The Godhead – The Trinity
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The doctrine of the Trinity is false |
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Many people
all over the world deny the doctrine of Trinity. Obviously not all of them
explain their denial in the same way. What follows is a series of statements
against the doctrine of Trinity made by some sects and religions. |
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● Jehovah’s
Witnesses. In their book Let God Be
True we read: “Satan is the originator of the Trinity doctrine’ (Let God Be True, page 101). According
to them, only God the Father is God. Jesus Christ, in His prehuman existence was a
created spirit being and thus in the days of His flesh He was
not God. The Holy Spirit is the
active force of God. |
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Oneness Pentecostals. David Bernard says: ‘God is absolutely and indivisibly
one …. Neither testament uses the word trinity
or associates the word three or the
word persons with God in any
significant way. ….. The Bible speaks of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (or
Holy Spirit), but it does not use these titles to indicate three persons ‘in’
the Godhead …. the titles of Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit describe God’s multiple roles and works, but they do not reflect an
essential threeness in God’s nature. Father
refers to God in family relationship to humanity; Son refers to God in flesh; and Spirit refers to God in activity. For example, one man can have
three significant relationships or functions – such as administrator,
teacher, and counselor – and yet be one person in every sense. God is not
defined by or limited to an essential threeness ‘ (J.
L. Hall and David K. Bernard, editors, Doctrines
of the Bible, Word Aflame Press, Hazelwood, MO, USA, 1998, pages 15,
17-18,19-20). According to Oneness Pentecostals, therefore, Jesus
Christ is the absolute fullness of the Godhead; He is at once Father, Son and
Holy Spirit |
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Mormons. Joseph Smith said: ‘I will preach on the plurality of Gods. I have
selected this text [Rev. 1:6, in the King James Version] for that express
purpose. I wish to declare I have always and in all congregations when I have
preached on the subject of the Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods … I
have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate
and distinct personage from God the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was a
distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct
personages and three Gods …. Many men say there is one God; the Father, the
Son and the Holy Ghost are only one God. I say that is a strange God anyhow –
three in one, and one in three! It is a curious organization …. All are to be
crammed into one God, according to sectarianism. It would make the biggest
God in all the world. He would be a wonderfully big
God – he would be a giant or a monster’ (Sermon on ‘The Christian Godhead –
Plurality of Gods’ delivered on June 16, 1844; quoted in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pages 370,372). James
Talmage, in the Articles of Faith, after quoting the Nicene Creed, declares:
‘It would be difficult to conceive of a greater number of inconsistencies and
contradictions expressed in words as few’ (James E. Talmage, A Study of the Articles of Faith, Salt
Lake City, Utah (USA), 42nd edition, 1968, page 48). Mormons deny the
spirituality of God for they say that God is made of
flesh and bones, they deny the immutability of God for they
say that God was once a man,
then He became God, and furthermore they teach that God
the Father had a Father, and God’s Father also had a Father and so on. |
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The followers of William Marrion Branham: Branham said, ‘...not one place in
the Bible is trinity ever mentioned...It's Catholic error and you Protestants
bow to it’ (William Branham, Conduct,
Order, Doctrine Q and A, p. 182), ‘Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is offices
of one God. He was the Father; He was the Son; He is the Holy Ghost. It's
three offices or three dispensations,...’ (Ibid., p.
