The Trinity Explained
Who can explain the Trinity? I tried for years to get someone to explain the Trinity to me, but all I ever heard was:
►The Trinity is like water in three forms, liquid, ice and steam. (You draw your own conclusions)
►They have also said that this is one of the unexplained mysteries that we won't understand until we get to Heaven.
►That there is only one person or one being called God. This is the "Oneness" group.
►That there is a difference in meaning of three human persons and three devine persons.
►That the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three manifestations of one person or one being.
►That the Father is the only person who is divine; the Son was created by the Father; the Holy Ghost was created by the Son. (Aryanism the doctrine popularized by Nazism).
►That God consists of three persons in one being, or three beings in one being.
►That the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost are three essentials parts of one being, just as man is made up of body, soul, and spirit.
►That God is a complex person so therefore it is folly to seek to explain the Trinity.
I even went to the internet to view some famous teachers and they drew out a 15 - 30 minute explanation and still didn't make it where the average Christian can understand.
Paul understood the Trinity
Being taught by Jesus Himself, you would think he would understand. Acts 22:14 "And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth".
Paul went to Paradise and was taught there. 2Co 12:2-4 "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such a one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter".
All the salutations in his epistles revealed this. Rom. 1:7, 1Cor. 1:3, 2Cor. 1:2, Gal. 1:3, Eph. 1:2, Eph. 5;5, Php. 1:2, Col. 1:3, 1Th. 1:1, 2Th. 1:1, 2Th. 1:1, and etc. "Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ".
The word "one" in the bible has thrown people off the truth.
There are many uses of the word one meaning something other than the number one. Gen. 2:24 "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."; 1Cor. 3:6-8 "...he that planteth and he that watereth are one..."; 1Cor. 12:13 "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."; Eph. 2:14 "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;"; Heb. 2:11 "...He that sanctifieth and he that is sanctified are all of one...".
1Jn 5:7-8 "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one".
John 14:8-11 Jesus says that He and the Father are one "Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake."
One God
Lets put it in human senses. If I were to ask you to name the name of Caesar, you would then ask me, "Which one". Now the reason for that is that there have been many Caesars because the word Caesar is not a name it is a title. Even when they say, "Hail Caesar" they are not calling him by his name. Likewise, when we say the word God we are not speaking about one person but the Godhead consisting of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We get in the habit of distinguishing the Father as "God" but distinguish the Son calling Him by name, Jesus.
Jesus taught us to pray to the Father in His (Jesus') name. This is shown in John 14:13. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
(Joh 15:16) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you (Joh 16:23) And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.(Joh 16:26) At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
When Jesus was on earth He wanted all the praise to go to His Father. He said (Mat 28:18) that all authority in heaven and earth had been given to Him, (who by? The Father of course. So, we now see that Jesus is the supreme authority in heaven and earth but when all the enemies of God have been made the footstool of Jesus He will take all that glory and turn around and give it to the Father that He might be "All in all" 1Co 15:28 "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".
Jesus clarifies the word "One" in John 17:21-23 when He asks the Father to make the disciples one just as we are one. "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me". Jesus didn't mean that all the disciples be bundled into ONE person, He meant that they should be one in unity as He and the Father are.
God taught throughout the Bible that He wanted unity (oneness). At the tower of Babel He said, Gen 11:7 "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech". Also, it was when the disciples were in unity that the Holy Spirit came down and they were baptized in the Spirit>
1Cor. 8:5-6 "For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many and lords many), but to us there is but one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him".
1Tim. 2:5 "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ".
1Tim. 6:13 "...in the sight of God..., and Christ Jesus..."
Once again remember that Paul went to Heaven and was taught by Jesus Himself.
Conclusion:
One: The reason we get confused is because we tend to think the word ONE simply meaning one like half of tw0. It does mean that but it also means one in order, one in thought, one in unity. When someone says, "Let us see what your wife thinks about this or that", I tell them what she thinks about it for we have been one for over sixty years. Imagine how long the Word was with the Father.
We should be one with the Father and the Son. There is such a stress in scripture on unity (oneness). The Lord said that in unity nothing would be impossible. Gen 11:6 "And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do." Jesus wanted His Church to be in unity, He wants husband and wife to be in unity, He wants Jews and Gentiles to be in unity. If we drop all our spiritual hangups and follow the Lord's lead then the "Sons of God" will be made manifest and the end of the age will be unveiled.
God (Jehovah) and the Son (Jesus) make up the Godhead in heaven. The Spirit of the Godhead is their Spirit working here on earth. This is why Jesus said that "I must go away" "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."Joh 16:7 Paul used the same type of saying in Col 2:5 "For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." 1Co 5:3 "For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed." 1Co 5:4 "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ," The Holy Spirit came to the disciples at Pentecost when "they were in one accord" unity!
Now, to put icing on the cake, look at these verses in the bible:
Pro 30:4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?
Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Psa 2:8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psa 2:9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Genesis 1:26-27, “And God said, LET US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness...So God created man in his own image, in the image of God [not angels. the "us" can only refer to God.] created he him.”
Genesis 3:22, “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil...”
Isaiah 6:8, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for US? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”
"In the essentials - Unity; In non-essentials - Liberty - In all things - Charity"