trinity – Auriesville Tubthumper

Here Comes the Judge Part 4

The Sentencing:

DEATH! YOU ARE SENTENCED TO DEATH

The Sentence: “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23, Gen 2:17)

Death – in Bible means (separation) Gen: 2:17 Man experienced the first death. (When Eve took of the tree of life it introduced death to mankind.)

Physical Death- separation of the person from the body.

Spiritual death- separation of the person from God.

Eternal separation of the un-repentant sinner to Hell.

And now there is an announcement in the court.

YOUR SENTENCE HAS BEEN PAID – YOU ARE FREE. You can go free. Your sentence has been paid by the judge. The judge has taken your place. Your offenses have been forgiven. The indictment is sealed.

OH MY!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? The Judge took my sentence. How do I deserve that? Could that be possible?

Oh yes, it is so. Jesus was put to death on the cross for you. He paid the price for your sins and the sins of all mankind.

The Judge paid the sentence. Amazing!!!

The Miracle “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) This is Justification, The Gift of God is Eternal Life.

The nature of this miracle, it is free… “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 3:24)– “Justified Freely”- without a cause. Because of his Holy grace.

The persons in the miracle, He for you. – God sent forth… “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” (Romans 3:25) This word PROPITIATION is very important. It’s a Biblical word that we don’t often use in our vocabulary. It means that an atonement has been made through a sacrifice of blood. A sacrifice of Christs blood and His death on the cross has saved us.

Satan- fought it
Father – wrought it (shaped, fashioned, hammered out)
Holy Spirit- taught it 1 – 3 is the Justification miracle.
Son- bought it

See the trinity at work?

5. Rich Man (Nicodemus) – sought it

6. Thief on the cross- caught it

7. I’ve Got it!

Saved! Saved! Saved!

The source of the miracle (3:24,28) Freely by His grace (v. 24) By faith (v.28) Without the deeds of the law (v. 28)

The scope of the miracle- “Unto All”- unlimited (Rom. 3:22,29- John 3:16) “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him shall not parish but have everlasting life.”

The Bestowal of this miracle – limited (Rom. 3:22,26) Only to those that believe.

Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (v24) God does this freely because of His grace and love for me, I am an undeserving sinner and I have been made an heir of His glorious kingdom to spend eternity in His glorious presence in the fullness of joy and pleasure for evermore. Amen!

If you have never, as of yet understood “Justification.” Please understand it now. Justification is a one-time act of God and an extremely important doctrine. Sanctification is a continual process until you are taken to be with the Lord. We will talk Sanctification another time. Understand this Justification by Faith Alone doctrine first.

Because man’s condition was totally ruined by sin, salvation is based on a truly remarkable principle. We are justified freely by His grace. Pay close attention to the words “justified,” “freely” and “grace,” those three words summarize how God meets ruined man’s needs.

“Justification is the legal and formal acquittal from guilt by God as the Judge, and the pronouncement of the believing sinner as righteous in His sight. This verb is in the present and continuous sense and shows a constant process of justification in the succession of all who believe and are justified.” Can you see the difference between being forgiven and being justified? When you are saved you can plead not guilty and your case is dismissed. The Lord Jesus has fully discharged all our obligations so there is no legal ground for charges to be pressed on us anymore. We have a perfect standing before God and are fully acceptable in His sight. And we are justified freely, he does not charge us anything. “By His grace.” Just to be clear… Grace is unmerited favor. It is getting something we do not deserve. How remarkable!!!

I think it’s important to clarify this as well.

Salvation is free, but it is not cheap. It cost God his only begotten son and it cost Jesus the agony of dying on the cross. The blood Christ shed for us is very precious.

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1 Peter 1: 18-19) The cost of Calvary is far beyond any human comprehension. It is!

The witnesses of this miracle. “Witnessed by the law and the prophets.” (Rom. 3:21) It is totally scriptural. “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27) “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise” (Heb. 11:39) “Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you.” (1 Pet. 1:10) – Prophesied of the grace.

The Legal accomplishments of the miracle – To reconcile God’s justice and God’s mercy by a mediator or bridge. We said it before, God set forth Christ to be a propitiation. (Romans 3:25) The sinner must be condemned, God wants to save the sinner.

The harmony between law and grace can be seen in the miracle. Do we need to keep the law? Yes, The Law cannot justify us but by following it but the Law can bring us to despair and cause us to take Gods alternative of committing ourselves to faith in Christ. “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” (Romans 3:31)

The Bible is not the record of man searching after God, but it’s the record of God searching after man.

The judge died for the defendants.

It’s a miracle- The just dying for the unjust.

The three major Imputations of the Bible. Impute= add to 1. Adams sin was Imputed to the human race. 2. My sin and yours was Imputed to Jesus Christ. 3. God’s Righteousness was Imputed to all Believers.

The miracle of Justification is that we are sinners and Christ died for us. We are justified with His blood.

Because of Justification we have Hope. Our hope concerns the future. Something good in the future, something possible in the future- the coming again of Jesus Christ. That is our hope.

(Romans 5:6-11) “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”

Back in the days of Moses the High Priest went to the Holy of Holies once a year. Because of Justification we have access to the Throne of God immediately. We don’t need to wait. I don’t need to provide a sacrifice. My sacrifice was already offered by the savior Jesus Christ.