392). |
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The Church of the New Jerusalem. Emanuel Swedenborg said: ‘They who,
respecting the Divinity, have an idea of three persons, cannot have an idea
of one God; if with the mouth they say one, still they think three; but they
who, respecting the Divinity, have an idea of three principles in one person,
can have an idea of one God, and can say one God, and also think one God. An
idea of three principles in one person is attained, when it is thought that
the Father is in the Lord, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from Him; there
is then a trine in the Lord, the Divine itself which is called the Father,
the Divine Human which is called the Son, and the Divine Proceeding which is
called the Holy Spirit’ (Melton J. Gordon, Religious Creeds, Detroit 1988, page 717). |
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The Christadelphian Church: ‘The idea of the Trinity is not one that is found
in the Bible.’ (http://www.christadelphian.org.uk/), ‘… the doctrine of the
Trinity is contradictory, incomprehensible, and unscriptural’ (God is One Not
Three, page 3) |
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Christian Science. Mary Eddy Baker wrote: ‘The theory of three persons in one
God (that is, a personal trinity or Tri-unity) suggests polytheism, rather
than the one ever-present I AM ….. Life, Truth, and Love constitute the
triune Person called God, - that is, the triply divine Principle, Love. They
represent a trinity in unity, three in one, - the same in essence, though
multiform in office: God the Father-Mother; Christ the spiritual idea of
sonship; divine Science or the Holy Comforter. These three express in divine
Science the threefold, essential nature of the infinite’ (Science and Health, page 256, 331-332). |
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Judaism: ‘ ….. the Jews have always regarded the doctrine
of the Trinity as one irreconcilable with the spirit of the Jewish religion
and with monotheism’ (Jewish Encyclopedia, ‘Trinity’) |
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Islam: the Qu’ran says: ‘O people of the Book! commit
no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but truth. Christ
(Maseeh) Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an Apostle of Allah and His
Word which He bestowed on Mary and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe
in Allah and His Apostles. Say not "Trinity": desist: it will be
better for you: for Allah is One Allah: glory be to him: (for Exalted is He)
above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And
enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. Christ (Maseeh) disdaineth not to
serve and worship Allah nor do the angels those
nearest (to Allah): those who disdain His worship and are arrogant He will
gather them all together unto himself to (answer). But to those who believe
and do deeds of righteousness He will give their (due) rewards and more out
of His bounty: but those who are disdainful and arrogant He will punish with
a grievous penalty; nor will they find besides Allah any to protect or help
them’ (Qur'an 4:171-173 Surah An-Nisaa (The Women) |
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The Baha’is: ‘We believe that God
is one person in agreement with Judaism and Islam. We cannot accept the idea
that God is both three and one and find this foreign to the Bible which
Christianity claims as its source. Not a few Jewish scholars are in complete
agreement with us on this point as is the Koran’ (quoted in Walter Martin, The kingdom of the Cults, page 254).
To the Baha’is, Jesus was only one of nine manifestations of the divine being
and appeared in His era of time to illumine those who lived at that time.
Today Baha’u’llah, the last great manifestation of the Divine being, is the
source of revelation. |
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The
Family/Children of God: ‘I don’t even believe in the trinity. You can’t find
that word in the Bible…. ‘ (Disciples
and Friends Only 631:130, ‘Islam’) |
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The Way
International: ‘ … historians of Church dogma and
systematic theologians agree that the idea of a Christian trinity was not
part of the first |
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The |
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Confutation |
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The
Godhead consists of God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy
Spirit. This doctrine is commonly called the doctrine of Trinity. Therefore,
we affirm that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy
Spirit is God, and the Three are one God. So the Godhead is
not comprised of one Person alone, that is, the Father, but also of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit. These Three Divine Persons are one God from all
eternity. |
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Before I
show you the Trinity from the Scriptures, I want to say something about the
word ‘Trinity,’ which does not occur in the Holy Scriptures. The word
‘Trinity’ comes from the Latin word Trinitas,
which means ‘triad’ or ‘state of being three-fold’, which was coined by
Tertullian of Carthage (one of the so called Church Fathers), toward the end
of the second century after Christ, to explain the scriptural concept that
the Godhead consists of Three Divine Persons, that is, the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit. Therefore the fact that the word ‘Trinity’ does not
occur in the Scriptures is relative because, as we have already seen and as
we are going to see better in a few moments, the concept of a Triune God is
abundantly present within the Scriptures. Just as the expression ‘the
immortality of the soul’ does not occur in the Bible, yet in the Bible is
present the concept of the immortality of the human soul, so even though the
word ‘trinity’ does not occur in the Bible, in it is present the concept of
the Trinity. |
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Verses of the Scripture supporting
the concept of the Trinity |
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Matthew wrote: “Then cometh Jesus from |
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Jesus said to His disciples: “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will
pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide
with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:15-17). Jesus, while He was
still on earth with His disciples, was the Comforter, whom God had sent to
comfort those who mourned, but since He had to go back to the Father, who had
sent Him, He prayed the Father that He might give them another Comforter,
that is, the Holy Spirit, who would be with them forever. And at the
appointed time His prayer was heard, for the Father, in answer to the prayer
of His Son, sent the Spirit of truth to meet the needs which arose after the
departure of His Son. The concept of the Trinity is present in the words of
Jesus. |
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Jesus, before He was taken up into heaven, said to His disciples: “Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost…” (Matthew 28:19). Water baptism, which
I remind you does not purge a man from his sins
because it is just ‘an appeal to God for a good conscience’, must be
administered in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord Jesus would never have commanded to do such a thing if He and the
Father and the Holy Spirit were not one, that is to say, a Trinity in Unity. |
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Paul says to the Romans: “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” (Romans 8:11).
