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

The mortal cannot understand immortal nor can finite understand infinite.

I accept it by faith without understanding it.

21 posted on 02/05/2016 12:16:41 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: All

Thanks everyone for your feedback


22 posted on 02/05/2016 12:22:09 PM PST by reed13k (w)
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To: metmom

Lol, it explains nothing.

Jesus said he would rise on the third day.

The third day in the Bible is defined as the day after tomorrow.

According to Luke 24, the first day of the week ( Sunday ) was the third day since he was crucified.

If Sunday was the third day, Saturday was the second day and wait for it,
Friday had to be the day he died.

What do you know, the orthodox historical Faith is right sgain.

The idiot who wrote this article doesn’t realize if he died on Wednesday, that means he would have risen on Friday.


23 posted on 02/05/2016 3:44:36 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism

Go ahead and swallow the kool-aid.

The Gregorian calendar is wrong.

Scripture is consistent with itself and cannot be wrong.

What’s wrong is the *orthodox historical faith* that assigned the day He died to Friday and had Him rise on Sunday.


24 posted on 02/05/2016 4:54:12 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism
Matthew 12:4 For as Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights: so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

So which is wrong? Jesus or the Gregorian calendar?

Did Jesus lie?

25 posted on 02/05/2016 4:56:37 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: metmom

What is wrong is your incorrect assumption on what three days and three nights means.

To Jews, it meant three days.

If Jesus died on Wednesday :

Wednesday - day one
Thursday - day two
Friday - day three
Saturday - day four
Sunday - day five

Major fail.

The Scriptures say over and over, Jesus would rise on the third day.

Luke 24 tells us that third day was Sunday.

So for the simple minded who can’t count, here is what the Bible says:

Day one -Friday
Day two - Saturday
The third day - Sunday

The Church knows what day our Lord and Savior died, since the Church was there.

Heretical groups, not so much.


26 posted on 02/05/2016 6:17:42 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: metmom

1+1+1=1


27 posted on 02/05/2016 6:20:02 PM PST by 353FMG
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To: metmom

Since you fancy yourself a Scripture expert, here is a simple question.

If a Jewish baby boy is born on Wednesday, on what day must he be circumcised on?

( hint.......it is the 8th day ).

Once you figure the 8th day, you can figure the 3rd day.

( hint, it ain’t Sunday )


28 posted on 02/05/2016 6:22:25 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: metmom

Btw, why did you link to a Sabbath keeping false church in this thread?

Do you believe Christians must keep the law, including resting on the 7th day Sabbath?

One false doctrine leads to another false doctrine outside of the one true Church.


29 posted on 02/05/2016 6:27:40 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: metmom
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 He was in the beginning with God

Two eternal, uncreated beings in the beginning. Not three.

Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

No throne for a God called "holy spirit" in heaven.

Rev_7:10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

Two again, God the lamb. Salvation does not belong to a third God being called "holy spirit".

Dan 7:13 "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Dan 7:14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.

Another vision of heaven, two not three, that completely agrees with the new testament book of Revelation.

Gal 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

In every book he writes Paul sends greetings from two, the father and Christ. Never from a third god.

The trinity doctrine as we understood it today was not understood as such in biblical times. It was not understood as such by Paul. It was not understood as such by Peter. It was not understood as such by Jesus Christ. The doctrine of the trinity as we understand it today is an evolved doctrine and did not take its present form until over 300 years after the death of Christ.

It is a mystery. And it's considered a mystery because it's not readily apparent in scripture WITHOUT 1700 years of trinity teaching.

30 posted on 02/05/2016 6:43:31 PM PST by DouglasKC
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism

Scripture doesn’t lie or change.

The Gregorian Calendar is the problem, not Scripture.

If the calendar is an example of the accuracy of the so-called one true church, I’ll pass, thank you.


31 posted on 02/05/2016 6:58:13 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism

You’re wrong in your assumption that they were using the same calendar that we are.


32 posted on 02/05/2016 6:59:21 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism
Btw, why did you link to a Sabbath keeping false church in this thread?

Jesus founded a sabbath keeping church. Peter, Paul John and every other Christian in the bible belonged to a sabbath keeping church. Why don't you do what Jesus and the apostles did?

Do you believe Christians must keep the law, including resting on the 7th day Sabbath?

