The Trinity
Notes
Transcript
Now that we have taken a closer look at the deity of God in relationship to the son. let’s look at The Trinity.
The Trinity is the belief that there are three persons in one God.
distinct separate persons.....
The names that are given to these three persons are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
denoting that these three are distinct and independent of one another
Extra Biblical Terms
Extra Biblical Terms
when we are talking Extra Biblical…we are meaning:
a term that means “outside the Bible” or “beyond the Bible.” Any literature that is not contained within the biblical canon is considered extrabiblical.
Noncanonical is a similar term describing extrabiblical books “outside of” the canon of Scripture.
Extrabiblical sources have varying degrees of reliability.
The Bible is authoritative, but any idea, principle, or doctrine that comes from an extrabiblical source is not.
The Bible’s historical narratives are inerrant (free from Error) and therefore utterly reliable; extrabiblical histories may be very accurate but, being noncanonical, may contain errors.
The problem with The Trinity then becomes a matter of semantics.
definition of Semantics:
the study of meanings:
the historical and psychological study and the classification of changes in the signification of words or forms viewed as factors in linguistic development
words and meaning are often taken out of context or just simply misunderstood.
The terms used to explain the trinity are non-biblical.
The terms used to explain the trinity are non-biblical.
First , we must note that the term trinity is not found in the Bible .
As well as “God the Son” is not found in the Bible either.
Note: though we realize that Jesus is referred to, in the bible, as the Son of God or the Son of man (dual nature), but never God the Son (a person in the godhead). Moreover, God the Holy Ghost is not a biblical term.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
if the trinitarian doctrine conceded ultimately that these three where one in the same…then it would be true
Darrell the Son…Darrell the Husband..Darrell the brother
the difference being, Darrell is one person and not three separate persons.
while there may be some that believe this way....we are talking here about the actual doctrine of the trinity......
Third , the term “person” is not a biblical term in relation to Deity.
you cannot confine God specifically in a person.....Jesus Christ, while being the form of God doesn’t mean that God now is not omnipresent…it doesn’t change God or diminish God in any way.
The MAN Christ Jesus is the only person in the Godhead.
or the only one that could fit the definition of persons.
Webster defines “person” as an individual human being.
God is not a human being; He is the Supreme being.
Humans have a spirit, soul (mind), and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is a spirit. No man hath seen God at any time, neither can see God.
Why? The Father does not have a body. Therefore, the Father cannot be referred to as a person.
Finis Dake , a prominent bible annotator and Trinitarian stated,
“What we mean by divine trinity is that there are three separate and distinct persons in the godhead, each one having his own personal spirit body, personal soul, and personal spirit in the same sense that each human being, angel, or any other being has his own body, soul, and spirit.” [5]
Again…speaking in Extra Biblical Terms
Firstly , there is no scripture to support such a thing as a spirit body.
Secondly, the phrase “personal spirit”, would mean there are three spirits in the godhead.
These first two are answered in chapter 4 of Ephesians:
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Thirdly , personal soul would indicate that there are three minds or three distinct centers of consciousness in God.
This leads to the concept of a committee in God .
We will be discussing this later in our discussion of LOGOS.
Conclusion: It is incorrect to use unbiblical terms such as spirit bodies and unbiblical concepts such as three spirits or three bodies.
Further, anything with more than one mind would be a bit strange.
Now, we can at least understand that there are not three spirits or bodies in the godhead.
Therefore, there cannot be three persons, because it takes a body and a spirit to constitute a person.
Person or Persons
Person or Persons
There are two passages that use the term person in relation to God. They are Job 13:7-8 and Hebrews 1:3.
7 Will ye speak wickedly for God? And talk deceitfully for him?
8 Will ye accept his person? Will ye contend for God?
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Let’s examine both:
Job 13:7
7 Will ye speak wickedly for God? And talk deceitfully for him?
8 Will ye accept His person? Will ye contend for God?
Notice the word person is singular, not plural. Jesus Christ is the only “person” in the godhead because he is the only one with a body.
the bible is specifically referring to the person or flesh of God…will we except him as the messiah or the express image of the Father.
