God Is Three

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

[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?

[metmom]

Studying God’s Word ping

[Safrguns]

>>> 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.

I once asked God to help me explain Him in this regard because it just didn’t make any sense to those I was trying to reach.

In my prayer, I asked “How am I supposed to explain You to others if I cannot understand myself?”

God’s answer was “Explain yourself... you were created in my Image.”

[reed13k]

I struggle with understanding the Trinity - but then that shouldn’t be suprising who can truly understand the magneficeince of God.

What confuses me most is how can the God know and not know. Christ said only the Father knew what was in the book of life. But then also confusing is that Christ will sit on the right side of God...which makes it sound to my feeble mind as though it is a seperate entity.

Course I also don’t understand 3 days/nights to rise if he died on friday as the sabbath approached and rose on Sunday there are only 2 nights between - not 3. Which makes me think he really rose on Monday....

[FamiliarFace]

The way the Jewish people counted days back then was that a day began at sundown one day and ended at sundown. So Thursday sundown began Day 1. This is the day when Jesus was crucified and died, Good Friday.

Day 2 was from sundown on Friday through sundown on Saturday, when He was buried.

Day 3 was from sundown on Saturday through sundown on Sunday, the day he arose from the dead.

[YouGoTexasGirl]

Finding a good local Bible Study...or I am sure libraries have them too, it a great way to learn more about the Bible. Also, websites like CBN have Bible courses one can take on line for free.....

Unfortunately, I did not join a Bible Study until late 50’s and am glad The Lord let me live long enough to REALLY know and learn about Him!! Taking a Holy Spirit course really makes the triune God make sense on who does what!!

Blessings...

[YouGoTexasGirl]

I think this would be a GREAT billboard on roads and in church educational buildings at Easter as many (including me for a long time) didn’t understand Jewish writings and this baffled me for decades.

After a trip to Israel, one understands much more!

[ScottfromNJ]

“Christ will sit on the right side of God”

And then the Son will be subject to his Father God:

1 Corinthians 15:28 -

“And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject “be under obedience” unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”

[rjsimmon]

What confuses me most is how can the God know and not know. Christ said only the Father knew what was in the book of life. But then also confusing is that Christ will sit on the right side of God...which makes it sound to my feeble mind as though it is a seperate entity.

Remember that Christ was both 100% God and 100% Man. The divine did not reveal to the corporeal all that was, only what was needed.

Course I also don't understand 3 days/nights to rise if he died on friday as the sabbath approached and rose on Sunday there are only 2 nights between - not 3. Which makes me think he really rose on Monday....

A few things are happening here. The differences written in the Gospels were written from two aspects: 1 Gospel from Hebrew reckoning and 1 from Roman reckoning. To the Jews, any part of a day was considered a whole day. To the Romans, after nightfall, it was a new day. Further, the Sabbath is Saturday and at the time of the Passover there was a special or "double" Sabbath (Friday & Saturday), meaning Christ was most-likely crucified on a Thursday.

[DungeonMaster]

Phil 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

[Mom MD]

While Christ was on Earth He voluntarily limited himself to a human body and being subject to space/time. He returned to full glory after His resurrection. During the time on earth he was voluntarily limited and that’s why tbe Father would know some things He didn’t

[BereanBrain]

This seems to be cut/pasted theology (not a good idea).

First off, there is a BIG difference between saying there is a Godhead (Trinity) and “God is Three”. The second is a DIRECT contradiction of the Bible.

“Hear O Israel, your God is One”.

This is why the Trinity is difficult to grasp....But it’s NOT a mystery - Read Romans 1:20 - which (I am paraphrasing here) - says that ANYTHING you want to know about God you can find out by looking at the creation - even the eternal nature of the Godhead.

This is a powerful verse. If you take it as truth - which I do, it says you can learn about the nature of the Godhead (Trinity) by looking at creation.

I have done that. It’s very instructive, and true. Instead of me giving examples, I leave it to readers to reflect on examples from creation.

[Chainmail]

Obviously, God is far beyond our ability to understand. He exists beyond our physical box of time and dimension and mass and energy.

But my wife came up with this simple method to understand the Trinity: water. Water exists in three states; solid ice, liquid water, and vapor-steam. It is three distinct conditions based on temperature and pressure but it is all still water.

[chesley]

Now, I am a baptized Christian. I believe in the Trinity. And if the Bible says it, I'm willing to believe it.

I can understand looking at creation and understanding the nature of God from the perspective of His righteousness and desires for mankind.

But try as I might, I do not see how the concept of “the Trinity” can be derived therefrom. Possibly my sinful natural man is interfering with my understanding, but, and this is a serious request, if you could share your train of thought to arrive at this conclusion, it would help me out.

Thanks

[BereanBrain]

Romans 1:20 New International Version (NIV)

20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Consider when God created man, he created him in His own image.
Man is a being that is three-in-one.
Man has a body - a soul - and a spirit.
However, post Adam (the Fall), all mankind is born spiritually dead. That is what God meant when he said “in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die”.
What died in Adam as his spirit, and this causes eternal separation from God.
But a man can be “born again” - that is, his spirit is revived, and with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, you undergo a process in which your spirit is moved toward what it should be.

Note: this is not a perfect analogy, because God is infinite, His ways are above our ways. It is like looking through a glass darkly.

Consider also our universe. It has Height, Width, and Breadth (X,Y,Z). If we just have two dimensions, the volume of the universe is zero. But when we add the third dimension, the volume of our universe is infinite.

Likewise, time has a past,present an future. If any one of these were not to exist, time would have to cease to exist as we know it.

Matter is, in general at only 3 states (there are intermediary excited states that can be made by pumping energy into matter, but those are not “at rest” and therefore are not fundamental to the nature of matter).

Life exists as Plants, Animals and Man (Man is a special creation).

There are many examples in our universe of Tri - Unity or Trinity.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

3 days and nights.

Simple really.

Jews counted any part of a day as a complete day. Day and night is an idiomatic expression meaning a day.

So Friday is day one, Saturday day two and Sunday is the the third day.

[chesley]

Very interesting. I shall consider it closely. Thank you :)

[Ezekiel]

>>>I struggle with understanding the Trinity - but then that shouldn't be suprising who can truly understand the magneficeince of God.<<<

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.

That must be why the endless mantra is needed to explain it. That must be why the mass marketing of the concept goes on and on and on! /s

It's a perpetual sales pitch. Falsehood needs a 24/7/365 propaganda machine to keep up the sham. Any stray "uppity" voices can be shut down and drowned out by the cacaphony of believers.

It's kind of like the weather. In order to convince someone that it is a lovely sunny day and all is well, when in reality a violent storm is on the horizon, the deceiver must block the view to the outside, keep his listeners far away from the windows, and talk so expertly implanting many smooth talking points that noone suspects he is being played, so he has no thought to check directly. The beliefs of the seducer are incorporated into the minds of the seduced, such that they perceive the thoughts as their own.

Everything is viewed through the trompe l'oeil of the false teacher. A painted mural indicates the weather for today.

That Obama poster with that word "BELIEVE"? Same thing.

[mrobisr]

Don’t know who said this, but it sure puts it into perspective.

If you try to explain the Godhead, you will lose your mind. But if you deny it, you will lose your soul.

[metmom]

It’s got to do with the calendar that got set up for us.

Here’s an interesting thread that explains it.

The Good Friday—Easter Sunday Question
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2226464/posts