What does this simple verse mean to you? One person of GOD or three persons of GOD?
Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Acts 5:30-32
30The
God of our fathers raised
Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31
God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32We are witnesses of these things, and so is the
Holy Spirit, whom
God has given to those who obey him."
Acts 7:55-57
55But Stephen, full of the
Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of
God, and
Jesus standing at the right hand of
God. 56"Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the
Son of Man standing at the right hand of
God."
Luke 22:69
But from now on, the
Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty
God."
Mark 16:19
After the
Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of
God.
Luke 22:69
But from now on, the
Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty
God."
Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on
Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God.
Genesis 1:26
Then
God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [ Hebrew; Syriac all the wild animals ] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
Trinity: Webster’s dictionary gives the following definition of trinity: “The union of three divine persons (or hypostases), the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in one divinity, so that all the three are one
God as to substance, but three Persons (or hypostases as to individuality).” Synonyms sometimes used are triunity, trine, triality. The term “trinity” is formed from “tri,” three, and “nity,” unity. Triunity is a better term than “trinity” because it better expresses the idea of three in one.
God is three in one. Hypostases is the plural of hypostasis which means “the substance, the underlying reality, or essence.”
Tri-theism. This is the teaching that there are three Gods who are sometimes related, but only in a loose association. Such an approach, abandons the biblical oneness of
God and the unity within the Trinity
1 Corinthians 8:4-6 “Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no
God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is
but one
God, the
Father, from whom are all things, and we
exist for Him; and one
Lord,
Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we
exist through Him.”
Ephesians 4:4-6 “
There is one body and one
Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one
God and
Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”
James 2:19 “You believe that
God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”
There are many instances where
God uses the plural pronoun to describe Himself (see Gen. 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa. 6:8).
Several passages reveal a distinction of Persons within the
Godhead.
- In Psalm 110:1, David demonstrates there is a distinction of Persons between “LORD,” the one speaking, and the one addressed called by David, “my Lord.” David was indicating the Messiah was no ordinary king, but his own Lord, Adoni (my Lord), one who was God Himself. So God the first Person addresses God the second Person. This is precisely Peter’s point when He quotes this Psalm to show the resurrection of the Messiah was anticipated in the Old Testament.
- The Redeemer (who must be divine, Isa. 7:14; 9:6) is distinguished from the Lord (Isa. 59:20).
- The Lord is distinguished from the Lord in Hosea 1:6-7. The one speaking here is Yahweh, the Lord, yet, note the statement in verse 7, “I will have compassion … and deliver them by the Lord their God.”
- The Spirit is distinguished from the Lord in a number of passages (Isa. 48:16; 59:21; 63:9-10).
(1)
The Father is called God (John 6:27; 20:17; 1 Cor. 8:6; Gal. 1:1; Eph. 4:6; Phil. 2:11; 1 Pet. 1:2).
(2)
Jesus Christ, the Son is declared to be God. His deity is proven by the divine names given to Him, by His works that only
God could do (upholding all things, Col. 1:17; creation, Col. 1:16, John 1:3; and future judgment, John 5:27), by His divine attributes (eternality, John 17:5; omnipresence, Matt. 28:20; omnipotence, Heb. 1:3; omniscience, Matt. 9:4), and by explicit statements declaring His deity (John 1:1; 20:28; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8).
(3)
The Holy Spirit is recognized as God. By comparing Peter’s comments in Acts 5:3 and 4, we see that in lying to the
Holy Spirit (vs. 3), Ananias was lying to
God (vs. 4). He has the attributes which only
God can possess like omniscience (1 Cor. 2:10) and omnipresence (1 Cor. 6:19), and He regenerates people to new life (John 3:5-6, 8; Tit. 3:5), which must of necessity be a work of
God for only
God has the power of life. Finally, His deity is evident by the divine names used for the
Spirit as “the
Spirit of our
God,” (1 Cor. 6:11), which should be understood as “the
Spirit, who is our
God.”
Ryrie writes: “Matthew 28:19 best states both the oneness and threeness by associating equally the three Persons and uniting them in
one singular name. Other passages like Matthew 3:16-17 and 2 Corinthians 13:14 associate equally the three Persons but do not contain the strong emphasis on unity as does Matthew 28:19.”
18
2 Cor. 13:14 The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of
God, and the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit, be with you all.
1 Peter 1:1-5 Peter, an apostle of
Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge of
God the
Father, by the sanctifying work of the
Spirit, tat you may obey
Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure. 3 Blessed be the
God and
Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to
obtain an inheritance
which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of
God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
John 20:17
Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the
Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my
Father and your
Father, to my
God and your
God.' "
John 13:3
Jesus knew that the
Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from
God and was returning to
God.
Dictionary:
Gentiles
(Heb., usually in plural, goyim), meaning in general all nations except the Jews. In course of time, as the Jews began more and more to pride themselves on their peculiar privileges, it acquired unpleasant associations, and was used as a term of contempt.
In the New Testament the Greek word Hellenes, meaning literally Greek (as in Acts 16:1, 3; 18:17; Rom. 1:14), generally denotes any non-Jewish nation.
