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Part I
The Father, Son, and Spirit are Personally Distinct
- There is only one God, there are no others.
- The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
The first Biblical truth rules out the heresy of polytheism (many gods) and tritheism (three gods). The Bible is quite clear that there is only one God (one Being) and there are no others.
The second Biblical truth rules out such heresies as Arianism (the belief that Jesus is a lesser being that is not fully God in the same sense as the Father). It also rules out other related heresies such as the idea that the Holy Spirit is only an impersonal force or perhaps some sort of lesser being that acts as an agent. The Bible is quite clear that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God and, as we have already said, they are ONE God (one Being).
However, if we simply stopped there we might fall into a third heresy, known as "modalism". Modalism teaches that God goes into different modes at different times. According to modalism, God is sometimes the Father, at other times the Son, and at still other times the Spirit. In the modern form of the modalism heresy, known as "Oneness Pentecostalism", God was the Father prior the incarnation, the Son during the incarnation, and the Holy Spirit after the ascension. However, this teaching runs directly counter to the teaching of scripture as we shall see today. Because this ancient heresy seems to again be gaining a foothold, including with at least one popular television evangelist, I would like to spend quite a bit of time on this. I will break this study up into two parts. The Biblical truth that the Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct persons may seem obvious to many, but sooner or later you will likely encounter someone who will dispute it.
According to the Bible, the one God has always existed in relationship to Himself. This means He is perfect and complete in Himself. He has never been lonely, He has never been without love, He has never been without communication, He has never had a need for anyone or anything. God creates as an act of grace, not need. God shares his love and grace and the gift of life with His creation. Anything we know about love, relationship, and communication comes from the fact that we were created with the imago dei (the image of God). We reflect, however incompletely, the communicable attributes of God such as love, relationship, communication, etc. These attributes are eternal and essential to the Being of God because He has eternally existed as the Father, Son, and Spirit.
I would like to begin presenting scriptures that teach that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons.
Let's look first at some scriptures that show that the Father and Son are two persons.
First we will examine some salutations from New Testament epistles that indicate that there is a personal distinction between the Father and Son.
Romans 1:7 (NASB) 7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:3 (NASB) 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:2 (NASB) 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:3 (NASB) 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Ephesians 1:2 (NASB) 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:2 (NASB) 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:1 (NASB) 1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
2 Thessalonians 1:1-2 (NASB) 1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Timothy 1:1-2 (NASB) 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, 2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Timothy 1:2 (NASB) 2 To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Titus 1:4 (NASB) 4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Philemon 1:3 (NASB) 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
James 1:1 (NASB) 1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
2 Peter 1:2 (NASB) 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
2 John 1:3 (NASB) 3 Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
Next we can see that the Father and Son are two distinct witnesses. The in the following passages, Jesus is appealing to the Old Testament mandate that there be two or three witnesses in order to make a testimony valid. If there is no personal distinction between the Father and Son, then Jesus' argument falls apart. I will list the Old Testament passages Jesus is appealing to first, followed by the reasoned argument that Jesus makes showing that the Father and Son are two distinct witnesses.
Numbers 35:30 (NASB) 30 'If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
Deuteronomy 17:6 (NASB) 6 "On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
Deuteronomy 19:15 (NASB) 15 "A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.
John 5:31-32 (NASB) 31 "If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. 32 "There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.
John 8:16-18 (NASB) 16 "But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 "Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. 18 "I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me."
The following scriptures teach us that the Father sent the Son:
John 3:17 (NASB) 17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Galatians 4:4 (NASB) 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
1 John 4:10 (NASB) 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
John 17:18 (NASB) 18 "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
John 20:21 (NASB) 21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you."
We also see a real relationship between the Father and the Son. The Father and the Son love each other:
John 3:35 (NASB) 35 "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.
John 14:31 (NASB) 31 but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.
