UNDERSTANDING THE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
"For there are Three that bear Witness in Heaven: the Father, the Word and the Spirit; and these Three are One." 1 John 5:7 (NKJV)
BIBLE READING: JOHN 14:16; ACTS 5:3-4; ACTS 16:6; ROMANS 8:26-27
One of the Most Profound Truths every Genuine Christian believer must understand and acknowledge about the Holy Spirit is the Truth about His Divinity. Quite a sizeable number of so-called Christians who are apparently "having a form of Godliness but denying the Power thereof..." (2Tim. 3:5b) neither believe nor accept this Reality, including certain self-proclaimed "witnesses" who go as far as referring to Him "the Active Force of God." Such ignorance is indeed mind-boggling in the face of Irrefutable Evidence to the contrary! The Gospel Truth of this Whole Matter is that the Holy Spirit being the Third Person in the Trinity is God in His Fulness, no less God than both the Father and the Son are. In other words, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are Co-Eternal and Co-Equal because all Three are of the Same Essence.
In the Early Church during the Ministry of the Apostles of the Lamb, a certain Disciple known as Ananias in cahoots with his wife Sapphira learned firsthand the hard way about the Deity of the Holy Spirit and how futile it is to even think of undermining Him. When they both tried to hoodwink Peter by keeping back a part of the full price of the land they had just sold, the following exchange transpired during a Church Service: "But Peter said, “Ananias, why has satan filled your heart TO LIE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?” Acts 5:3 (NKJV). Apostle Peter was rebuking them for even trying to deceive the Church, but shortly afterwards, He then said, "You have NOT LIED TO MEN BUT TO GOD"(verse 4b). Simply put, the Holy Spirit is also God in Essence the same manner in which both the Father and the Son are. Therefore, we must remain extremely cautious in all of our dealings with Him. Underestimating Him or grieving Him is one of the costliest mistakes anyone can make.
According to the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is referred to as "Allos Paracletos" in the Greek language, which literally translated into the English Language means "Another Helper of the Same Kind" (Jn. 14:16). This simply means that the Holy Spirit shares with both the Father and the Son all the Attributes of the Godhead and is deserving of Worship as God in His Own Right. This is a solemn admonition to all those professing Christians out there who have fallen into the snare of relegating Him to the background as little more than a mere errand boy. May the Lord God Almighty open our eyes to the Fulness of the Deity of the Holy Spirit.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, we magnify You for being Who You are. Precious Holy Spirit, we ask You to unveil Yourself to us in the Fullness of Your Majestic Deity in Jesus' Mighty Name. Amen.