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STEP SEVEN

Father, Son, Holy Spirit

Throughout the Bible, God revealed Himself as one God. Yet, God eternally exists in three distinct, divine persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We use the term “Trinity” to refer to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. From the earliest pages of Scripture, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit worked together. Together they were involved in creation, salvation, sanctification, and glorification. None of them works outside the single will of God, which always works to the glory of God. They do not fight among themselves, and never act in conflict with each other. They are totally united, always.

First Steps in Christ–Step Seven–The Trinity

The Baptism of Jesus

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’
Matthew 3:16-17

As Jesus stood in the Jordan river on earth, clothed with human flesh, truly God and truly man, a voice came from heaven and said: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” In this passage, the three divine Persons appear at the same time. God the Son stood in the Jordan River on earth being baptized. God the Holy Spirit descended as a dove from heaven and landed on Jesus. God the Father then spoke from heaven. The Father and Son are not the same Person, for God the Father was speaking from heaven and God the Son was standing in the river. They exist simultaneously, and God the Son pleased God the Father. The passage also records the activity of the Holy Spirit. As a dove, the Holy Spirit alighted upon the Son of God as Jesus came up from the water. God the Holy Spirit is not God the Father and God the Holy Spirit is not God the Son. This passage helps to explain the three Persons of the Godhead. Even though we see God in three divine Persons, Jesus also described Himself as One with the Father (John 10:30). Likewise, in the Old Testament, God described Himself as one God (Deuteronomy 6:4).

God Is Spirit

God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
John 4:24

God Is spirit. Jesus taught that God is spirit. That means you cannot see God with human eyes because He is invisible (Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; John 6:46). The Father, Son and Holy Spirit were not created, but always existed together. Jesus took human flesh through the miracle of the Holy Spirit coming upon the virgin Mary and dwelt among men. He remained fully God, and also became fully man. While on earth, the Holy Spirit and the Father lived in Him and all the fullness of deity dwelt in Christ (John 3:34; 17:21; Colossians 2:9). Our human spirits bear the image of the invisible God (Genesis 1:26-27), just as Christ is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4).

God Is Alive

For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;
John 5:26

God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have eternal life in themselves. They have eternal existence from eternity past and continue through eternity future. God created the heavens and the earth, and every member of the Trinity participated in creation (Father, Genesis 1:1; Son, John 1:3; Holy Spirit, Genesis 1:2). Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last (Revelation 1:17-18; Revelation 22:12-13). When we consider our mortality, we must turn to God’s eternality. We rest in God because He has promised to love us forever. Because God controls eternity, without beginning or end, we place our full confidence in His power to sustain us forever. When He says He will never leave us or forsake us, He means for eternity. Death could not hold Jesus Christ, for it was impossible for Him to be held in the power of death (Acts 2:24).

When believers come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, they must turn away from all idols and serve the living and true God (1 Thessalonians 1:9). God created and sustains all life on earth, and men must never worship creation instead of the Creator God (Romans 1:25). We depend upon God daily for all our food (Psalm 145:15-16). Spiritually, Jesus promised believers that He would give them a well of water springing up to eternal life (John 4:14). Jesus defined eternal life as knowing God the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom God the Father sent to earth (John 17:3). God is the God of the living, for they have eternal life in Him (Mark 12:24-27).

Three Divine Persons: One God

He said to them, ‘Then how does David in the Spirit call Him “Lord,” saying “The LORD SAID TO MY LORD, ‘SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET.’
Matthew 22:43-44

God exists eternally as three divine Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (“the Trinity”). All three persons share all attributes and have a common purpose and common will. They share the same substance. Together they are one compound unity, one God. Consider the illustration below.

