The Holy Spirit is God

Diversities of Gifts

Who or what is the Holy Spirit? The angel Gabriel? A created being? An impersonal force? An influence? A figure of speech? The Holy Spirit is God. As we shall see, the activities of the Holy Spirit are attributed to God and the Holy Spirit is named as the Spirit of God.

"There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all..." (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).  The "same God" distributes the gifts of the Spirit as an element of His working.

Dwelling place of God

"Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.. . in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-22). The saints are a "dwelling place of God" by virtue of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. If having the Holy Spirit within you makes you "a dwelling place of God," then the Holy Spirit is of necessity God.

Temple of God

It is the prerogative of God to inhabit a temple. Believers are the temple of God: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.  For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." (1 Corinthians 3:16-17);

"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19).

God promised to walk among His people: "I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people." (Leviticus 26:12).  Paul applied this promise to the Holy Spirit dwelling in His temple: "And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.'" (2 Corinthians 6:16). If the Holy Spirit is the means by which the promise is realized, that God will dwell "in them," then the Holy Spirit is God.

Not by Might

"So he answered and said to me: 'This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," Says the LORD of hosts.'" (Zechariah 4:6). Some people think the Holy Spirit is a novelty introduced in the New Testament. This is not the case at all, although the terms of occupancy on which the Holy Spirit indwells believers is a new thing that came in on the day of Pentecost. Instead of occasional help, fitfully available to prophet, priest and king, the Holy Spirit is now poured out on every farm worker who believes.

Deep Things

"But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God." (1 Corinthians 2:10). Paul is describing the Holy Spirit, in God, as analogous to the spirit of a man within him. It is difficult to imagine how this could be so if the Holy Spirit were a created being like the angel Gabriel or some such.

Ananias and Sapphira

"But Peter 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 it 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).  Lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to God.

Leading the children in the wilderness

"But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: 'Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them, Who led them by the right hand of Moses, with His glorious arm, dividing the water before them to make for Himself an everlasting name, Who led them through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, that they might not stumble?' As a beast goes down into the valley, and the Spirit of the LORD causes him to rest, so You lead Your people, to make Yourself a glorious name." (Isaiah 63:13-14). God leads His people through His Holy Spirit.

Creator

Paul introduced the pagans to the unknown God he served as the Creator. This is the dividing line between the True God and the imposters of the nations. And the God who created the world is Father, Son and Holy Spirit: "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (Genesis 1:2);

"By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. (Job 26:13);

"You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth." (Psalms 104:30);

"The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life." (Job 33:4).

By Inspiration

God inspired the Bible: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16).

In more detail, the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets of old: "And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:19-21).

The fact that authorship of the Old Testament is indifferently ascribed by New Testament authors to God the Father, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit, is one of the classic proofs of the Trinity.

That it's the Holy Spirit who spoke through the prophets is an iron-clad proof that the Holy Spirit is God. The LORD God spoke through the prophets:

"'And now, because you have done all these works,' says the LORD, 'and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer'...But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people.  And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.'...Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.  Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers." (Jeremiah 7:13-26).

...And the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets, not by way of a messenger boy nor an 'active force', but personally:

"And He said to me, 'Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.' Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me.  And He said to me: 'Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.'" (Ezekiel 2:1-3).

"Yet for many years You had patience with them, And testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands." (Nehemiah 9:30).

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Holy, holy, holy

Isaiah saw a vision in the temple of Jehovah God: "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." (Isaiah 6:1-5).

John reveals that Isaiah saw Christ.  After quoting Isaiah 6:9-10, he says that Isaiah said these things when he saw Christ's glory: "He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him." (John 12:40-41).

Likewise, Paul relates this vision to the Holy Spirit: "And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.  Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it." (Acts 28:26-28).  Thus, the speaker of Isaiah 6:9-10, the LORD of hosts, is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Blasphemy

"And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven." (Luke 12:10). Blasphemy is an offence against God.

