim. 1:14; Titus 3:5; Heb. 2:4; Heb. 9:8; Heb. 10:15; 1 Pet. 1:12; 2 Pet. 1:21; Jude 20
    • Holy One 1 John 2:20
    • He is all present-Psalm 139:7-10, John 14:16-17, Eph. 2:17, 18; 1 Cor. 12:13)
    • He is all knowing-Isaiah 40:13-14, John 14:26, 16:13, 1 Corinthians 2:11-12 (Psalm 139:1-6)
    • He is all powerful-Job 33:4. (Omnipotence Luke 1:35; Rom. 8:11)
    • He is eternal (John 14:16, Heb. 9:4).
    • He is good (Neh. 9:20; Ps. 143:10)
    • He is Love (Rom. 15:30; Gal. 5:22)
    • He has glory (1 Peter 4:14)
    • He gives life-Romans 8:2
    • He talks to the Father-Romans 8:26.
    • He is the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29)
    • Spirit of Life (Romans 8:2)
    • Spirit of Truth (John 14:16–17; John 15:26; John 16:13; 1 John 4:6; 1 John 5:6)

Second, all three parts of the Trinity are present at Jesus’ Baptism. (Matthew 3:16-17)

“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Matt. 3:16–17)

Third, the Spirit does work only God can do.

  • Creation.  The Spirit of God moved on the “face of the waters.”
  • Providence.  “Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth.”
  • The Incarnation. Paul identified the manifestation of God in the flesh—the Incarnation—as “the mystery of godliness” (1 Tim. 3:16).

Fourth, the Spirit participated in Jesus’ Resurrection

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

Fifth, all Parts of the Trinity Engage in Our Salvation (1 Peter 1:1-2)

  • Peter explained the activity of the three persons in your being saved.

1 Peter 1:1-2“To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.”

You are saved because the Father chose you, because the Son washed you in His blood, AND because the Spirit sanctifies you.

Sixth, all parts of the Trinity Work Together in our Lives as Christians

The Son says what He hears from the Father (John 12:49–50); the Father witnesses to and glorifies the Son (John 8:16–18, 50, 54); the Father and Son honor the Holy Spirit by commissioning Him to speak in their name (John 14:16, 26); the Holy Spirit honors the Father and Son by helping the community of believers.

The Spiritual Gifts Demonstrate the Trinity.  “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all” (1 Cor. 12:4–6).

When you are saved the Spirit takes up residence in your heart.  He lives in you.  With His life flowing through you, you are gifted to serve the Lord.  You are not saved to assume space.  You are gifted to be effective.  Jesus places you into a particular ministry.  The Father gives you the power to accomplish great things.

The Spirit wants to do His work in us.  Because He is divine, He can show His power in us. The Lord is not looking for the talented but for the obedient.  He is not looking for the skilled, but for those who are sensitive to His Spirit.  Do not seek the gifts of the Spirit, seek the Holy Spirit in all His fullness, and let Him prepare you for God’s purposes. It is primarily about God and His work, not about you and your work. 

Will He ask you to do something you are not able to do?  Yes.  Will He do something that He will not enable you to do?  Absolutely not. There are many examples in the Bible of God using people who had no ability of their own to accomplish His purposes.

You can put your trust in your ability, or you can put your faith in God. The world does not need to see good people giving their best to God; they need to encounter God doing in and through us what only He can do.  Our best is not good enough when it comes to kingdom work, we need the Holy Spirit in our lives if we are going to be of use to God. 

Finally, the Spirit will bring our Resurrection. (Romans 8:11)

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

You will stand with Jesus in the resurrection.  When you leave your body, you will be with Him.  The Spirit will raise you up into the presence of Jesus. 

How do we respond to the Divine Holy Spirit.  I offer three necessary words.

RESPONDING TO THE SPIRIT

  • If He is Divine, and He is, Confess Your Need

We need the Holy Spirit in our lives as much as we need the Father and the Son.   A word of warning-this is not about feelings.  

Another word of warning-no Christian can fully receive all the ministry of the Spirit.  Every study of the Holy Spirit will be inadequate, incomplete, and a poor attempt to extol the One to whom all glory and honor are due.

  • If He is Divine and He is, We Must Show Him Respect

We must respect what He says.  We dare not add words the Holy Spirit has not said.  We run a tremendous risk of offending the Spirit if we demand our experience be duplicated in others.

Spoken negatively, we must not blaspheme Him, lie to Him, or resist Him.  Do as He says and He will work through you.

  • If He is Divine, and He is, Give Him Worship.

Worship is required and ascribed to the Spirit (Isa. 6:3; Acts 28:25; Rom. 9:1; Rev. 1:4; Matt. 28:19).

I offer this prayer for you as you read.  2 Corinthians 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.