When
Jesus was here on earth, it was clear that in Him God was visiting His people.
For Jesus did works of power and spoke words of authority which were only for
God to do and to speak. Then also on many occasions before His death He
predicted that He would rise again, alive for ever on the third day. He also
promised that after He had ascended to God, He would send the Comforter- the
Holy Spirit. ““And I will pray the Father, and He will
give you another Helper, that He (the Helper) may abide with you forever - the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor
knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John
14:16 & 17).
A
Muslim said to me once, ‘according to your Bible, didn’t Jesus speak of a
prophet to come whom he called the Helper? This is obviously a prophecy about
Muhammad.’ For centuries, Muslims scholars have endeavoured to prove that this
Helper was Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.
It
is argued that the Greek word paracletos,
which is translated ‘Helper,’ should be pareklutos
or ‘praised one,’ meaning Ahmad or Muhammad. This is proof, they say, that the Biblical text has been changed! However, any
knowledgeable scholar in the field will tell you that there is no evidence at
all for this ‘corruption.’ All of the Greek manuscripts in existence, which
predate Muhammad, say parakletos, not paraklutos. There are more than 70 Greek manuscripts
of the New Testament in existence today, dating from before the time of
Muhammad, and not one of them uses the word paraklutos!
All use the word parakletos. In fact the word paraklutos does not appear anywhere in the Bible!
Let’s look at the
specific details of the arrival and identity of this parakletos,
‘Helper,’ and see if they fit Muhammad:
a) He will give you another Helper
Even if, as Muslims claim, the original
word was Paraklutos, the sentence would read,
“He will give you another praised one.” It makes no sense and is completely out
of context. What Jesus is saying here is this, ‘I have been your Helper,
Counselor, Comforter. I still have many things to teach you, but I will send
you another Helper like me.’
a) He will give you another Helper - The
Spirit of Truth
The one obvious fact that emerges
is that the Helper is a Spirit. Has Muhammad ever been
called the Spirit of Truth?
c) He will abide with you forever
In
no sense was Muhammad ever with Jesus’ disciples, let alone permanently. Muhammad
was born in the 7th century after Christ. He lived only 62 years and
then died. He did not live with his companions forever, did he? His body was
buried in
d)
The Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot see
According
to this prophecy, the world cannot receive the Helper because it can’t see
Him. Thousands of people saw Muhammad
during his lifetime, for he was visible. The invisible Helper cannot be the visible
Muhammad.
e) You know Him for He dwells with you
Jesus is clearly talking about someone with
whom the disciples were familiar. Was Muhammad known to them? Of course not. He was born more than five hundred years
later.
f) He dwells in you
The
Helper was to be in the disciples.
How could the Helper be Muhammad? Muhammad was a flesh and blood person who is
no longer alive. Muhammad is not in Jesus’ followers and never will
be.
What
can we conclude? Was Muhammad alive at the time of Jesus’ apostles? No. Was
Muhammad ever called the ‘Spirit of Truth’? No. Did Muhammad live with the
apostles forever? No. Did Muhammad live inside the apostles? No. This prophesy cannot be a reference to Muhammad. Who is it
about? The Bible states the truth in the following verses. “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). It is certain,
then, that the Helper is the Holy Spirit (Ruh
Al-Kudus) of God.
The
fulfilment of this prophecy occurred within a matter of days. It
happened exactly as Jesus said it would. After suffering death, he arose, and
showed himself alive to more than 500 people, giving convincing proof that it
was himself. And only a few days after Christ’ ascension, the promised Holy
Spirit descended in power upon a crowd of disciples assembled in the temple
court in
Just
as the Son was God sent from the Father in visible form, so the Holy Spirit was
sent from the Father and the Son in invisible form. He opens the eyes and
hearts of people to trust Christ. He dwells within each believer’s heart as
teacher (John
The Holy
Spirit is a person
From
the early days of the church to present-day Modernism, there have been those
who have denied the personality of the Spirit in one form or another. Many
refer to the Spirit as an “it,” and not as a “he.” They consider Him to be an
impersonal influence or power or energy, and not the third Person of the Trinity.
Such a view would rob us of some of the great blessings of our salvation.
Furthermore, it is not Biblical.
The
Holy Spirit is not a ghost, as is often thought of Him. He is definitely not
the Angel Gabriel, as some say, nor is He merely a prophet. The Holy
Spirit is not God’s impersonal active force or power (although He certainly
does have power) on the earth today, comparable to “wind or radio beams”, as
some people think; nor is He an angel representing God. He is rather personal.
There are many elements of personality ascribed to the Holy Spirit in the Bible
which are sufficient proof of the personality of the Holy Spirit.
