Q. I have some friends that do not believe in the Trinity or they say that the Father and the Son are God but not the Holy Spirit, who is just a source of power. Is there any scripture that proves that the Holy Spirit is God?

A. There are many verses that prove it but let’s start with Acts 5.3. Of course the story is about Ananias and Sapphira and how they lied about some land that they gave. Peter says to Ananias in verse 3 “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit.” Now, you can’t lie to a “force” or be baptized in the name of a “force” (Mt 28.19). The Holy Spirit can be grieved (Eph 4.30) and he speaks (Acts 13.2). He intercedes for us (Rom 8.26). He is called God in the next verse(Acts 5.4). There is a concept in the Bible called the “overlapping of Deity” in that the Father is associated with the Son in deified terms. Many epistles talk about grace and mercy coming from the Father and the Son ( Phil 1.2, Eph 1.2).  Then the Son is associated with the Holy Spirit (Jn 16.7-15)  So, if A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C.  The Father is a God of truth (Isa 65.16), so is the Son (Jn 14.6) and so is the Holy Spirit (1 Jn 5.7). He is included when the Lord says “us” and “our” (Gen 1.26). All three are mentioned in Isa 48.16. God is one in essence (being), distinct in persons and not a multi-faceted manifestation of one person, as the “Oneness” movement teaches and many denominations. The Father is unique (Dan 7.13),  the Son is unique (Psa 40.7-8) and the Holy Spirit is unique (Rom 8.26). They possess a full, equal share of the status of deity (Mt 28.19-20, Gen 1.26, 2 Cor 13.14). All three are uniquely revealed as God. For example, the Father (Deut 4.35), the Son (Titus 2.13) and the Holy Spirit (Acts 5.4, 1 Jn 5.7). The Holy Spirit has the same nature or composition of essence of the other two in that He is infinite, spirit, immeasurable, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. The character traits of essence of the Holy Spirit are the same as the other two also in that He is perfect, good, holy, truthful, sovereign ,loving, righteous and just. The Bible clearly teaches that the Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit, that the Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. Next week I will continue this thought and hopefully give some insight into your question on this very important subject.