Hebrews 1:3
3 who being the brightness of his glory (or the reflection and power of his glory) and the express image of his person (or the visible manifestation of the invisible God) and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high:
Notice again the word person is singular, not plural… not three persons but one person.
this is specifically separating the deity from the flesh…the flesh being the image or representation of God
The express image of the Father is Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God as we had read in Colossians..
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
The Cappadocian Trinity
The Cappadocian Trinity
There were three prominent theologians from Cappadocia that aided Athenasius and furthered the Athenasian trinity.
They changed the word hypostasis (singular) in Hebrews 1:3 to hypostases (plural) and they also replaced the word hypostasis for the word ouisa which means substance. Thus, the phrase, “three hypostases (persons) in one ouisa (substance)”.
This is the orthodox definition of Trinitarianism today, and it is the equivalent to Tertullian’s Latin formulation of “three personae in one substantia ”.
Note: They changed God’s Word to formulate their doctrine. This point alone proves that The Trinity is a false doctrine.
Conclusion: though we know truth and see it clearly (this is due to divine revelation) I believe we must be very careful and cautious in talking to people about the trinity vs Oneness....it can be very confusing and seem unimportant to someone that knows nothing.
some things are best learned in time.
THREE MINDS
THREE MINDS
Jimmy Swaggart, a Trinitarian, stated, “You can think of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost as three different persons exactly as you would think of any three other people, their oneness pertaining strictly to their being one in purpose, design, and desire. [7]
First , notice the unbiblical terminology, “God the Son”.
Second , he relates God to humans.
This would indicate that God has three bodies, three spirits, and three minds.
Third , he suggests that there are three separate minds that have one purpose, design, and desire. A committee that always agrees; this is a bit of a mystery.
THE LOGOS
THE LOGOS
God does not reason with three different centers of consciousness in the godhead over his plans and purpose.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word was made 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.
Trinitarians suggest that the Son was with the Father as a separate person, from eternity (the eternal son-ship).
Notice in the text, it did not say the Son was eternal, but rather he was begotten.
Eternal would indicate that Jesus had a body or spirit body before he was born.
Begotten indicates that Jesus did not have a body or spirit body before he was born.
The Greek term for WORD is LOGOS. It literally means thought or plan.
That means Jesus Christ was not with the Father in a bodily form, nor as a spirit body, but as a thought or plan in the mind of God.
If we insert the word “plan” instead of the word “word” in the text it takes on a bit of a different meaning.
John 1:1 in the beginning was the plan , and the plan was with God, and the plan was God.
God’s thoughts and plans are not separate persons from Himself, just as our thoughts and plans are not a separate person from us.
John 1:14 and the plan was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten (or created) of the Father)…
It’s hard to believe that three persons in the godhead agreed to send one of those persons to die on the cross.
It’s even harder to believe that the Father so loved the world that He sent His Son.
Why did He not come himself if He loved us so much?
The truth is that he did.
it also begs the question....how would God have a son in the first place.
the only way there can be anything other than God is if God created it
there is only one eternal spirit that worketh all in all.....
28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
one spirit and one begotten flesh
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
through the renewing of our mind, which is through the eternal spirit…can we serve the living God free from a past of sin and shame.
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Jesus Christ is the fulness or completion of The plan of God for our redemption.
the spirit of God could not be the sacrifice needed (for an eternal spirit cannot be sacrificed)
therefor he had to create a body of flesh and blood to become the atonement for our sins.
16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
The almighty God was all these things.
Conclusion: There are not three persons with three separate minds reasoning together in the godhead. If there is one spirit (God) and one body (Jesus), where would three minds reside?
the fullness of the eternal spirit resided in Christ....reconciling the world unto himself.
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
through the sacrifice of the flesh.....we have been reconciled
Reconcile means to restore to friendship or harmony....bro williams’ reference sunday.
to balance an account
God has taken the outstanding balance that we owed and balanced it out by paying that debt for us on Calvary
for those that are in Christ....Our debt has been paid in full by the sinless blood of the only begotten of the Father.
the song “the old account was settled”