COMMENTS ON THE TRINITY DOCTRINE
The contemporary SDA doctrine of the Trinity teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are Three Persons distinct one from the other; and so does the Roman Catholic dogma. Under the heading “Dogma of the Trinity” the Catholic Encyclopedia Online states:
The Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion -- the truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these Three Persons being truly distinct one from another. . . Thus, in the words of the Athanasian Creed: "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God.". . . the Persons are co-eternal and co-equal. (Emphasis added.)
The key to detecting the false doctrine is in the word “unity” in the above statement.
The meaning is defined in the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” as follows:
252 The Church uses (I) the term "substance" (rendered also at times by "essence" or "nature") to designate the divine being in its unity, (II) the term "person" or "hypostasis" to designate the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the real distinction among them, and (III) the term "relation" to designate the fact that their distinction lies in the relationship of each to the others. . .
253 The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the "consubstantial Trinity".83 The divine persons do not share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire: "The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e. by nature one God."
254 The divine persons are really distinct from one another. "God is one but not solitary."86 "Father", "Son", "Holy Spirit" are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for they are really distinct from one another: "He is not the Father who is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who is the Father or the Son."87 They are distinct from one another in their relations of origin: "It is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds."88 The divine Unity is Triune. (Emphasis added.)
The central point made above is that there is but One God, and He is One Being in three distinct persons. The Wikipedia Encyclopedia supports this conclusion:
Trinity is the doctrine that God is one being who exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a mutual indwelling of three persons (not to be confused by "person"): the Father, the Son (incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth), and the Holy Spirit. Since the 4th century, in both Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity, this doctrine has been stated as "three persons in one God," all three of whom, as distinct and co-eternal persons, are of one indivisible Divine essence, a simple being. (Hyperlinks left active in case you want to follow up; emphasis added.).)
This description is buttressed by a Protestant source. The online Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry defines the Trinity as follows:
God is a trinity of persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the same person as the Son; the Son is not the same person as the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is not the same person as Father. They are not three gods and not three beings. They are three distinct persons; yet, they are all the one God. . . They are coeternal, coequal, and copowerful. (Emphasis added.)
That the last quotation is from a Protestant source is significant. As much as the contemporary SDA Church wants to associate the statements of Ellen G. White with its adoption of the Trinitarian doctrine, it is based on the Roman Catholic/Protestant concept. Furthermore, here is the “Fundamental Beliefs” Statement No. 2, voted at the 1980 General Conference Session:
2. Trinity:
There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons. . . (Emphasis added.)
The evidence is irrefutable. Rome declares, “. . . in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit . . . there are not three Gods but one God.". . . the Persons are co-eternal and co-equal;” Protestantism echoes, “God is a trinity of persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. . . They are co-eternal, co-equal, and co-powerful;” contemporary Seventh-day Adventism re-echoes, “There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons. . .” It is all of one source.
The Church has drunk from the chalice containing the wine of Roman Babylon. If all of its other contemporary doctrines were biblical Truth, this would still be the deadly potion that it is. The harlotry is aggravated by the fact that the Church connects the Writings of Ellen G. White with this false doctrine; but in describing the Godhead she neither used the word “Trinity” nor the terminology of Trinitarianism. In all of the Writings on the Ellen G. White Estate website, there are only two references to the “Trinity,” and neither of them is the language of Sister White. One is an editorial introduction to the compilation of statements that are interpreted as Trinitarian. The other is a paragraph heading in the book Evangelism, which is clearly a gloss on the text. In the book A Prophet Among You, it is explained that after the compilation of statements from the Writings, “Brief paragraph headings were then chosen.” The paragraph heading reflected the theology of the compilers only. The “Trinity” and Trinitarian terminology were just not in the vocabulary used by Ellen G. White.
The Trinitarian doctrine that there is One God denies the biblical proof that there were Two Gods prior to the Incarnation – a duality, and Three Gods after the Incarnation, in Ellen G. White’s terminology - “the Heavenly Trio.” The contention that Three Persons of the One God are co-eternal and co-equal negates the true humanity of the God-man. The I AM in Jesus Christ is indeed co-eternal and co-equal with God the Father; but the human Jesus is not. This is why He could make the following statements concerning Himself:
I can of mine own self do nothing . . . (John 5:30.)
My Father is greater than I . . . (John 14:28.)
And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent (John 17:3.)
The Apostle Paul said of the One who was in the form of God, that He “emptied Himself” (Gr. Phil. 2:7,) to take the form of man.
The doctrine of the Trinity thrusts a dagger through the heart of the “gospel of God . . . Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:1.)
Jesus Christ in His humanity was, after His ascension, highly exalted by God the Father (Phil. 2:9.)
It is because God the Word took part of flesh and blood that we who are “partakers of flesh and blood” (Heb. 2:14,) can now become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4.)
It is because God condescended to become truly man in the flesh that by faith in Jesus Christ the Father has “raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6, 8.)
Pasted from
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My thoughts-
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
The Word.
The Word WITH God.
The Word A GOD.
The WORD GOD with GOD.
It doesn't get much plainer than that, does it?
