The Apostles' Creed: The Holy SpiritSample

The Holy Spirit’s Work Proves His Deity: 2 Peter 1:20-21

The Holy Spirit performs many works that the Bible indicates are appropriate to God alone, and that exhibit divine power and attributes. For example, he creates new life when he regenerates our spirits, as we read in Romans 8:11. He is our access to the Father, as we are taught in Ephesians 2:18. He applies salvation to us, as we learn in Romans 5–8. His is the power behind the miracles of the prophets, and even of our Lord Jesus, as we see in passages like Romans 15:4,19. Although the list of the divine works of the Holy Spirit is nearly endless, let’s focus our attention on just a couple prominent examples for the sake of illustration.

In the first place, the Holy Spirit inspired the writing of Scripture, which is the very word of God. And in recognizing that the Word of the Holy Spirit is the Word of God, we acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is God himself. We find this idea in Matthew 10:20, John 3:34, Acts 1:16 and 4:31, and Ephesians 6:17.

As just one example, consider Peter’s words in 2 Peter 1:20-21:

No prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21).

In this passage, Peter taught that to be carried along by the Holy Spirit is to speak from God. Scripture is the word of God because it is inspired and spoken by God, specifically, the Holy Spirit, who is the third person of God.

As another example, the Holy Spirit’s work as Counselor shows that he is divine. In John 14–16, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the counselor who does things like reveal truth, convict the world of sin, and testify to Jesus. And as odd as it may sound at first, this ministry makes the Holy Spirit even more valuable than the immediate earthly presence of Jesus himself. As Jesus said in John 16:7:

I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you (John 16:7).

Think about this for a moment. According to Jesus himself, the church is better off with the presence of the Holy Spirit than we would be with the immediate bodily presence of Jesus. But a created, finite being could never outmatch the blessing of the earthly presence of Christ. No, in order for the Holy Spirit to be more beneficial to us than God the Son, the Spirit must himself be God.