deity – Auriesville Tubthumper

You Must View God in 3-D, Part 4

THE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Invisible force of power cannot be compared to an individual person of deity.

Many have argued that the Holy Spirit is simply an invisible force of the power of the Almighty God. They argue that the Holy Spirit has no deity and is “not a person” and that it is an impersonal force God uses to complete His will. The Bible teaches however, the Holy Spirit is a person. A person is a self-conscious and rational being. In order to qualify as a person there needs to be certain components present such as knowing, thinking and communicating. Let us look at these passages of scripture:

“And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” (John 16:8) He is a personal pronoun indicating a person who is communicating.

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 8:13) Guide you into all truth whatsoever he shall hear indicates knowing and thinking and speak and shew is communicating.

“As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” (Acts 13:2) The Holy Ghost said, indicating communication. “I”, is a first person pronoun indicating a person. In these passages the Holy Spirit is demonstrating those traits of a person. By communicating, thinking and knowing, and being described with personal pronouns, the Holy Spirit is acting as a self-conscious person.^[1]

The Five-fold Indication of the Deity of the Holy Spirit.

The scriptures clearly assert the deity of the Holy Spirit in five ways.

First, divine names were given to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is called God as Ananias is talking in Acts 5 verse 4, “Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.” The Spirit is also called Lord in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” In the Lord’s Day, the title ‘Lord’ as used of Christ was applicable only to the Deity, to God. Therefore this reference is applicable to the Deity.

Second, the Holy Spirit is in possession of divine attributes. Hebrews 9:14 indicates He is eternal in His nature. Psalms 139:7-10 speaks to the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:35 speaks to how the Holy Spirit is omnipotent and 1 Corinthians 2:10 and 11 speaks to the omniscient Holy Spirit through the trinity.

Third, the Divine works are ascribed to the Holy Spirit. Genesis 1:2 and Psalms 104:30 give indication to the divine works in creation. Regeneration is indicated in Job 33:4, “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” Romans 8:11 brings out the Holy Spirits involvement in the resurrection, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

Fourth, the name of the Holy Spirit gets associated with the Father and the Son. In Baptism there is the personality of the Spirit. Baptism is done in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. When it comes to the distribution of Spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit is on equal footing with the Father and the Son. “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

Fifth and last, some scripture passages in the Old Testament referring to God are also in the New Testament referring to the Holy Spirit. Compare Isaiah 6:8-10 with Acts 28:25-27 and compare Exodus 16:7 with Hebrews 3:7-9.^[2]

R.A. Torrey writes, “To sum it all up, by the ascription of all the distinctively Divine attributes, and several distinctly Divine works, by referring statements which in the Old testament clearly name Jehovah, the Lord, or God as their subject to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, by coupling the name of the Holy Spirit with that of God in a way that would be impossible to couple that of any finite being with that of Deity, by plainly calling the Holy Spirit God, in all these unmistakable ways, God in His own Word distinctly proclaims that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person.”^[3]

Come back for the conclusion in the next post. Click here for the CONCLUSION.

God bless your day today,

“The Tubthumper”

Click Here to Jump to Part 1, here for Part 2, here for Part 3

[1] Francis J. Beckwith, The Trinity, http://www.answering-islam.org/Trinity/beckwith.html (accessed March 1, 2013).

[2] Evans, The Great Doctrines of the Bible.

[3] R.A.Torrey, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit (New York, NY: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1910), 29.

You Must View God in 3-D, Part 3

The “I AM…I AM” assertion.

When we read the Bible in its entirety we can see there is no doubt Jesus is claiming full equality with the other members of the Godhead. Most specifically one saying speaks volumes for His deity and that saying is “I AM… I AM” which is an implication that He is the one and only God. That He is the self-existent one, identifying Himself with the Old Testament deity, “I am the Jehovah of the Old Testament”.

