The Holy Spirit - Chapter Five
The Deity of the Holy-Spirit
Beginning in Chapter One we saw clearly that the Holy Spirit is a real Person. But what sort of person is He? Is He a finite person or an infinite person? Is the Holy-Spirit God? These questions are plainly answered in the Bible. In the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments there are five distinct and decisive lines of proof of the Deity of the Holy Spirit, proving that the Holy Spirit is God.
I. Four distinctly Divine attributes are ascribed to the Holy-Spirit.
What are His distinctly Divine attributes?
1. Eternity
2. Omnipresence
3. Omniscience
4. Omnipotence
Eternity is ascribed to the Holy-Spirit in Hebrews 4:14, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Omnipresence is ascribed to the Holy-Spirit in Psalm 139:7-10, “Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.”
Omniscience is ascribed to the Holy-Spirit in several passages. For example, we read in 1 Corinthians 2:10, 11, “But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”
Again in John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
Still further we read in John 16:13, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
Omnipotence ascribed to the Holy-Spirit in Luke 1:35, “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
II. Three distinctly Divine works are ascribed to the Holy-Spirit.
When we think of God and His work, we always think of God's work in creation In the Scriptures creation is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. We read in Job 33:44, “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.”
We read again in Ps. 104:30, “Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created: and Thou renewest the face of the earth.” In connection with the description of creation in the first chapter of Genesis, the activity of the Spirit is referred to, Genesis 1:1-3.
The impartation of life is also a Divine work and in the Bible this is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. We read in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth (gives life); the flesh profiteth nothing.”
We also read in Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
In the description of the creation of man in Genesis 2:7, it is the breath of God, that is the Holy Spirit, who imparts life to man, and man becomes a living soul. The Bible says, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
The Hebrew word translated “breath” means “spirit” and here we see that the breath of life, the spirit, is breathed into man.
The authorship of Divine prophecies is also ascribed to the Holy Spirit. We read in 2 Peter 1:21, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
Even in the Old Testament, there is a reference to the Holy Spirit as the author of prophecy. We read in 2 Samuel 23:2, 3, “the Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.”
So we see that the three distinctly Divine works of creation, the impartation of life and prophecy are ascribed to the Holy Spirit.
to read another chapter.
the excellent biography
of R.A. Torrey by Roger Martin
or the Scofield Study Bible.
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First published by Fleming H. Revell Company in 1910, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, by R.A. Torrey, is in the public domain.