In these words we find God the Father who raised up
Jesus; the Son who was raised up by Him; and the Holy Spirit whom He sent
forth into our hearts and by whom He will quicken our mortal bodies. Here
also the concept of the Trinity is expressed very clearly. |
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Paul, at the end of one of his epistles to the Corinthians, wrote: “The grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy
Ghost, be with you all. Amen” (2 Corinthians |
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Paul said to the Ephesians: “There is …. One Spirit …. One Lord,
…. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and
in you all” (Ephesians 4:4,5,6). Also from these
words we learn that the Three Persons of whom the Godhead consists,
are distinct from one another yet in perfect unity with one another. |
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Paul said to the Corinthians: “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the
same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh
all in all” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). Please note that Paul first of all
mentions the Spirit, secondly the Lord Jesus Christ and then God. Also these
words make it clear that the Three Divine Persons, even though they are
distinct from one another, are one God. |
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The Scripture condemns the three blasphemies against the Three Persons of the
Godhead. Those who blaspheme the name of God commit a sin (for it is written:
“Do not blaspheme God” Exodus |
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As for the
Trinity, which is not fully understandable, some say, ‘God cannot be honoured
through a concept that ‘nobody fully understands.’ Christians must know the
God whom they worship. There is no room for mysteries concerning God!’ These
are vain words spoken by people who wilfully forget or do not know that
Zophar the Naamathite said: “Can you search out the deep things of God? Can
you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven – what
can you do? Deeper than Sheol – what can you know? Their measure is longer
than the earth and broader than the sea” (Job 11:7-9 - NKJV). Know this, it is not true that there is no room for mysteries,
because there are many mysteries concerning God, His nature and His way of
working things. However, although there are divine mysteries which have not been
revealed to us or we cannot fully comprehend, we are fully persuaded that we
have known God, for John says: “I write unto you, little children, because ye
have known the Father” (1 John 2:13) and also: “Beloved, let us love one
another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and
knoweth God” (1 John 4:7). However, it is evident that this does not mean
that to us all is clear and there are no more mysteries concerning God,
because it is also written: “For we know in part” (1 Corinthians 13:9) and
also: “For now we see through a glass, darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12). But one
day we will know just as we also are known. |
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To God be the glory forever. Amen. |
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In the
days of His flesh Jesus spoke in various ways about the perfect unity which
existed between Him and the Father. Let’s see what He said: “I and my Father
are one” (John |
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Now in
order to explain to you this perfect union and collaboration which existed
and which still exists between the Son and the Father, I will compare some
verses of the Scripture with some others. |
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One day Jesus spoke to the Jews about His resurrection in this way: “Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John |
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Jesus, in speaking to His disciples of the coming of the Holy Spirit, said:
“But the Comforter, which [who] is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26), and also: “But
when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even
the Spirit of truth, which [who] proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify
of me” (John 15:26). Therefore, according to Jesus, the Holy Spirit would be
sent by the Father and also by the Son (however, the Holy Spirit proceeds
from the Father, as Jesus Himself said). |
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Jesus, in speaking about His sheep, said: “And I give unto them eternal life;
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand”
(John 10:28), and in the prayer He addressed to God on the night He was
betrayed He said: “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son
also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he
should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him” (John 17:1-2).
