The Full Deity of the Holy Spirit

The evidences I've collected ARE AFTER the recommended links. To skip down and go directly to the evidence, CLICK HERE.


I don't post much on the full deity (and by extension personhood) of the Holy Spirit for a number of reasons.v

1. If the full deity of Christ can be established, then the evidence for the full deity of the Holy Spirit will be more plausible to those who question or doubt the doctrine of the Trinity. The reverse isn't the case because the evidence for the deity of the Holy Spirit is less ubiquitous (though, not less certain). Also, unless the full deity of Jesus is established, the full deity of the Holy Spirit will likely not even be considered or taken seriously by opponents or doubters of the doctrine of the Trinity.

2. The arguments for the full deity of the Holy Spirit often have parallels with the arguments for the full deity of Christ. So, the arguments for the Spirit's divinity won't be as fully appreciated as they could be unless and until the arguments for the full deity of Christ have been established.

3. Other works dealing with the doctrine of the Trinity have done a superb job demonstrating the full deity of the Holy Spirit. Many of those works can be accessed on my main Trinity page HERE.

However, for the sake of making it easier to demonstrate the full deity of the Holy Spirit for readers of this blog, I've collected some of those links below (along with some others that aren't in the main page).

Here's a link to chapter 6 of Edward Henry Bickersteth's The Rock of Ages (which may be the same book as The Trinity).

Chapter SIX. That Scripture proves the coequal Godhead of the Holy Spirit with that of the Father and of the Son

Bickersteth's online book The Trinity

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More links:

http://www.suscopts.org/messages/lectures/pneumlecture2.pdf

http://www.sbts.edu/resources/files/2013/08/SBJT-16.4-Barrett-p-32-53.pdf

http://www.dtl.org/trinity/article/holy-spirit.htm

http://www.dtl.org/trinity/study/person.htm

http://www.gci.org/God/deityHS

http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-holy-spirit-personality-deity.htm

 http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-holy-spirit.htm

http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Holy_Spirit/index.htm

http://christiandefense.org/Articles.For.htm#Holy%20Spirit%20Art.

https://bib.irr.org/category/holy-spirit

Horae Solitariae; Or, Essays Upon Some Remarkable Names and Titles of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit Occurring in the Old and New Testaments, And Declarative of Their Essential Divinity and Gracious Offices in the Redemption and Salvation of Men
http://books.google.com/books?id=3IpAAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

[the above link contains both volumes on christ and the Holy Spirit in one book]

Links to ONLY Volume 2 on the Holy Spirit
http://books.google.com/books?id=6WrdMeMMRWUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
or
http://books.google.com/books?id=ZWcrAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
or
http://books.google.com/books?id=NglMAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

The Names of the Holy Spirit by Elmer L. Towns
http://trinitynotes.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-names-of-jesus-and-of-holy-spirit.html



Neuter Pneuma and Neuter Pronouns Mean Not a Person: Bad Arguments against the Personhood of the Holy Spirit #1

Arguments from Silence: Bad Arguments against the Personhood of the Holy Spirit #2

Luke 1:35 and Definition by Parallelism: Bad Arguments against the Personhood of the Holy Spirit #3

More links to come.....

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See also my other blogposts:

 Praying to and Worshipping the Holy Spirit

The Witness of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit Contradicts the Accidence of Personality
 
The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Also, some of my blogposts in defense of the full deity of Christ have tangential comments or arguments for the full deity of the Holy Spirit.

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Ongoing Miscellaneous Arguments for the Full Deity of the Holy Spirit

In both Testaments, unless it refers to an attitude or the wind or breath, whenever the word "spirit" is used, it normally refers to a conscious person. For example, angels are said to be spirits and humans are said to have spirits. Therefore, it only makes sense that the Holy Spirit is a person too. Notice how in 1 Sam. 16:14 the Spirit of the LORD departs and is replaced by an evil spirit. If the latter was personal (i.e. the evil spirit), then the previous spirit was personal too (i.e. the Holy Spirit). Since the Holy Spirit has ALL the attributes of a person. He has a mind, will and emotions. He possess attributes and performs actions ONLY persons can do.

