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God Is Three
Grace to You.org ^ | 1997 | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

Posted on 02/05/2016 4:09:36 AM PST by metmom

"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).

Though there is only one God, He exists in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

God is one, but He exists in three distinct Persons. We call this the Trinity, a contraction of "tri-unity," meaning "three in one." The word Trinity doesn't appear in the Bible, but God's existence as three Persons in one God is clear from Scripture.

Old Testament evidence of God's plurality can be found in the very first verse: "In the beginning God . . ." (Gen. 1:1). The Hebrew word used for God is Elohim, which is a plural noun. Isaiah 42:1 speaks of the Messiah: "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations." The Messiah says in Isaiah 48:16, "The Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit."

The New Testament is more explicit about God's triune nature. After Jesus' baptism, the Spirit of God descended upon Him as a dove, and the Father said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased" (Matt. 3:17). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are together in the same scene.

Jesus says, "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth" (John 14:16-17). Paul closes 2 Corinthians by saying, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all" (13:14). Peter declares that believers are chosen "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:2).

So God is one, but God is three. This is a profound mystery that no human illustration can adequately describe and no scientific explanation can prove. The Trinity is something we have to take on faith, because God has taught it in Scripture.

Suggestions for Prayer

Praise God that He is so far above our finite understanding, yet has chosen to reveal Himself to us.

For Further Study

Read John 14-16.

What does Jesus teach about His relationship with the Father and the Spirit? What do you learn here about the different functions or ministries of each member of the Trinity?


TOPICS: Evangelical Christian; General Discusssion; Theology; Worship
KEYWORDS: faith; grace; gty
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To: DouglasKC
It's my contention based upon scripture...

You fail to acknowledge OTHER scripture that shows your contention to be inaccurate.

201 posted on 02/08/2016 4:49:13 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: MHGinTN
God made it so simple...

And ILLUSTRATED it when Jesus responded to the 'good thief':

\...today, you shall be with me...


202 posted on 02/08/2016 4:51:14 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: MHGinTN

203 posted on 02/08/2016 4:53:14 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Radix
1 John 5:7 is considered by Scholars ...

ALL of them?

I'm going to my local Christian bookstore and buy a Scholars Bible!

I'm damned TIRED of getting wrong info all of the time!

204 posted on 02/08/2016 4:55:15 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: John Leland 1789

Lol, there is no UNLESS in the Scriptures.

Why do you think the disciples noted that Sunday was the THIRD DAY since Jesus died??

The Scriptures absolutely lock in Sunday as the day Jesus rose. Once that day is locked in, it is very simple to count backwards to find out the day He died.

3, 2, 1

( Wednesday or Thursday are absolutely eliminated as possibilities )


205 posted on 02/08/2016 4:56:46 AM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism
Lol, I love it when someone purports to tell me what "Catholiciism" teaches.

Lol, I love it when someone posts Catholic quotes, and then some FR RCC church members try to deny this is what "Catholiciism" teaches.

206 posted on 02/08/2016 4:58:18 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism

Deny or ignore...


207 posted on 02/08/2016 4:58:36 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie

Let me say with the utmost confidence that from reading your postings over the years, that you know the same amount about the Faith as I know about Hinduism. ( which is to say, not much )


208 posted on 02/08/2016 5:10:16 AM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism; metmom; Elsie

Well.. I guess maybe you are not really capable of of just saying yes, or no. But have to mix them up together somehow. I was just looking for a simple yes, or no. Anything else added just mixes a little no in with the yes, or little yes in with the no.

I will try one more time. It is a simple questions. Do you believe that someone’s salvation is in jeopardy depending on the days of the week that they believe that Jesus died and was resurrected? Anything other than a NO answer means that you really DO believe this.

Either type just 2 letters: N O

or 3 letters: Y E S


209 posted on 02/08/2016 5:31:51 AM PST by lupie
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To: lupie

The doctrine that Jesus died on Wednesday rather than Friday comes from the devil and is a very subtle attack on the Scriptures and the Christian Faith.

Saved people are led by the Holy Spirit and the lost are in the kingdom of Satan.

Why would saved people believe and promote Satanic doctrines?

