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The Trinity The Biblical Basis

The Bible does not teach the Trinity

Jehovah our God is one Jehovah

Jesus is not Almighty God

… a perfect man…

God kindly accepted

incomprehensible jargon of the Trinitarian arithmetic

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one (Deuteronomy 6:4)

D

Shema Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one (Deuteronomy 6:4)

Shema Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one (Deuteronomy 6:4) Echad

echad Genesis 2:24 Judges 20:1

Paul on God So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. (1Corinthians 8:4)

Paul on God yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. (1Corinthians 8:6)

Paul on God

Father = God Jesus = God

Revelation Speculation Not

Unique

Modalism

‘Things’

John Calvin

Idol

Trinity - Devotion

Greetings: ‘To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Thessalonians 1:1)

Trinity - Devotion Blessings: ‘May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.’ (2 Corinthians 13:14)

Trinity - Devotion Praises: 4 For he [God and Father] chose us in him before the creation of the world … In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, … 7 In him [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, … Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession… (Ephesians 1:1-14 )

Trinity - Devotion Praises: 4 For he [God and Father] chose us in him before the creation of the world … In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, … 7 In him [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, … Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession… (Ephesians 1:1-14 )

Don’t forget hypostatic union

Trinity – Life of Jesus

‘When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." (Luke 3:21-22).

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name (sing.) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Matthew 28:19) Trinity – Life of Jesus

Trinity - Salvation

‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting men's sins against them.’ (2 Corinthians 5:19-21)

Trinity - Salvation ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting men's sins against them.’ (2 Corinthians 5:19-21) ‘God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.’ (John 3:16)

‘The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!’ (Hebrews 9:13-14) Trinity - Salvation

‘The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!’ (Hebrews 9:13-14) Trinity - Salvation

‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.’ (2 Corinthians 3: 17) Trinity - Salvation

‘To God’s chosen people-chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ, sprinkled with his blood.’ (1 Peter 1:2) Trinity - Salvation

Is the Trinity Necessary? No Trinity Jesus not God Jesus a human Not Saved by God Saved from God

Is the Trinity Necessary? Salvation a Work of God God offers the Sacrifice God receives the Sacrifice God applies the sacrifice

Is the Trinity Necessary? SonGod offers the Sacrifice FatherGod receives the Sacrifice Holy SpiritGod applies the sacrifice

‘By means of this doctrine (the Christian believer) is able to think clearly and consequently of his threefold relation to the saving God, experiencing him as Fatherly love sending a redeemer, as redeeming love executing redemption, as saving love applying redemption; all manifestations in distinct methods and by distinct agencies of the one seeking and saving love of God.’ (B.B. Warfield)

Trinity - Fellowship ‘There are different kinds of gifts ( charismata ), but the same Spirit. There’re different kinds of service ( diakonia ), but the same Lord [Jesus]. There’re different kinds of working ( energemata ), but the same God [Father] works all of them in all men.’ (1 Corinthians 12:4- 6)

Trinity - Fellowship ‘There are different kinds of gifts ( charismata ), but the same Spirit. There’re different kinds of service ( diakonia ), but the same Lord [Jesus]. There’re different kinds of working ( energemata ), but the same God [Father] works all of them in all men.’ (1 Corinthians 12:4- 6)

Trinity - Fellowship ‘There are different kinds of gifts ( charismata ), but the same Spirit. There’re different kinds of service ( diakonia ), but the same Lord [Jesus]. There’re different kinds of working ( energemata ), but the same God [Father] works all of them in all men.’ (1 Corinthians 12:4- 6)

Trinity - Fellowship ‘There are different kinds of gifts ( charismata ), but the same Spirit. There’re different kinds of service ( diakonia ), but the same Lord [Jesus]. There’re different kinds of working ( energemata ), but the same God [Father] works all of them in all men.’ (1 Corinthians 12:4- 6)

No Trinity

“Trinity is the foundation of the Christian religion. Unless this doctrine is held firmly and truly, it is not possible to be a Christian”

‘Life caught up in God is more like relating to a loving community than it is like relating to a loving individual. We turn to the Father; and he gives up the Son and the Spirit; we turn to the Son, and he shows us the Father and breathes the Spirit upon us; we turn to the Spirit, and he shows us the Father and the Son.’ (Peter Adam)

“a dull or peculiar irrelevance turns out to be the source of all that is good in Christianity”

Points for Home

1.Let us be Trinitarian in our thinking and praying.

Points for Home 1.Let us be Trinitarian in our thinking and praying. 2.A weak view of the Trinity will result in a weak view of our salvation.

Points for Home 1.Let us be Trinitarian in our thinking and praying. 2.A weak view of the Trinity will result in a weak view of our salvation. 3.The way God communicates to us in Scripture is also Trinitarian.