The Holy Spirit....

Has a Mind: Rom. 8:27

Has a Will: He chooses and makes decisions 1 Cor. 12:11; Acts 13:2 [possibly Heb. 2:4]


Is credited with Acts and Deeds: This is something persons do, not impersonal forces. For example the Holy Spirit hovered over the waters in Genesis one. The Hebrew implies "brooding" like a mother bird incubating her eggs waiting for it to hatch. The Holy Spirit creates according to Job 33:4; Ps. 33:6; 104:30.

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.- Ps. 33:6

 If Ps. 33:6 hints at the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in creation, then it makes sense that the Holy Spirit is a person since "the word of the LORD" would refer to Jesus and the "LORD" of the "word of the LORD" would refer to the Father. If both "the word/Word" and "the LORD" are personal, why wouldn't "the breath of his mouth" be personal too? The word for spirit/breath/wind are all the same in both Hebrew (ruach) and Greek (pneuma). This argument doesn't assume or depend on the truth of Trinitarianism. Even a Unitarian could see a veiled reference to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in this verse. Trinitarians would just see more. There are many other such triadic passages in both the Old and New Testaments (See HERE for documentation). The above are just two acts or deeds that are credited to the Holy Spirit. There are many more listed below.

Has Emotions: He can be grieved (Eph. 4:30), vexed (Isa. 63:10) and insulted/outraged (Heb. 10:29). To be able to be offended is a mark of personhood and personality. Though computers can make calculations like humans they can't be offended because they are impersonal and inanimate. While the Holy Spirit has the traits of being a person and of being alive. See below for the evidence that the Holy Spirit is the source of Life. Can the source Life itself not be alive?

The Holy Spirit loves (one of many emotions): The statement in Rom. 15:30 "I appeal to you [or beseech you], brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit". This is a plea exactly corresponding with one Paul had used shortly before "I appeal/beseech you, therefore brothers, by the mercies of God..."(Rom. 12:1).

The Holy Spirit can approve of things: Acts 15:28; and disapprove of things by being grieved Eph. 4:30

The Holy Spirit speaks: Acts 1:16; 8:29; 10:19-20; 11:12; 13:2; 21:11; John 16:13; Matt. 10:20; Mark 13:11; Acts 28:25; 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 3:7; 10:15-17; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 14:13; 22:17; 2 Sam. 23:2-3; Gal. 4:6; [Possibly also Ezek. 11:5 NET; cf. Ezek. 2:2; 3:24]

The Holy Spirit, like other persons, hears and listens: John 16:13; Acts 5:3; 2 Cor. 13:14

You can fellowship with the Holy Spirit: 2 Cor. 13:14; [Possibly also Phil. 2:1 NASB; Phil. 2:1 NET; Phil. 2:1 NKJV]

The Holy Spirit prays and intercedes according to the will of God: Rom. 8:26-27 [possibly Zech 12:10]

The Holy Spirit helps us to pray: Zech. 12:10; Rom. 8:15; Jude 1:20; Gal. 4:6; Eph. 6:18; 2:18; Phil. 1:19 [Possibly also Rom. 8:26; Matt. 10:20; Luke 12:12; Mark 13:11]

The Holy Spirit teaches and guides: John 14:26; Luke 12:12; 1 Cor. 2:12-13, Heb. 9:8; Job 32:8
Reminds: John 14:26
Reveals: John 16:14, Luke 2:26

Later in this blog there is a list of attributes that the Holy Spirit and God share. Related to the fact that the Holy Spirit teaches is the Divine attribute of being the Source of Wisdom/Understanding/Knowledge/Counsel (Isa. 11:2; 1 Cor. 2:13; 12:8; Eph. 1:17; Acts 6:3, 10; Exo. 28:3; 31:3; 35:31; Deut. 34:9; Dan. 4:8-9, 18; 5:11-12, 14; Job. 32:8; Col. 1:9)

The Holy Spirit leads and directs: Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18; Ps. 143:10; Luke 2:27 (Geneva and NET [cf. footnote 80]  translations); Matt. 4:1//Mark 1:12//Luke 4:1

