F
FreeGrace
Guest
SB,
Earlier I said,
I have never expressed it differently than this.
A further point of clarification is that God is not one person, the Father, with Jesus as a creation and the Holy Spirit is a force (Jehovah Witnesses). Neither is He one person who took three consecutive forms, i.e., the Father, became the Son, who became the Holy Spirit. Nor is God the divine nature of the Son (where Jesus had a human nature perceived as the Son and a divine nature perceived as the Father (Oneness theology).
Nor is the Trinity an office held by three separate Gods (Mormonism).
The word "person" is used to describe the three members of the Godhead because the word "person" is appropriate. A person is self aware, can speak, love, hate, refer to you and me. Each of the three persons in the Trinity demonstrate these qualities.
But you have ignored such explanations, as you have ignored all of the arguments presented to you. You have also ignored the answers given to the handful of scriptures you pose.
The word "trinity" does not need to be used in the Bible in order for it to be biblical. The expression "immaculate conception" is a common expression, yet we do not find that expression in scripture. I believe you accept this doctrine.
To establish the doctrine of the trinity biblically we need to do two things. We first must show that there is only one God. Then, you observe in scripture that each of the persons of the trinity (Godhead) is called God, each creates, each was involved in Jesus' resurrection, each indwells, each has always existed, etc. Therefore, we see two concepts, which may at first seem contradictory, but which are both clearly taught in scripture. God is one, but the one God is in three simultaneous persons.
Please notice also that the idea of a composite unity is not a foreign concept to the Bible. After all, man and wife are said to become one flesh. This idea of a composite unity of persons is spoken of by God early in Genesis (Genesis 2:24).
Let me give you a verse to consider that you perhaps have not noticed before on this - John 3:11. (Who is the "we" here?)
John 3:11, 12 "I assure you: We speak what We know and We testify to what We have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven?"
(The"we" here could not be referring to His dicsiples. It was very early in His ministry, and His disicples were speaking about nothing.)
Then consider John 16:13-15 - When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. Everything the Father has is Mine. This is why I told you that He takes from what is Mine and will declare it to you.
(Think about it. Please re-read the above text. Does the Father have anything, anything at all that is not the Son's? Answer - no. The interrelationship of the 3 members of the Godhead are explained here.)
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus told His disciples to baptize those who believed "in the name" (EIS TO ONOMA) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But "name" is singular. One God. Three persons.
In Luke 3:21, 22 the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at His baptism in the form of a dove, and the Father spoke to Him, calling Him His beloved Son.
In 2 Corinthians 13:13 all three members of the Godhead are mentioned. But if we acknowledge the deity of Christ, then the next step to acknowledging the deity of the holy Spirit as well is a relatively small one. IMO, the deity of Christ is crucial. Because if we do not accept that Jesus Christ is God, then He has no power to save us. If we do not accept Him as who He claimed to be, then we are still in our sins.
The Trinity is simply the term used to express the biblical truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - these Three Persons being truly distinct one from another. Thus, in the words of the Athanasian Creed: "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God."
You will find this concept expressed both in Catholic and Protestant creeds. By Greek Orthodox and Baptists. By Pentecostal, reformed, Arminian, anabaptists and all non-cultic Christianity.
You can establish by inductive reasoning the self-existence of a personal First Cause which is distinct from matter and from the human mind. Just common sense. Hence, by definition of what must be true about any First Cause, the human mind can never fully understand God's origin or nature of existence.
OK, enough of this. In my next post I'll givea little historical background regarding the trinity. I imagine you'll ignore it, but I'll do it anyway.
FG
Earlier I said,
God is a trinity of persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the same person as the Son; the Son is not the same person as the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is not the same person as Father. They are not three gods and not three beings. They are three distinct persons; yet, they are all the one God. Each has a will, can speak, can love, etc., and these are demonstrations of personhood. They are in absolute perfect harmony consisting of one substance. They are coeternal, coequal, and copowerful. If any one of the three were removed, there would be no God.
