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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: one Lord one faith one baptism
They also are violating the command of Jesus for his followers to be one, among other sins.

Dang!

I've missed another one!

241 posted on 02/08/2016 12:06:20 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Just mythoughts

242 posted on 02/08/2016 12:09:16 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: DouglasKC
But the holy spirit isn't another "person".

"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.

243 posted on 02/08/2016 12:10:56 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism
Can you tell me from good Bible study what day of the week Jesus rose on?


Well; as soon as you can convince me...

244 posted on 02/08/2016 12:13:42 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism

I agree that it appears you have stepped in something.


245 posted on 02/08/2016 12:14:43 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism
All hat and no cattle to be charitable.

I guess I was wrong.

You've stepped on a hat.

246 posted on 02/08/2016 12:15:40 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: MHGinTN
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
247 posted on 02/08/2016 12:16:55 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism; lupie; MHGinTN

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.


248 posted on 02/08/2016 12:18:13 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: metmom

That FACT appears to be incoherent to the poster. Good luck breaking through.


249 posted on 02/08/2016 12:41:10 PM PST by MHGinTN (Democrats bait then switch; their fishy voters buy it every time.)
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To: Elsie
"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'

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.

250 posted on 02/08/2016 12:44:16 PM PST by DouglasKC
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To: DouglasKC

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.


251 posted on 02/08/2016 1:08:36 PM PST by MHGinTN (Democrats bait then switch; their fishy voters buy it every time.)
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To: DouglasKC

Who raised Christ from the dead?


252 posted on 02/08/2016 2:55:07 PM PST by winodog
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To: winodog
Who raised Christ from the dead?

Donald Trump.

253 posted on 02/08/2016 2:56:20 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: Larry Lucido

Tribe of Judah?


254 posted on 02/08/2016 3:00:56 PM PST by winodog
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To: metmom
They'll tell you all day long that you're a heretic and going to hell, and yet when you try to pin them down with simple yes or no questions about what it exactly is that one has to believe to get to heaven, you'll NEVER get a straight answer.

interesting comment, I asked you up thread how this "trinity" was different than the "pagan" belief in Polytheism, and you failed to respond.

255 posted on 02/08/2016 3:17:58 PM PST by Thales Miletus (Men stand up for truth, cowards hide behind ignorance.)
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To: Elsie

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.


256 posted on 02/08/2016 3:48:19 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: Elsie

Uh, I think you meant that for a different poster.

I hold to the orthodox, historical Faith.


257 posted on 02/08/2016 3:49:12 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: metmom

Lol, still not able to tell me what day Jesus died on and what day he rose.

That’s ok, I understand.


258 posted on 02/08/2016 3:50:44 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: Elsie

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.


259 posted on 02/08/2016 3:52:58 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism; delchiante

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


260 posted on 02/08/2016 5:54:18 PM PST by MHGinTN (Democrats bait then switch; their fishy voters buy it every time.)
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