 The Holy Spirit comforts: Acts 9:31; John 16:7 (depending on translation)

The Holy Spirit commissions and sends people out: Acts 13:4; Isa. 48:16

The Holy Spirit Appoints and Calls Ministers by consecrating/separating them and setting them up: Acts 20:28; 13:2,4

The Holy Spirit refers to Himself with the pronouns "I" and "Me" in Acts 13:2

The Holy Spirit forbids things as God sovereignly would and does: Acts 16:6, 7 [compare with James 4:15; Acts 18:21; Rom. 1:10; Rom 15:32; 1 Cor. 4:19; 1 Cor 16:7; Heb. 6:3]

One can lie to the Holy Spirit: Acts 5:3; and by so doing one is lying to God: Acts 5:4
Hence the Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit must also be a person since you can't lie to non-persons. It makes no sense to lie to a television or to the electricity that powers it. So, the Holy Spirit cannot be an impersonal force.

One can Tempt/Test the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:9) in violation of the command not to test YHWH (Deut. 6:16; Exo. 17:2, 7; Num. 14:22; Ps. 78:18, 41, 56; 95:9; 106:14; Mal. 3:15.)

One can disobey, resist or rebel against the Holy Spirit: Ps. 106:33 NASB; Isa. 63:10; Acts 7:51; Heb. 10:29d


The Holy Spirit, like any other person, can be sinned against: Matt. 12:31. You can't sin against an inanimate object (e.g. a TV) or impersonal force (e.g. electricity).

The Holy Spirit, like any other person, can be insulted and outraged: Heb. 10:29

The Holy Spirit, as a person (even a divine person) convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment: John 16:8

The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ: John 16:14

The Holy Spirit is "another" parakletos (allon parakleton) according to John 14:16. The word has been variously translated into English as "advocate," "comforter," "counselor," "helper," "encourager." Jesus is the primary parakletos according to 1 John 2:1. Since Jesus' function as an advocate requires His personhood, then it follows that the Holy Spirit who is another advocate must also be a person.

Just as the Father sent the Son (John 3:16-17), so the Father and Son (John 14:26; 15:26; Gal. 4:6) send the Holy Spirit when Jesus returns to the Father (John 14:16, 26). As the Son descended from heaven to earth, so the Holy Spirit descended from heaven to earth. The difference is that the Son was incarnated, while the Holy Spirit dwells within humans. The Holy Spirit takes the place of Jesus while He is in heaven. This makes most sense if the Holy Spirit is a person and not a mere force. Unitarians who reject the doctrine of the Trinity and the personality of the Holy Spirit often appeal to the Shaliach Principle to argue for why Jesus is not fully God. Ironically, that very principle supports the full personality of the Holy Spirit since that type of sending and representation is described by Christ regarding the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit represents the Son (like the Son represents the Father) and He [i.e. the Holy Spirit] takes Christ's "place" (so to speak) vicariously while He is away in heaven. The Holy Spirit continues the salvific work of Christ on earth.

Christians are said to be "born of the Spirit" (John 3:6,8). Being "born of" something implies that that entity is alive. This would go against the idea that the Holy Spirit is merely the power or "electricity" of God. The fact that there is a parallel between Christians being "born of the Spirit" in the Gospel of John and "born of God" in 1st John (1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18) also suggests the fully deity of the Holy Spirit in that each performs a work only God can do. There's a fusion or an identity between a unique activity and work of God and that of the Holy Spirit.

Being a temple of the Holy Spirit is being a temple of God (hence the Holy Spirit is God): 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:22; cf. Rom. 8:9-10. To say that the Holy Spirit isn't a person because one can't be filled with a person contradicts Jesus statement that both the Father and the Son can dwell (make their home and abode) in believers (John 14:23); just like the Holy Spirit a few verses earlier (John 14:17). If being filled with the Holy Spirit disqualifies the Holy Spirit from being a person, then John 14:23 also disqualifies both the Father and the Son from being persons.

