TRIUNITY SCRIPTURESDeu 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [ONE GOD].Gen. 1:26 Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Mat 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 2 Cor 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 1 Pet 1:2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened. 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are My Son, Whom I love; with You I Am well pleased." [All three persons are manifested together]. 2 Th 2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the Truth. [All three together]. Titus 3:4-6 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior [all three mentioned]. Jude 1:20-21 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. [All three mentioned]. John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. [All three mentioned; Jesus speaking]. John 14:23 If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him. [The Father and Son come inside you when the Comforter (Spirit, v. 16,17) comes inside]. John 15:26 When the Counselor comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me. [Trinity]. John 16:13-15 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all Truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is Mine and make it known to you. [Trinity: all three mentioned; Jesus speaking]. Isa 9:6 For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [Counselor is a name for the Holy Spirit]. Gen 1:26 Let us make man in OUR image. [Some say that the "us" in this verse refers to God and the angels, but the Bible is clear that the angels did not make creation, therefore "us" refers to the Trinity of God.] Gen 18:2,3,13,14,20,17-22 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, 3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: 13 And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? 14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. 17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. 20 And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. 22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. [This is a solid one. The Trinity is clearly manifested to Abraham here in these verses]. 1 Corinthians 10:2,4,5 [Read these on your own. The Spirit is the Cloud. Christ is the Rock [Cloud] that followed them. 1 Corinthians 10:9 Let us not tempt Christ as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed ... Matt 4:7; Deut 6:16 Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. [Satan tried to tempt Christ. To tempt Christ is to tempt God. To tempt the Spirit is to tempt God. (See Below)]. Acts 5:3,4,9 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Isa 48:16,17a ...I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there Am I: and now the Lord God [Father], and His Spirit, hath sent Me [Jesus, the Son] 17 Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer [Jesus] ... Romans chapter 8 in its entirety illustrates the triunity of God, but here's a couple goodies: verse 11 But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. [Here you see God the Father, Jesus, and the Spirit]. 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 1 Chronicles 28:9 Know thou the God of thy father ... for the Lord searcheth all hearts ... Revelation 2:23 ... I Am He [Jesus] which searcheth the reins and hearts ... Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore He [Jesus] is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. [Putting these five above verses together you see that the Spirit and Jesus make intercession, and the Father and Jesus search the hearts. They are all God--one Spirit]. We know the Spirit of God is often called the "Spirit" or "Holy Spirit", but He is also called "the
Spirit of Jesus Christ" in Philippians 1:19, and He is called "the Spirit of His [the Father's] Son"
in Galatians 4:6.
Revelation 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which
are the seven Spirits [i.e. the perfect sevenfold Spirit] of God sent forth into all the earth. 7 And
He [the Lamb] came and took the book out of the right hand of Him [the Father] that sat upon
the throne. John 4:24 says that "God is a Spirit" (not spirits). [In Rev 5:6,7 above, all three
members of the triunity are shown].
Romans 15:30 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. [All three in one verse]. PART 2by leonard_fabio@hotmail.com THIS SHOULD BE A HELP TO THOSE WHO HAVE A PROBLEM UNDERSTANDING THE TRINITY There is one God. The one God is a unity of THREE persons - Father, Son, Holy Spirit. One GodThere is ONE God. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! (Deu 6.4) (God said...) Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me (Deu 32.39a) Deuteronomy 6.4 proclaims that "the Lord is one."In Deuteronomy 6.4, the word "one" translates the Hebrew word echad. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! (Deu 6.4) The Bible verses alongside make it clear that the Hebrew word echad can denote a UNITY of more than one person. As stated previously, the trinity doctrine holds that the one God is a UNITY of three persons - Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one (echad) flesh. (Gen 2.24; see also Mal 2.14-15) And the Lord said, "Indeed the people are one (echad) and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them." (Gen 11.6) Three Persons The Bible identifies three persons who are known (respectively) as... the Father--the Son--the Holy Spirit 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... (Mt 28.19) The second of these three persons, the Son, is identified as being Jesus. And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20.30-31) Jesus is further identified as "the Word" made flesh. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1.14) Distinct Persons The Bible makes it clear that Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit are three distinct persons. That is, "Father," "Son," and "Holy Spirit" are NOT just three different names for the same person. There are many Bible verses that establish this fact. We will look at just two... Luke 3.21-22 records that Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit were present at the same event, at one and the same time. This makes it clear that they are three distinct persons. Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that...Jesus (the Son) also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice (the Father) came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.'' (Lk 3.21-22) John 14.16-17 records Jesus's promise to pray to the Father. It would be irrational for Jesus to pray to Himself by a different name. Therefore, the Father and Jesus (the Son) are two distinct persons. John 14.16-17 further records Jesus's promise that He would ask the Father to give us the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is distinct from both the Father and Jesus. (Jesus said...) "And I (the Son) will pray the Father and He (the Father) will give you another Helper that He (the Holy Spirit) may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14.16-17) Three persons are designated as "Lord" and "God". The Bible designates each of the three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) as being Lord and God. The Father is designated as Lord At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. (Mt 11.25) The Father is designated as God There is only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. (1 Cor 8.6) The Son is designated as Lord ... That you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 15.6) The Son is designated as God ... Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2.13) The Holy Spirit is designated as Lord Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Cor 3.17) The Holy Spirit is designated as God 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) THREE GODS?? The Bible says there is only ONE Lord God. Therefore, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are NOT three Gods. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! (Deu 6.4) (God said...) Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me (Deu 32.39a)
We have seen that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct persons. Not just names. PERSONS! We have seen that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are EACH designated as Lord and God.Yet the Bible clearly states there is only ONE God--Not three Gods. ONE God! Three persons are one God! HOW is this possible?" Some folks try to explain the three persons of God by using worldly comparisons, such as...