Two Gods.
Separate one from the other. God with God.
If I tell you that A was with B, and A was like B, am I truly saying that A and B are the one in reality, or perhaps, two that agree in one?
Two human beings- such as a man and wife are two yet joined as one, and still you'd never say they are not two separate beings, because they ARE, even though they create one family. One person plus one person bound by an agreement as one. In a marriage no one of the two is greater than the other. Each will have their own responsibilities, but neither is greater because of their differing responsibilities. The two are in an agreement to be one in marriage.
Why is it we have become so incredibly caught up in being believers of ONE God?
1Co_8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
One God
AND
One Lord Jesus Christ.
These are two distinct beings who agree as ONE.
Do we believe in One God? Yes. I believe in One God- the Father. I believe in One God- the Son (Who was God with God two agreeing as one and it was agreed the Son would be the only Begotten of the Father, and He WOULD take on flesh.)
A deeper study-- MEAT not MILK!
The Eternal Verities – 1
THE GODHEAD
The great divide between two eternities; the great divide in time, and in the chronological reckoning of time, was the Incarnation. However, had there been no God, there would have been no Incarnation; and if no Incarnation, there would have been no atonement; and if no atonement, no Intercessor. Thus the "eternal verities" - the Godhead, the Incarnation, and the Atonement - are inseparably linked as a chain connecting and reconnecting earth with Heaven, and Heaven with earth.
As we study the Godhead, we shall note various verses of Scripture and seek to exegetically analyze them. Having done so, we shall draw certain conclusions, and where there is apparent mystery in reconciling the revelation, we shall leave it as a mystery until other texts which we will consider illuminate that mystery. It will be a progressive study with the sole objective to comprehend truth as far as a mortal can.
Luke 1:35
The angel [Gabriel] answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that Holy [One] which shall be borne of thee shall be called the Son of God.
{The word, "thing" is not in the Greek text, and we have substituted the word, "One" inasmuch as the word, "holy" is an adjective, and requires an object to modify. The word, "Spirit" could just as well be substituted. Such usage is found in the Writings. See 4BC:1147}
This text reveals the following data:
1) To speak "after the manner of men," the Holy Spirit was paternally related to Jesus Christ; thus the Holy Spirit pre-existed Bethlehem.
2) The "Holy One" born of Mary "shall be called the Son of God." Twice Gabriel reiterated this fact. In Luke 1:32, he declared that this Holy One "shall be called the Son of the Highest." Gabriel, who had "firsthand" information of relationships involving God, did not say, "was" or "is" the Son of God, but "shall be" called the Son of God.
3) There was to be conceived in the womb of Mary a unique Being, never before known in the Universe from all eternity - a God-man. Yet this unique Being inherits eternity through the Eternal Spirit. He had a pre-existence in Spirit, and now would become "flesh."
Now follow closely the conclusions which this data permits one to draw:
1) The Holy Spirit existed prior to Bethlehem as the "Eternal Spirit." (See also Heb.9:14)
2) Jesus "had a beginning at Bethlehem." (Note the name designation of "Jesus," the God-man, begins at Bethlehem)
3) With God as a "given" factor, you have Two Beings - God and the Eternal Spirit - before Bethlehem, and Three Beings - God, the Eternal Spirit, and Jesus - after.
One further factor to the "mystery" - He who had a beginning at Bethlehem as a unique Being, Jesus, of Him it could be prophesied that His "goings forth [were] from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2).
John 1:1-3
In beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with the God, and God was the Logos. The same was in beginning with the God. All things through Him came into being, and without Him came into being not even one [thing] which has come into being. (Greek, literal translation)
The Gospel of John was among the last books of the New Testament to be written, if not the last one. In the first eighteen verses of his Gospel, John gives a prologue, setting forth data of what was prior to the Incarnation, as well as what happened at the Incarnation.
From these verses, we can observe the following data:
1) There were Two Beings - the Logos (the Word) and God.
2) The Logos was of the same essence as God. He was as much God as God Himself. "God was the Logos." The article is used to denote separate Beings; and omitted when defining the nature of the Logos.
Conclusions which can be drawn:
1) Since "God" is defined as "Spirit" (John 4:24 - no article, literally, "God is Spirit"), then the Logos was as God, also "Spirit."
We are "flesh" in our reality; God is "spirit" in His reality. Paul could use the word, "form" to designate both the reality of God, and the reality of man. (Phil. 2:6, 7)
2) The Logos created all things in conjunction "with the God." Paul states that "God ... created all things by Jesus Christ." (Eph. 3:9)
3) In John 1:1-2, the word "was" (hn) is used 4x. This is in the Greek imperfect tense and denotes continuous action in past time. John is simply saying that there never was a time when the Logos was not.
To Page 4
[ On page 3 we have reproduced the Greek text of John 1:1-35 from the Analytical Greek New Testament edited by Barbara and Timothy Friberg. On this text we have circled the verb hn (was), and designated the absence of the article before arch and qeoV with arrows. The letters under hn tell you that it is verb ( V ) in the indicative mood ( I ) of the imperfect tense ( I ), active in voice ( A ), third person ( Z ) and singular ( S ) ]
Genesis 1:1-2, 26
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ... And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. ... And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
The Hebrew for "God" in these verses is Elohim, plural in form.