Let me be clear however,

Justification is only for “him which believeth in Jesus.” I cannot say that strong enough. Please hear me…

God justifies only those who believe in Jesus. Everyone believes in something and everyone serves someone. THE ONLY BELIEF THAT COUNTS WITH GOD IS BELIEF IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

I have the invitation. You have the invitation. If you haven’t accepted it do it now.

Don’t ever forget the Judge paid your fine. The Judge took your punishment. It is the only Judge that will ever do that for you. Enter the Kingdom. Tell Jesus you believe, you understand you are sinner and want to be saved by his grace. Ask Him into your heart to save you from the chains of Hell.

God bless you all in the pursuit of Him,

The Tubthumper

You must view God in 3-D, part 5

CONCLUSION

You likely have sung or heard this doxology:

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below, Praise Him above, ye heavenly host, Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”

You may also be familiar with this:

“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy ghost, As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, World without end, Amen.”

Both of these songs are about the Trinity. By knowing the true nature of the Trinity and by intimately relating to each person and the Godhead one can deepen the spiritual walk and increase faith in Christ. Knowledge and understanding of the nature of God and theological issues like this will gradually wean one from the milk of the word and help in the partaking of the meat.

There are some false views and mistakes many make regarding the Trinity. One big mistake people make is to buy into the theory of “tri-theism”. Tri-theism maintains that the Trinity is made up of three separate gods. The theory is these three gods cooperate with one another but are all separate. Do not get caught up in this theory. It is false.

Another theory people might buy into is the theory of “modalism”. Those that lean to this kind of thinking believe there is one God that reveals himself through using three different modes. This is kind of like having a climate system on your care that can use three modes, the heating mode, the cooling mode or the vent mode. Just turn the switch. So they God turns the Father switch on when he is in Father mood or maybe he feels today like a ghost so he switches on the Spirit mode and then when He feels like it He changes to the mode of the Son. Don’t get caught up in modalism. This is false teaching and both “tri-theism” and “modalism” are unscriptural.

How does scripture describe the Trinity?

1) The Bible says the Father is God. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44) “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7) “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” (1 Peter 1:2)

2) The Bible says the Son is God. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) In the beginning was the Word, [Christ] and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28) “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13) “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” (Hebrews 1:8)

3) The Bible says the Spirit is God. “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 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.” (Acts 5:3-4) “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14)

I am sure you may be familiar with this beautiful hymn:

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,

Early in the morning, our song shall rise to Thee;

Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty,

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.

The author of that hymn is Reginald Hernber and I don’t think anyone could have put the doctrine of the Trinity in a better form.

They are All Equally God and they are All Divine.

The doctrine of the Trinity can be best defined this way, “First, the Bible teaches there is only one God and second, the Bible teaches there are three distinct persons called God, namely the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Lastly and most importantly, the three persons; The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are the one God.”^[1]

There is only one deity and that one deity is sacred and holy and eternal. There are three persons that make up the one deity. As mentioned earlier the doctrine of the Trinity cannot be figured out through human wisdom and knowledge. It can only be revealed by the truth of the word through scripture. We first find the Trinity in the pages of the Old Testament and later we find it in the New Testament where the doctrine becomes fully revealed. Three distinct personalities show up along with the relationship to each and they all are unified to show the “three in one” dynamics.^[2]

Regarding deity they are all equal. (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.) They are all equally God. Barry Davis wrote, “This Jesus who identifies Himself as “I AM” is equal with God because He is God. “I AM” is eternal with God.”1

The whole issue can be summed up with the words of William Edwin Boardman in his book The Higher Christian Life, where he said, “The Father is all the fullness of the Godhead invisible, (John 1:18); the Son is all the fullness of the Godhead manifested, (John 1:4-18); and the Spirit is all the fullness of the Godhead acting immediately upon the creature. (1 Corinthians 2: 9-10) And therein lays “The Deity of Three.”

Jesus had a favorite way of referring to Himself. It was “The Son of Man”. That title is what He preferred, however, when He wanted to be very clear that He was the same as God the Father and the Holy Spirit he used a different term so as to demonstrate his sovereignty and His deity. “I AM…I AM”. He is claiming to be ‘The God’, the self-existent one, He is claiming to be the God identified with the Old Testament and He is claiming to be ‘your God’. He is my God! The great “I AM…I AM,” Lord and Master of all.

He is “One God and Father of all, who [is] above all, and through all, and in you all,” Ephesians 4:6.

I will conclude with 2 Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”

Today is Good Friday; please enjoy the Resurrection Sunday in Him. He is risen!

Amen and Amen,

“The Tubthumper”

Click here to jump to :

PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4

[1] Beckwith, The Trinity.

[2] Max Robert Miller, The Godhead as It Relates to the Three Divine Personalities of Deity, the Trinity, Being God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, Thereby Making Special Identification of These Three Persons and Especially to the Son and His Relations in the Trinity (Amridge University, ALabama: http://p2048-www.liberty.edu.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/docview/303230576?accountid=12085-Dissertation/Thesis, (accessed March 1, 2013), 1981).

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).