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There are a few messes out there that teach that God is not a trinity. The JW’s and the Jesus Only’s to name a couple. Therefore it would do us well to be able to defend our belief that God is a trinity and of course defend that with the Scriptures.
To prove a trinity exists, we need to show that the three exist separately and the three are one.
God
- Three separate persons
I 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.
Mark 1:10-11 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Matthew 26:42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
John 8:18-17 It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
This is especially interesting since Jesus Himself is stating that He and His Father fulfill the requirement that there be two testimonies to establish a truth.
- One in the same God
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
Man
- Is man a Trinity?
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
If God is a trinity and man is created in God’s image, then it would follow that man is also a trinity. If man is a trinity and God wanted us to be aware of that fact then He would provide the proof in the Scriptures. Let’s see...
- Description of man
I Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
- Body and Soul
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
The body and soul are separable. It is possible to kill the body without killing the soul. The death of the soul is not death as we think of it, but rather eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8).
- Body and Spirit
I Corinthians 5:3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
The body is separable from the spirit.
- Soul and Spirit
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The spirit is separable from the soul.
- Body
As was mentioned in Sunday School this past Sunday, you could say that we are only two thirds saved. We have a regenerated spirit and our soul will not suffer the second death of Revelation 21:8. But we are still wrapped in the corruptible body.
Romans 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
I Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
- Spirit
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
The spirit is what makes us alive, but if it is separated, your body dies. Remember that God breathed (the wind typifies the spirit) into the nostrils of Adam and he became a living soul.
Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The spirit gives life and we get that life from God. But, we have a dead spirit that needs regeneration. When we get saved Jesus Christ makes our spirit alive again. That is why Jesus Christ is called the last Adam who gives us a living spirit.
I Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
- Soul
The soul is what we really are. This is the part that lives eternally. If we are saved our soul will spend eternity in heaven, if not we will spend eternity in the lake of fire. And, no, you don’t just "burn up into nothing" like a JW may try to tell you.
Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Yes, this is talking about the tribulation’s lost. But if they can burn forever, so can the people in Revelation 20:15 that end up in the same place.
Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
- Does this knowledge help us understand other parts of the Scriptures?
- Jonah
Are these conflicting verses?
Jonah 2:1 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly,
Jonah 2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
No, they do not contradict each other. Notice in verse 1 Jonah is telling us that he is starting to pray from the whale’s belly. In his prayer, verse 2, he tells how and where he prayed previously.
He died in the whale’s belly and then prayed, just like the rich man in Luke 16 "prayed" to Abraham from hell. Jonah’s soul was in hell when he prayed this. His body was still in the whale’s belly. Then God answered his prayer and brought him back to life, verse 1.
We can also see that Jonah did indeed die because of what is stated in verse 6.
Jonah 2:6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.
"Corruption" is when the body is dead and starts to decay. This is what happened to David.
Acts 13:36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
David’s flesh decayed after his death.
Jesus Christ is an exception to the corruption. His body did not begin to decay in the tomb.
Acts 13:35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
- Spiritual Circumcision
When we get saved we undergo a surgery. Our soul and flesh are separated during spiritual circumcision.
Colossians 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
Not so in the Old Testament. If they touched a dead body they were unclean. That is because their soul was attached to their body. Whatever they touched, their soul touched. We are not considered unclean because our soul doesn’t touch something that we touch with our bodies because our soul is not connected to our flesh, if we’re saved.
Numbers 19:13 Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
Scott R. Roffers
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