Is the Holy Spirit God?
Yes, the Holy Spirit is God. There is nowhere in the Bible that the Holy Spirit is referred to as some sort of inferior being. He is fully God and the Bible includes the Holy Spirit as an equal member of the Godhead. He is His own person, not an alternative version of Jesus or God the Father.The Holy Spirit is a person, just as Jesus Christ and God the Father are. He is not only a spiritual force. He has a mind, which He uses to "search[] everything, even the depths of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10). He has emotions (Ephesians 4:30). The Spirit gives us gifts from God (1 Corinthians 12:4–7), and He fellowships with us (2 Corinthians 13:14).
All three persons of the triune Godhead were mentioned as uniquely present at Jesus' baptism (Mark 1:9–11). Additionally, Jesus mentioned all three persons distinctly when He mentioned the coming Holy Spirit. Jesus said it was better for us if He left so that the Holy Spirit could come: "'These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you'" (John 14:25–26).
When we become a "born again" Christian, we are born of the Spirit (John 3:5). We become filled with the Spirit and a temple for Him to dwell in (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Holy Spirit works in us and through us. When the early church believers were filled with the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, they spoke "as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4).
In Acts 5, the Holy Spirit is equated with God when Peter is confronting Ananias and Sapphira for lying: "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God'" (Acts 5:3–4). The Holy Spirit and God are referred to here as if they are one and the same.
The Holy Spirit points us to God and He is our direct link to God. He has been present since the beginning and was involved with creation (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 33:6). The Holy Spirit gave prophets words from God (Nehemiah 9:30), and He breathed inspiration from God into the writers of the Bible (Acts 28:25; 2 Timothy 3:16). Second Peter 1:21 says: "For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit spoke to the early church believers to give them instructions, and He is still speaking to us today (John 14:26; 16:13; Acts 13:2; 16:6).
Who is the Holy Spirit?
What names and titles does the Bible use for the Holy Spirit?
What does the Holy Spirit do?
Is the Holy Spirit a person or some type of impersonal force?
Is there a difference between the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost?
Truth about the Holy Spirit
