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Trinity - Study of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

Ed Rangel
01/05/20 - Sun AM

Series: Deity of the Father

 

The Trinity

Introduction:

  1. The nature of God has been a center of many debates.

  2. Entire councils have been set-up to write creeds that defend the Trinity.  (Evangelical Lutheran Synod)

    1. Apostle’s Creed

    2. Nicene Creed

    3. Athanasian Creed

    4. All three creeds deal with questions: Is Jesus a part of the Godhead?, is the Holy Spirit a part of the Godhead?, is God composed of there personalities having one nature?, etc.

  3. It is admitted that this is a very difficult subject to understand.  There might be several reasons that this is so, but the main reason is because our minds are human (finite), and God is infinite.  (Romans 11:33)

  4. Thesis: The purpose of this lesson is to prove that the Bible teaches:

    1. The Bible teaches that the Godhead is one in nature

    2. The Bible teaches that God the Father is one personality of the Godhead

    3. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is one personality of the Godhead

    4. The Bible teaches that Jesus the Son is one personality of the Godhead

    5. Therefore, God is composed of three personalities in one nature.

 

  1. The Godhead is one in nature - various scriptures teach this…

    1. Shema

      1. Deuteronomy 6:4 - “…the Lord our God, the Lord is one!”

      2. Ephesians 4:4-6; “One body, One Spirit, just as you were called…one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all…”

      3. Malachi 2:10; “have we not all one Father?  Has not one God created us?”  This is clearly taught in the Bible.

    2. Because of these scriptures many are led to believe that God is One and has One personality, therefore there is no such thing as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  ERROR

      1. The error is that people do not make a difference between personality and nature.

      2. There is a difference.

    3. “One God created us.” (Malachi 2:10)

      1. There was a type of multiplicity (plurality) involved (Genesis 1:26-27)-Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness..,”

      2. John 1:1, 14 - Jesus was present at and is Creator of everything.

    4. It is a fact that there is one God, but at least one aspect of God is plural, the power to create and to exist since eternity - omnipotence.

      1. God is eternal (this applies to the entirety of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit) - Psalm 90:2; Deuteronomy 33:27

      2. Isaiah 9:6 teaches us that Jesus is also eternal

      3. The Holy Spirit is also eternal - Hebrews 9:14

    5. Eternality applies to all three, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  This means that at least one aspect of God’s essence applies to all three.

  2. Three personalities of God

    1. Point is to show with Scripture that the three personalties of God are God the Father, God the Son and God the holy Spirit.

    2. God the Father - Almost everyone understands and believes that the Father is God.  The reason for this is because there are many passages of Scripture that teach this, plainly.

      1. 2 Peter 1:17 - Jesus received from God the Father honor and glory.

      2. Jude 1 - written to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father

      3. Matthew 6:9 - Instructions on ho to pray, our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.”

      4. 1 Thessalonians 3:11 - “Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you.”

      5. Up to now we have seen that the Godhead has one unified nature, and has at least one personality, God the Father.

    3. God the Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit is not an “it,” but He is a personality of the Godhead.

      1. Hebrews 9:14 - The Holy Spirt is eternal.  This means that He was not created,  He is eternal just like the Father and Son are.  The Holy Spirit has always existed just like the Father and Son.

      2. Acts 5:3-4 - Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit who is identified as God.  Lying to the Holy Spirit is equated to lying to God.

      3. 2 Thessalonians 5:23 - “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify your completely…”  1 Peter 1:2 - the Christians had participated in the “sanctification of the Spirit…”  It is god who sanctifies us, as does the Holy Spirit, therefore the Holy Spirit is God.

      4. 2 Timothy 3:16 - “All scripture is given by the inspiration of God…”  2 Peter 1:21 - “holy men of God spoke as they were moved ny the holy Spirit…”

      5. The Holy Spirit is a person - that He has the same attributes as do the Father and Son: (Olbricht)

        1. He can and has talked to people - (Acts 8:29 the Holy Spirit spoke to Philip and gave him instructions on where to go.”

        2. 1 Timothy 4:1 - “The Spirit expressly says

        3. Revelation 22:17 - “the Bride and the Spirit say ‘Come!’”

        4. Can be lied to (Acts 5:3-4), blasphemed (Matthew 12:31-32) and grieved (Ephesians 4:30), and insulted (Hebrews 10:29).

    4. God the Son-The Bible mentions another person Who composes the Godhead-Jesus Christ

      1. All three are mentioned together as having the authority and power to save (Matthew 28:19); 1 Peter 1:2 - Christians are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sparkling of the blood of Jesus.”  These two verses seem to put all three on equal footing!

      2. Jesus the Son of God is referred to as God

        1. Isaiah 9:6 - Promised Messiah, Prince of Peace, Mighty Counselor, Almighty God.”

        2. John 4:25-26, the woman at the well said she knew the Messiah was coming

        3. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, just as Thomas confessed, “My Lord, My God!”  (John 20:28).

      3. Jesus the Son is worthy of Worship and accepted Worship

        1. Jesus said that the only person that should be worshipped is the “Lord your God.”  (Matthew 4:1)

        2. No one other than God should be worshipped…

          1. Acts 14:15 - Paul and Barnabas helped a crippled man and refused to be worshipped.

          2. Angels should never be worshipped (Revelation 22:8-9).

        3. Jesus accepted worship: Matthew 14:33; John 9:38

        4. Either Jesus violated Scripture and was worshipped, or Jesus Christ is God!

    5. Jesus the Son is equated with Jehovah

      1. Isaiah declared, “Holy, Holy Holy is the Lord, the whole earth is full of His glory.”  (Isaiah 6:3)  In the New Testament John makes reference to this scene (John 12:38-41).

      2. Isaiah 40:3, John 1:11 - The prophecy is that of John the baptist preparing the way for the Lord (Jehovah, and John identifies the Lord as Jesus).

    6. Jesus is directly called God, He accepted worship that is only reserved for God, and the Holy name of Jehovah is applied to Jesus.

  3. Wrap-up

    1. The Father, the Holy Spirit and the Son are three personalities of the Godhead, and are composed of one nature.

    2. Objections:

 

Conclusion:

  1. This study is important because what we can know about god should be known and accepted.

  2. We should not be at odds with God’s word, especially on who He is.

  3. We are to honor the Son as we honor the Father (John 5:23)

  4. Sometimes we want to understand all the nuances of the Godhead, but God is not to be understood necessarily (Romans 11:33), He is to be known.

 

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