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This
is a controversial issue.
You will find that teachers and students of the
Bible disagree strongly about this subject.
My position is to see what all the verses of
the Bible say about it, and only that way will we find
the truth. God
is the author of the whole Bible, so therefore, it
will not contradict itself. I will readily admit there are some verses I don’t
understand, but that just means I don’t have
revelation about them yet.
Verses
quoted in this brochure will be from the King James
version, only because it is nearly the oldest and the
most well-known of the translations.
Matt.
28:19 is the great commission: “Go ye therefore and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
Those three make up what people call the
Trinity.
What
is God?
In
Deut. 6:4, it says that there is one God. That is
hotly affirmed. But one of His names is Elohim. The im
ending is plural in the Hebrew. You can see that
in seraphim and cherubim. In John 17 Jesus uses the
word one in His prayer to the Father.
Look at verse
11: “
…that they may be one even as we are one.”
And verse 21, “That they all may be one…”
And in verse 22, he repeats the underlined
phrase. Notice
in the last part Jesus said, “We are one.”
And in the same way, He prayed that we
be one. Gal.
3:20 says, “God is one.“ Gal. 3:28 says, “You
are all one in Christ Jesus”! When people are in
total agreement, we say that they are one. This is the
agreement or unity that is between the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Three
in One?
There
are some pastors and speakers I know and respect
highly who teach that God is only one Being, but is
manifested in three different ways.
For instance, he said that he is a pastor, he
is a father, and he is a husband. So they say just
like that, God is the Father, He is the Son, and He is
the Holy Spirit. But I can show you that this is not right.
Look at Matt. 3:16 -17.
This is when John baptized Jesus in the river.
(The story is told also in Mark 1:9-11, and
Luke 3:21-22.) “And Jesus, when he was baptized went
up straightway out of the water; and lo, the heavens
were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove, and lighting upon him; and lo,
a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well-pleased.” Here we see them in three
places at the same time. Jesus is in the water, the
Father’s voice is coming from heaven, and the Holy
Spirit is in the air between them, coming down like a
dove.
In
John 14:16, we read of Jesus talking to His disciples.
“I will pray the Father and He will give you another
Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.”
Here you don’t see all three, but all three
are involved. Jesus
is on the earth, praying to the Father in heaven, and
promises to send the Comforter ~ the Holy Spirit. A
very similar verse is in John 15:26.
Here
are two more verses that name all three of them: Eph. 4:4-6. “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye
are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord
(Jesus), one faith, one baptism; One God and Father of
all, who is above all, and through all, and in you
all.” Paul,
the author of Ephesians says here that there is one
Spirit, there is one Lord Jesus, and there is one God
the Father.
And the last one is II Cor. 13:14.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God, and the communion (fellowship) of the
Holy Spirit be with you all.”
I
believe that the word God is a title that
includes the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
So when I say Jesus is God, or the Holy Spirit
is God, I am not saying they are the Father.
But this gets sticky here, be-cause Isa. 9:6
calls Jesus the Everlasting Father!
In John 14:9, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve
seen the Father.”
I believe He could say that because they are so
much alike.
The
Holy Spirit
He
is an equal part of the Godhead. He is not an it.
In Rom.
8:16 and 26 (KJV) “The Spirit itself…”
That word itself means self-same. In
other places that same word is translated himself.
John 16:13-14, the Spirit is spoken of as He, numerous
times! He
has feelings, Eph. 4:30, “Grieve not the Holy
Spirit.” Heb. 10:29, (Amp) “insulting and
outraging the Spirit…” He has a voice,
Acts 8:29, “Then the Spirit said to
Phillip…” also, Acts 11:12,
13:2, 16:6-7 and many more. He has
abilities. Acts
2:4, the gift of tongues.
Rom. 8:27, He searches our hearts, and makes
intercession for us.
Rom. 8:11,
He raised Jesus from the dead and will do the
same for us. He
dictated the Bible, II Pet. 1: 20-21.
He teaches and reminds, John 14:26.
He leads into all truth and tells us things to
come, John 16:13. He is the One behind each of the
gifts, I Cor. 12:7-11.
And He decides which gift to give to each one
of us! I
Cor. 12:11.
Who’s Who?
Here
are some interesting questions:
Who is our Shepherd?
In Psa. 23:1, it is Jehovah.
But in John 10:14, it is Jesus! Who is our
Light? In
Psa. 27:1, it is Jehovah, and in John 8:12, it is
Jesus. Who is our Savior?
In II Tim. 1:10 and John 4:42 it is Jesus.
But in I Tim. 1:1, 2:3, and 4:10, it is God!
Who is the creator?
In Gen. 1:1, it is God.
But in John 1:3 and 10 (KJV!) it is Jesus!
I Tim. 3:16,
“God manifested in the flesh.” Matt. 1:23,
“Em- manuel means God with us.” Col. 2:9,
“For in him (Jesus) dwelleth all the fullness of the
Godhead (all
three) bodily.” But ~
Jesus
became totally man
Phil.
2:6-8 says He emptied himself of all His God powers
and attributes and became a human!
He operated on earth as a man.
He didn’t do any miracles until He was
baptized and the Holy Spirit came on Him, John 1:29-34
and John 2:11. He
didn’t do miracles as God, but as a man.
How else could He say that we are supposed to
do the same things?
John 14:12.
But you may argue, He knew things.
Yes, by the word of knowledge, the same gifts
that are available to us too, I Cor. 12:8.
But how could He not sin?
By the same way you and I can keep from
sinning! The
temptations (Matt. 4) were real.
If He could not have sinned, then to call them
temptations is a lie! And, He should not expect US to
be holy like He is.
I Pet. 1:16.
People
have complained that we are bringing Christ down to
our level. He
did that Himself! (Phil. 2:6-9).
And it’s been said that we are bringing
ourselves up to His level. He did that too! (Eph.
2:6). |
