On the Holy Spirit

IS THE HOLY SPIRIT GOD?

“Why you don’t believe that the Holy Spirit is God? How would you regard the Holy Spirit if it is not God?”

ALL THE BELIEFS of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) are solely based in the Bible. Thus, our belief regarding the Holy Spirit is what the Bible teaches about it. Why we don’t believe that the Holy Spirit is God?

(1) Nowhere in the Bible that explicitly says that the Holy Spirit is God.

There is no single verse of the Bible that says that the Holy Spirit is God, nor that the Holy Spirit is the “third person of the trinity.” The word “Trinity” itself is unbiblical or cannot be found in the Bible. The Holy Spirit cannot be the “third person of the one true God” because the doctrine that God is consists of three persons (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) is against the teachings of the Bible. The Bible explicitly teaches that there is only one true God and there is no other God besides Him:

“Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.” (Isaiah 46:9, NKJV)

(2) The Father alone is the One True God and the Holy Spirit is different from the Father.

The Lord Jesus taught that the Father alone is the true God:

“Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You…

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:1, 3, NKJV)

He also taught the Holy Spirit is different from the Father:

 “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 things that I said to you.” (John 14:26, NKJV)

The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father in Jesus’ name. Thus, if the Holy Spirit is God there will be two Gods: the Father who sent the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit whom the Father sent in Jesus’ name.

Thus, the Holy Spirit cannot be God because the Lord Jesus Christ clearly taught that the Father alone is the true God and the Holy Spirit is different from the Father.

(3) The Holy Spirit cannot be God because it cannot possibly be equal to God.

The Trinity doctrine tells that the three persons (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) are coequal. However, this doctrine contradicts the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Lord Jesus also taught that the One who sends is greater than the one sent:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.” (John 13:16, NKJV)

And the Lord Jesus Himself also taught the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father:

 “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 things that I said to you.” (John 14:26, NKJV)

Thus, the Father (the One who sent) is greater than the Holy Spirit (the one who was sent). The Lord Jesus also taught that He Himself sends the Holy Spirit:

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” (John 15:26, NKJV)

The Lord Jesus taught that the One who sends is greater than the one sent. However, the Lord Jesus Himself was sent by the Father, the One True God:

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3, NKJV)

Thus, the Father alone is the true God, and no one else besides Him. The Holy Spirit is the “Helper” who the Father (the One True God) sends. Therefore, there is no “Trinity,” there is no “Triune God,” there is no “three persons in One God,” and the Holy Spirit is not God.

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