The Holy Spirit bears witness/testimony even though only persons can testify: John 15:26; Acts 5:32; 20:23; Rom. 8:16; Heb. 10:15; 1 Pet. 1:11; 1 John 5:6-8.

The author of John violates Greek grammar by using masculine pronouns for the Holy Spirit even though the Greek noun for "spirit" is neuter in order to affirm the Holy Spirit's personhood.
[Click HERE for proof]

Regarding the Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit:

What is blasphemy? It is any reviling of God's name or person, or any affront to His majesty or authority. Or anything that takes away from the proper reverence and worship that God alone is rightly due.

Blasphemy, therefore is normally in reference to God. So, the first reference to blasphemy in Matt. 12:31-32 refers to God the Father. Yet, interestingly the passage also talks about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This would suggest that the Holy Spirit is God since it makes no sense blaspheming an impersonal force. Notice too that Jesus clusters criticisms against Himself in conjunction with blasphemy against the Father and the Holy Spirit. It may be claimed that a word against Jesus doesn't necessarily imply that it's blasphemy since it can be forgiven; therefore Jesus isn't necessarily God. However, using that logic, the Father isn't God either since blasphemy against the Father can be forgiven as well. Moreover, the fact that blasphemy against the Father and the Son can be forgiven while the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit can't, strongly suggests the full deity of the Holy Spirit since it makes no sense for it to be more severe to blaspheme the Holy Spirit above God the Father if the Holy Spirit isn't God. Analogously, that would be like saying insulting the electricity and gasoline of your father's prized Porsche is worse than insulting your father directly.

The opposite of worship is blasphemy. Yet the New Testament talks about blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Therefore, that suggests 1. the Holy Spirit can and should be worshipped; and therefore 2. the full deity of the Holy Spirit.

Divine Attributes

The Holy Spirit has the attributes of God like:

Eternality (Heb. 9:14);

Foreknowledge (John 16:13);

Power to Create (Job 33:4; Ps. 33:6; 104:30);

Sanctifies (1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 15:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Thess. 2:13);

Renews and Regenerates (Titus 3:5);

Resurrection of believers will be by the Holy Spirit  (Rom. 8:11; Rev. 11:11; Ezek. 37:5-6, 9-10, 14; Rom. 8:2)

Resurrection of Christ was by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 1:4; 8:11; 1 Pet. 3:18-19)

Omnipresence (Ps. 139:7); This is also suggested by the fact that the Holy Spirit can dwell within millions of Christians in diverse locations simultaneously. Just like the Father and the Son (John 14:23 compare with John 14:17). Therefore, an indication of full deity.

Omniscience (1 Cor. 2:10-11). The Holy Spirit is said to search the deep things of God. This isn't discursive "searching." It does not necessarily imply the kind of successive acquisition of knowledge which belongs to  finite creatures, since Jehovah is said to "search" hearts in Jer. 17:10 and Rom. 8:27c. Jehovah's/Yahweh's searching of human hearts does not imply finite searching, but rather the opposite. It is a colorful way to refer to exhaustive and omniscient knowledge. Therefore the Holy Spirit's searching the deep things of God implies that the Holy Spirit is as omniscient as God the Father is. By the way, Jesus is said to know the Father exhaustively as the Father exhaustively knows the Son (John 10:15;  cf. Matt. 11:27). That too implies Jesus' omniscience and therefore full deity. As I wrote in another blogpost:

Both Matt. 11:27 and Luke 10:22 coupled with John 10:15 should, upon theological reflection, suggest Christ's omniscience since no finite creature can exhaustively know the infinite Father, yet Jesus is said to so do. Hence, Christ is divine and omniscient. Additionally, the statement that "no one knows the Father..." is supposed to affirm the divine incomprehensibility and transcendence of the Father. If so, then when it also says that "no one knows the Son...", that should also suggest His divine incomprehensibility and transcendence as well. Only another divine person can fully know a divine person. Hence, Jesus is fully God, along with the Holy Spirit who searches the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10).