HOWEVER, the verses alongside make it abundantly clear that any attempt to understand or explain God's nature in purely worldly terms is an exercise in arrogant futility. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,'' says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isa 55.8-9) By His Spirit He (God) adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?'' (Job 26.13-14) Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His
judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has
become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him? For of Him
and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Rom 11.33-36)
The bottom line is... ONLY God can reveal God. The good news is... God HAS revealed God! In the person of Jesus, God was manifested in the flesh. "Manifested" means "revealed." One of the reasons God became flesh was to reveal His nature to us.
Jesus IS the revelation of God to humankind! And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. (1 Tim 3.16) In John 1.18, "declared" translates a form of the Greek word exegeomai. (Exegeomai is where we get our word "exegesis.") Exegeomai means -- to make known, to unfold in teaching, to reveal, to explain (per Vine's Expository Dictionary, Strong's Concordance, Thayer's Lexicon) As shown by John 1.18, the bottom line is this -- one of the main goals of Jesus is to REVEAL God's nature to us. Ergo, if we want God's explanation of Who and What He is, we must look EXCLUSIVELY to Jesus. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son (Jesus), who is in the bosom of the
Father, He has declared Him. (John 1.18)
Looking to Jesus for Answers About the Trinity John chapter 17 records a prayer of Jesus to the Father in heaven. Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You" (John 17.1) John 17.21 declares that the Father DWELLS in Jesus. All of the Father was in heaven and, at one and the same time, all of the Father dwelled in Jesus (Jesus said...) You, Father, are in Me (John 17.21b) Isaiah 42.1 and John 3.34 state that the Holy Spirit dwells in Jesus. I (the Father) have put My Spirit (the Holy Spirit) upon Him (the Son); He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. (Isa 42.1b) For he (Jesus) whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. (John 3.34, KJV) Accordingly, Colossians 2.9 states that ALL of God dwells in the Son, Jesus Christ. For in Him (Jesus) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col 2.9) John 14.11 and John 17.21 state that Jesus dwells in the Father. These verses show that Jesus dwells in the Father at one and the same time as the Father dwells in Jesus. (Jesus said...) Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me (John 14.11a) (Jesus said...) You, Father, are in Me and I in You (John 17.21b)
The Perfect Unity of Father and Son and Holy Spirit The Bible straightly declares that the nature of Jesus reveals the nature of God (John 1.18). No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son (Jesus), who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. (John 1.18) The Bible further declares that the Son is indwelt by the Father and Holy Spirit Since the nature of Jesus reveals the nature of God ... The mutual indwelling of Father and Son and Holy Spirit constitute the one-ness of perfect unity. The Father is likewise indwelt by the Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is likewise indwelt by the Father and Son.
The mutual indwelling of Father and Son and Holy Spirit constitute the one-ness of perfect unity: Jesus said...I and My Father are one (John 10.30) If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also (John 14.7a) He who has seen Me has seen the Father (John 14.9b)
SUMMATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit indwell one another, thereby constituting a perfect unity. The one God is the perfect unity of Father and Son and Holy Spirit. None of these three persons is ever less than the perfect unity of all three persons. Therefore, each of the three persons - Father and Son and Holy Spirit leonard_fabio@hotmail.com PART 3Excerpt from The Economy of God by Witness Lee, copyright 1968 by Living Stream Ministries. You can get the book from http://www.livingstream.org Why are all three Persons of the Godhead required for the development of His economy? We know that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not three different Gods, but one God, who is expressed in three Persons. Yet what is the purpose of there being three Persons of the Godhead? Why is there God the Father, God the Son, and also God the Holy Spirit? It is because only through the Trinity can the essential means be provided whereby His Spirit is dispensed into us. Second Corinthians 13:14 shows the steps of God's economy by the Trinity. "The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all."
Here we have the grace of the Son, the love of the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.
What are these? Are these three different God's? Are love, grace, and communion three different
items? No. Love, grace, and communion are one element in three stages: love is the source, grace
is the expression of love, and communion is the transmission of this love in grace. Likewise,
Father God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are one God expressed in three Persons: Father God is the
source, Christ is the expression of God, and the Holy Spirit is the transmission bringing God in
Christ into man. Thus, the three Persons of the Trinity become the three successive steps in the
process of God's economy. Without these three stages, God's essence could never be dispensed
into man. The economy of God is developed from the Father, in the Son , and through the Spirit.
