HC 53

Q53. What do you believe concerning the Holy Spirit?

First, He is, together with the Father and the Son, true and eternal God. Second, He is also given to me, to make me by true faith share in Christ and all His benefits, to comfort me, and to remain with me forever.

Proof texts

• Gen. 1:1-2 — [1] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [2] The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
• Matt. 28:19 — [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
• Acts 5:3-4 — [3] But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? [4] While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”
• 1 Cor. 3:16 — [16] Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
• 1 Cor. 6:19 — [19] Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
• 2 Cor. 1:21-22 — [21] And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, [22] and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
• Gal. 4:6 — [6] And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
• Eph. 1:13 — [13] In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
• Gal. 3:14 — [14] so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
• 1 Pet. 1:2 — [2] according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
• John 15:26 — [26] “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
• Acts 9:31 — [31] So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
• John 14:16-17 — [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, [17] even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
• 1 Pet. 4:14 — [14] If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

For discussion

1. The Assembly cited Gen. 1:1-2 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
2. 14 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?