Also, Jesus is said to search the hearts of men (Rev. 2:23 alluding to Jer. 17:10 and applied to Jesus by Himself). Which is another indicator of Jesus' full deity. Notice too that for the Holy Spirit to prayer for all Christians individually (knowing their particular circumstances and needs) suggests omniscience. Just as Jesus' also interceding for believers suggests it (Rom. 8:34). Click HERE for more on the Omniscience of the Persons of the Trinity.

Sovereignty and Freedom/Liberty (John 3:8; 1 Cor. 12:11; 2 Cor. 3:17); 

Inspires Revelation (2 Pet. 1:21; Acts 28:25; 2 Sam. 23:2; Luke 2:26);

Holiness (He is named the HOLY Spirit. He is Holy, and produces holiness in believers), cf. Ps. 51:11; Isa. 63:10; Rom. 1:4 etc.);

 As noted above; the Holy Spirit Sanctifies (1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 15:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Thess. 2:13); Renews and Regenerates (Titus 3:5);

Goodness (Jesus said only God is Good [Matt. 19:17; Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19], yet there are passages that teach God's Spirit as being Good. Therefore the Holy Spirit is God. See Neh. 9:20; Ps. 143:10 cf. Gal. 5:22 where part of the fruit of the Spirit is goodness);

Quoting another blogpost:

17    And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.- Mark 10:17-18

This passage has universally and perennially been used by skeptics, and Unitarians like Arians, Socinians, Muslims (et al.) to prove that Jesus claimed not to be God since Jesus says only God is good. However, in the same book demons are recorded to have referred to Jesus as the "Holy One of God" (Mark 1:24 cf. Isa. 49:7; 54:5 and 55:5) with the author's apparent endorsement. So, clearly Jesus was good. In light of that, here's a relevant quote from Richard N. Davies' book The Doctrine of the Trinity page 18-19

QUOTE: Christ said to a certain ruler: "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." (Mark x, 17, 18.) Christ did not deny that he himself was "good," nor did he deny that he himself was God; but the ruler had not acknowledged him to be God, and our Lord's question to the ruler was based upon that fact. It was as much as to say, As you do not confess me to be God, why call me good? Our Lord said: "There is none good but one, that is, God." It would follow from this that whoever is perfectly good must be God; but our Lord is perfectly, infinitely good, hence must be God........The dilemma, as regards the Socinians, has been well put (see Stier II, 283, note), either, 'There is none good but God; Christ is good; therefore Christ is God;' or, 'There is none good but God; Christ is not God; therefore Christ is not good.' " (Alford, in loco) END QUOTE [bold and underline by me]

Unitarians must pick one of the horns of the dilemma. Either affirm that Jesus is Almighty God, or affirm that Jesus is not truly good and holy (and so contradict Mark 1:24 which has demons calling Jesus the Holy One of God, with Mark's apparent approval).

If the Holy Spirit is both truly Holy and truly Good in a way that only God can Holy and Good (as proved above), then the Holy Spirit is God.

Source of Grace (Heb. 10:29; Zech. 12:10 [Possibly Rev. 1:4; see my comments below HERE] compare with 1 Pet. 5:10 where God is said to be the source of "all grace");


Source of Truth (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13 [possibly 1 John 4:6] compare with Isa. 65:16 which states God is the "God of Truth" [cf. Ps. 31:5 "God of Truth" in the NKJV, ASV, NASB, YLT or "faithful" in the ESV, NET] and John 14:6 where Jesus says He is "the Truth");

Source of Wisdom/Understanding/Knowledge/Counsel (Isa. 11:2; 1 Cor. 2:13; 12:8; Eph. 1:17; Acts 6:3, 10; Exo. 28:3; 31:3; 35:31; Deut. 34:9; Dan. 4:8-9, 18; 5:11-12, 14; Job. 32:8; Col. 1:9)

 As noted above:
The Holy Spirit teaches and guides: John 14:26; Luke 12:12; 1 Cor. 2:12-13, Heb. 9:8; Job 32:8
Reminds: John 14:26
Reveals: John 16:14, Luke 2:26

Source of Life (John 6:63; Rom. 8:2, 6, 10, 11; 2 Cor. 3:6; Job 33:4; John 3:5-8; Gal. 4:29; 5:25; 6:8; 1 Pet. 3:18 [assuming the "water of life" refers to the Holy Spirit then the following verses also apply John 4:10-14; 7:37-38; Rev. 7:17; 21:6; 22:1, 17]) Compare with God the Father being referred to as "the Living God" (Matt. 16:16 and many other passages) and Jesus referring to Himself as "the Living One" (Rev. 1:18; compare the phrase, "El Chai" ("the Living God"), at Joshua 3:10, Psalms 42:3, 84:3).