Think about it.


210 posted on 02/08/2016 5:36:53 AM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism

You would not know a doctrine of the devil if it showed up in your mail box. But carry on...


211 posted on 02/08/2016 5:40:40 AM PST by Just mythoughts (Jesus said Luke 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.)
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To: lupie

I can say yes to their salvation is in jeopardy.

I have never met anyone who believes Jesus died on Wednesday that was orthodox in every other part of the Faith.

If someone can fall for that lie, it proves they don’t hold the saving Faith required for salvation.

They also are violating the command of Jesus for his followers to be one, among other sins.


212 posted on 02/08/2016 5:42:05 AM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism

I was hoping, but doubted that you could give either a yes or no answer.

So then, to wrap this up, You, “one Lord one faith one baptism”, which is the label you have given yourself here, DO believe that your salvation rests on what days of the week that Jesus died and was resurrected.

Thank you for making that clear to everyone now. You can’t undo the fact that you have stated that whether a person goes to heaven or hell when they die depends on what they believe about the days of the week in the Gregorian calendar that Jesus was crucified and arose from the grave.


213 posted on 02/08/2016 5:48:51 AM PST by lupie
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To: Radix

Along with Matthew 28:19, but good luck.

You’re going to need it.

;-)


214 posted on 02/08/2016 5:49:06 AM PST by SouthernClaire
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To: metmom

How is this any different than the polytheism of the Greeks, Romans, and Central Asia?


215 posted on 02/08/2016 6:21:51 AM PST by Thales Miletus (Men stand up for truth, cowards hide behind ignorance.)
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism

Good answer for liturgical defense, but not good Bible study.


216 posted on 02/08/2016 6:38:28 AM PST by John Leland 1789
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism; lupie; Elsie; Iscool
Let's rephrase, for clarity not dissembling: Why would savedWhy wouldn't unsaved people believe and promote Satanic doctrines?

There now, that fits catholiciism more precisely, given that it is a religion promoting 'striving for salvation', bowing down to statues of Mary, calling the Mother of Jesus 'the mother of god', asserting that their priests bring Jesus obediently down from Heaven to be eaten 'body, blood, soul, and DIVINITY' on catholic altars at every Mass by any catholic priest, and promote the Mother of Jesus as a chosen by god 'mediatrix' of heavenly blessings and the power to determine time in the catholic mythological purgatory. Some deluded catholics actually assert that the Mary of catholiciism can determine a person's salvation or damnation. So we ask, Why are people still fooled into believing catholiciism is Christianity?

217 posted on 02/08/2016 6:40:18 AM PST by MHGinTN (Democrats bait then switch; their fishy voters buy it every time.)
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To: one Lord one faith one baptism

You must count back Saturday night, Friday night, Thursday night, AT LEAST, which would put the Crucifixion prior to Friday.


218 posted on 02/08/2016 6:43:05 AM PST by John Leland 1789
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To: John Leland 1789
It is a hard thing to reason with a magic thinking mind ... ignoring the words of Jesus regarding three DAYS and three NIGHTS is the excuse someone thinks will persuade God to give them a pass for eschewing the Grace of God in Christ while trying to serve their pride and work their way to salvation.
219 posted on 02/08/2016 6:50:26 AM PST by MHGinTN (Democrats bait then switch; their fishy voters buy it every time.)
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To: MHGinTN
1 John 5:7 KJV For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Only problem is that nearly everyone agrees that this verse is an addition to the inspired text. It was put in there later..probably in order to have a definitive statement on the trinity because none existed.

Who is confused, you, or John? Did the Angel tell Mary the eventual Mother of Jesus 'Who' would be upon her and she conceive in her womb? Luke 1:34 And Mary said unto the messenger, ‘How shall this be, seeing a husband I do not know?’ the messenger answering said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God;

Who the father of Jesus...a person called "holy spirit" or God the father?

Jesus never refers to a person called "the holy spirit" as his father. He understood that his father was God, the father, and the holy spirit was his father's presence in Mary. But the holy spirit isn't another "person".

220 posted on 02/08/2016 7:42:39 AM PST by DouglasKC
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