Therefore, the One who gives eternal life is Jesus. However, Paul says to the
Romans: “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”
(Romans |
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Jesus said: “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will
raise him up at the last day” (John |
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Paul says to the Romans: “Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ”
(Romans 1:6). Therefore the One who called us is Christ. However, Paul
himself in the same epistle says that those whom God foreknew “he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did
predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified
….” (Romans 8:29-30). Therefore we have been called by God and by Jesus
Christ. |
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Paul says to Timothy: “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled
me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1 Timothy |
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Paul said to the elders of Ephesus: “But none of these things move me,
neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course
with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to
testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Therefore it was Christ
who gave the ministry to Paul. The apostle confirmed this to Timothy when he
said: “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he
counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1
Timothy |
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The Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit work together in perfect accord. |
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● Man was created by the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit |
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In the
book of Genesis, in regard to the creation of man, we read: “And God said,
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ….” (Genesis 1:26). As you
can see, God, when He spoke, used the plural pronoun ‘us.’ Who did He speak
to? Perhaps to angels? Not at all, for angels are creatures. He spoke to the
Word and the Everlasting Spirit who were with Him. |
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● We were made in the womb of our mother by
God and the Word and the Holy Spirit |
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David said
to God: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s
womb” (Psalm 139:13 - NIV). Elihu said to Job: “The Spirit of God hath made
me” (Job 33:4). And John says about the Word of God: “All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). |
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● The apostle Paul was sent to preach by God
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit |
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The
apostle Paul says to Titus: “Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the
truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that
cannot lie, promised before the world began; But hath in due times manifested
his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the
commandment of God our Saviour” (Titus 1:1-3), so he makes it clear that he
was sent to preach by God the Father. However, the same apostle says to the
Corinthians: “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel” (1
Corinthians |
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● As for our salvation, we have to say that
the Three, that is, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, worked
together in perfect accord |
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The Father
sent the Holy Spirit, as it is written: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name …” (John 14:26), who has
convicted us of sin, of righteousness and of judgement, as it is written:
“And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment” (John 16:8); then He drew us to the Son, for Jesus said: “No
man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will
raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44) and also: “All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me” (John 6:37); and the Son set us free from our
sins, as it is written: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage”
(Galatians 5:1) |
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● The process of transformation into the
image of the Son of God, which one day began in us and which is still going
on, is accomplished by all the Persons of the Godhead |
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Here are
the Bible verses which confirm what I have just said. Paul says to the
Philippians: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of
his good pleasure” (Philippians |
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● The work of sanctification is accomplished
by God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. |
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The
following verses of the Scripture confirm this. Paul says to the
Thessalonians: “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” (1 Thessalonians |
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● As for the guidance, we have to say that
we are guided by God and His Christ and the Holy Spirit. |
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The
following verses of the Scripture confirm this. In the Psalms it is written:
“For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto
death” (Psalm 48:14). In the Gospel according to Matthew, it is written that
Jesus said: “And do not be called teachers; for One is your teacher, the
Christ” (Matthew 23:10 – The IBRV reads ‘guide,’ that is, ‘guides’ instead of
‘teachers,’ and ‘Guida’ that is, ‘Guide’ instead of ‘Teacher’, anyway our
Teacher is our Guide). In the Gospel according to John, it is written:
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come” (John |
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We
believers acknowledge that we know in part, we acknowledge that the knowledge
of this mystery is too lofty for us to attain; the Scripture declares to each
of us: ““Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the
limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven – what can you do? Deeper
than Sheol – what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and
broader than the sea” (Job 11:7-9 - NKJV). At the moment, we can only examine
the verses of the Scripture which refer to the Trinity, but we cannot offer a
complete explanation as to how the Three are one. However, know this, we do
not believe that there are three gods, because we are not polytheists as many
people are, but we believe there is only one God, in Him we trust, Him we
know, Him we love, Him we serve, He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ; there is also one Lord, who is the Son of God; and there is one
Spirit, who is the everlasting Spirit of our God, who dwells in our hearts,
by whom we cry: Abba! Father! These Three Persons are one God from
everlasting to everlasting. Amen. |
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Now let’s
see some verses of the Scripture which show us that the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit dwell in us. |
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● The Word teaches that God the Father
dwells in us |
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Jesus
said: “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” (John |
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● The Word teaches that Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, dwells in us |
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Jesus
said: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the
vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).
Paul says to the Ephesians: “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:14-17). The same apostle says to the
Colossians: “To whom [the saints] God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians |
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● The Word teaches that the Holy Spirit
dwells in us (bear in mind that He is called also the Spirit of God and
Spirit of His Son) |
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Jesus
said: “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it
seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with
you, and shall be in you” (John |
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Brothers,
as you can see, these verses of the Scriptures show clearly that God and
Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit dwell in us. How can we understand all this?
We can’t, at the moment we can only accept this by faith. Oh, the depth of
the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His
works! |
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In
conclusion, I urge you, brothers, to hold fast the doctrine of the Trinity,
because all those who forsake it fall into serious doctrinal errors which are
the consequence of the denial of the Trinitarian concept of God. Know this,
departure from the doctrine of the Trinity has been and is one of the major
sources of heresy in the Church. |
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Therefore,
I exhort you to beware of those who, even though they claim to be Christians,
deny in one way or another the Trinity. Put inside
your heart all the verses of the Scripture which support the concept of the
Trinity, and all those which attest to the divinity of Jesus Christ and of
the Holy Spirit, so that you may have all of them ready on your lips when you
are asked questions about the Trinity and you have to refute those who oppose
the truth. |