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?
Dang!
I've missed another one!
"And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
Ephesians 4:30.
How does one grieve that which is NOT a 'person'?
John 14:16
"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;
Strangely; I've always considered an entity called he to be a 'person'.
But; I'm kinda funny that way.
Well; as soon as you can convince me...
I agree that it appears you have stepped in something.
I guess I was wrong.
You've stepped on a hat.
Rome has it wrong because Friday night and Saturday night only equals TWO nights, not the THREE that Jesus Himself said He’d be in the earth.
The Gregorian calendar has it wrong. Gregory picked the wrong day to assign to the time of Jesus death.
That FACT appears to be incoherent to the poster. Good luck breaking through.
Act 2:18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
How does one "pour a person"?
John 7:37-39
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink. 38 He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spoke he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
How does one drink a person?
1 Thessalonians 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
How does one quench a person?
Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water to repentance. but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire
How does one get baptized with a person?
We would never say any of these things about Christ or the Father. They're impersonal terms.
In addition if the holy spirit were another person then why does Christ call God the father his father and NOT the holy spirit?
Matthew 10:32-33 32 Whoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
This is important. Christ said his father was in heaven. There are multiple visions of the heavenly realm especially in revelation and NO HOLY SPIRIT person is there. None. Ever.
Where do you suppose the Holy Spirit is during the Tribulation, after the Bride of Christ has been removed from the Earth? ... Recall that a number so great of people who will be washed in the Blood of The Lamb will be rising out of the Tribulation; and recall that it is the Holy Spirit of Promise who marks each and every saved person, every saint delivered to Heaven.
Who raised Christ from the dead?
Donald Trump.
Tribe of Judah?
interesting comment, I asked you up thread how this "trinity" was different than the "pagan" belief in Polytheism, and you failed to respond.
Many people do, I would point you to 1 Corinthians 1:10.
But many feel justified in rejecting the one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism.
Uh, I think you meant that for a different poster.
I hold to the orthodox, historical Faith.
Lol, still not able to tell me what day Jesus died on and what day he rose.
That’s ok, I understand.
Well, the devil sure seems to think it makes a difference because he is working overtime in sowing doubt on the Scriptures and the Christian Faith.
If you don’t care about the Scriptures and the Faith, I guess it doesn’t matter then.
I oppose Satanic doctrines.
Re read post #50, all of it. This time try really hard to comprehend the clear explanation.
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