The Holy Spirit in The Book of Acts

This Books is called “The Acts of the Apostles” in many Bibles. It should be referred to as “The Acts of the Holy Spirit”, as He is mentioned in Acts more than in any other Book of the entire Holy Bible.

There are some who regard the Holy Spirit as a created being, as did the early Church heretic, Origen, who lived in the 2nd/3rd century. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, as other cults, teach this blasphemy today. Further, the “Personality” of the Holy Spirit is also denied by some, who teach that He is no more than a “power or force” of God, and therefore “impersonal”. The Book of Acts is very clear on Who the Holy Spirit is.

Firstly, when the Holy Spirit is said to be a “Person”, this is used to show that He is not a “thing”. On the definition of “person”, the 1913 Webster’s English dictionary says: “A living, self-conscious being, as distinct from an animal or a thing; a moral agent”. This is exactly what the Holy Bible does Teach concerning the Holy Spirit, as we shall seen from the Book of Acts. The use of the term “Person” for the Members of the Godhead, must not be used in the sense of corporeality, or being human. Each “Person” in the Godhead, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and distinct from each other, and are “living, self-conscious, moral Beings”.

The “Personality” of the Holy Spirit:

The Acts of the Holy Spirit:

Speaks through the people, chapters 1:16; 10:19; 11:12; 11:28; 21:11; 28:25

Is Lied to as God and Lord, 5:3, 4, 9

Convicts the sinner of their sins and need to repent, 2:37-38

Is Tested , 5:9

Is a Witness, 5:32; 20:23

Is Resisted,7:51

Sends Barnabas and Saul for work that He has “called” them to, 13:2

Forbids the preaching of the Gospel, 16:6,7

Appoints leaders in the Church, 20:28

Warns of the hardness of peoples hearts, 28:25-27

etc, etc

All of which are only possible by a “living, self-conscious, moral Being”, and not of an impersonal “thing”, like a “power”.

The Deity of The Holy Spirit

“But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God…But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?…” (5:3, 4, 9)

The Apostle Peter says to Anania, that he lied to “The Holy Spirit (το πνευμα το αγιον)”. And then says, in doing so, he actually lied “to the God (τω θεω). And then tells his wife, Sapphira, that they had “tested the Spirit of the Lord”, by their actions.

Here we have the Deity of the Holy Spirit, where He is called “God”, and “the Spirit of the Lord”. Notice the definite article in the Greek, “τω”, with “God”, where it cannot be translated as “god”.

In Chapter 10 we read of the Holy Spirit speaking to Peter, and sending him to the house of Cornelius. In chapter 13, we read of the Believers, “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (verse 2). They worshipped and prayed to The Lord, and it was The Holy Spirit Who responded, and commissioned them to do His work. Only God Himself could do this. The use of “Lord” here is YHWH in the Old Testament. Elsewhere in his Letters, Paul says that he was sent by God, clearly showing the Deity and Personality of the Holy Spirit. In chapter 16, we read that Paul and those with him, were, “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia” (verse 6). In the text verse we read, “they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them”. In verse 10 we read that they went to “Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them”. Here again, God is used for the Holy Spirit, Who forbids and sends at His will. Very clear teaching that the Holy Spirit is Almighty God, cannot be a mere “power” or “creature”, as some blasphemously teach.

The Holy Spirit is a Distinct Person from the Father and Jesus Christ:

In chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, we read: “Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit”. Here Jesus is shown to be a distinct Person to the Holy Spirit, Who gave “commands through the Holy Spirit”. We have the Greek preposition “διὰ”, which means “to act through another”, which cannot be understood as Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as being one and the same Person.

In chapter 2, verses 17 and 18, we read: “God declares, that I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh”. Here “of”, is the Greek preposition is “ἀπὸ”, which means, “away from”, denoting a distinction.

In verses 32 and 33, we read: “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing”

Here Jesus Christ (τὸν Ἰησοῦν), Who is a the Right Hand of God the Father, is said to “receive” from the Father (τοῦ θεοῦ), the Holy Spirit (τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου), Whom He “pours out” on the Believers. The Three Persons are here very clearly seen as “distinct” from one another.

The Holy Spirit is Distinct from Being a “Power”:

In chapter 1 verse 8, we read of the Holy Spirit: “But you shall receive power having come the Holy Spirit upon you” (ἀλλὰ λήμψεσθε δύναμιν ἐπελθόντος τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς). Where it is clear that The Holy Spirit is distinguished from the “power” that He gives.

As it is in 10:38, “even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power” (Ἰησοῦν τὸν ἀπὸ Ναζαρέθ, ὡς ἔχρισεν αὐτὸν ὁ Θεὸς Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ καὶ δυνάμει). The Holy Spirit gives the “power” when He came upon Jesus Christ.

He is not the “power”, but the One Who give it.

It is very clear from reading the Book of Acts, where the Holy Spirit is mentioned more than the Father or Jesus Christ, that He is a “Personal Being”, and not simply a “power” from God. It is also clear, that the Holy Spirit is very much Almighty God, as are the Father and Jesus Christ.