One God in Three Persons

A doctrine is a principle, or system of principles presented for acceptance or belief by a religious, political, scientific, or philosophic group. (1)  The Doctrine of the Trinity dates from fourth century AD church councils held in Nicaea and Constantinople.  In layman’s terms, it states that there is one God, and in the unity of that one God there are three distinct, equal, and divine persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  There have been differences of opinion about the explanation of the Trinity, but it is the historic teaching of the Christian Church.

The Trinity can be difficult for the finite human mind to understand.  However, God is not finite - He is infinite, and He is not subject to human limitations.  It is a seeming contradiction that God can be one God and three persons at the same time.  There are books and writings, from the earliest days of Christianity to the present, that have wrestled with how to reconcile this apparent contradiction.  However, what we are ultimately left with is that, where God is concerned two seemingly contradictory realities can both be true.  Acceptance of this truth, then, becomes a matter of faith.

Socrates is reported to have said that, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” (2)  By extrapolation, some people seem to think that faith that is not examined is not worth believing.  My view is that faith that can be examined is not faith.

I once heard the Rev. R. W. Shambaugh tell a story about a country preacher who was asked how he knew for certain that he was saved.  The preacher said, “It’s because I know it in my knower.”  I believe that the Trinity is the truth about God … because I know it in my knower.  The Word tells us, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2Corinthians 5:7 NKJV) * It also says, “Now the just shall live by faith …” (Hebrews 10:38 NKJV) *

However, I would not have faith had not God given it to me.  It is in God’s Word that we find the faith to believe, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17 NKJV) *

To go into detail about the Holy Trinity would require a book; not a post on a layman’s blog.  I am simply trying to tell the truth about God in a short and simple way that is understandable to those who read it.  I will rely on God to explain Himself through His Word.

The word ‘trinity’ does not appear in the Bible.  Further, the Doctrine of the Trinity, as articulated by the early church fathers, is not specifically stated in the Bible.  However, the Bible declares that there is one God:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,

and with all your strength.

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children,

and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,

when you walk by the way, when you lie down,
and when you rise up. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7 NKJV) *

 

The Bible also specifically mentions the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together in a way that implies equality:

‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit …’  (Matthew 28:19 NKJV) *

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. (2Corinthians 14:14 NKJV) *

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion
in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. (1Peter 1:2 NKJV) *

(see also: 1Corinthians 12; 4-6 and Ephesians 4:4-6)

God the Holy Spirit

Jesus said, Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:31-32 NKJV) *

When Ananias withheld part of the money from the sale of his property, Peter rebuked him, and he died.  In the reproof, Peter used the words Holy Spirit and God transferably:

But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God." (Acts 5:3-4 NKJV) *

Friend, if you belong to a cult that teaches that the Holy Spirit is not fully God, please get out of it.  The world may call them a “Christian” denomination, but they are not.  They are teaching a lie about who God is.

The Holy Spirit is fully God.  Like Peter, Paul uses the Holy Spirit and God exchangably when teaching the same principle:

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16 NKJV) *

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
(1 Corinthians 6:19 NKJV) *

In the following, almost in the same breath Paul calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit, the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Christ.  By doing so, he attests to the deity of the Holy Spirit and that the Spirit is not a created being.  The Third Person of the Trinity proceeds out of God the Father and God the Son:

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:9-11 NKJV) *

We know that the Holy Spirit is God because there are things about Him that are only true of God.  He  knows all things. (1Corinthians 2:10-11)  He is everywhere at the same time. (Psalm 139:7)  He is eternal. (Hebrews 9:14) The Holy Spirit is a distinct person who interacts with people and with the other members of the Trinity. (1Corinthians 12:11, Ephesians 4:30, Romans 8:26-27, Matthew 4:1)

God the Son

The Bible is crystal clear that Jesus Christ is fully God:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.  (Colossians 1:15-20 NKJV) *

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2:9-10 NKJV) *

These two scriptures declare Christ’s deity, that He is eternal, that He is the agent of the creation, that He is all powerful, and our Savior.  Although He would have to be God to be and do these things is sufficient, many other verses declare that God the Son is God.

