What is the Trinity?
I. Are Jesus & The Father the same being?
A. But Jesus said Christians should be one as He and the
Father are one.
B. Scripture indicates the Father and Son are not the same
being.
II. Are Jesus & The Holy Spirit the same being?
III. The only question that remains is whether Jesus &
The Holy Spirit are God.
A. Paul tells us Jesus is God.
B. John tells us Jesus is God.
C. Paul tells us the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God.
What is the Trinity? Are
the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit the same or different beings? What is their relationship with each
other? Let's systematically address
these questions.
Some say, "Yes" because Jesus
said they are one:
John
10:30 I and the Father
are one."
and…
John
14:9b Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How
can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
14:10
Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the
Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father,
living in me, who is doing his work.
14:11
Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;
Jesus did not say, “I am the Father.”
John
17:11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world,
and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your
name--the name you gave me--so that they
may be one as we are one.
and…
John
17:22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
This does not mean Christians are
supposed to be the same being.
Matthew
20:23 He said to them, "My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and
on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been
prepared by My Father."
The Father acts, decides, and exists
independently of Jesus.
Matthew
26:39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed,
saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not
as I will, but as You will."
If they are the same, to whom was Jesus
praying?
Matthew
28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
We are to be baptized in the name of
three separate entities.
Matthew
11:27 "All things have been committed to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one
knows the Father except the Son and those
to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Jesus says He reveals the Father only
to some.
Jesus says He is not the one that makes
all the decisions.
Matthew
20:23 Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit
at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for
whom they have been prepared by my Father."
The Father makes this decision.
Mark
13:32"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father.
Jesus says He doesn't know this, but
the Father does.
John
6:46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has
seen the Father.
Jesus clearly indicates He Is not the
Father in saying He alone has seen the Father.
John
14:9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been
among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Here, Jesus is essentially saying there
is nothing more to see. In order for humans to see the Father, He would have to take
on some physical form. This is not
significantly different from the form Jesus had taken. Since the Father and the son are united in
spirit (though not the same) there is nothing more to see.
Paul tells us that Jesus is distinct
from God the Father.
1Corinthians
8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the
Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is
but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom
all things came and through whom we live.
Matthew
28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
There are three into which we are to be
baptized.
John
14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another Counselor to be with you forever--
14:17
the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because
it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and
will be in you.
The Holy Spirit lives in us apart from
Jesus.
John
16:7-10 7"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go
away; for if I do not go away, the
Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
8"And
He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;
9
concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10
and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father
and you no longer see Me;
Jesus had to leave the earth before the
Holy Spirit could come.
Here, Jesus tells us that blasphemy is
handled differently for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This certainly indicates they are distinct
entities.
Matthew
12:32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but
anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this
age or in the age to come.
Mark
3:29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he
is guilty of an eternal sin."
Luke
12:10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,
but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
Therefore, based on these scriptures,
they are not the same being. If Jesus
had to go away for the Holy Spirit to come, they cannot be the same being. If blasphemy against Jesus is treated
differently from blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, they cannot be the same
being.
Paul clearly indicates the Father and the Son are different beings.
1Corinthians
15:27 For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says
that "everything" has been put under him, it is
clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under
Christ.
15:28
When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put
everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
Philippians
2:6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something
to be grasped,
2:7
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in
human likeness.
Here, Paul tells us just how Jesus
is God -- in nature, yet he indicates there is someone higher with which to
be compared. Jesus is a separate being,
Deity in nature, yet subordinate to the Father.
John 1:1-4 [1] In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in
the beginning with God. [3] All things came into being through Him,
and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. [4] In Him was life, and the
life was the Light of men.
John tells us Jesus was with God
and that Jesus is God.
Jesus was with God in the beginning, and all things came into being
through Jesus.
Romans
8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit
of God dwells in you.
There you have the Trinity. All deity, all “God,” yet they are separate
persons: One Father, One Son, One Spirit.
This is no mystery. This is not
even a difficult concept. They are one
in purpose, love, and intent.