Questions About the Holy Spirit
Transformational knowledge of the Holy Spirit is understanding that can deepen your daily walk with the Lord. In this blog series, we’re exploring important questions about the Holy Spirit: How do you Receive the Holy Spirit, Is the Holy Spirit God, What Does the Holy Spirit Do, and What Are the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. These are crucial questions that can further your understanding of God, enrich your Christian faith, and empower your walk.
Is the Holy Spirit God?
Scripture presents the Holy Spirit as fully God—coequal with Father and Son, omnipresent, omniscient, eternal, and good—whose active presence shaped creation and continues to indwell, guide, and transform believers. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force but a fully personal divine being. He speaks, thinks, feels, wills, grieves, gives testimony, and actively guides and commissions believers. The Holy Spirit is a powerful presence from the time of creation and throughout the history of Israel, right up to the coming of Jesus, and onward to the birth and ministry of the Church. We will look to the Bible for understanding the character of the Holy Spirit.
Scriptures About If The Holy Spirit is God
The Holy Spirit in Creation. The Holy Spirit is seen in creation as hovering, sweeping, and bringing order to disorder. The earliest mention of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament is found in Genesis 1:2 describing the Spirit’s role in creation. The English Standard Version says that ‘the Spirit of God was hovering’ over the dark waters of the formless earth. The New Revised Standard Version’s translation says, ‘A wind from God swept over the face of the waters’ and is echoed in the ‘sound like the rush of a violent wind’ that the disciples heard on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:2). The Spirit appears again in Genesis 2, this time as the ‘breath’ of God. When the first man is created from dust, God brings him to life by breathing into his nostrils (Genesis 2:7). The New Testament also uses the same picture, when Jesus breathes on His disciples after the resurrection and says, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’ (John 20:22). From the first moment of creation the Holy Spirit is portrayed as the life-giving, order-bringing presence of God—hovering over chaos, sweeping like wind, breathing life into dust—anticipating the same Spirit who would later rush upon the Church and animate the new-creation people of God.
The Holy Spirit in the Trinity. The Bible shows very clearly that there is only one God with three distinctions in His complex nature: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each is distinct from the others but never acts independently. They are one in nature and purpose. This mystery is called the doctrine of the Trinity, though that term is not used in the Bible. The teaching is present in the Old Testament, beginning with creation and is further revealed in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit in the Trinity is coequal with the Father and the Son. The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as God’s presence and power at work throughout history and in the lives of believers. This passage demonstrates the equality and unity of the Trinity. Matthew 28:19 (NKJV): Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; John 10:30 (NKJV): I and My Father are one; John 14:26 (NKJV): 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 said to you; 2 Corinthians 13:14 (NKJV): The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
The Holy Spirit Is God. The Bible clearly affirms the divinity of the Holy Spirit, His identity as the third Person of the Trinity. When Peter confronts Ananias for lying in Acts 5:3-4, he says, “You have lied to the Holy Spirit” and equates it with “lying to God.”
The Holy Spirit is omnipresent. In the Old Testament, we see that the Holy Spirit, according to the psalmist, is omnipresent like God. Psalm 139:7–8: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.” He’s everywhere at once.
The Holy Spirit is omniscient, all-knowing, just like the Father and the Son. Isaiah 40:13–14: “Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has informed Him? With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge and informed Him of the way of understanding?”
The Holy Spirit is called good. The Spirit is God. Nehemiah 9:20 says, “You gave your good Spirit to instruct them.” And Psalm 143:10 says, “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; let your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” According to these two passages, the Holy Spirit is good. Now, Jesus had something specific to say about this in Mark 10:18: “Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.’” According to Jesus, only God is good.
The Holy Spirit is eternal. In Hebrews 9:14, we read, “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Nothing is eternal except for God.
The Holy Spirit is called “the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:17–18 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit Is a Person. The Holy Spirit is not merely a power or influence but a distinct person with will, emotions, and purpose. He is a person who can be grieved, teach, and speak. Ephesians 4:30 instructs, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” The Bible reveals the Holy Spirit as God’s presence working in the world and in the hearts of believers. Additionally, John 15:26–27 says, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” This is important to grasp. Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit is a He. “He” is a personal pronoun. He also does something in this verse that only persons can do. He testifies.
The Holy Spirit speaks. Acts 13:2 says, “While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” Did you notice what that said? According to this passage, the Holy Spirit speaks. He talks. He says something and gives instructions for what He wants to be done with Saul and with Barnabas.
The Holy Spirit has a mind. In 1 Corinthians 2:10–11, it tells us, “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.” The Holy Spirit knows things.
The Holy Spirit has emotions. Ephesians 4:30: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” This passage tells us that the Holy Spirit can be grieved, which is an emotion.
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