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4    John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
    Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.- Rev. 1:4-5

From this passage the seven spirits of God are said to also be a dispenser of God's grace. The writer apparently wishes grace upon his readers to come from the Father, the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ. If the "seven spirits of God" in THIS passage are seven angels and not the Holy Spirit, then we have the author invoking in worship seven creatures to dispense God's grace. So, it makes most sense to consider these "seven spirits" to be a reference to the Holy Spirit. This is not to say that in every instance in the Bible the mention of "seven spirits" or "seven eyes" or "the eyes of the Lord" is necessarily a reference to the Holy Spirit and never to angels. [cf. Zech. 3:9; Rev. 3:1; 4:5; 5:6]

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1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.- Rev. 22:1-2

This passages might hint at the deity of the Holy Spirit because the river of the water of life flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb. If God and the Lamb are both God because of their proximity to the throne, then why not the Holy Spirit as well who is being referred to as "the river of the water of life"? This is reminiscent of Jeremiah 2:13 which states, "for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,  and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water." By God's own self-description, God is analogous to a fountain of living waters. If the Holy Spirit is God in the fullest sense, then it makes perfect sense that the river of the water of life flowing from the throne is none other than the Holy Spirit. Hence, all three persons of the Trinity are mentioned there. It might be objected that the passage refers to literal water. Even if it did, it could still be symbolic of the Holy Spirit. But it need not refer to a literal river since the passage also describes the Lamb. No one thinks that a literal lamb that was slain with seven eyes and seven horns is being described in Rev. 5:6 or here in Rev. 22:1-2 which refers to the same lamb.

Compare that with:

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.- John 7:37-39; cf. John 4:10,13-14

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Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?- 1 Cor. 3:16

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,- 1 Cor. 6:19

The fact that Christians are temples of the Holy Spirit strongly suggests that the Holy Spirit is God. For, as Thomas Aquinas wrote long ago, "Now, to have a temple is God's prerogative." Moreover, based on the revelation of the Old Testament the Jewish understanding was that it was God who dwelt and lived in the tabernacle in the wilderness and in the Temple building in Jerusalem. This God is the same God whom they were required to worship. Hence, the Holy Spirit can be worshipped and is fully God.

In John 14:23 Jesus says that if anyone loves Him and keeps His word, both He (Jesus) and the Father will come to him and make their home with (or in) him. If the Father is God and can make His home with or in a believer, then it isn't a stretch to conclude that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit are also God because they can make their home with or in the believer as well.

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Regarding 2 Cor. 3:18, John Gill wrote in his famous commentary the following:

by the Lord of the Spirit, and understand them of Christ, others read them, "by the Lord the Spirit", as they very well may be rendered; and so are a proof of the true and proper deity of the Holy Spirit, who is the one Jehovah with the Father and the Son. The ancient Jews owned this;

"the Spirit of the living God, (say (k) they,) היינו הבורא, this is the Creator himself, from him all spirits are produced; blessed be he, and blessed be his name, because his name is he himself, for his name is Jehovah.''

(k) R. Moses Botril in Sepher Jetzirah, p. 40. Ed. Rittangel.

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 The Holy Spirit cannot merely be the power of God since that would render many Biblical passages redundant.

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.- Acts 10:38

The phrase "with the Holy Spirit and with power" would mean "with the power and with power."

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.- Rom. 15:13

The phrase "by the power of the Holy Spirit" would mean "by the power of the power."

Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.- Zech. 4:6

The phrase "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit" would mean "Not by might, nor by power, but by power." Which would seem contradictory. Not by power but by power???