To be very clear it is important to point out the relationship to this particular saying and the deity of Christ. This saying is clearly showing Christ’s deity and the fact that He is the one God. Leon Morris said, “John’s use of the expression is distinctive. We get nothing like it anywhere else in the New Testament (except for a handful of passages in the synoptics); thus we must recognize that John is using the hallowed expression to bring out the truth that his Master was one with a special relationship to the Heavenly Father, a relationship in which he must be thought of as partaking in the nature of deity, and a relationship which does not compromise the truth that there is but one God.^[1]

One of the most powerful claims Jesus made during His life was “Before Abraham was I AM”. That statement relates back to the burning bush incident with Moses in Exodus 3:13, “And Moses said unto God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, what [is] his name? What shall I say unto them?” What we see here is Moses asking God, “What is your name?” And then we see the answer in verse 14, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” So He tells Moses, I AM who I AM. God wants him to tell them His name is “I AM”. When Jesus used this name He used the name of the one and only God, the true sovereign Lord. Jesus was making it very clear. He was saying, “Let me be clear, I am the one and only I AM”. So we see that Jesus is naming Himself the very name of God and the Jew’s knew it. They recognized the language. When they heard it they rejected the claim and picked up rocks and they tried to stone Him.

M.M. Ninan writes, “You see in those few words He said, “Ok folks, remember Moses out there in the wilderness? Remember the burning bush? Remember that God? Remember the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Remember the God who brought you out of Egypt and out of slavery? Remember the God who gave you this land and destroyed all your enemies? Remember the God who said it is punishable by death to claim to be Him? Remember the God who created the entire universe as well as you? Remember the God who says He is the only God? Well, guess what? That is the God I am. That is the God I am claiming to be. No doubts, no questions, no confusion, I AM.”^[2]

Morris in his book, “Jesus is the Christ” tells us that Jesus was using language that accords with deity. He writes “I AM, mostly represents the speech of the heavenly Father or of the Son. The overtones of deity that we find in its use in the Old Testament are not lost when we move to the New.”^[3] Scripture showing this style of deity is found in John 8:18, “I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.”

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This verse emphasizes the preexistence of Jesus. Philippians 2:6 shows that Jesus possessed all the attributes of God which includes preexistence.

To further affirm Christ’s deity Colossians 2:9 says, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” So in Him the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. John 10:30 says, “I and [my] Father are one.”

John 17:5 says, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” Therefore, He had glory with the Father before the world began.

He is the great “I AM”. He is fully God in every respect. Jesus is equal with God; He is eternal with God; He is essential with God; He is God! He is everything.”^[4]

The deity of Christ is confirmed. Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Some students of John’s Gospel believe that our Lord’s words in John 4: 26 and 8:24, 28, 58, as well as 13:19 and 18:5-6 are all “theologically loaded” and affirm His deity as the great “I AM.”^[5]

He is the great “I Am…I AM”.

Continue to the next post and we will review the Holy Spirit in respect of Deity.

Have a Godly day,

“The Tubthumper”

Click here to go back to PART 1 or Here to go back to PART 2

[1] Leon Morris, Jesus Is the Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1989), 125.

[2] M.M. Ninan, “I AM”, Symbols Jesus Used to Explain Himself (Glendale, Wisconsin: Global Publishers, 2005), 9.

[3] Morris, Jesus Is the Christ, 109.

[4] Barry Davis, The Claims of Christ: What Jesus Had to Say about Himself (Bloomington, IN: Writers Club Press, 2001), 11.

[5] Warren Wiersbe, Jesus in the Present Tense: The I AM Statements of Christ (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2011), 11.

You Must View God in 3-D, Part 2

We are referring to 3 in Deity rather than a 3 dimensional perspective in the graphics sense. The 3 dimensions we are looking at are The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and whether all three share in the deity of the Godhead.

THE DEITY OF GOD THE FATHER

There is only one God and we are to worship only one God. The Shema of Deuteronomy Chapter 6 gives a very clear indication to the oneness of God and in the New Testament James 2:19 shows us we are to believe in one God and that the devil believes it and trembles. Erickson says, “The rejection of polytheism runs throughout the Old Testament. God repeatedly demonstrates his superiority to other claimants to deity.”^[1] The deity of the first part of the Trinity is not often in dispute and the Bible clearly outlines this.

