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September 17 - October 2, 2014
A person who wants to “know Jesus” must, due to the nature of God’s revelation, know Him as He is related to the Father and the Spirit. We must know, understand, and love the Trinity to be fully and completely Christian.
The Trinity is a truth that tests our dedication to the principle that God is smarter than we are.
Within the one Being that is God, there exists eternally three coequal and coeternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The three foundations of the Trinity, then, are already clearly visible. Here they are:
WHAT WE ARE NOT SAYING— The errors that result from denying, or misunderstanding, any one of the foundational truths presented above can be graphically illustrated through the use of the following triangle diagram:
the very foundation of the doctrine of the Trinity: absolute, uncompromised monotheism. Monotheism—the belief in one true and eternal God, maker of all things—is the first truth that separates Christianity from the pagan religions of the world.
Difference in function does not indicate inferiority of nature.
Hebrews 1:10–12 in comparison with Psalm 102:25–27, and John 12:37–41 in comparison with Isaiah 6:1–10.
Passages for JW, which equate Jesus with Jehovah.
One of the clearest indications of the personhood of the Spirit is His use of the personal pronoun in reference to himself.
Likewise, the Spirit is referred to by the Son as a person.
The Spirit here testifies about the Lord Jesus. The Spirit guides disciples, He speaks, and He discloses future events. He glorifies Christ as well. Each of these activities indicate personality.
The speaking of the Spirit is found throughout the text of the Bible.
Only persons “know” things. Electricity “knows” nothing, experiences nothing.
The Spirit is likewise sovereign in His rule in the church.
The Spirit is also a witness:
Another striking evidence of the personality of the Spirit is His role in bringing the very love of God for His people into their lives.
Another of the many ways in which the personality of the Spirit is shown comes to us from Jesus’ teaching on the “unpardonable sin.”
But the single greatest indisputable testimony to the personality (and, in fact, the deity) of the Holy Spirit is found in His giving gifts to believers in the church.
THE SPIRIT AS GOD
The “Spirit of God” who is said to be omnipresent (Psalm 139:7), omniscient (1 Corinthians 2:10–11), and active in the very creation itself (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 104:30) hardly fits the description of some kind of lesser being. But the fact that this Spirit shares the one divine name with the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19) makes His deity indisputable.
Another group of witnesses falls into the same pattern as those that testify to the fact that the Son is Yahweh.
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)
separate
Distinct, yes. Separate, no.
Just as the Father loves the Son, so the Son loves His disciples. The disciples are separate persons from the Son; hence, the Father is a separate person from the Son as well:
Here is the oneness that exists between the Father and the Son—a oneness in redemption.
No, oneness in being not simply one economically.
No mere creature can have this kind of perfect unity of purpose and action.
THE REVELATION OF THE TRINITY
the Trinity is revealed by the Son coming in the flesh and the Spirit descending upon the church.