Christians can and do sin. If we realize we're sinning it's on us to repent and stop sinning.

33 posted on 02/05/2016 7:04:34 PM PST by DouglasKC
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism
Jesus said he would rise on the third day. The third day in the Bible is defined as the day after tomorrow. According to Luke 24, the first day of the week ( Sunday ) was the third day since he was crucified. If Sunday was the third day, Saturday was the second day and wait for it, Friday had to be the day he died.,

Except He was much more specific then what you're letting on.

Mat 12:39 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Mat 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Question: How many hours was Jonah in the fish? And did Jesus know the number of hours?

Jon_1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

34 posted on 02/05/2016 7:09:47 PM PST by DouglasKC
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To: metmom

Lol, no answer given.

Jesus taught us how to count days, did you know that?

According to Jesus:

Today is day one.
Tomorrow is day two
The third day is the day after tomorrow.

Here is my circumcision answer:

A baby born on Wednesday must be circumcised by the following Wednesday, the 8th day.

The third day from Wednesday is Friday and the 5th day is Sunday.

Hopefully you are not caught up in a Sabbath keeping cult like the group you linked to.


35 posted on 02/05/2016 7:11:56 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: DouglasKC

Lol, your question betrays an utter ignorance of how Jews counted days. They didn’t count hours, any part of a day counted as one day.

So when Jesus was crucified on Friday afternoon, this was day one. Saturday was day two. And according to Luke 24, Sunday was the the third day, the day he rose from the dead.


36 posted on 02/05/2016 7:14:59 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: DouglasKC

A sabbath keeping church?

Really?

Show me one verse in the NT that after Pentecost, any Christian is instructed to keep the Sabbath or is recorded as keeping the Sabbath?

History shows Christians worshippers on the first day of the week from the beginning, the Lord’s Day. Anyone following the Apostolic Tradition as the Scriptures command us would know this.
Those who disobey the Scriptures and do not follow the Apostolic Tradition, are lost in following the tradition of men.


37 posted on 02/05/2016 7:19:19 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism

The Catholic religion set up the calendar we use today and has Jesus crucified on Friday and raised on Sunday.

Even considering that a part of a day might be considered a full day in counting how many days Jesus was dead, supposing that He rose one minute after sunrise to give Him the third day, how do you get three NIGHTS our of Friday night and Saturday night? TWO nights.

Pope Gregory screwed up when he made up the calendar.

Again, did Jesus lie when He said that He would be in the earth three days and three nights?

Who’s wrong? Jesus or Gregory?


38 posted on 02/05/2016 7:20:51 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism

Speaking of no answer given, deflecting it onto the topic of Sabbath keeping and circumcision does not trick anyone into thinking that you answered the question, or keeps them from noticing that you failed to answer it.


39 posted on 02/05/2016 7:22:33 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: metmom

Lol, you are conflating two issues.

When Gregory changed the calendar, the days of the week stayed the same. So a Monday was still Monday after the change. Has nothing at all to do with what day Jesus died.

The second issue is the meaning of three days and three nights. You are defining that as a 21st century westerner. You must look at it as what did a 1st century Jew understand the term to mean.
To a 1st century Jew, any part of the day counted as a whole day. So a baby born one minute before sundown on Friday, had to be circumcised by the 8th day, which is the following Friday as shown below:

Day one - Friday
Day 2 - Saturday
Day 3 - Sunday
Day 4 - Monday
Day 5 - Tuesday
Day 6 - Wednesday
Day 7 - Thursday
Day 8 - Friday

Please notice for Sunday to be the third day, the event in question happened on Friday.
Luke 24 absolutely locks in the first day of the week ( our Sunday ) as the day Jesus rose from the dead. Many Scriptures lock in the third day as the day Jesus would rise. Counting backwards:

Sunday - third day
Saturday - second day
Friday - day Jesus died

If Jesus was speaking on Friday in Luke 13:32, on what day would he finish his course?

Answer:

Friday - today
Saturday - tomorrow
Sunday - the third day he would finish his course

The Christians in the first century weren’t idiots, they knew when Jesus died and when he rose. They also could read the Scriptures and count days.
Of course, those opposed to Christianity like to sow dissension and doubt.
Sound familiar?


40 posted on 02/05/2016 7:35:39 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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