Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified

Introduction

I’ve said before that the original Creed of Nicaea which was produced in 325 was expanded at the Council of Constantinople in 381 and became what we now know as the Nicene Creed.

The original Creed of Nicaea was written in response to the teaching of Arius, who denied the full divinity of the Son. And so, that original Creed made the point again and again that the Son is God in the same way as the Father is God. The Son is not a lesser being than the Father, but has the same divine being as the Father.

However, between 325 and 381 a new controversy arose regarding, not the Son, but the Spirit. Just as there were some who denied the full divinity of the Son, so there were now some were denied the full divinity of the Spirit. And so, the original Creed of Nicaea, which said next to nothing about the Holy Spirit, needed to be expanded. And so now, when we recite the Nicene Creed today, we confess and proclaim that we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Since he is Lord, then he is God, because ‘Lord’ is God’s covenant name from the Old Testament. And saying that he is the Giver of Life also means that he is God, because God is the one who gives life to all his creatures. And the Holy Spirit is not one of God’s creatures, because he was not made, as we are, but he proceeds. He proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son. He comes from them, not through creation, but through procession.

So, if you imagine once again a line separating the Creator from his creation, the Holy Spirit should be placed on the Creator side of the line. He is not part of God’s creation. Instead, he is, with the Father and the Son, our Creator.

And that brings us to the next line of the Creed, where we confess and proclaim that we believe in the Holy Spirit, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified. By this line, we place the Holy Spirit on the same rank as the Father and the Son. Since the Father is God, then he deserves to be worshipped and glorified. Since the Son is God, then he also deserves to be worshipped and glorified. And since the Holy Spirit is God, then he too deserves to be worshipped and glorified. We should worship and glorify them together as one God.

Ranked alongside the Father and the Son

Where in the Scriptures would we go in order to prove that the Spirit is to be ranked alongside the Father and the Son as God?

We could go to the Great Commission at the end of Matthew’s gospel, where the Lord Jesus commanded his apostles to go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus placed the Holy Spirit beside the Father and himself. All three are placed side by side with one another, because all three of them are equal. And so, if the Father and the Son are divine — and they are — then so is the Holy Spirit.

And notice that the Lord says they’re to go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. He doesn’t say in the names of the Father, Son and Spirit as if they were three separate beings. He says ‘in the name’ of the Father, Son and Spirit. The three persons are not three separate beings, because they are one God. And the one God we’re to worship and glorify is not only the Father and the Son, but he’s also the Holy Spirit.

And so, in order to prove from the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit is to be ranked beside the Father and the Son as God, we can go to the Great Commission. We can also go to the benediction in 2 Corinthians 13:14. Paul finishes his second letter to the Corinthians by saying: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.’ Paul links grace with the Lord Jesus who is God’s only begotten Son. He links love with God. That is, with God the Father. And he links fellowship with the Holy Spirit. And Paul places all three persons side by side. He ranks them on the same level. And so, if the Father and the Son are divine — and they are — then so too is the Holy Spirit.

And since all three persons are divine, since they are God, then they deserve to be worshipped and glorified by all people everywhere both now and forevermore.

Names, titles and attributes in common

As well as those two places where the Holy Spirit is ranked alongside the Father and the Son, the Scriptures make clear in other ways that the Holy Spirit is God.

For instance, the Scriptures assign names or titles or attributes to the Holy Spirit which are also assigned to the Father and the Son. So, in the story in Acts 5 of Ananias and Sapphira who lied about a piece of property they sold, Peter accused Ananias in verse 4 of lying to the Holy Spirit. And in the very next verse he says Ananias lied to God. Peter is therefore calling the Holy Spirit ‘God’.

And the Spirit is known as the Holy Spirit and the Father and the Son are described as being holy too. He is called good in Psalm 143 and the Father is also described as good in a number of places and the Lord Jesus is the good shepherd and he went around doing good. In Psalm 139, the psalmist asks ‘Where shall I go from your Spirit?’ He means that the Holy Spirit, being God, is omnipresent. In Hebrews 9:14, the Holy Spirit is called the eternal Spirit. With the Father and the Son, he is eternal and without beginning or end.

And the Lord Jesus also refers to the Holy Spirit in John 14 as another Helper or Counsellor. The Lord Jesus is the first Helper or Counsellor; and the Holy Spirit is another one who had replaced him on earth.

And in 1 Corinthians 3, Paul says that we are temples of God. And in 1 Corinthians 6, he says we are temples of the Holy Spirit.

In 1 Corinthians 2:8 we read about the Lord of glory and in 1 Peter 4:14 we read about the Spirit of glory.

Those are a few examples of places in the Scriptures where the Holy Spirit is given the same name or title or attribute as the Father and the Son. They hold these titles and names and attributes in common.

Works

And then we have what the Scriptures tell us about the Spirit’s work. And the Scriptures tell us that the Spirit does what God does.

So, one of the things God is known for is how he created all things. And in Psalm 33:6 it says that God made the host of heaven by the breath of his mouth. Many ancient commentators took this to be a reference to the Holy Spirit. So, God breathes out his Spirit to bring about his creation. And Psalm 104:30 says something similar: when God sends forth his Spirit or his breath, we are created.

Another thing God is known for is his miracles. And yet the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 12 that he casts our demons by the Holy Spirit. And in Acts 2:4 we’re told that the believers spoke in foreign languages by means of the Holy Spirit.

And the work of giving new life to God’s people is sometimes attributed to the Son and sometimes to the Spirit. The work of raising up leaders in the church is attributed to the Son who gives gifts to the church; but it’s also attributed to the Spirit, who made the Ephesian elders overseers of God’s people according to Acts 20. And the work of raising the dead is linked to the Son in John 6:54 and to the Spirit in Romans 8:11.

The point of these references is that the Scriptures tell us the Holy Spirit does what God does. He does what God does because he is God.

Conclusion

The Great Commission and the benediction make clear that the Spirit is ranked alongside the Father and the Son as one God. And the Scriptures assign the same titles and names and attributes to the Spirit as they do to the Father and the Son. And the Scriptures tell us that the Holy Spirit performs the works of God. What the Spirit does, God does. What God does, the Spirit does.

In other words, the Holy Spirit is fully God. He is fully God in the same way the Father is fully God and in the same way the Son is fully God. They are together one God.

And lest anyone might think that the Holy Spirit is just another name for God or that the Spirit is another term for God’s power and that the Spirit is not a distinct person within the Godhead, the Creed is careful to say that the Holy Spirit is to be worshipped and adored with the Father and the Son. And so, we are to worship and adore the Father. And with the Father, we’re to worship and adore the Son. And with the Father and the Son, we’re to worship and adore the Spirit. We’re to worship the Father because he is God. And we’re to worship the Son because he is God. And we’re to worship the Spirit, because he too is God. And so, for hundreds of years, Christians have said together: ‘Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.’