The Trinity

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 Apologetics 101  Part 2


The Trinity-


This word is not in the Bible but it is a word we use to describe God, based on the evidence of the Scripture itself.


From Latin ‘Trinus’ meaning ‘threefold’. (Three entwined together as One)


NOT three separate gods in one god!

But…

“Within the one being, there exists co-equally 3 persons.” (James White) 

They are united and they are equal. If they were not equal, how could they be one?

Look at the diagram: The Father is not the Spirit; The Spirit is not The Son; The Son is not The Father

ALL ARE GOD



                                ~~~~~~~~~~

To understand Him as three, we must first know Him as one


So we go to the evidence of Scripture…


Isaiah ch. 43:10; ch. 44:6; ch. 45:21


Deuteronomy  6:4 - Here God declares to Israel...(his own people...a special nation dedicated to Him) that He is not like the gods of other nations - He is One God!

                                ~~~~~~~~~~

So who are these persons?...

I) The Father


1Peter1:2


Matthew 6:3-4

                 6:9...At this point in scripture, the father is in Heaven. However The Son (and the Spirit...as we will shortly see) are on the Earth


John 14:6-8


John1:12-13


Ephesians 1:2


1John3:1-2

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II) The Son- Jesus 


Colossians 2:8-9 


***human but Devine - while in his body, as much God as the Father and Spirit- truly God; truly man!

remember: One God***


John1:1; Revelation 1:8 


***there at the beginning...there at the end: 

in fact He is the One to finish it (John19:30; Revelation 21:6) 

What does he say?...“It is finished”***


John20:28 Jesus did not count Thomas’s confession as blasphemy, but rather, received his worship. 


John1-4,14  How can the Word be God and with God at the same time?…

One God - three persons 


John17:5


John8:58 (Exodus 3:14)

“I AM” (YHWH) is a title used strictly and solely for God. A Name so sacred to the Hebrews, that they would not utter it…and only consonants, not vowels would be used in writing it. The teachers of the Law in Jesus’s day would have been enraged by His using this for Himself.

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III) The Holy Spirit 


Genesis 1:1-2 - He was there at the beginning 


Acts 13:2...he is a person...he is God


***At the beginning of the Church...after the resurrection of Christ, we see the Holy Spirit choosing two people: Paul and Barnabas, to go out as missionaries to preach the gospel.***

He leads: Luke ch 2:27-32; ch. 4:1

Acts 16:6 - The Holy Spirit is carrying on where Jesus left off…The disciples follow His lead, as they did Jesus’s


John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever,”

The word ”Another” is the basic Greek word ‘Allos’ meaning “of the SAME kind.” So the Holy Spirit is the SAME as Jesus.

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They are three…


Genesis 1:26…Who is God talking to?

“Let us (plural - three) make man in our image (singular - One)

“God”: The Hebrew word ’Elohim’ is a plural form of God - (gods). BUT…Remember Deuteronomy 6:4!

***Jesus’s utterance from the cross of the singular- “Eli” (Matthew 27:46) shows at that incomprehensible  moment, an incompleteness…or separation in the Godhead, as He bore the full and devastating weight of our sin***

Isaiah 6:9

Matthew 3:16-17 - We see a relational interaction between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Matthew 11:27  Again, this is a close and beautiful relationship 

Matthew 28:19

John 5:21-23

John 10:30-33

John 14:16-17...We see all three persons together

John15:26...the Spirit comes from the Father to reveal the Son

Acts 16:7 He is called The Spirit of Jesus 

2Corinthians 13:13


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Was The Trinity ever not equal?

Yes

Scriptures such as 

Matthew ch 3.15; 24:36; 

Luke 18:19; 

John ch.5:19-20; ch. 9:10:29; ch.14:28

show Jesus as, clearly and truly a man, subjected under the Law of God, and required to worship Him just like everyone else…but as the perfect man (and son) He obeyed and submitted perfectly. 

Philippians 2:6-8

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So hopefully we can see the evidence from scripture:

But we can also see a profound mystery…and it will remain one…simply because The LORD is God…and we are not. See Psalm 131


Other useful scriptures 


John 20:21-22

John 5:19

John10:17-18

John 14



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