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God Is Three
Grace to You.org ^ | 1997 | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

Posted on 02/05/2016 4:09:36 AM PST by metmom

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:14).

Though there is only one God, He exists in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

God is one, but He exists in three distinct Persons. We call this the Trinity, a contraction of "tri-unity," meaning "three in one." The word Trinity doesn't appear in the Bible, but God's existence as three Persons in one God is clear from Scripture.

Old Testament evidence of God's plurality can be found in the very first verse: "In the beginning God . . ." (Gen. 1:1). The Hebrew word used for God is Elohim, which is a plural noun. Isaiah 42:1 speaks of the Messiah: "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations." The Messiah says in Isaiah 48:16, "The Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit."

The New Testament is more explicit about God's triune nature. After Jesus' baptism, the Spirit of God descended upon Him as a dove, and the Father said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased" (Matt. 3:17). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are together in the same scene.

Jesus says, "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth" (John 14:16-17). Paul closes 2 Corinthians by saying, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all" (13:14). Peter declares that believers are chosen "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:2).

So God is one, but God is three. This is a profound mystery that no human illustration can adequately describe and no scientific explanation can prove. The Trinity is something we have to take on faith, because God has taught it in Scripture.

Suggestions for Prayer

Praise God that He is so far above our finite understanding, yet has chosen to reveal Himself to us.

For Further Study

Read John 14-16.

What does Jesus teach about His relationship with the Father and the Spirit? What do you learn here about the different functions or ministries of each member of the Trinity?


TOPICS: Evangelical Christian; General Discusssion; Theology; Worship
KEYWORDS: faith; grace; gty
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To: DouglasKC

Gal 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead

John 2: 19-20 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

Romans 8: 11 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.

Looks like God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead.


281 posted on 02/09/2016 5:53:02 AM PST by winodog
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To: metmom

Mind, will and emotion just like our Father in heaven


282 posted on 02/09/2016 5:56:24 AM PST by winodog
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To: Elsie

The same one who raised Salvation from the dead


283 posted on 02/09/2016 5:57:33 AM PST by winodog
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To: Elsie

Because the devil is the father of all lies and he shapes things in this world to make himself appear as God or to confuse the people so they will deny the true God.


284 posted on 02/09/2016 5:59:53 AM PST by winodog
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To: winodog
Romans 8: 11 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. Looks like God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead.

Only if you add your own interpretation to this and ignore the scriptures that clearly and absolutely say that it was God the father. The verse you quote is saying that it was the spirit of the father.

Gal 1:1 Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead),

285 posted on 02/09/2016 6:01:30 AM PST by DouglasKC
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To: Thales Miletus

The Word = communication. We cant look upon God and our eardrums would likely burst as well as the rest of these fleshy bodies if he actually spoke to us for real?


286 posted on 02/09/2016 6:02:06 AM PST by winodog
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To: DouglasKC

The spirit of the father = the Holy Ghost = the spirit of God


287 posted on 02/09/2016 6:04:45 AM PST by winodog
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To: DouglasKC

You seem to ignore scripture that clearly states they are three in one, all in one and one in all.


288 posted on 02/09/2016 6:06:09 AM PST by winodog
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To: winodog
The spirit of the father = the Holy Ghost = the spirit of God>

Absolutely...but not a separate person in a trinity. It's the interaction of God in our world.

289 posted on 02/09/2016 6:08:12 AM PST by DouglasKC
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To: Elsie
All good verses you bring up; to avoid (it appears) dealing with the GRIEVE one.

My position isn't that there is not a holy spirit. My position is that the holy spirit is God's holy spirit...his agency in this world. But it's not a separate person. So yes, we're grieving God when we grieve his interaction in our life.

290 posted on 02/09/2016 6:12:40 AM PST by DouglasKC
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To: winodog
You seem to ignore scripture that clearly states they are three in one, all in one and one in all.

There is no legitimate scripture that states this. There is a spurious addition to scripture added much later in order to justify the trinity doctrine.

291 posted on 02/09/2016 6:13:41 AM PST by DouglasKC
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To: winodog

I have no idea what this has to do with the question I posed.


292 posted on 02/09/2016 7:12:14 AM PST by Thales Miletus (Men stand up for truth, cowards hide behind ignorance.)
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To: Thales Miletus

Practice screaming in agony


293 posted on 02/09/2016 7:46:09 AM PST by MHGinTN (Democrats bait then switch; their fishy voters buy it every time.)
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To: Thales Miletus

According to the blessings Paul wrote, we humans have a body, a soul, and a spirit. If you believe God’s Word then we can go further, with a Physics lesson. If you doubt God’s Word is as He wants it for us, then I leave you in your doubts for God to deal with you further.


294 posted on 02/09/2016 7:50:46 AM PST by MHGinTN (Democrats bait then switch; their fishy voters buy it every time.)
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To: Thales Miletus
Well we know from history that Paganism preceded christianity, the Greek and Roman gods were in place long before the “Christ event.”

We know from history that Noah preceded the tower of Babel.

295 posted on 02/09/2016 8:09:50 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Thales Miletus
I am a practicing agnostic, and I am going to keep practicing till I get to Carnegie Hall.

I chuckled; then I read your tagline.

296 posted on 02/09/2016 8:11:22 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: winodog
The same one who raised Salvation from the dead

Well; if the Holy Ghost is NOT GOD; then it/he/she is a CREATED entity.

297 posted on 02/09/2016 8:12:33 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: DouglasKC
There is a spurious addition to scripture added much later in order to justify the trinity doctrine.

If this is so; why is it STILL in English translations of the Bible?

298 posted on 02/09/2016 8:13:55 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie

Quote-
What ever happened to the use of the word fortnight?

I think fancy people still use it Elsie! :)


299 posted on 02/09/2016 8:30:54 AM PST by delchiante
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To: MHGinTN

Quote- re read post #50, all of it. This time try really hard to comprehend the clear explanation.

Until the people break free from Rome’s chains, they will never see the fullness of Truth.

People would call the popes ‘antichrist’ and yet still not wonder what that says about the Pope Gregory ‘antichrist’ calendar that the world works and worships from..no testing or proving of all things is dangerous.

True blindness MHGinTN.. Vexing but prophetic..

Satan does deceive the whole world. And he does it first by having people believe today is Tiw’s day..

So subtle.. But again, prophetic. It’s why the angel in Revelation 14 says worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water..

Not sure what tiw ever did to deserve a day.. His word says to teach me to number my days, so I can attain a heart of wisdom. Not name them after things and false gods and goddesses.

And we also am told to be not conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of one’s mind..

Most haven’t gotten that far on the journey in these last days.

All for His Glory people do get led out!
Completely freeing experience!


300 posted on 02/09/2016 8:50:04 AM PST by delchiante
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