The Apostles' Creed: The Holy SpiritPrøve

The Names of the Spirit Suggest His Deity: 1 Corinthians 2:11

The Holy Spirit is called by a host of names in the Bible. Some of these names suggest his divinity in a very implicit manner. Others are very explicit in calling him divine. And still others fall on a continuum between these two extremes.

Perhaps the name that implies his divinity in the most implicit way is the name “Holy Spirit.” The term “holy” can be used of aspects of creation that are not divine in any way. The word “holy” generally refers to things that are distinct from their common counterparts because they are special to God in some way. So, the word “holy” does not by itself indicate that the Holy Spirit is divine.

Even so, it is important to note that throughout the Old Testament, it is God who is repeatedly referred to as “the Holy One.” We see this in dozens of passages, such as 2 Kings 19:22, Isaiah 30:11-15, and Hosea 11:9-12. And there are other passages that seem to refer to God himself by the name Holy Spirit, such as Isaiah 63:10-11. We also see this type of naming in ancient but uninspired Jewish literature, such as in the Book of Wisdom, 9:17. Against this Old Testament backdrop, it is legitimate to see in the name “Holy Spirit” an implication of divinity. 

With these very implicit names in mind, let’s look at some names that indicate the Holy Spirit’s divinity in a way that lies between very implicit and very explicit. These names include “the Spirit of the Lord,” “the Spirit of God,” and “the Spirit of the Living God.” Also, “the Spirit of Jesus,” “the Spirit of Christ,” “the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” And “the Spirit of your Father,” “the Spirit of his Son,” and “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead.” All these names suggest that the Holy Spirit is divine by indicating that God is united to the Holy Spirit in the same way that a human being is united to his own spirit. Paul explicitly made this connection in 1 Corinthians 2:11, where he wrote these words:

Who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:11).

Our spirits are part of what makes us human. And there is nothing inhuman about them. They are entirely human. In the same way, the Holy Spirit is entirely divine. And this is what enables him to know the mind of the Father. So, by his work of revealing God’s mind to Christians, the Holy Spirit demonstrates himself to be God.

Finally, there are some passages that very explicitly refer to the Holy Spirit by the name “God.” Consider Peter’s words to Ananias in Acts 5:3-4:

Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ... You have not lied to men but to God (Acts 5:3-4).

In this passage, Peter first said that Ananias had lied to the Holy Spirit. And then Peter explained what he meant by saying Ananias had lied to God. Here the apostle Peter plainly called the Holy Spirit “God.”

So, as we consider the names by which the Holy Spirit is called in Scripture, we can see that many of them indicate his divinity in ways that range from very implicit to very explicit.