| Vivid Christianity |
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| Teaching Christians how to live a "vivid" Christian life. | |
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Cheat Sheet #31
for conversations with Christians
Introduction
This is a printer-friendly version of section #31 in my article called Cheat Sheet. Don't just speed-read or skim through this because then you won't notice God prompting you. If you see something that causes you to feel a slight jolt or nudge inside, or if you catch yourself slightly squirming (physically or mentally), this is God's way of saying that He wants you to learn something or be obedient in that area. Easton's Bible Dictionary 
and the
Holman Bible Dictionary
define sin as disobedience to God's commands, laws, or wishes. It's a rebellion against God caused by self-centered thoughts, desires, or motives, leading to outward acts that are the manifestations of sin. All of the individual sins listed in the Bible (e.g., murder, adultery, lying, stealing) are different manifestations of our disobedience to God, whether we do them intentionally or not.
If the title of section #31 begins with the word "Obedience" then it describes something that God commands all Christians to obey. Our beliefs and actions need to properly line up with the New Testament. Otherwise, we'll be disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven. God is not playing games, so we need to take the New Testament seriously and learn what He expects of us, and then make sure we're obeying Him in all things (even when we don't want to). The painful consequences for our wrong beliefs or lack of obedience are no one's fault but our own. If everything at my website (VividChristianity.com), including this article, says what God wants it to say then He will confirm that for you by doing a miracle. See my home page for the details. *31 The Trinity
As you read this section, keep in mind that the New Testament is not merely a history book, it's meant to change us to become more and more like Jesus. When we read any passages in the New Testament, our goal should be to discern what God wants us to believe and do so that we can be obedient to Him. The doctrine of the Trinity essentially says that there is one God who eternally exists in three divine Persons: God the Father (frequently referred to as "God" in the New Testament, and sometimes as "the Lord God"), Jesus Christ (frequently referred to as "the Lord," and sometimes as "the Son of God"), and the Holy Spirit (frequently referred to as "the Spirit," and sometimes as "God's Spirit," "the Spirit of Christ," "the Spirit of truth," or similar terms). In these New Testament passages, notice that there is only one God: [Jesus is speaking:] "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" (Matthew 28:19)The above passages show that there is only one God. In these New Testament passages, notice that the Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God: "Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father" (Galatians 1:1-4)As we have seen, the New Testament clearly shows that there is only one God, and it clearly shows that the Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. When Jesus told us to baptize people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, above), He showed that He and the Holy Spirit and the Father are all on the same level, all co-equal (but with different roles as we'll see). In these passages, notice that we see all three Persons in the Trinity being distinguished from each other: "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."" (Matthew 3:16-17)The above passages are examples in which God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are distinguished from each other. They are three separate divine Persons, and yet in some way they are one God. This does not simply mean that they are in one accord or that they are one in purpose because Jesus said that the Father is in Him and He is in the Father (John 10:36-38, 14:6-13, 20, 17:20-24, above), which indicates that they are part of each other in some way. They are three Persons who are spiritually one, one in essence, one God. In the above passages, notice that the Holy Spirit is shown to be a Person, a Being, just as the Father and the Son are. He is not some kind of force such as electricity. In John 16:13-15 (above), for example, the Holy Spirit guides people into the truth, speaks what He hears, tells people what is yet to come, and receives information from Jesus and makes it known to people. These are the behaviors of a person, not of a force or energy. In Acts 5:3-4 (above), two people lied to the Holy Spirit, but notice that people can't lie to electricity or any other force. Only a living being can realistically be lied to. What we've seen is that there is one God who exists in three divine Persons, and there are no other divine Persons. They are three separate, individual Persons who can interact with each other, but we know that they're not three separate Gods based on the numerous passages we looked at which say that there is only one God. They're also not three separate pieces or parts of one God, because that would mean that each is only one-third God. Instead, we've seen that each one is referred to as God all by Himself (my article called Cheat Sheet #26 shows that the Holy Spirit is not female or God the Mother). How can one God exist in three divine Persons? Online you'll find different illustrations that people have suggested, but none of them really fit the Trinity:
Illustrations such as these can't really describe or explain how three completely separate and individual Persons who can interact with each other can all be one God. Another idea is to imagine a global pandemic that kills everyone on earth except for a father and his son. One of them could be called human the father and the other could be called human the son. They are completely separate and individual persons, yet they are both human, and there are no other humans. Perhaps this comes close to being a useful illustration, but it falls short because the father and son are two humans, not one. Some people argue against the concept of the Trinity by saying that 1+1+1=3 (three Gods), and others reply by saying that 1x1x1=1 (one God). But these are not scriptural arguments; they don't mean anything. In some of the above passages, and in many other passages, we can see that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have different roles. But we're told that each is God, and therefore each is worthy of praise, worship, and obedience. There's