[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....

[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.

[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.

[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.

[353FMG]

1+1+1=1

[DouglasKC]

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.

[Elsie]

Old Testament evidence of God's plurality can be found in the very first verse:

And a little later at least TWO persons of the Trinity...

"Let US create man in OUR image...

[Zuriel]

**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.**

reed13k, the unspiritual understanding of men have given the world the confusion of ‘three co-equal, separate and distinct persons in the Godhead’. Consider the following:

Well, first of all, the man standing in the river is the Son of God, not God the Son. Neither Jesus Christ, nor his apostles, EVER used the phrase ‘God the Son’.

Secondly, why is it so hard to believe that God the Father could both speak AND give John a visual sign at the SAME time. We are talking about the ONE who has power to do anything! A TV is an physical object, but plug it in (the power), and there is visual and audio enhancements. I’m also sure electricity is REALLY important in making a TV set.

Better yet, compare man’s interpretation (like MacArthur’s) to the EXPERT,.....Jesus Christ. (Whose words I used several times below, in a short discussion I just sent off to anther FReeper on the previous thread of this series.)......

Jesus Christ said that all power was given to him. By who pray tell?

Jesus Christ said that all the words and works, that he said or performed, were from the Father.

Is the Father omnipresent? Jesus Christ declared that God the Father is a Spirit (Jn 4:23,24).
Is the Father found in the Son? If not, then the Father is not omnipresent.

Consider the Son’s prayer to the Father in John 17:1-3:

1. “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.” (see how the Son NEEDS the Father to glorify him so that he can glorify the Father.)

2. “As thou hast GIVEN him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as many as thou hast given him.” (the Father gave him this power, not vice versa. And the power is the gift of the Holy Ghost.)

3. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the ONLY TRUE GOD, AND Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

Sent from where?
The soul of the Son was sent from the spiritual realm of God the Father, into the physical realm of God’s creation.

“Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:” Heb. 10:5

In the trinitarian view, that has the Son as the creator of all things, who made the Son’s body?

Take a look at the Ark of the Covenant:

The focal point of worship was the invisible God that dwelt between the cherubims. God’s wisdom showed in that instruction, by making sure that the people wouldn’t worship the works of men’s hands. But symbolism of the Ark’s two main ingredients (wood, overlaid with gold inside AND outside) was shown in Jesus own words in John 14:10,11:

“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.”

Remember what was put in the Ark? God put his words (the tablets of stone) in his Son.

“For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.’ Jn 12:49,50.

Also, the golden bowl of manna was preserved even before God commanded Moses to build the Ark. (Ex. 16:32-34) Yes, that’s proof that God’s bread of life was to be placed in his Son:

And so, Jesus Christ baptizes with the Holy Ghost. He had to go away so that the Holy Ghost could be given. That’s why the Ark had to disappear from view. The Son was going to disappear from view (ascend to heaven). Just as the Jews are going to bring an ark back into view, so also is the Lord Jesus Christ going to return to view when he comes again!

As Aaron’s rod that budded, blossomed, and brought forth almonds, was placed in the Ark, so also the resurrection power was placed in Jesus Christ:

“For as the father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.” Jn 5:26

“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it up again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” Jn 10 17:18

“...Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,...”. Rms 6:4

The worldly entertainment industry is powered by the ‘prince of this world’. A favorite theme of it is people possessed by an evil spirit. They have a mind of their own, but to varying degrees, are shown to let the evil power use their body to do evil deeds. The subjects are often shown dying in that horrible condition of possession.

The Holy Ghost baptism is the power of God to empower people to be used of God for only good, and after death, raise them from the dead when the trump of God sounds.

The Son of God (man with a soul) was and is possessed with the power of God (the Father), and has expressed the will of the invisible God to all that will hear his voice.

Does that last comment sound familiar?.............

“The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good.....the Jews...slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up.....he rose from the dead. And commanded us to preach unto the people......remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all that heard the word.’ Acts 10:36-44 (abbreviated to simply get the main point across. Also read Peter’s initial testimony; Acts 2:14-40)

Wanna know how Jesus Christ is Lord of all? I think it is because the omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient Father is in him, and he in him.

[Salvation]

Matthew 28

18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."

[Mr. M.J.B.]

Judaism, worshiping the one true G-d centuries before other gods existed.

No

required.

[Thales Miletus]

How is this any different than the polytheism of the Greeks, Romans, and Central Asia?