John 17:23-26 (NASB) 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 "O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
In addition to loving each other, the Father speaks to the Son and the Son speaks to the Father.
John 11:41-42 (NASB) 41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me."
John 12:28 (NASB) 28 "Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."
John 17:1-26 (NASB) 1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.
3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
4 "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.
5 "Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
6 "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
7 "Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
9 "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.
11 "I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.
12 "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.
14 "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
16 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
18 "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
19 "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
20 "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
24 "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
25 "O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
Part II
Let’s quickly recap from the first chapter:
- There is only one God, there are no others.
- The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
Last time we began examining scripture that teaches that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are personally distinct. We started by showing that the Father and Son are two persons. Today I would like to continue by presenting scripture that shows that the Father is not the Holy Spirit and Jesus is not the Holy Spirit. Finally, I will debunk the "Oneness Pentacostal" heresy by showing from scripture that the Son existed before His incarnation and even before creation.
Jesus is not the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is "another Comforter":
John 14:16 (NASB) 16 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit:
John 15:26 (NASB) 26 "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,
John 16:7 (NASB) 7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus:
John 16:13-14 (NASB) 13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.
The Son and the Holy Spirit are distinguished as two persons:
Matthew 28:19 (NASB) 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus:
Luke 3:21-22 (NASB) 21 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."
The Father is not the Holy Spirit
The Father also sent the Holy Spirit:
John 14:26 (NASB) 26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
John 15:26 (NASB) 26 "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,
The Holy Spirit intercedes with the Father for us:
Romans 8:26-27 (NASB) 26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
The Father and the Holy Spirit are distinguished as two persons:
Matthew 28:19 (NASB) 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
As I mentioned in part I, the heresy of modalism is making a modern day come back in the form of "Oneness Pentecostalism". Oneness Pentecostals teach that God was the Father before the incarnation, the Son during the incarnation, and the Spirit after the incarnation. In other words they teach that there is no personal distinction between the Father, Son, and Spirit, but these are just different "modes" that God has been in during different time periods. However, if it can be demonstrated from scripture alone that the Son existed before His incarnation and even before creation, then the Oneness construct falls apart and is disproven.
The following is an Old Testament text that makes reference to the Son:
Proverbs 30:4 (NASB) 4 Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son's name? Surely you know!
Part III
To recap, scripture presents the following truths that God has revealed about Himself:
- There is only one God, there are no others.
- The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
- The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are personally distinct.
There is a very large wealth of scripture that teaches these truths. This raises the question, "Why do some deny one or more of these truths that are so clearly taught in the Bible?" I believe it is related to the age old human inclination to make gods in our own image or in the likeness of things we understand. The three truths listed above, as taught by the Bible, present an infinite God that is far beyond the comprehension of His finite creatures. It is a natural human impulse to try to redefine the infinite God in finite ways that we can grasp. However, to do this one is forced to deny one or more of the truths God has revealed about Himself. Let's take a brief overview of the most common heresies and how they each deny one of these Biblical truths.
Polytheism and Tritheism: Polytheism is the belief that there is more than one god. Tritheism is the belief that there are three gods. In other words, Tritheist believe that the Father, Son, and Spirit are separate beings that are each individually god. Polytheist (such as Mormons) and Tritheist (as can be found in some SDA circles) usually believe the second and third truths listed above. That is, they believe that the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and the Father, Son, and Spirit are personally distinct. However, because they have trouble comprehending those truths in light of the first truth, there is only one God and there are no others, they simply choose to reject the first truth. This is simply not an option for the Bible believing Christian. The Bible is abundantly clear that there is only one God, there are no others. That's the bottom line, there is only one being that is God.