Jesus, the Son, is one person with two natures: Divine and Human. This is called the Hypostatic Union. The Holy Spirit is also divine in nature and is self aware, the third person of the Trinity.
There is, though, an apparent separation of some functions among the members of the Godhead. For example, the Father chooses who will be saved (Ephesians 1:4); the Son redeems them (Ephesians 1:7); and the Holy Spirit seals them, (Ephesians 1:13).
I have never expressed it differently than this.
A further point of clarification is that God is not one person, the Father, with Jesus as a creation and the Holy Spirit is a force (Jehovah Witnesses). Neither is He one person who took three consecutive forms, i.e., the Father, became the Son, who became the Holy Spirit. Nor is God the divine nature of the Son (where Jesus had a human nature perceived as the Son and a divine nature perceived as the Father (Oneness theology).
Nor is the Trinity an office held by three separate Gods (Mormonism).
The word "person" is used to describe the three members of the Godhead because the word "person" is appropriate. A person is self aware, can speak, love, hate, refer to you and me. Each of the three persons in the Trinity demonstrate these qualities.
But you have ignored such explanations, as you have ignored all of the arguments presented to you. You have also ignored the answers given to the handful of scriptures you pose.
The word "trinity" does not need to be used in the Bible in order for it to be biblical. The expression "immaculate conception" is a common expression, yet we do not find that expression in scripture. I believe you accept this doctrine.
To establish the doctrine of the trinity biblically we need to do two things. We first must show that there is only one God. Then, you observe in scripture that each of the persons of the trinity (Godhead) is called God, each creates, each was involved in Jesus' resurrection, each indwells, each has always existed, etc. Therefore, we see two concepts, which may at first seem contradictory, but which are both clearly taught in scripture. God is one, but the one God is in three simultaneous persons.
Please notice also that the idea of a composite unity is not a foreign concept to the Bible. After all, man and wife are said to become one flesh. This idea of a composite unity of persons is spoken of by God early in Genesis (Genesis 2:24).
Let me give you a verse to consider that you perhaps have not noticed before on this - John 3:11. (Who is the "we" here?)
John 3:11, 12 "I assure you: We speak what We know and We testify to what We have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven?"
(The"we" here could not be referring to His dicsiples. It was very early in His ministry, and His disicples were speaking about nothing.)
Then consider John 16:13-15 - When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. Everything the Father has is Mine. This is why I told you that He takes from what is Mine and will declare it to you.
(Think about it. Please re-read the above text. Does the Father have anything, anything at all that is not the Son's? Answer - no. The interrelationship of the 3 members of the Godhead are explained here.)
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus told His disciples to baptize those who believed "in the name" (EIS TO ONOMA) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But "name" is singular. One God. Three persons.
In Luke 3:21, 22 the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at His baptism in the form of a dove, and the Father spoke to Him, calling Him His beloved Son.
In 2 Corinthians 13:13 all three members of the Godhead are mentioned. But if we acknowledge the deity of Christ, then the next step to acknowledging the deity of the holy Spirit as well is a relatively small one. IMO, the deity of Christ is crucial. Because if we do not accept that Jesus Christ is God, then He has no power to save us. If we do not accept Him as who He claimed to be, then we are still in our sins.
The Trinity is simply the term used to express the biblical truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - these Three Persons being truly distinct one from another. Thus, in the words of the Athanasian Creed: "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God."
You will find this concept expressed both in Catholic and Protestant creeds. By Greek Orthodox and Baptists. By Pentecostal, reformed, Arminian, anabaptists and all non-cultic Christianity.
You can establish by inductive reasoning the self-existence of a personal First Cause which is distinct from matter and from the human mind. Just common sense. Hence, by definition of what must be true about any First Cause, the human mind can never fully understand God's origin or nature of existence.
OK, enough of this. In my next post I'll givea little historical background regarding the trinity. I imagine you'll ignore it, but I'll do it anyway.
FG