One God in Three Persons

Encore Post: “In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” These words are very familiar to us — especially those of us who grew up in a Christian Church. They are ancient, too. Jesus gave them to his apostles just before he ascended into Heaven. (Matthew 28:19) As simple as they are, they contain a riddle — a mystery as theologians call it. The word “name” is singular, but three persons have that name. As we have seen before, this should not surprise us. God is our creator and we are his creatures. Sooner or later, we are not going to understand himSo, Christians have come to the conclusion that we should accept the way God describes himself in the Bible and not try to put it all together  when we discover it doesn’t make sense to us. 

The first thing we observe is that the Bible is very clear. There is only one God. Here Jews and Muslims agree. But the Scriptures are also clear. At every turn in the New Testament, Jesus is called God and the Holy Spirit is called God. The church from the second century on used the word Trinity to describe it. For Jews and Muslims, this is blasphemy.

So, we believe that God is one, but that three persons are God. With the Bible, reject any view that tries to solve the riddle by saying there are three gods, that one or another are not God or turns god into one being with three states. We are content to marvel at our Creator and love him as he is.

©2018 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

What Does the Holy Spirit Do?

Encore Post: God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, hovered over the dark chaos before the world began. (Genesis 1:2) When God the Father spoke and God the Son acted, He joined in the work of laying the foundation of the Creation. With the Father and the Son, he deliberated the creation of man and woman. (Genesis 1:26-27) Sent by the Father and the Son, he inspired the prophets to speak and to write the Holy Scriptures and spoke through them.

When the time was right, (Galatians 4:4-5) the Holy Spirit came to the Virgin Mary and conceived in her womb the Son of God Made flesh. (Luke 1:35) With the Father, he witnessed the baptism of the beloved Son — the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (Matthew 3:13-17, John 1:29 ) It was the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to send to us.  He saves us through the hearing of the Gospel and the waters of baptism. He is our companion and counselor. He leads us to know the truth (John 16:13). He lives inside of everyone who trusts in Christ. (Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 2 Timothy 1:13-14) More than that, when we pray, he prays with us. When we cannot pray, he intercedes for us.

See also: Who or What is the Holy Spirit? | Salvation Guaranteed | Understanding an Unknowable God

©2018 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com