According to His own will

God distributes the gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will: "...God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?" (Hebrews 2:4)

To wit, the will of the Holy Spirit: "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills." (1 Corinthians 12:11).  Consequently, the will of the Holy Spirit is the will of God. That the Holy Spirit is said to have a "will" might come as a surprise to those folks who believe the Holy Spirit is an 'impersonal force:'

Be Strong

"'Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,' says the LORD; 'and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,' says the LORD, 'and work; for I am with you,' says the LORD of hosts.  'According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!'  For thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the LORD of hosts." (Haggai 2:4-7).  An Old Testament testimony to the triune God, the resting of whose Spirit is the surety that "I am with you."

God's Spirit is available now to believers as a special blessing under the new covenant, but was not unknown to the old:

Sanctification

"Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin..." (Isaiah 30:1 KJV).

The Spirit cleanses and renews our hearts: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit." (Psalm 51:10-12).

It is the LORD who sanctifies His people:

"Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.'" (Exodus 31:13, Leviticus 20:8);

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

Namely, it's the Holy Spirit who sanctifies: "Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:15-16).

"And such were some of you.  But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:11).

"But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).

"To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ..." (1 Peter 1:2).

Thus, the Spirit is the LORD.

Born Again

"Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again." The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.'" (John 3:5-8).

Those born of "the Spirit" are children of God: "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you...For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." (Romans 8:11-14). If the Holy Spirit were not God, the paternity here in view would be uncertain.

The Lord is that Spirit

"Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). Who rules? No created being:

"Holy Spirit, all divine,
Dwell within this heart of mine;
Cast down every idol throne;
Reign supreme—and reign alone.

"The church has sung that now for about one hundred years. “Reign supreme—and reign alone.” Could you pray that to anybody you know? The man who wrote that hymn believed that the Holy Ghost was God, otherwise he wouldn’t have said, “Reign supreme, and reign all by Yourself.” That is an invitation no man can make to anybody, except the Divine One, except God." (Tozer, A. W., How to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Kindle Locations 93-97). GLH Publishing.)

Signature

When Christ sits down to write a letter, the Holy Spirit also gets a signature line: "Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart." (2 Corinthians 3:3).  Divine works of authorship have a triune signature line, because the God who wrote them is triune. Letters authored by the Holy Spirit are missives from God.

The Father and the Son

The same Holy Spirit is called both the Spirit of the Father, and the Spirit of the Son:

"But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak.  For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." (Matthew 10:19-20).

"But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit." (Mark 13:11).

"Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." (Luke 12:11-12).

This same Holy Spirit who is the "Spirit of your Father" is also identified as the "Spirit of His Son":

"And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Galatians 4:6).

"For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death." (Philippians 1:19-20).

"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." (Romans 8:9).

"Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow." (1 Peter 1:10-11).

Thus the Holy Spirit is the bond of unity, self-same Spirit both of Son and Father.

Our Abode

"I answer that, The whole Trinity dwells in the mind by sanctifying grace, according to John 14:23: 'We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him.'" (Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part Q. 43, Article 5).

Jesus promised that both Father and Son would abide with the believer: "Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.'" (John 14:23). This occurs through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, by virtue of the mutual indwelling of Father, Son and Holy Spirit (circumincession): "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, 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. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also." (John 14:16-19).

There are several dimensions to this passage: Jesus is referring, in part, to His post-resurrection appearances to the disciples but not the world, but also undoubtedly to His dwelling within the believer: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20).

It is through the infilling of the Holy Spirit that Christ dwells in the believer: "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:14-19).

Only in the unity of the One God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit could the Spirit be the vehicle for the indwelling of Father and Son with the believer.

Eternal Spirit

Eternity is one of the essential attributes of Deity: "For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:13-14).