Notice that God the Father is not God the Son. Jesus could be standing in the Jordan River on earth, and His Father remains in heaven, speaking from above. Likewise, God the Holy Spirit descended from heaven to earth. God the Holy Spirit is not God the Son or God the Father. Also, please keep in mind that God the Father never died on the cross; only God the Son (Jesus Christ) died on the cross. So, do not thank God the Father in your prayers that God the Father died on the cross. Notice the arrows outside the triangle indicate the distinct Persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Notice the lines inside the triangle indicate that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all God. One God eternally exists in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God the Father

Jesus repeatedly testified that God the Father had sent Him to earth, to do His works. Because God the Father loved God the Son, God the Father showed God the Son all that God the Father was doing (John 5:19-20). God the Father loved the world, and sent Jesus, the unique Son of God, to die on the cross, so that every person who believes will not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). From God the Father, every family on earth derives its name (Ephesians 3:15).

God The Son

Jesus referred to Himself using many titles, but in the New Testament, He often described Himself as the Son of God and the Son of Man. The title Son of God emphasized His unity with God, and the title Son of Man emphasized His unity with man. God the Son always existed, and He was never created. He was before all things, and all things were made through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16). God the Son died on the cross, and shed His blood to take away the wrath of God and provide salvation for people. Without faith in God the Son as Savior, no one comes to the Father, for Jesus Christ is the only way, truth and life (John 14:6). One day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).

God the Holy Spirit

God the Holy Spirit participated in creation, just like God the Father and God the Son participated in creation (Genesis 1:2; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16). God the Holy Spirit possesses all the attributes of God. God the Holy Spirit can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30) and can be quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19). God the Holy Spirit fills the believer (Ephesians 5:18) and Jesus baptizes each believer with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11). God the Holy Spirit moves men to speak for God (2 Peter 1:21) and God the Holy Spirit knows all things, for He searches the depths of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-13). God the Holy Spirit abides everywhere (Psalm 139:7-8). God the Holy Spirit acts as a Helper for believers (John 14:16) and a Teacher (John 14:26) Who guides us into all truth (John 16:13). By the Holy Spirit believers have been sealed for the day of redemption, for He functions as a pledge of our salvation (Ephesians 4:30; Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit lives within each believer (1 Corinthians 12:13) and we walk in the Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit produces His fruit in our lives (Galatians 5:16-26).

God Is Love

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1 John 4:7-8

God is Love. The Bible used a special word for love here: agape. Agape describes love that only a perfect, holy God can give to you. Agape means that God does the best thing for you, not necessarily what will make you feel good. In order to share God’s love with anyone, you must first be born of God. If you have not been born again, then you cannot know God’s love or share His love. When you believe that Christ died in your place on that cross to pay for your sins, and believe in your heart that God raised Christ from the dead, then God has forgiven your sins. Neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit suffered crucifixion in the flesh, but Jesus did. We believe that Jesus died for us. God says the just shall live by faith. As we live in faith, God pours His love upon us and through us. Nothing characterizes God better than love. Jesus died for us because the Father loved us and gave His Son for us. Jesus loved us and endured the shame of the cross. The Holy Spirit loves us and empowers us to live for Christ.

Modalism Heresy

He said to them ‘Then how does David in the Spirit call Him “Lord,” saying, “THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET”‘? If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?
Matthew 22:43-45

Some people falsely teach that God is only one person. They deny the doctrine of the Trinity. Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Scientists, Oneness Pentecostals, and other groups deny that God eternally exists in three divine Persons as one God. This heresy denies that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are both God just like God the Father. The Bible clearly affirms the deity of Jesus Christ, meaning that He is really God (John 1:1, 14). The Bible clearly affirms the deity of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-6). Modalists teach that the one God appears as Jesus, as the Father, and the Spirit, but He always takes just one form or another. They claim that God never appears simultaneously as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. According to Modalists, God appears in one mode or another. Modalists fail to understand the baptism of Jesus. On earth Jesus stood in the Jordan river as God in the flesh. At the same time, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and landed upon Jesus at the river. At the same time, God the Father spoke from heaven about His beloved Son, Jesus, at the river. So, all three Divine Persons were present at the same time. Therefore, Modalism contradicts the Bible. Antichrists teach Modalism. Be careful to avoid antichrists and Modalism.