The apostle Paul wants us to have a spiritual perception regarding the deity of God when he mentioned several times that “All is of God” (I Corinthians 11:12; 2 Corinthians 5:18; Romans 11:36). Also when he is declaring that the saving is done only by the “power for salvation” which is God’s power. (Romans 1:16). Also while Paul is emphasizing that God is, “Operating all, in accordance with the council of His will.”^[2] (Ephesians 1:11)

The actual word for “Deity” shows up only once in the Greek transcripts. It showed up in Colossians 2:9 in relation to the compliment of Deity dwelling in the body of Christ. “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” The word can be defined as “that which pertains to God”, to express “the godliness of God” and to attribute to Him the Glory and honor that He deserves. We need to give God the glory He is due and remember always that the scriptures were emphatic about putting God first in our life and none other. ”“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”^[3]

John 4:24 says, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” We have the scriptures telling us God is a “Spirit”. The many ways God is described in His “Spiritual nature” indicates God to be the “absolute Power and Life giver.”^[4]

“For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light,” Psalm 36:9 and “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself,” John 5:26. God is the living God in Spirit and He possesses life within himself and through the Son.

God is the fully living power in Spirit from which all things have come to exist, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring,” Acts 17:28. We cannot see God, no one has ever seen God and no one will ever see God. We find this evident in 1 Timothy 6:16 where it says, “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom [be] honour and power everlasting. Amen.”

It says in Psalm 99:2-3, “The Lord is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.” He is Holy, He is exalted and He is separated from all other creation and sin. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones,” Isaiah 57:15. He is the high and lofty one and his name is Holy. He lives in a Holy place and this Holiness transcends His deity.^[5]

Anyone that would deny God the glory he deserves for his supremacy and His sovereignty should turn to Isaiah 40:25 and Isaiah 45:5, “Then to whom will ye liken Me, and whose equal will I be? Saying is the Holy One … I am Yahweh Alueim, and there is none else.”^[6]

THE DEITY OF CHRIST THE SON

Scriptural Evidence

It is likely the best reference to Christ’s deity in the scriptures is Philippians 2: 5-11, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Jesus was identified as God however He does have a subordinate relationship to the Father which is a concept we all need to come to grips with.

The “First and the Last” the “Alpha and the Omega”, as the apostle John called both Jesus and God equates Jesus with God. (Revelation 22:13)

Mark 2:5-7 affirms Christ’s deity, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 and “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, [even] in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” These two passages can attest to the deity of Christ and could not possibly have been taught any better, stronger or more explicitly.^[7] And what about Philippians 2:6, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,” could it be any clearer than this?

The apostles in the New Testament were also referring to the Old Testament when they were referring to the Angel of the Covenant and they addressed the glorious being as Jehovah to whom holds the highest credibility of deity and is worshipped by mankind. Comparing the New Testament to the Old Testament affirms that the Son (Christ) was and is, in fact God.^[8]

What about the “I AM” claims of Christ? Continue to the next post as we continue on the Deity of Christ and then move on to the Holy Spirit.

Click here to go to the next post. or here for Part 1.

God Bless you and yours,

“The Tubthumper”

[1] Ibid.

[2] John Henry Essex, The Deity of God: Part One, the Only True God, concordant.org/expohtml/GodAndChrist/The DeityOfGod1.html (accessed March 8, 2013).

[3] Ibid.

[4] Horton and Horton, The Portable Seminary, 91.93.

[5] Ibid., 92.

[6] John Henry Essex, The Deity of God: Part One, the Only True God, concordant.org/expohtml/GodAndChrist/The DeityOfGod1.html (accessed March 8, 2013).

[7] Smith, Of the Principles of Revealed Religion; 1st of the Holy Trinity: A Comprehensive View of the Leading and Most Important Principles of Natural and Revealed Religion: Digested in Such Order as to Present to the Pious and Reflecting Mind, a Basis for the Superstructure of the Entire System of the Doctrines of the Gospel.

[8] Ibid.

You Must View God in 3-D

Three in Deity, that is…not in a 3-D movie. This series of posts will address the question of deity among the three persons of the Trinity. Each part of the trinity will be examined on its own and also as a body of one. It is necessary to see the Triune God as one being yet consisting of three persons. It is important for Christians to study this theological mystery to know who to worship, who to pray to and who to believe in. Some think the Trinity is simply a spiritual power that God uses to complete His will. These posts will serve to repudiate that theory.

