The Trinity
Names of the Holy Spirit
Acts 5:3-4
3 Peter said, "Why has Satan made you keep back
some of the money from the sale of the property? Why have you lied to
the Holy Spirit? 4 The property was yours before you sold it, and even
after you sold it, the money was still yours. What made you do such a
thing? You didn't lie to people. You lied to God!"
CEV
We have already seen that the Holy Spirit possesses and exercises many of the same attributes as God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. They all share the same essence. We will see where each of the three Persons of the Trinity perform the same acts, all acts of God.
What is more, the Holy Spirit is called God, especially when you compare verses. Consider the implications of Acts 5:3-4 quoted above.
- Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit
- Peter says this is lying to God
- Therefore, the Holy Spirit is God
Reflect further upon the following
verses and see the same implications:
Isaiah 6:8-9 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord,
saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here
am I! Send me." 9 And He said, "Go, and tell this people: &Keep on hearing,
but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.&
NKJV
and
Acts 28:25-26 25 So when they did not agree among
themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: "The Holy Spirit
spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, 26 saying,
&Go to this people and say: "Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand;
And seeing you will see, and not perceive; NKJV
The Holy Spirit is God.
The Holy Spirit is called the Anointing, the Deposit, the Seal, the Spirit of the Living God, Water, Oil, and many more names in the Holy Scriptures. Ray Pritchard&s book Names of the Holy Spirit, Moody Press 1995, lists some 87 names for the Holy Spirit. This is another book well worth reading. And, as you read, either this book or the Bible, consider the implications for you personally of each of these names.
God is at work through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Person. The Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus. Jesus is God. God is One. The doctrine of the Trinity is the only method to explain this relationship.
Luke 4:18-19 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." NKJV
This is Jesus speaking. This is Jesus quoting from Isaiah 61:1-2. This is Jesus talking about the third Person of the Trinity.