The Eternal Spirit

Today

"Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years.'" (Hebrews 3:7-9, quote of Psalm 95). The Holy Spirit, the speaker, is the LORD:

"Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.' So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'" (Psalm 95:6-11).

Where can I flee?

"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? if I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me." (Psalm 139:7-10). Omnipresence is a divine attribute; thus, the Spirit is God.

The LORD's enemies imagined He was a local phenomenon: "Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, 'Thus says the LORD: "Because the Syrians have said, 'The LORD is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,' therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD."'" (1 Kings 20:28).  How far from the truth they were!:

"And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me." (1 Kings 18:12).

"Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: 'Blessed is the glory of the LORD from His place!'...So the spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days." (Ezekiel 3:12-15).

"Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing." (Acts 8:39).

"He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court..." (Ezekiel 8:3).

Omniscience

"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).

"Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as His counselor has taught Him?" (Isaiah 40:13). Omniscience is one of the essential attributes of deity.

Spirit of Jehovah

The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Jehovah, the true and living God: "Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man." (1 Samuel 10:6).

"Thus says David the son of Jesse; Thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel: 'The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.'" (2 Samuel 23:1-3). The speaker, the Holy Spirit, is also said to be "the God of Israel," and "the Rock of Israel."

This point is worth pressing, only because some people deny it!

The Love of God

The Apostle Paul begins his letters by invoking Father and Son, never the Holy Spirit, asking grace and peace: "To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 1:7). John begins his letters with the same prayer: "Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love." (2 John 1:3).

The traditional answer as to why the Holy Ghost is not also invoked in these opening prayers is because the Holy Ghost is the very grace and peace which is being prayed for. Jesus promised His followers that the very love with which His Father loved Him would dwell in their hearts: "And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:26). By this is meant the Holy Ghost, by whom the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts: "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:5).

The fact that God is love means the communion of the Holy Ghost draws us into the very being of God: "If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit...And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:12-16). I don't mean, of course, that the Holy Ghost is an abstraction or an experience, but it would be redundant to ask grace and peace of the very grace and peace for which we are asking.

The traditional view of these passages was expounded by Augustine, and is stated like so by Thomas: "Question XXXVII, Article 1. Whether 'Love' is the Proper Name of the Holy Ghost?...On the contrary, Gregory says...'The Holy Ghost Himself is Love.' I answer that, The name Love in God can be taken essentially and personally. If taken personally it is the proper name of the Holy Ghost, just as Word is the proper name of the Son...The Holy Ghost is said to be the bond of the Father and Son, in so far as He is Love..." (Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas, First Part). This theory must be said, however, to be more a speculation launched from the launching-pad of the Bible than itself the provable Bible truth. For a lively exposition of this traditional viewpoint, see Jonathan Edwards' 'Essay on the Trinity'.

Seven Spirits of God

"Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne...And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.  Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God...And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth." (Revelation 4:2-5:6).

Traditionally the "seven Spirits of God" in which the Holy Spirit is represented in this picture of the Trinity have been identified with Isaiah's sevenfold spirit from the Septuagint translation of the Bible: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a blossom shall come up from [his] root: and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness shall fill him; the spirit of the fear of God.  He shall not judge according to appearance, nor reprove according to report: but he shall judge the cause of the lowly, and shall reprove the lowly of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he destroy the ungodly one." (Isaiah 11:1-5 LXX Brenton).

Good Teacher

The Holy Spirit has always instructed God's children: "Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness." (Psalm 143:10).

"You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, And did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And gave them water for their thirst." (Nehemiah 9:20).

In these latter days, God promised to Himself personally teach each and every one of His children, from least to the greatest: "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." (John 6:45); "All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children." (Isaiah 54:13).

Specifically, this course of instruction is brought to us through the anointing of the Holy Spirit:

"These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (1 Corinthians 2:13).

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." (John 16:13).

"But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him." (1 John 2:27).

So if those taught by the Holy Spirit are "taught of God", the Holy Spirit must be God.