only one God, so where one is, they all are; when we pray to one, we're praying to them all. It's not necessary to pray to each one separately; it's not necessary to praise and worship each one separately. Sometimes people say that anyone who denies the Trinity is not actually a Christian, but this is completely unscriptural. Jesus said that if we disown or deny Him before people then He will disown or deny us before the Father (Matthew 10:32-33), but the New Testament never says that we must believe in the Trinity in order to be a Christian. For the full New Testament teaching on how to become a Christian by receiving salvation, see my article called How to Receive Salvation. We've seen that Jesus is the Son of God, but the Bible doesn't say that He was always God's Son. Notice what these passages say: [Jesus is speaking:] "And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." (John 17:5)In John 17:5 (above), Jesus referred to the glory that He had with the Father before the world began. John 1:1-14 (above) says that Jesus (the Word) was with God and was God from the beginning, and that everything was made through Him (showing that He is God). Jesus was with God and was God from before the world began, which tells us that He has always been a divine Person who is separate and distinct from God the Father, but we're never told that in His divine nature He was God's Son before the world began. Philippians 2:5-8 (above) says that in His very nature He is God and equal with God, then it says that He voluntarily lowered Himself by becoming human. In Luke 1:26-35 (above), the angel Gabriel told a virgin named Mary that she will conceive and bear a son whom she was to name Jesus, and He will be called (future tense) the Son of the Most High, the Son of God. One more piece of information to keep in mind is that Jesus has two natures, a divine nature and a human nature, so He is 100% God and 100% human, both at the same time (see my article called Understanding Jesus - Part Three). Putting all of this together, in Jesus' divine nature He existed with God and was God (and still is God) from before the world began, but His divine nature has never been the Son of God. It's only in His human nature that He's the Son of God. To emphasize this fact, Jesus' favorite title for Himself was "Son of Man," which is used 82 times throughout the Gospels in the NIV ("Son of Man" is clearly associated with Jesus as Lord, as in Matthew 9:6, 12:8, John 3:13, 13:31). John 1:1-14 (above) says that Jesus is "the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." Jesus came from the Father as His Son when the Father conceived Him in Mary's womb. The Father has never conceived another child, either before or since, so Jesus is the unique, one of a kind, only begotten, Son of God. When Jesus referred to God as "Father" in John 17:5 (above) and anywhere else, He was speaking from the perspective of His human nature. Similarly, when He said that "the Father is greater than I" in John 14:28 (above), He was speaking from the perspective of His human nature. Remember, we saw a moment ago that Jesus has two natures, a divine nature and a human nature, so He is 100% God and 100% human, both at the same time. Some people believe that God the Father is eternally begetting the Son, meaning that the Son is being begotten or generated from the Father's divine nature from all eternity. They say that the Son wasn't generated after the Father, making Him less than God the Father, but rather that the Son is eternally being generated from the Father. According to their argument, in order to be a son, one must be begotten or generated from a father, which is what distinguishes a son from his father. Then they rightly say that Jesus (referred to as the Word) was always with God and always has been God (John 1:1-3), so His divine existence didn't have a beginning, so the Father was never apart from the Word, and the Word is the Son who became flesh (John 1:14). They are scripturally correct in making those statements as we've seen. But then they extrapolate beyond those statements by saying that therefore the Son has no specific point of generation or being begotten, and therefore He is eternally the Son, eternally generated, begotten from eternity. They freely admit that there are absolutely no passages anywhere in the Bible which say that the Son is eternally generated from the Father, but they say that this concept is "assumed" and "presupposed" in passages that talk about the Son and the Father, especially in the apostle John's writings. For example, they tend to point to John 10:36 (below), saying that it makes clear the connection between being begotten and being sent, because they believe that when the Son speaks of being "from" the Father or "sent from" the Father, He's implying that He's from the Father from all eternity. Therefore, they say, being "sanctified" (in the passage below) must be from all eternity (because being "sent" from the Father implies from all eternity, they believe), and therefore, they say, the highlighted part of this passage implies that the Son is being eternally generated (eternally begotten) by the Father: "[Jesus is speaking:] ""I and My Father are one." Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?" The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "you are gods"'? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified [hagiazo] and sent [apostello] into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?"" (John 10:30-36 NKJV)In the above passage, notice that nothing is said about the Son being eternally generated from the Father, and nowhere in the entire Bible does it ever say that the Son is being eternally generated from the Father. In fact, when Jesus prayed to the Father concerning the apostles, notice that He used the exact same Greek words in reference to the apostles that He used in reference to Himself in the above passage: [Jesus is praying to the Father about the apostles] "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify [hagiazo] them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent [apostello] Me into the world, I also have sent [apostello] them into the world." (John 17:16-18 NKJV)So Jesus said the exact same things about the apostles that He had earlier said about Himself, and He said that He had sent the apostles into the world just as He Himself had been sent into the world. There is no implication of being "eternally generated" or "eternally begotten" concerning the apostles (John 17:16-18, above), just as there is no implication of being "eternally generated" or "eternally