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SOME POINTS ON THE TRINITY
Posted On: 010/02/2007
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THE DEITY OF CHRIST
The Deity of Jesus Christ is made clear from many aspects and Scriptures. Perhaps a good place to start might be to recognize that there are 2,500 mentions of the name Elohim in the Old Testament, beginning in the very first verse of the Bible: Gen.1:1... "In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth." This is a plural name, and leads logically as well as Scripturally, to the conclusion that God, Who is love (1John 4:16... "God is love"), has been comprised of three Persons from eternity past. Otherwise there would have been no-one to love prior to His creating angels and men.
It is also enlightening to learn that the Greek word translated "God" in 1John 4:16 is: the'os, which is the very same word used in Hebrews 1:8...
"But about the Son he says, 'Your throne, O God (Ho the'os), will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;' therefore God (the'os), your God (the'os), has set you above your companions" (NIV) Strong's defines the words Ho the'os as "The Supreme Divinity." This would make sense only if Jesus Christ is indeed God manifest in the flesh; Immanuel. See: Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:22,23.
Titus 2:13... "...we wait for the blessed hope,the glorious appearing of our great God (the'os) and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own" (NIV).
2 Peter 1:1... "Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God (the'os) and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:" (NIV).
Isaiah 43:11... "I, even I, am the Lord (Yehovah), and apart from me there is no savior." (NIV).
If one accepts the plain words of Scripture, one must come to the conclusion that the savior spoken of in Titus, 2 Peter and others, can only refer to the fact that Jesus Christ is One with the Father.
Revelation 1:4-8... "John [writing] to the seven assemblies, the ones in Asia. [Sanctifying] grace to you and [tranquilizing] peace, from Him who is and who was and who is coming, and from the seven spirits which are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the trustworthy, dependable witness, the first-born of the dead, and the
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ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and set us free from our sins by means of His blood, and who constituted us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him is the glory and the power forever and forever. Amen. Consider this. He comes with the clouds, and every eye shall observe Him with recognition and understanding, also those who were such that they pierced Him. And all the people of the earth shall beat their breasts in anguish because of Him. So it is to be. Amen. As for myself, I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God (kurios, supreme in authority), the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Omnipotent One." (from Wuest's Expanded Translation of the New Testament). This can only refer to the One who was "...pierced for our iniquities" the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is one more Scripture that we should look at: Colossians 2:8,9... "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form." (NIV)
Written by: W.A.B.
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SOME POINTS ON THE TRINITY
1. God is distinct from His Creation. If this were not so, then Everything is God. That is pantheism, and so nothing is God.
2. There is only one true God. There are two beliefs that fit into this concept:
a. That God is a single entity, a single being. This belief is held by Muslims and Jews. The Muslims believe that Allah is a single entity; the Jews believe that Jehovah is a single entity. Jehovah's Witnesses also hold this belief, and there are some Pentecostals who believe the same, and that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are God's "titles" or "offices". This idea that God is a single entity or being is known as "Unitarianism", and sprang up early in the history of the church (about 220 AD) as taught by Sabellius, a Libyan theologian, who taught that the one God manifested Himself in three "activities" or "aspects" such as: the Father in creation, (but see John 1:1-14 and Colossians 1:3-20).... the Son in redemption, and the Holy Spirit in prophecy and sanctification. This teaching was considered heretical from the time it was proposed, but survives to this day.
b. That God has always existed in three Persons who are separate and distinct, yet one in essence. Christians are the only ones who hold to this position; known as Trinitarianism. The Bible says that: "God is love." (1 John 4:16a ). The single entity God would be incomplete; unable to express love prior to the creation of all things. But the God of the Biblical Christian, who is spoken of as a plural being by His very name Elohim (lit."Gods" and appearing about 2,500 times in the Old Testament), expressed His love towards each member of the Godhead mutually before ever He created anything. He is complete in Himself, being three Persons.