In
its original language (Hebrew and Greek), whenever the Bible speaks of the Holy
Spirit, it refers to as ‘He’, or ‘Him’, but never as ‘it’ or ‘its’. The Lord
Jesus Christ Himself, when He spoke about the Holy Spirit, He talked about the
Spirit having personal qualities. For example, Jesus said, “And
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper (the Holy Spirit),
that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him;
but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will
be in you” (John 14:16 & 17). A few paragraphs
later Jesus also said of the Holy Spirit, “When the Helper comes,...the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the
Father, He will testify of Me,” (John
We
see further evidence that the Spirit is a Person by noticing what Jesus says
the Spirit does. He gives the help of a Counselor (or
a Helper) and testifies about Jesus, reminds, convicts the world of guilt,
guides, and tells what is yet to come.
There
are many other personal activities ascribed to Him, such as:
Ø
teaching
(Nehemiah
Ø
helping (John
Ø
loving (Romans
Ø
remaining with
us (John
Ø
hearing (John
Ø
speaking
(Ezekiel 3:24; Matthew 10:20; Acts 8:29, 10:19, 11:12, 21:11; Hebrews 3:7,
10:15-17; Revelation 2:7, 22:17)
Ø
interceding or
praying on behalf others (Romans
Ø
bearing witness (John
Ø
having
fellowship with us (2Corinthians
Ø
searching the
depths of God (1Cor.
Ø
revealing future
events (Acts
Ø
knowing the
thoughts of God (1Cor.2:11)
Ø
willing to
distribute the gifts to some and other gifts to others (1Cor.
Ø
desiring
(Galatians
Ø
comforting (Acts
Ø
quickening, or
giving spiritual life (John 6:63)
Ø
inspiring
prophecy (Hebrews 3:7)
Ø
sending people
(Acts 13:4)
Ø
appointing
overseers (Acts
Ø
forbidding and
allowing certain activities (Acts 16:6-7)
Ø
being outraged
(Hebrews
Ø
being tested
(Acts 5:9)
Ø
being lied to (Acts 5:3-4)
Ø
being grieved by sin in the lives of
Christians (Isaiah 63:10; Eph.
Ø
Being blasphemed
against (Mark
Ø
Giving the world
convincing evidence (John 16:8)
Ø
Deciding decrees
(Acts
All these abilities enable us to conclude
that the Holy Spirit is a distinct Person. Impersonal forces do not have these
kinds of personal qualities.
Not only is The Holy Spirit personal, but
He is also a divine Person as fully as are the Father and Son. Let us look at
some of the proofs of the deity of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy
Spirit is a divine Person
Some
have believed that the Holy Spirit is a Person, but they have considered Him to
be a created personality, and not God Himself. They have realized that the
Spirit is not an impersonal “it,” but they have considered Him to be inferior
to the Father and the Son. The Bible, however, attributes to the Holy Spirit
not only personal characteristics, but also divine qualities which mark Him as
being God.
Jesus
is God, so it would be surprising if the Person He sent to take His place were
anything less. Who could be to His disciples what Jesus Himself had been, if He
were not also God? This is the way it was. The Bible gives us clear indications
which display to us that the Holy Spirit is God.
1. The Holy Spirit is clearly
called God
The
Bible tells us that, in the early church, a couple called Ananias
and Saphira sold property and gave the apostles a
portion of the money they received. However, they claimed to have brought all
the money. The apostle Peter was enabled by the Holy Spirit to know that they
had lied. He 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? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was
sold, was is not in your own control? Why have you
conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God’
(Acts 5:3-4). So, to lie to the Holy Spirit is to lie to God. The Holy Spirit
is truly God.
In
2 Corinthians
2.
Divine Attributes are ascribed to the Holy Spirit
The
attributes of God are ascribed to the Holy Spirit. What can be said of God is
said of Him!
Ø
The Holy Spirit
is Eternal (Hebrew
Ø
He is
Omnipresent (Psalm 139:7)
Ø
He is Omniscient
and all wise (1Corinthians
Ø
He is Omnipotent
(Zechariah 4:6; Romans
Ø
He is Holy (and
according to Isaiah 57:15 that is the definitive attribute of God)
Ø
He is Just and
Righteous (Isaiah 59:17-19)
Ø
He is Good
(Nehemiah
Ø
He is True (John
Ø
He is Sovereign
(Psalm 51:12; John 3:5 & 8)
These
things are only true of God.; but they are true of the
Holy Spirit!
3.
Divine acts are ascribed to the Holy Spirit
The Spirit’s divinity can also be seen in
the fact that He performed the work of God. The Bible ascribes the following
divine activities to the Holy Spirit. The works of God are attributed to Him.
Ø The Holy Spirit gives life. Jesus said, “It
is the Spirit who gives life” (John 6: 63a). Only God gives life. Yet, the Holy
Spirit is frequently portrayed by a stream of water, bringing life and joy
whenever it comes. In the last vision of God in the Bible (Revelation 22:1), we
are shown the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing jointly
from the Father and the Son; a beautiful vision of the Holy Trinity.
Ø The Holy Spirit creates. The prophet Job
said, “The Spirit of God has made me” (Job 33:4). Was is
not God who created man? Genesis 1, the first chapter of the Bible which
reports how God created the world, says that “the Spirit of God was hovering
over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). In the beginning the Holy Spirit
was there taking part in the divine work of creating the universe. David the
prophet said, in agreement, “You (God) sent forth Your Spirit, they are
created; and You renew the face of the earth,” (Psalm
104:30). Who but God can create and sustain the universe.
