I pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal all that we are going to do in this studies.
1 Cor 2: 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
If you want to know God to His full extent then I am inviting you to do this studies with me. This next series of studies will be about The Trinity.
THE TRINITY OF GOD
While the word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, the concept is clearly biblical. The doctrine of the Trinity or Triunity of God is a very difficult mystery to understand but is essential to believe by faith.
The basic concept of the Trinity is that the LORD is ONE GOD in THREE PERSONS and THREE PERSONS in ONE GOD.
The persons are distinct but not separate and are all equally of the same essence or nature.
NEW TESTAMENT KEY TEXTS FOR TRINITY
ONENESS - (unity) of nature or essence.
John 10:29-30 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
John 14:9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
John 17:11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me,[b] that they may be one as We are.
THREENESS - (diversity) of persons.
Matthew 28:19 Go therefore[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.[d]
2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Romans 8:26-27 26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
FUNCTIONAL ROLES - or work
John 14:13-16 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask[c] anything in My name, I will do it.
Matthew 3:16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He[c] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,[j]
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”[k]
ETERNALITY - of all persons of the Godhead.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. (Jesus)
Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Holy Spirit)
Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, (Father)
ILLUSTRATION
There are really no perfect illustrations of the concept of the Trinity. The often used example of the sun (Father) the light of the sun (Jesus) and the energy of the sun (Holy Spirit) is helpful but inadequate.
1 Timothy 6:14-16 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, 15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
ASSIGNMENT:
In your own words describe the Trinity as the Bible teaches it. Put your answer in the comments. I will give 0.200 SBD to the best answer and will tip the other steemians who participate.
I did this Bible School course more than 20 years ago over a period of 2 years, and it is now my privilege to share it with you.
Thank you for reading and studying with me, I am really blessed by your participation!
Dr Dennis J. Mock: Bible training for church leadership, Bible Doctrine Survey, course no. 4
Scripture: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage - New King James Version
Trinity states that there is 1 God who exists as 3 persons. When stated this way, you can see that there is nothing logically incoherent about the doctrine. God is one God who consists of 3 persons. Each person is distinct from one another so that although these 3 persons make up 1 being, nevertheless, it’s false that The Father is the Son, or that the Son is the Father, or that The Father is The Holy Spirit. They’re all one in the divine essence, but they’re distinct in their personhood.
Trinity emphasizes the unity of three persons in ONE GOD. The word "trinity" is a coinage from Three-in-unity to underscore the perfect,pure relationship between the personalities in the Godhead. Doctrinally, it expresses that there is only one God, one divine nature who is tri-personal and also involves the distinctions of the Father, the son and the Holy spirit. These three are joint partakers of the same divine and majesty of God. There is one only and true God but in one co-equal persons; and they are the same in substance but in subsistence.
WHAT ARE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THEN?
Note : The doctrine of the Trinity, as have been established, is pre -eminently given to the church by revelation. And while it brings before us one of the greatest mysteries or revelation and transcends finite comprehension, it is essential to the understanding of the scripture. And as we shall see , it has great values and uses. It gives us a glimpse into the wonderful but complex being of God, while at the same time it constantly proclaims the impossibility of comprehending God.
Bible reference: John 14:9: 1:14; 1 Corinthians 2:12; John 16:12-15
Kindly:
@orisfina
May God bless you all
A simple and straightforward understanding of the Holy Bible teaches us that God eternally exists as three Persons— the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Like any other doctrine, the doctrine of Trinity is progressively revealed in the Scriptures, a partial revelation in the Old Testament and a fuller one in the New.
The Bible teaches that the Father is God, that Jesus is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God. The Bible also teaches that there is only one God. Though we can understand some facts about the relationship of the different Persons of the Trinity to one another, ultimately, it is incomprehensible to the human mind. However, this does not mean the Trinity is not true or that it is not based on the teachings of the Bible. Trinity is a mystery. It cannot be fully and satisfactorily explained in human language or by any analogy. When we accept it in faith we will understand it in stages by experience. God IS the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit is not God, God IS Jesus, but Jesus is not God. God IS God. So basically God is all three, but the Holy Spirit and Jesus singularly, are not God singularly. They are part of the omnipresent and Almighty Father, joined in a way, at the hip into one awesome and magnificent and sovereign God!
The Trinity is one God existing in three Persons.
The Trinity is one God existing in three Persons. Understand that this is not in any way suggesting three Gods. Keep in mind when studying this subject that the word “Trinity” is not found in Scripture. This is a term that is used to attempt to describe the triune God—three coexistent, co-eternal Persons who are God. Of real importance is that the concept represented by the word “Trinity” does exist in Scripture. The following is what God’s Word says about the Trinity:
There is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:4; Galatians 3:20; 1 Timothy 2:5).
The Trinity consists of three Persons (Genesis 1:1, 26; 3:22; 11:7; Isaiah 6:8, 48:16, 61:1; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14). In Genesis 1:1, the Hebrew plural noun "Elohim" is used. In Genesis 1:26, 3:22, 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8, the plural pronoun for “us” is used. The word "Elohim" and the pronoun “us” are plural forms, definitely referring in the Hebrew language to more than two. While this is not an explicit argument for the Trinity, it does denote the aspect of plurality in God. The Hebrew word for "God," "Elohim," definitely allows for the Trinity.
In the New Testament, Jesus speaks to the Father about sending a Helper, the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17). This shows that Jesus did not consider Himself to be the Father or the Holy Spirit. Consider also all the other times in the Gospels where Jesus speaks to the Father. Was He speaking to Himself? No. He spoke to another Person in the Trinity—the Father.
One God revealed to us in three persons. Like you said no analogy is perfect but water, ice and water vapor are all still ferfectly H2O.
I have a feeling that God is so immensely incomprehendable to the human mind. The finite trying to comprehend the infinite! Actually impossible and even if we think we understand I bet this person will only set straight when we see Him face to face. The Bible says there is One God. The Bible show clearly the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is God.
Hi @hope777, I've thought about how to respond to your assignment to describe the Trinity in my own words. However, I think you've explained the concept quite well:
I find the oneness or unity concept in the "I AM" theme which appears in many books of the Bible, especially John's gospel, correletates Jesus with the great "I AM" of Exodus 3:14: "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM.” When I recall Jesus' comments that, "flesh gives birth to flesh, and Spirit gives birth to spirit," and "the very words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life," I'm reminded that the very "I AM the way, the truth and the life" is also speaking the very words of the Spirit that gives life. So again, we find both distinction and unity making up oneness in the essence of God the I AM, the Spirit, and Jesus.
Thank you ma,
The trinity as the Bible teaches which is God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit, all which are one, God the Father doesn't leave his throne, God the son is God word in human flesh which is Jesus as to can't separate a man from his words. God the Holy Spirit is the doer of God's work, he excute God work and this is God Spirit. Genesis 1 shows us how he broad over the face of the earth. Thank you