1. From the Father God the Father is the universal source of all things. He is invisible and unapproachable. How can God the Father, who dwell in unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16), be within us? How can we see the invisible Father? If God is only a Father, He would be inaccessible and could not be dispensed into man. But through the divine arrangement of His economy, He put Himself into His Son, the second Person of the Trinity, in order to make Himself available to man. All the fullness of the Father dwells in the Son (Col. 1:19; 2:9) and is expressed through the Son (John 1:18). The Father, as the inexhaustible source of everything, is embodied in the Son. The incomprehensible God is now expressed in Christ, the Word of God (John 1:1); the invisible God is revealed in Christ, the Image of God (Col. 1:15). So, the Son and the Father are one (John 10:30), and the Son is even called the Father (Isa. 9:6). Formerly it was impossible for man to contact the Father. He was exclusively God and His nature was exclusively divine. There was nothing in the Father to bridge the gap between God and man. But now He has not only embodied Himself within the Son, He has also become incarnate in human nature. The Father was pleased to combine His own divinity with humanity in the Son. Through the incarnation of the Son, the unapproachable Father is now approachable to man. By this, man can see the Father, touch the Father, and commune with the Father through the Son. The first stage of God dispensing Himself into man, therefore, is through the embodiment and
incarnation of Himself in the Son as a man - thus, reproducing Himself in man.
2. In the Son The second step of bringing God into man is through the second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God. In order to understand the second stage of the economy of God, we need to know what Christ is. What are the elements that make up Christ? What are the ingredients combined together that constitute Christ? There are seven basic elements that entered into this wonderful Person, which were added through His history:
We need to remember, then, the seven wonderful elements that are in Him; the divine nature, the
human nature, the daily human life with its earthly sufferings, the effectiveness of His death, the
resurrection power, the transcendent power of His ascension, and the enthronement. All these
elements mingled in this one marvelous Christ.
3. Through the Spirit According to the first stages of God's economy, the Father placed Himself in the Son, and the Son has the seven elements mingled within Himself. But we still need another stage, a third and final step, for God to dispense Himself into man. The first step was that the Father embodied Himself in the Son; the second step was that the Son became incarnate in humanity to have all the seven wonderful elements mingled within Him; the third step is that both the Father, and the Son are now in the Spirit. All that is in the Father is in the Son, and both the Father and the Son, containing all the elements in Christ, are brought into the Spirit. Today, under the New Testament economy, all the seven elements of Christ have been placed in the Spirit, and as such, this all-inclusive Spirit has come into us and upon us. In other words, He is in us and we are in Him. this is the real mingling of God with man, which we may experience at any time. We are mingled inwardly and outwardly with the Holy Spirit. What is the Holy Spirit? He is the Spirit of Truth (John 15:26). But what is truth? The meaning of the Greek word "truth" is reality. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Reality, the full reality of Christ. Just as God is embodied in Christ, so is Christ realized in the wonderful Person of the Holy Spirit. Christ is not separate from God, and the Spirit is not separate from Christ. Christ is God expressed, and the Spirit is Christ realized in reality. "Now the Lord is the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:17). This verse proves that the Holy Spirit is not separate from Christ. The Lord is Christ Himself and is referred to as the Spirit. "The last Adam became a life-giving spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45). Again, the Scriptures point out that Christ, the last Adam, is the Spirit. We must admit that this life-giving Spirit is the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, God the Father is also the Spirit (John 4:24). Hence, all three Persons of the Godhead are the Spirit. If God the Father is not the Spirit, how could He be in us, and how could we experience Him? Because the Father and the Son are both the Spirit, we may easily contact God and experience Christ. Notice the following verses: "One God and Father....who is in all" (Eph. 4:6). "Jesus Christ is in you" (2 Cor. 13:5). "...His Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Rom. 8:11). These three verses reveal that God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are in us. How many Persons, then, are in us? Three, or one? We should not say that three separate Persons are in us, but that the Three-in-one is in us. The three Persons of the Godhead are not three Spirits, but one Spirit. The Father is in the Son, and the Son with all His seven wonderful elements is in the Spirit. When this wonderful Holy Spirit comes into us, the Godhead is then dispensed into us. Because the three Persons are in one Spirit, we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit within us. Also, by further scripture study, we find that the Triune God is in our human spirit to be our spiritual, inner life. This is the very mark of God's economy, and this is the method whereby the Godhead is dispensed into us. The goal of the divine economy is to dispense the Triune God in one Spirit into our human spirit. Hence, we must now focus our whole attention upon living by the Triune God, who dwells within our human spirit. If we are distracted from this, however good and scriptural other things are, we will surely miss the mark of God's economy. The Lord today is recovering His children by causing them to center on this mark of His divine economy. (Click here to go to Statement of Faith) |
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