In the Book of Daniel, Chapter 9, there is a timetable that predicts when the Jewish Messiah would be “cut off.”  Many students of prophesy believe that the “weeks” in Chapter 9 are “sabbatical weeks.”  In Judaism the last day of the week is a sabbath, or day of rest.  The Jews were also commanded to treat every seventh year as a sabbath year.  Some Christian scholars regard Daniels “weeks” as seven-year time cycles derived from the sabbath year.  More simply put, each of Daniel’s weeks equals seven years.  If that is so, Daniel predicted the exact time that would pass from the “edict” to rebuild Jerusalem until the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth.  Although it is beyond the scope of this post to explain this prophesy in depth, I believe that Jesus was the Messiah (Christ).

Isaiah ascribes to the Messiah names that are God’s Names, and says that the Messiah’s kingdom will be eternal:

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever.  (Isaiah 9:6-7 NKJV) *

The Gospel of John begins with verses that establish Jesus as the Living Word who was with God from eternity, and through whom all things were created:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  (John 1:1-5 NKJV) *

In addition to being named God, being described as eternal, and being the creator, the Bible says that Jesus is in all places at the same time. (Matthew 18:20, 28:20)  He knows all things. (John 2:24-25, John 16:30, John 21:17)  Jesus Christ is all powerful. (Philippians 3:20-21, Hebrews 1:3, Revelation 1:8)  Jesus is coequal with God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-6, John 5:18, John 10:30-33)

Jesus is a distinct person.  He has disciples.  He has a body. (Revelation 1:12-18, 19:12) The Holy Spirit descended on Him at His baptism. (Luke 3:21-22)  He prayed to God the Father, and He sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven where he intercedes for us.(Romans 8:34)

God the Father

I did a rough count in my Strong’s concordance, and in John’s Gospel Jesus spoke of God as His Father at least 74 times.  The context shows that He was referring to God the Father as a separate person at the time He spoke.  John also records at least three prayers that Jesus prayed to the Father as praying to God.

God is called “God the Father” in Jude 1, 2John 3, 1Peter 1:2, 2Peter 1:17, and James 3:9.  The Pauline Epistles use the name God the Father at least six times, including 1Corinthians 15:24, “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.” (NKJV) *  In the latter case  the Apostle Paul is clearly referring to Jesus and God the Father as separate divine persons operating together to accomplish the same purpose.  It is clear that the human authors of the New Testament were in accord regarding the divinity and personhood of God the Father.

Jesus provided the principle that each person of the Trinity the was “in” the other and that they are one. (John 10:30, John 14:20) In a prayer for His Disciples, Jesus said:

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:20-26 NKJV) *

Therefore, the principle of the unity of the persons of the Trinity in one Godhead is clear.

To me, there is sufficient proof that the Holy Bible tells us of God in three persons united in one divine being.  They are each fully God, united in one Godhead.  They are never at cross-purposes, but always act in perfect concert.  The first chapter of Genesis shows them operating together in the creation.  The ministry of Jesus Christ begins at His baptism with an anointing by The Holy Spirit and a blessing from God the Father.  The three are at work in Jesus’ atoning death and resurrection, and they will fulfill God’s plan for the ages at the close of history when all believers will enter eternity together with Him forever.

(1) Readers Digest Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary First edition, (Pleasant View, New York: The Readers Digest Association, 1987) p.498

(2) https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/socrates-quotes

* https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/

Getting to Know God

Just about the time that I think I have a firm grasp on things, that I have learned what there is to know, then God shows me how much I have yet to learn.  It is a humbling experience.

God has done so much for me, and I want to tell others about Him so that they can be saved and blessed the way that I have been.  I have been praying, reading, and thinking about who God is.  As I study, I realize how much more I need to learn about Him.  I thank and praise God that He is helping me to get better acquainted with Him.  I wish each person who reads “Lamp in a Corner” to have the same blessing.

Therefore, I am asking you to read the Holy Bible.  In it, God has given us a description of Himself.  Please read a dependable, recognized version that was translated by a team of scholars; such as: The King James Version, The New King James Version, The New American Standard Bible, or The New International Version.  At the Christian Research Institute website ( https://www.equip.org/ ), you can find books and articles that you can trust will be consistent with orthodox Christian beliefs; things that have been consistently taught by the church throughout its history.

Our ability to understand God is limited in this life, but we have hope for the future:

For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away ...

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.

Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

(1Corinthians 13:9-10,12 NKJV) *

However, the Apostle Paul also says:

… But we have the mind of Christ. (1Corinthians 2:16 NKJV)*

The Holy Spirit inspired the human writers of the Bible, and He dwells in each believer.  The Spirit of Christ has been given to us to instruct us.
(John 14:15-17, 26)

To begin with something that is clear, concise, correct and complete, the Apostle John wrote about God as follows:

… God is love.