begotten" concerning Jesus (John 10:30-36, above). Another issue is that Jesus is sometimes referred to as "the firstborn": "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters." (Romans 8:29)God the Father and Jesus are eternal, immortal, spirits (e.g., John 4:24, 1 Corinthians 15:45, 2 Corinthians 3:17, 1 Timothy 1:17), and by definition, so is the Holy Spirit. Being eternal and immortal, none of their divine natures or spirits were ever created or born. (In Colossians 1:15-20, above, notice that all things were created in and through and for Jesus, and He is before all things, so He cannot be a created thing Himself.) Yet Jesus is called the "firstborn" in the above passages. Since His divine spirit was never created or born, being the "firstborn" refers to His human nature (from His birth on earth as a human baby). Romans 8:29 (above) says that Jesus is the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. He was the firstborn because no one could be adopted into God's family until after He was born, suffered, died, and was resurrected. When we receive salvation, we are adopted into God's family as His children and as co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:14-17, 29, Galatians 4:4-7, Ephesians 1:4-5, Hebrews 2:11), which is why Jesus has many brothers and sisters. In Colossians 1:15-20 (above) and Revelation 1:4-5 (above), we see that Jesus is the firstborn from among the dead. Jesus never sinned, so He was never dead in His sins as everyone else is. Instead, He died to sin (purchasing our salvation) and was resurrected to life, and when we have proper faith in Him then we are united with Him in His death and resurrection (see my article called Understanding Jesus - Part Two). Therefore, He was the first to die to sin and be resurrected into a glorified body, making Him the firstborn from the dead. We've seen that Jesus' divine spirit is eternal and immortal and was not God's Son. Therefore, when Hebrews 1:3-6 (above) refers to God bringing His firstborn into the world, this describes Jesus being born as a human baby, making Him God's firstborn Son. In Hebrews 12:22-24 (above), "the church of the firstborn" simply means "the church of Jesus." In Colossians 1:15-20 (above), we're told that Jesus is the firstborn over (or "of") all creation, but this doesn't mean that He is a created Being as we've seen. Throughout the Bible, the word "firstborn" often refers to the first child born in a family, but it can also have the meaning of first in rank because the firstborn son typically received greater blessings and privileges than the other children. In some cases, the firstborn was appointed (as in Psalm 89:18-27), and sometimes one son was the firstborn in time but the second son was the firstborn in rank, receiving the blessings and privileges that were due to the firstborn (the clearest example is 1 Chronicles 5:1-2, but also see Genesis 17:18-21, 27:1-41, and 48:1-20). Therefore, Bible commentaries tend to point out that in Colossians 1:15-20 (above), Jesus is the firstborn over (or "of") all creation because He is the first in rank, having supremacy over all things as Colossians 1:15-20 (above) specifically says. Throughout the Bible, the word "day" doesn't always refer to a specific 24-hour period (see my article called The Rapture of the Church - Part Five), and the same is true for the word "today." The context is important in determining what period of time is being referred to. In Hebrews 1:3-6 (above), notice that God said "You are my Son; today I have become your Father" and "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son" (future tense). These are quotes from the Old Testament that the author of Hebrews (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) was using in reference to Jesus, and he also used the first quote in reference to Jesus in Hebrews 5:5, and Paul used it in reference to Jesus in Acts 13:32-37. Those statements are the opposite of the "eternally generated" or "eternally begotten" view (which says that Jesus has been the Son for all eternity) because they show that there was a time before Jesus was the Son. So in context, they are statements of a specific point in time. As we've seen, Jesus' divine nature has never been the Son of God; it's only in His human nature that He's the Son of God. He became God's Son by being conceived in Mary's womb by the Holy Spirit as we saw, but this didn't guarantee that He would receive the blessings of the firstborn based on the examples we saw a moment ago. When He completed His mission on earth by remaining sinless and then taking on sin and dying on the cross, God appointed Him as the firstborn in rank (receiving the firstborn's rights, privileges, and blessings). God then demonstrated that Jesus is the firstborn Son of God by raising Him from the dead in glory. We know this because when Paul quoted the second Psalm ("today I have become your father") in Acts 13:32-37, it was in the context of God raising Jesus from the dead, which Paul mentioned three times in that short passage. In addition, Paul specifically said that Jesus "was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:1-4). So the fact that Jesus is the firstborn Son of God who was raised from the dead in glory shows, yet again, that Jesus is only the Son in His human nature after being conceived by God in Mary's womb. He has never been the Son in His divine nature. The concept of the Trinity has been debated for centuries or millennia (partly because the Bible never uses the word "Trinity"), but the simple fact is that our tiny, fallible brains will probably never be able to comprehend the truth, the vastness, of who God is. If we could comprehend all things about Him, He wouldn't be a very big God. For the glory of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh, was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification. Dave Root home page and email: https://www.vividchristianity.com "Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3) "Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist - denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." (1 John 2:22-23) "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God." (1 John 4:15) "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." (1 John 4:1-3) "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:6-7) "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:25) |
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| All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (R). NIV (R). Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. (Emphasis added.) |