Ø The Holy Spirit saves. Jesus once told a
learned man named Nicodemus that he must be born again in order to enter God’s
Kingdom. When Nicodemus asked in surprise how a man who is old could be born a
second time, Jesus replied that the new birth is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Without Christ, people are children of the devil, but God is able to change
them by His Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to the
sinfulness of our hearts and enables us to repent and forsake our sins. As soon
as anyone trusts in Jesus Christ, God forgives him and accepts him as His
child, and gives him a new heart. Only God’s Spirit is able to open the blind
eyes of sinful people and enable them to know who Jesus Christ is, as is
written in the Bible, “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Spirit”
(1 Corinthians 12:3). Hence, it is not strange that those who do not have the
Holy Spirit find it impossible to call Jesus “Lord” and “Son of God”.
Ø The Holy Spirit sanctifies Christians. I
have already said that as soon as anyone trusts in Jesus Christ, God forgives
him and accepts him as His child, and gives him a new heart. But the old sinful nature remains and
continues to draw him toward evil. This old nature will be completely destroyed
when Jesus comes back. Meanwhile, it is still present. Satan is ever ready to
tempt him to disobey God. However, the Holy Spirit, which is in him, helps him
to resist the devil and creates in him the holy qualities which God desires,
such as love, purity, truth, joy, and peace. This work of the Holy Spirit in
the followers of Christ goes on as long as they live on earth, changing them
gradually and making them more and more like their Master Jesus Christ.
Ø The Holy Spirit judges. Before His death,
Jesus said to his disciples, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I
do not go away, the Helper (the Holy Spirit) will not come to you; but if I
depart, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convince the world
of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they do not
believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no
more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged,” (John 16:7-11).
Ø The Holy Spirit raised Jesus Christ from
the dead (Romans
Ø
The Holy Spirit
inspired people to write the Scripture. While Paul tells us that “All Scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2Timothy
Who
but God Himself can do the works of God? But these are precisely the works
which the Holy Spirit does!
4.
Definition of sin against the Holy Spirit as blasphemy
We
know that blasphemy is connected to greatly sinning against God. For example,
Muslims’ definition of blasphemy is ‘associating God with someone or something
else’. It is something done in dishonour to God. Yet Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you,
every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, but the blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the
Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy
Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come”
(Matthew 12:31-32). Jesus’ definition of the sin of blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit and its consequences demonstrates the deity of the Holy Spirit.
The fact of the deity of the Holy Spirit is important for us. If He were
not God, He could not perform His beautiful work in creation, nor His authoritative work in inspiration, nor His
illuminating work in men’s minds. Neither could He have overcome our depravity
to regenerate, indwell, and sanctify the followers of Jesus. We may well be
grateful that He is not a finite being but a divine Person.
5.
The Holy Spirit’s use along with the Father and the son
The
bible uses the name of the Holy Spirit along with that of the Father and of the
Son is such a way to prove His proper honor and
Deity. Consider Jesus’ commission to His disciples in Matthew 28:19 to go and
make disciples, ‘baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ Consider also Paul’s benediction in
2Corinthians 13:14., ‘The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Love of God (the Father), and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be
with you all evermore.’ Here Paul (the strict Jew and the strict Pharisee, who
would have killed for the purity of Jewish monotheism) linking Jesus and the
Holy Spirit to God.
The Bible clearly
teaches that the Father and the Son are two divine Persons. So, the mere
coupling of the name of the Holy Spirit with the names of the Father and the
Son, as in the great commission and in
the apostolic benediction, shows that the Spirit is put on the same level as
the other two Persons and therefore is considered to be divine. It would be
most incongruous to couple the name of a created being with that of the Godhead
in such tightly knit expressions.
We
can see from these two examples that the Bible presents all the three Persons
of the Trinity, including the Holy Spirit, as equal in divinity and honor.
Conclusion
The
Holy Spirit is a divine Person. He is called God. He has the Attributes of God.
He does the works of God. He is honoured as God. We can only conclude that He
is God; and that He is God in the same sense as are the Father and the Son.
How thankful we must be that the Spirit is a Divine Person! For it is
just because He is a divine Person that He can convict us of sin and thereby
lead us to God, dwell within us and give us power over sin, inspire the Bible
and illuminate our minds so that we can understand it, guide us so that we know
what the will of God is for us, lead us in prayer.
What we learn from all these facts is that
the Holy Spirit in the followers of Jesus is really God abiding in them. What a
priceless privilege, that the Great and Holy God should abide in man by His
Spirit! Truly this is the greatest gift that God could give to men, the gift of
Himself. To whom is this gift given? When God gave His Son to be the Saviour of
the world He also gave His Spirit to all who believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus
once said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those
who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13). God is faithful. Whenever people believe and trust
Jesus Christ and submit to Him as their Lord and Saviour and ask God to give
them the Holy Spirit, He always does so.