The Holy Spirit

"We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets."

This is a portion of the Nicene Creed, and has been used as a statement of faith since the Sixth century, when the Phrase "and the Son" was added. But what does it mean? And is it true?

The Nicene Creed Claims 3 things about the Holy Spirit: first, that He is God; Second, that He comes from God; third, that He is the source of prophecies. Let's look at these claims, shall we?

First let's look at the question, is the Holy Spirit God? To answer this, we can look to scripture. 2 Corinthians 3:18 states "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 from the Lord, the Spirit." Now, as the Lord is God (According to Deuteronomy 6:4, as well as the rest of the Bible),
we can state that the Holy Spirit Is God.

Next, we look at the claim that He comes from God, or "proceeds from the Father and the Son," as the Creed puts it. This is a bit harder to prove, as there are almost no scriptures to back it up. However, in John 14:26 Jesus says "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." In other words, God sends the Holy Spirit, or "He proceeds from the Father." As for the Son, Jesus states that He sends the Counselor from the Father in John 15:26.

Now, what about that last claim, "He has spoken through the Prophets?" Well, If we can assume that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, which seems an easy connection to make, we can see dozens of evidences that he speaks through the prophets. Each of the prophets in the "prophecy" books of the Old Testament say something along the lines of "Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon me, and he told me to say: 'This is what the LORD says.' " (Ezekiel 11:5) In Revelation 1:10 John states that he was "in the Spirit" when he was given his revelation. Given these facts, it seems safe to say that the Holy Spirit "has spoken through the Prophets," as the Nicene Creed states.

There is one more thing about the Holy Spirit that I want to mention, and that is the fact that He works in us. It is through Him that we can be saved. It is through Him that we are given courage to preach the gospel. It is through Him that I could write this sermon. It is through Him that are you can live a changed life. And so, I challenge you to let Him.