Arianism: Arianism is the belief that Jesus is not fully God in the same sense as the Father. Although there are variations on the theme, Jesus is usually seen as an exalted created being (as in Jehovah's Witnesses and early SDAs). Arians usually believe the first truth and the third truth, but reject the second truth. That is, they believe there is only one God and that the Father, Son, and Spirit are personally distinct (although many would object to calling the Spirit a person and would instead call him a "force"). However, since they are unable to fully comprehend these truths in light of the second truth that the Father, Son, and Spirit are God, they simply choose to reject the second truth. Arians will normally accept that the Father is God, but they will refuse to accept Jesus as God or the Holy Spirit as God despite the clear Biblical teaching on this matter.
Modalism: Modalist accept the first and second truth. That is, they believe that there is only one God and that the Father, Son, and Spirit are God. However, since they are unable to fully comprehend this in light of the third truth that the Father, Son, and Spirit are personally distinct, they simply choose to reject the third truth. Modalist believe that the Father, Son, and Spirit are simply different modes that God switches into at different times. In the modern version of this heresy God is said to have been the Father before the incarnation, the Son during the incarnation, and the Spirit after the ascension. This flies directly in the face of much scripture that teaches there are real personal relationships of love and communication between the Father, Son, and Spirit.
So what do all these heresies have in common? They all make God an understandable finite god, by blatantly denying one of the truths He has condescended to reveal about Himself. All of these heresies make God small enough for us to wrap our finite minds around. Unfortunately, they all present a god that is a different god from the one revealed in scripture.
As Christians we are called to bend the knee before our infinite God even though we cannot fully comprehend Him. We are called to accept what He has plainly revealed in dozens and dozens of passages all through the pages of scripture. When it comes right down to it, who would you rather worship, a god that is small enough to be grasped by his creatures, or one who is so big that He is beyond comprehension. The Bible presents the latter throughout its pages.
This brings up another problem. Everytime we want to refer to what the God of the Bible has revealed about Himself we can't practically launch into a multi-part Bible study series, nor can we begin to list pages and pages of texts. We need some way of simply summing up all that we have gleaned from scripture. Here is one of the best most concise summaries I have read that captures all three of the truths revealed in scripture:
"Within the one Being that is God, there exist eternally three coequal and coeternal Persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." - James R. White (Christian Apologist - No relation to the person of the same name we are most familiar with.)
This is an excellent and concise statement of what scripture teaches, but even this sentence can be a mouth full when referring to the God of the Bible. Because this is true of many subjects that are taught throughout scripture, Christians have developed words that serve as a sort of short hand to sum up concepts taught in the Bible. In this case, I know of no other single word that is more helpful in summing up the concepts the Bible teaches other than "Trinity". While this word is not a word that is used in the Bible, it perfectly captures the essence of something that is most certainly taught in Scripture. We should not be afraid to use short hand words if they accurately represent plain Biblical truths. So the next time you hear someone say, "You know, the Trinity isn't anywhere in the Bible," you can reply with, "It's actually EVERYWHERE in the Bible! Let me show you the three things God has revealed about Himself in the pages of scripture."
- There is only one God, there are no others.
- The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
- The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are personally distinct.
We are also taught in scripture that the Son created all things:
John 1:3 (NASB) 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
1 Corinthians 8:6 (NASB) 6 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.
Colossians 1:16-17 (NASB) 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Hebrews 1:2 (NASB) 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Revelation 3:14 (NASB) 14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning [I.e. Origin of Source] of the creation of God, says this:
Romans 11:36 (NASB) 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Hebrews 2:10 (NASB) 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.
Acts 17:28 (NASB) 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'
Jesus was with God the Father before creation:
John 1:1 (NASB) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 17:5 (NASB) 5 "Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
It seems clear from the passages presented today and in part I that the Father, Son, and Spirit are personally distinct so we can now add the final Biblical truth to the truths that compose the Biblical basis of the Trinity:
- There is only one God, there are no others.
- The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
- The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are personally distinct.
Copyright 2013 Life Assurance Ministries, Inc., Casa Grande, Arizona, USA. All rights reserved. Revised June 4, 2013.
Contact email: proclamation@gmail.com
