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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?
The Church Jesus established is Spiritual, not an institution. The body of Christ is made up of those in whom God has placed the earnest of their inheritance as the spark of the Holy Spirit. That placement CANNOT BE DONE BY MAN, and no one can snatch such a born from above member of Christ's body from God's hands.
Our Lord made it very plain to Nicodemus (John 3), you must be born again by the Grace of God in Christ. Jesus also made it very plain just how that happens: John 6:28 They said therefore unto him, ‘What may we do that we may work the works of God?’ 29 Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that ye may believe in him whom He did send.’
God made it so simple, yet religions such as catholiciism will empower themselves at the expense of souls, because the catholic hierarchy teaches their sincere followers to strive for eventual Salvation. But one cannot earn Eternal life, for it is a being Whom comes into the dead human spirit, making the person alive in Christ, not the institutional church.
Who is confused, you, or John? Did the Angel tell Mary the eventual Mother of Jesus 'Who' would be upon her and she conceive in her womb? Luke 1:34 And Mary said unto the messenger, ‘How shall this be, seeing a husband I do not know?’ the messenger answering said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God;
1 John 5:7 is considered by Scholars to be of spurious origin and that it was inserted into the text many years following the actual writing. When older texts have been inspected, that verse is simply not found.
1 John 5
8 There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.
RSV
Lol, I love it when someone purports to tell me what “Catholiciism” teaches.
Nice try though.
Your reading comprehension difficulties are showing ...
Funny though, we can tell you what day Jesus died and what day he rose.
Asking you that was like trying to nail jello to a wall.
But I understand why you didn’t want to answer.
Jesus was buried prior to sunset or else the Sabbath would have been violated.
A Wednesday crucifixion is impossible. Sunday is the 5th day from Wednesday and we know Jesus rose on the third day ( Luke 9:22 )
What Christians have believed for 2,000 years is the truth. Jesus died on Friday and rose on the third day, Sunday.
Jesus shows us how to count days in Luke 13:32.
The third day is always the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow is always the day after the event you are counting from.
Really?
Care to explain?
No way to get three days and THREE NIGHTS between friday afternoon and Sunday morning. The “three days” and “third day” also have to be consistent with “three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40).
Do you even know what three days and three nights means?
To a first century Jew it is a idiomatic expression meaning 3 days. Jews counted any part of a day as the whole day. Look up inclusive reckoning.
To a westerner in 21st century, it means 72 hours.
We must take the meaning in the first century, not 21st.
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Yes, any part of a day was counted as a day, UNLESS is is more particularly specified. Three days AND three nights means . . . . three days AND three nights.
Thank GOD for AND!
It's like salvation...
Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Some organizations like to use the first part to PROVE one MUST be baptized to be saved; while ignoring the last part.
However; it does NOT say...
...but he that believeth is baptized not shall be damned.
Oh??
1 Corinthians 12:27-28 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.
A lot of ‘coulds’ in your statement.
What ever happened to the use of the word fortnight?
It appears you are selective in your 'love'.
It’s nice to know YOUR contention; but I asked about your church’s.
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