Openness of God Heresy

Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.
Psalm 147:5

The Openness of God Heresy holds that God does not know all the future, and He does not control all the future, because humans make choices that affect how the future will unfold. In that sense, the future remains open to change, depending upon what humans decide. In essence, The Openness of God Heresy denies the omniscience of God (He knows everything–past, present and future). God actually proclaims that He alone knows all things, including all future things (Isaiah 41:21-24). The Openness of God Heresy also denies the immutability of God. God never changes (James 1:17; Hebrews 13:8). The Openness of God Heresy denies the omnipotence of God (Matthew 19:26; Jeremiah 32:27). Antichrists teach the openness of God when they suggest that God does not know all things in advance. In fact, God controls all things according to His divine will (Ephesians 1:11).

The Attributes of God

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Romans 1:20

The creation of God displays His glory and reveals God’s divine attributes. God renders man without excuse by displaying His attributes, eternal power and divine nature for the whole world to see and reverence. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit all have these attributes. God has three “omni” attributes, plus immutability. We can examine them briefly and see that they are related to one another.

Omniscience

We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our hearts before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater that our heart and knows all things.
1 John 3:19-20

Omniscience means God knows everything (1 John 3:20). God remembers the end from the beginning. God declared that from ancient times He will accomplish all His good pleasure (Isaiah 46:9-10). God knows all things, including all the things that you need, even before your pray (Matthew 6:8). Even before I speak, God knows all things (Psalm 139:1-6).

Omnipresence

‘Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?’ Declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 23:24

Omnipresence means God is present everywhere (Psalm 139:7-12). King David always knew that God was with him (Acts 2:25). Jesus promised that He would always be with us, and that He would never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). God Himself is never far off, and man cannot hide himself from the presence of God. God fills the heavens and the earth (Jeremiah 23:23-24).

Omnipotence

And looking at them Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’
Matthew 19:26

Omnipotence means God has all power (Matthew 19:26). God can do all things, and nothing can stop His power (Job 42:2). Nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37). God’s power acts in righteousness and no one has ever seen such power as God displays (Isaiah 64:4).

Immutability

For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore, you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
Malachi 3:6

Immutability means that God does not change (Malachi 3:6). God never lies, never repents of evil, never fails to do what He promised to do (Numbers 23:19). God never changes, never varies, never has a shifting shadow, but always gives perfect gifts (James 1:17). When God called you to salvation, He never withdraws His gifts or revokes your calling (Romans 11:29).

First Steps in Christ–Step Seven–The Trinity

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As we study, we seek to love Jesus more because His word has instructed us so that we learn His ways. Eternal life consists in knowing God the Father, and Jesus Christ Whom God sent. As the eternal God of Glory, One with His Father, the Son of God took flesh and dwelt among us. Because of His death, He used His blood to purchase our redemption. He was raised for our justification. We now live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved us and gave Himself for us. By the grace of God, the Holy Spirit abides in every born-again believer and fills us with His presence and blessings. He leads us into all truth. Jesus is the truth, and the way, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Jesus, our Lord.

We look forward to His imminent return to the clouds of earth, to snatch away the believers alive on earth, so that we may be forever with the Lord. When He returns to the clouds, He will bring with Him all those people in Christ who died before His return to the clouds. We encourage one another with the promises of God, Who makes our path grow brighter and brighter, until the full light of day shines forth. We love Jesus and look forward to seeing Him soon. After Jesus removes the believers from the earth, then a terrible period of seven years follows where God brings measured and precise judgments upon the people alive on earth. God cut those days of Tribulation short, or no flesh would have been saved. Jesus will then return to earth, slay His enemies, and place His feet on the Mount of Olives where He ascended to heaven. He will then reign on earth for a thousand years, and believers will reign with Him. After the Millennial Reign of Christ, all unbelievers will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment, and they will suffer according to their deeds done on earth. They will be cast into the Lake of Fire, a place of torment night and day for eternity, because they never received the free gift of salvation while alive on earth. One day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God. Today we invite you to come and see Jesus, and learn from Him, for He is gentle and humble in heart. Take His yoke upon you, for His burden is easy and His yoke is light. He will give you rest for your soul as you trust Him. We receive salvation only from Jesus, by faith alone in Jesus, Who gives us the free gift of eternal life.

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