We all know that not everyone will believe everything and some need more facts than others while still there are others that no amount of facts will be enough. With that said; going forward these posts will assume the reader believes the Holy Bible to be the inerrant and inspired word of God and was authored by God Himself. The existence of God and the doctrine of the trinity are asserted and declared throughout the testimony of the Bible. It is for this reason the belief in the Bible must be first and foremost.

William Evans wrote, “The doctrine of the Trinity is, in its last analysis, a deep mystery that cannot be fathomed by the finite mind. That it is taught in the Scripture, however, there can be no reasonable doubt. It is a doctrine to be believed even though it cannot be thoroughly understood.”[1]

It is also necessary to understand there is a subordination aspect to the Trinity in that the Son is subordinate to the Father and the Holy Spirit is subordinate to the Son and the Father. This is not a topic to be covered in this thread and I bring it up to separate the subject of equality from deity. Each part of the Trinity is divine but not in every sense equal.

We as mere mortals can never completely understand the origins of God or the mystery of the Trinity. With tongue in cheek I enjoy the words of a writer from many years ago that mentioned the doctrine of the trinity justly excites our wonder, and confounds the imbecility of our minds.”[2] That was well said!

When we think of the doctrine of God we must also think of the Trinity. The word Trinity is not a Biblical word but it is used by mankind and has been used for ages to describe the magnificent three part manifestation of our one true God as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The word trinity is indicating that God is one being but has three co-existing persons in the Godhead of the Father, the crucified Son and the Holy Spirit. The word ‘person’ as used to describe the parts of the Trinity, is not used in the same context as a human person. It is however, used to describe the personal relationship between the triune Godhead and signifies the loving relationship between them.[3]

There is a passage in scripture that documents the Trinity pretty well and it is 1 John 5:7, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” This is surely a clear indication to the three-in-one aspect of the Trinity. It is in the Gospel of John that the most evidence of the Trinity is found. We find it in the passages of John 1:33-34; 14:16, 26; 16:13-15; 20: 21-22. Erickson noted an observation by George Henry that illuminated the inter-dynamics of three. “The son is sent by the Father (14:24) and comes forth from Him. (16:28) The Spirit is given by the Father (14:16), sent from the Father (14:26) and proceeds from the Father. (15:26) Yet the Son is closely involved in the coming of the Spirit: he prays for his coming (14:16); the Father sends the Spirit in the Son’s name (14:26); the Son will send the Spirit from the Father (15:26); the Son must go away so that he can send the Spirit (16:7). The Spirits ministry is understood as a continuation and elaboration of that of the Son. He will bring to remembrance what the Son has said (14:26): he will bear witness to the Son (15:26); he will declare what he hears from the Son, this glorifying the Son (16:13-14).”[4]

The doctrine of the Trinity is not specifically mentioned in scripture, however, there are enough suggestions of the deity and the unity of the three that it is understandable why the church came up with the doctrine and we can also deduct they were correct in developing it.

We are not holding onto this doctrine because it presents itself to us or we understand it. We hold onto the Trinity because God through His revelation is showing us what He is like. We want to be like Him. Try to explain it, and you’ll lose your mind; But try to deny it, and you’ll lose your soul.

In the next post will be an examination of the deity of the three beginning with the Father. Click here to go to PART 2.

Have a Godly day,

“The Tubthumper”

[1] William Evans, The Great Doctrines of the Bible (Chicago: Charles Aldarondo, Charles Franks, [1950?]).

[2] Samuel Stanhope Smith, Of the Principles of Revealed Religion; 1st of the Holy Trinity: A Comprehensive View of the Leading and Most Important Principles of Natural and Revealed Religion: Digested in Such Order as to Present to the Pious and Reflecting Mind, a Basis for the Superstructure of the Entire System of the Doctrines of the Gospel. (New Brunswick, NJ, US: Deare & Myer, viii, 1815).

[3] David Horton and Ryan Horton, eds., The Portable Seminary (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House, 2006), 93.

[4] Millard J. Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine: Second Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Acedemic of Baker Book House, 2004).