Isaiah said: "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then said I, 'Here am I; send me.'" (Isa.6:8) Then in Genesis 1:26 we see the same counseling together of the Godhead: "And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness...." and in Genesis 11:7 ... "...let us go down, and there confound their language..." If God is a single entity, who is this "us"?
Also in Gen.3:22 it says: "...Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil..." Again, who is this "us"? This can only refer to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each of whom is referred to many, many times in Scripture with personal pronouns. Each wills, acts, loves, cares, can be grieved or become angry. "Titles" or "offices" or "activities" or "aspects" can't do that!
An analogy may help.... The cosmos is made up of space, matter and time.
Space is made up of length, breadth and height. Each is separate and distinct, just as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are separate and distinct Persons, yet each is God. Even time is a trinity: past, present and future; two invisible (past and future) and one visible (present), yet still "time".
A couple more examples of this Unity/Plurality from Scripture.... Gen.1:1 says: "In the beginning Elohim (plural noun) created the heaven and the earth..."
A fascinating incidence of the use of this Name of God is used in Exodus 3:14..... "And Elohim said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:" Here the Lord uses both plural and singular titles for Himself! All through the Bible God is referred to as a plurality and yet as one; as having both diversity and unity.
If there is no Trinity, then Jesus would have had to cry: My God, my God why have I forsaken Myself? (when on the cross). To reject the Trinity is to reject the God of the Bible.
Paper written by: W.A.B.
2. There is only one true God. There are two beliefs that fit into this concept:
a. That God is a single entity, a single being. This belief is held by Muslims and Jews. The Muslims believe that Allah is a single entity; the Jews believe that Jehovah is a single entity. Jehovah's Witnesses also hold this belief, and there are some Pentecostals who believe the same, and that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are God's "titles" or "offices". This idea that God is a single entity or being is known as "Unitarianism", and sprang up early in the history of the church (about 220 AD) as taught by Sabellius, a Libyan theologian, who taught that the one God manifested Himself in three "activities" or "aspects" such as: the Father in creation, (but see John 1:1-14 and Colossians 1:3-20).... the Son in redemption, and the Holy Spirit in prophecy and sanctification. This teaching was considered heretical from the time it was proposed, but survives to this day.
b. That God has always existed in three Persons who are separate and distinct, yet one in essence. Christians are the only ones who hold to this position; known as Trinitarianism. The Bible says that: "God is love." (1 John 4:16a ). The single entity God would be incomplete; unable to express love prior to the creation of all things. But the God of the Biblical Christian, who is spoken of as a plural being by His very name Elohim (lit."Gods" and appearing about 2,500 times in the Old Testament), expressed His love towards each member of the Godhead mutually before ever He created anything. He is complete in Himself, being three Persons.
Isaiah said: "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then said I, 'Here am I; send me.'" (Isa.6:8) Then in Genesis 1:26 we see the same counseling together of the Godhead: "And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness...." and in Genesis 11:7 ... "...let us go down, and there confound their language..." If God is a single entity, who is this "us"?
Also in Gen.3:22 it says: "...Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil..." Again, who is this "us"? This can only refer to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each of whom is referred to many, many times in Scripture with personal pronouns. Each wills, acts, loves, cares, can be grieved or become angry. "Titles" or "offices" or "activities" or "aspects" can't do that!
An analogy may help.... The cosmos is made up of space, matter and time.
Space is made up of length, breadth and height. Each is separate and distinct, just as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are separate and distinct Persons, yet each is God. Even time is a trinity: past, present and future; two invisible (past and future) and one visible (present), yet still "time".
A couple more examples of this Unity/Plurality from Scripture.... Gen.1:1 says: "In the beginning Elohim (plural noun) created the heaven and the earth..."
A fascinating incidence of the use of this Name of God is used in Exodus 3:14..... "And Elohim said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:" Here the Lord uses both plural and singular titles for Himself! All through the Bible God is referred to as a plurality and yet as one; as having both diversity and unity.
If there is no Trinity, then Jesus would have had to cry: My God, my God why have I forsaken Myself? (when on the cross). To reject the Trinity is to reject the God of the Bible.
Paper written by: W.A.B.
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