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To embrace the True faith in sound doctrines, it is
imperative for us to get the fundamentals of the Christian
faith correct, and this includes seeking to understand how
our Triune God is three persons in the unity of one.
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Monotheism and trinity
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God
is one LORD” (Deut 6:4). True Christianity is monotheistic
(worship of one God) and not tritheistic (worship of three
gods). Like what Paul told the church of Corinth in 1
Corinthians 8:4, “there is none other God but one.”
Yet there are three persons in one Godhead. We read in 1 John 5:7,
“for there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” and
also in Matthew 3:16, an account of three persons. “And
Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the
water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw
the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon
him.” It is difficult for us to deny the fact that our God
is of a triune nature. To deny this is to deny many parts of
the scriptures.
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The importance of searching the scriptures
Each person in the Godhead is different, divine and wholly God.
Efforts to illustrate this nature of God using earthly
analogies, like drawing parallels to parts of an egg or
different states of water, often fall short in capturing the
essence of it.
The only way for us to perceive this nature is to study the Bible.
“But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I
say, that ye might be saved” (John 5:34). Devotional study
of God’s Word goes hand in hand with a prayerful life. Many
had turned away from sound Christian doctrines because they
did not base their faith on an understanding of the
scriptures. The truth is, the more we humbly study the
scriptures, the more will God reveal to us about Himself.
·
Our Lord Jesus having all the attributes of God the Father
In John 5:36, we read of God the Father bearing witness of God the
son. A witness cannot at the same time be the person he is
bearing witness of, because witnessing essentially involves
two distinct persons. Yet the first two persons in the
Godhead, though distinctly different, share the same
attributes:
1)
Immutability
We live in a mutable world. People change. Convictions change. But
our God who is perfectly holy is immutable. Our Lord Jesus
Christ is also the same, yesterday, today and forever. The
moment He sets his affection upon us, it is not in His
nature to change, that is, with our obedience as proof of
sanctification. And herein lies the confidence of Christians
through the ages.
2)
Infinity
Our God is infinite in knowledge, power and glory and no man by
wisdom in his earthly frame and mentality is able to
comprehend God fully. Without the redemption by Jesus, our
understanding of God is twisted. As Jesus had told us, “All
things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man
knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the
Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will
reveal him” (Matt 11:27).
3)
The only Potentate
People who reject Jesus seldom reject Him as a teacher, but are,
rather, against Him as God. But it is true that Jesus is the
only Potentate, the Lord of lords and the King of kings as
written in the Book of Revelation. Our Lord Jesus Christ is
the Word made flesh (1 John 5:7; John 1:1). If Jesus Christ
is not God, then worshipping Him would be an act of
idolatry.
People nowadays are easily swayed by worldly persuasions yet
skeptical of the authority of the Bible. However, we know
that “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not
according to this word, it is because there is no light in
them.” (Isaiah 8:20) And indeed, “Blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in
the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his
law doth he meditate day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2).
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The Holy Spirit
The spirit of the living God is also a Person. The scripture speaks
of the mind (Rom 8:27), power (Rom 15:13) and love (Rom
15:30) of the Spirit. The Spirit creates and gives life and
we read in Genesis 6:3 of the LORD saying that His spirit
shall not always strive with man. In the Book of Acts, it
was the Spirit who commanded Philip to go near the Ethiopian
eunuch and sent Saul and Barnabas to their first missionary
journey. It is also the Spirit who convinced us of our sins.
The word “Trinity” is made up of the prefix “Tri” and the word
“unity” and thus means “Three in One.” Denying any persons
in the Godhead questions the foundations of our salvation.
Christ must be fully man, for if not so, He cannot atone for
our sins; He must also be fully God, for if not so, His love
would be no different from any of ours. Therefore He must be
the very God of the very God, and very man of very man; only
then is He efficacious and efficient in cleansing us of all
our sins.
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