Post #31 1700 Years of the Nicene Creed: "Lord And Giver of Life" - The Deity of the Holy Spirit

Introduction:

    In the last post we looked at the Nicene Creed's next major section on the Holy Spirit here Growing Christian Resources: Post #30 1700 Years of the Nicene Creed: "And we believe in the Holy Ghost" - Fighting For The Importance of the Holy Spirit. I reviewed the history between the Creed of Nicaea 325 and the expansion of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the Constantinopolitan Creed of 381. 

     The 381 Nicene Creed reads as follows on the Holy Spirit:

"And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets."

    I then offered a brief outline of this statement:

1. The Deity of the Holy Spirit.

"And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life. 

2. The Divine relation of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son.

" who proceeds from the Father and the Son".

3. The Divine equality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son.

"who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified."

4. The Divine Author of the Scriptures.

"who spoke by the prophets."

     What we will do in this post is discuss that first main point of the Holy Spirit's deity, co-equality with the Father and the Son, and why He as truly God by nature matters.

Lord and Giver of Life

    In the Greek text of the Nicene Creed of 381, the term "Lord" ["to kurion", τὸ Κύριον] uses the same Greek noun that the Greek New Testament assigned to define the deity of Jesus Christ. This same Greek noun in the Greek Old Testament translation, The Septuagint, is used to translated the underlying Hebrew noun for the Divine name of God, "Yahweh", which is found some 6,000x in the Hebrew Old Testament.1 As "LORD", the Holy Spirit is confessed as truly God in as much as the Father and the Son are truly God by nature. 

    Then we notice the second part of this opening line of the Nicene Creed's confession of the Holy Spirit, that He is "Giver of Life". This preserves what the Bible teaches about God's unique ability to bring to life what would otherwise be inanimate life (Genesis 2:7), as well as to raise to life that which was formerly dead (Romans 8:11). These two truths (creation from nothing and resurrection) provide the most basic definition of His deity.

    Theologian Fred Sanders wrote a post in his blogsite regarding "10 Things You Should Know About The Holy Spirit" here 10 Things You Should Know About the Holy Spirit · Fred Sanders. In that post, Sanders wrote these words in number two of his list:

"The most obvious truth that emerges from locating the Holy Spirit in the Trinity is that the Spirit is fully God. He is not a mere impersonal force emanating from God, or a poetic way of talking about God in action, or a creature commissioned by God to do his work for him. Nor is the Holy Spirit a slice of God, one third of God, or part of a team that adds up to be God. He is one of the persons who fully possesses the entirety of the divine essence. Sound Trinitarian theology is a constant, helpful guide that keeps us from thinking unworthy thoughts about the Holy Spirit."

    The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 notes in its first sentence under its confession of the Holy Spirit: "The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine." Numerous Scripture citations are given that provide proof for the deity of the Holy Spirit, which support also the confession of the Nicene Creed's "Lord and Giver of Life".2 

The battle to make clear the Biblical teaching on the deity of the Holy Spirit

    We saw in the last post that denial of the Holy Spirit's deity and Personhood stemmed from a heretical group called "the Spirit-fighters" or "Pneumatomachoi". As Basil of Caesarea fought their teachings, he noted in his "On the Holy Spirit" how they taught the Spirit having a different nature than the Son and the Father. As far as this heresy was concerned, the Holy Spirit was unworthy of mention or of worship with the Father and the Son. 

    In chapter 11 of "On the Holy Spirit", Basil offers this airtight Scriptural argument for why the Holy Spirit is worthy of worship, and thus of the same nature as the Father and the Son:

     "I testify to every man who is confessing Christ and denying God, that Christ will profit him nothing; to every man that calls upon God but rejects the Son, that his faith is vain; to every man that sets aside the Spirit, that his faith in the Father and the Son will be useless, for he cannot even hold it without the presence of the Spirit. 

     For he who does not believe the Spirit does not believe in the Son, and he who has not believed in the Son does not believe in the Father. For none can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost, 1 Corinthians 12:3 'and no man has seen God at any time, but the only begotten God which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him."

Basil then offers this conclusion to his exposition:

"Such an one has neither part nor lot in the true worship; for it is impossible to worship the Son, save by the Holy Ghost; impossible to call upon the Father, save by the Spirit of adoption."

      Certainly in our day we have heretical teachers that deny the Holy Spirit's deity, not only by rejection of His equality of Divine nature with the Father and the Son but also of His Personality as a Triune member of the Godhead. This is why the Nicene Creed's confession of the Spirit as "Lord and Giver of Life" includes reference to His Divine Personhood. The term "Lord" is used to refer to the Holy Spirit in equal relation to the Father and the Spirit in two noteworthy places in Paul's letters. 

      Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:12-13 "and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints." 

    To summarize Basil of Caesarea's observation of this particular passage in his work "On The Holy Spirit", what other Lord would be in the text? We have God the Father and the Son clearly referenced in verse 13. The only "He" or "Lord" left is the Holy Spirit. We can make similar observations from 2 Thessalonians 3:5 of the Holy Spirit's Divine personality and nature being on par with the Father and the Son. 

     I've heard Christians throughout the years unintentionally refer to the Holy Spirit as an "it" rather than a "He". To do so is to unwittingly deny His deity. Jesus Himself reinforced the Spirit's Divine personality by utilizing the masculine pronoun "He" in His teachings about the Spirit (John 7:37-39; John 15:26-27; John 16:8-12). 

Closing thoughts:

    The battle for the Holy Spirit's deity ever wages as it did in the late fourth century. To remain faithful to the Bible's revelation of God we must assert His full deity and equality with the Father and the Son as One True and Living God. The Spirit of God is indeed "The Lord and Giver of Life". Why does this matter? 

    First, if the Holy Spirit is not truly God, He cannot deliver and apply salvation to sinners at the time of regeneration and saving faith, for "salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). Second, if the Holy Spirit were not God, creation would never had been completed, nor would there be life (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 104:30). Lastly, were He not a Divine Person, no personal knowledge of God would be feasible. 

Endnotes:

1. Another interesting feature of the Nicene Creed's use of the definite article the ["to" in the Greek] to modify "kurion". This form of the article is a grammatical neuter, keeping in line with the grammatical gender of the proceeding Greek noun for "Spirit", "pneuma". The proper name and title "kurion" or "Lord" is grammatically masculine. Daniel Wallace in his "Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics" would refer to this use of the definite article as a pronoun, specifically, it used as a "relative pronoun" which points back to whichever word it is referring.  

     Hence, when we look at the Nicene Greek text of the confession of the Holy Spirit, we see the neuter article throughout its phrases. I've listed the Greek text of the relevant section below with my own English translation. I've also highlighted the relevant grammatical points. 

καὶ εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον, τὸ Κύριον καὶ 

Ζωοποιόν, τὸ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορευόμενον,

τὸ σὺν Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ συμπροσκυνούμενον καὶ συνδοξαζόμενον, τὸ λαλῆσαν διὰ τῶν προφητῶν·

and unto the Holy Spirit, the (one who) is Lord and Giver of life; the (one who) proceeds from the Father; the (one who) is to be worshipped together  and glorified together with the Father and the Son; the (One who) spoke through the prophets.

       Why point this out? Because the article is keeping in gender with the word "pneuma" before it, while it directs our attention to the noun "kurios" or "Lord", which is a masculine noun and thus reminds us that the Holy Spirit is not an "it" but a "He", a Divine Person. 

2. Here are the cross references given by the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 Article on the Holy Spirit - Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.