Day 13 - The Holy Spirit Is NOT a Substitute

The Holy Spirit is NOT a substitute for the Father, but He is deity.

Acts 5:1-4

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.

Back to Ananias and Sapphira—that couple who tried to convince Peter and the apostles that they were giving all of the proceeds of a sale of land to the church for their use for the saints in need. Remember them? Peter told them that they had lied to the Holy Spirit and lied to God.

Peter didn’t say that the Holy Spirit told God that they had lied to Him, and then God did something about it. Rather, Peter spoke confidently to Ananias and Sapphira that they had lied to the Holy Spirit—deity.

If you are a parent, you know that kids seem to instinctively know how to play one parent off against the other. You know what I mean. It goes something like this:

Child: “Mom, can I spend the night/go to the mall/etc. with Sarah/Michael/etc.?”

Mom: “Ask your dad. I know he wanted you to do some chores.”

Child: “Dad, Mom said I could spend the night/go to the mall/etc. with Sarah/Michael/etc. if you said it was okay. Can I?”

Dad: “Well, if your mom said it’s okay, it’s fine with me.”

Child: “Mom, Dad said it was okay for me to go.”

Mom: “If your dad said it was okay with him, it’s okay with me.”

In this scenario, and dozens more like it, the parents are manipulated because the child goes back and forth between them. That’s not how it is with the Holy Spirit and with God the Father. There is no back and forth. The Holy Spirit is deity. Everything involved in loving and obeying the Father is also applicable to the Spirit.

Are you willing to give Him control?