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1John 4:8-10 NASB)**

God thought this was important enough that He caused John to repeat it:

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

(1John 4:16 NASB)**

* https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/

** https://www.biblestudytools.com/nas/

God's Protection

At various times in his life, King David of Israel was in big trouble.  At one such time, before he became king, he was on the run from his predecessor, King Saul, who was trying to kill him.  So, he went to the Philistine city of Gath to seek refuge.  The Philistine king, Achish (a.k.a. Abimelech) was made aware of David’s war record against the Philistines, and David got wind of it.  He was afraid Achish might seek retribution against him.  David pretended be insane, and the king let him go on his way. (1 Samuel 21)

David wrote the 34^th Psalm to praise God for his deliverance.  He urges us all to praise God for His divine protection and to trust in Him.  He also urges us to fear the Lord because blessings come to those who honor and respect God.  David promises us that evil ones will be condemned, but that those who love the Lord will escape condemnation.

Psalm 34

A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech,

who drove him away, and he departed.

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.

I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.

They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.

This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.

The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord

shall not lack any good thing.

Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?

Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit.

Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance

of them from the earth.

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,

And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.

Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.

The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him

shall be condemned. (NASB)*

  * https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/psalms/34.html

Comfort in Times of Trouble

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
(John 16:33 NASB) (1)

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." (2Corinthians 12:9 NKJV) (2)

Troubled times come to all of us, some more than others it seems.  Nevertheless, when it is our turn to have problems, we may find solace in Jesus.  He has the power to carry us through when we reach the end of our own strength.  His power shines through our times of brokenness and heartache.

As the old hymn says, “Turn your eyes  upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face.  And, the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” (3)

(1) https://www.biblestudytools.com/nas/

(2) https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/

(3) Helen H. Lemmel, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”, (1950)

A Blessing

22 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 

23 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: 

24 The LORD bless you, and keep you; 

25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 
26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.' 

27 "So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them."  (Numbers 6:22-27 NASB)*

May the Lord give you this blessing, as well.

* https://www.biblestudytools.com/nas/numbers/6.html

Jesus and His Church

The Gospels record a number of confrontations between Jesus Christ and the religious leaders He met, during His earthly ministry.  The 10^th chapter of John’s Gospel contains one such encounter.

1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 

2 "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 

3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 

4 "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 

5 "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." 

6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. 

7 So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 

8 "All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 

9 "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 

10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 

11 "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 

12 "He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 

13 "He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 

14 "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 

15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 

16 "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 

17 "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 

18 "No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." 

19 A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. 

20 Many of them were saying, "He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?" 

21 Others were saying, "These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?" (NASB) (1)

What can we learn from this?  First, Jesus opposed people who rigidly followed the letter of religious law but missed the point of it.  He regarded such teaching and practice as fundamentally destructive.  Therefore, we should be careful about which religious teachers we allow to influence our thinking.  We mustn’t follow strangers … those whose teaching isn’t consistent with the Holy Bible.

The Pharisees and others he was talking to didn’t get it.  So, Jesus explained it over again.  They still didn’t get it, because they didn’t believe in Him.  They weren’t part of the flock that recognized his voice and followed Him.  Those who hear the Master’s voice calling them and respond are those who put their faith in Jesus and follow Him.  To them He gives an abundant life.

Jesus foresaw the Gentile converts.  He blends Jewish and Gentile believers into one body; His own.

Faith in Jesus is only one way to God, to salvation, to eternal life with God.  Jesus reiterated this truth again in John 14:6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (NASB) (2)

Jesus laid down His life for us.  He did it voluntarily.  He rose from the dead as the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)  The spirits of those who believe in Him will return with Him in the Rapture to be reunited with our resurrected bodies. (1Thessalonians 4:13-18), and we will be like Him. (1John 3:2)

There is no end to the Good News.  Praise be to God the Father and to His Son Jesus Christ.  If you get discouraged by this evil world and its cares, you only have to look into God’s Word to be thrilled by what is waiting for us.


(1) https://www.biblestudytools.com/nas/

(2) ibid.

Prayer Request

I am asking for prayer today, the 18^th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.  Please join me in praying for peace, that humankind will set aside violence as a way of trying to resolve differences.