It is used with singular verbs and adjectives, and thus perceived as the "pluralis majesticus" or majestic plural. However, in verse 26, the Elohim concur in "Let us."
The question arises - How do you obtain a singular force from a plural word?
Here is where the Shema of Israel enters the picture. It reads - "Hear, O Israel: The Lord God our God is one Lord." (Deut 6:4) [See page 3 for Hebrew text]
The key word is the compound word (two words), Elohenu - "Gods" and the suffix, a plural pronoun, "our." "The masculine plural [In this case Elohim] has before all suffixes the ending ay. ... But certain modifications in the form of this ending take place, due to the character of the following consonants: ... b. The original form ay is contracted to e (הֵי) before all plural suffixes." (Elements of Hebrew, Wm. R. Harper, p.144) This is the case in the Shema of Israel. Thus it reads literally, "Jehovah, our Gods is one Jehovah."
The word for "one" (Echad) expresses oneness in duality. The word appears in Genesis 1:5 - "There was evening; there was morning, day one (echad)" It is also used in Genesis 2:24 - "They [two] shall be one (echad) flesh." This simply implies that both the Logos and God of John 1:1-3 are one Jehovah.
Let us return now to the text in Genesis 1:2 - "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The Hebrew word translated, "moved" is merahepheth - brooded. Gesenius in his lexicon, observes that this word in the Piel Hebrew form (as used here) implies "to cherish one's young, to brood over, as the eagle its young (Deut 32:11) ... of the Spirit of God as thus brooding over and vivifying the chaotic mass of earth. Gen. 1:2" (p.976)
Does this suggest the conclusion that the Spirit of God which "vivified" the mass at creation is the Logos of John 1:1-3, by which nothing was created except by Him?
Exodus 3:13-14
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM; and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel , I AM hath sent me unto you.
The Hebrew word translated, "I AM" is the imperfect form of the verb, hahyah, "to be." Most of us have names which are classified as nouns. Not so the name chosen by God to designate Himself. Further the verb is in the imperfect tense denoting unfinished action. Gesenius suggests in his Lexicon that the meaning of "I Am that I Am" is that God "will never be other than the same" and is. (p.384) In other words, by this name God designates Himself as eternal and immutable. This word is the root for the name Jehovah. Jesus in His humanity claimed this name for Himself. (John 8:58)
A comparison of various verses in Revelation (1:10-11, 17-18; 22:12-13 with 1:8) indicates that both He who liveth and was dead but is alive forevermore, has the same designation as "the Almighty." This reinforces the Hebrew Shema that the Gods of Israel is one Jehovah. Gesenius observes in his discussion of the Hebrew word, Yehowah that "several ancient writers" relate "that the God of the Hebrews was called IAW." (ibid.) ["I am Alpha and Omega"]
Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a child is given . . . and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible, following closely the Hebrew, renders the titles of the prophesied God-man, as: "Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Mighty God." The expression, "the Father of Eternity" is the best that human language can find to express the eternal pre-existence of the Logos. Eternalness is an attribute of Deity, and thus "eternity" is synonymous with God, and not a creation of God. It is the "time" frame of God's ever-existence which the human mind, limited as it is by time as we know it, cannot comprehend.
The same thought is given in Micah 5:2 where the Messianic prophecy, revealing the place of the birth of the Coming One, describes His "goings forth" as being "from everlasting." The word translated "everlasting" (gohlahm) is the same word used in Psalm 90:2 - "From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." Again, the eternalness of God cannot be limited because of the limitations of human language and thought to express or comprehend what "everlasting" really is. He who has existed from all eternity comes forth in time from that incomprehensible reality.
Zechariah 6:12-13
Thus saith the Lord of Hosts saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: Even he shall build the temple of the Lord: and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne: and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
The literal Hebrew reads that "the counsel of peace shall be between the Two of Them." It was "through our Lord Jesus Christ" that man could be once more at peace with God. (Rom. 5:1) He, as the great High Priest, sits upon His "throne of grace" (Heb. 4:15-16), at "the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Heb. 1:3) It is in this context that the Sonship motif is set. Observe closely
Hebrews 5:5-6:
Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high priest; but He who said unto Him, Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee. As He saith also in another place, Thou art a priest forever after the Order of Melchisedec.
The "Sonship" came to Christ in the same way that the High Priesthood came to Him - by the calling and decree of God. This calling is emphasized in the context of Hebrews 1. The rhetorical question is asked - "For unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son?" (1:5)
The first question is drawn from Psalms 2:7, and the second from II Samuel 7:14.
The Messianic second Psalm speaks of Christ by three titles or offices: the "Anointed" One (ver. 2); the "King" (ver. 6); and the "Son" (ver. 7). He who became the Anointed One (Messiah), and the Son, and who will come as King of kings, emanated from times eternal as the Logos. It is clearly stated in language that should not be misunderstood by anyone, that the "Sonship" was by "decree." Peter set forth to Cornelius that He who is "Lord of all" was "anointed ... with the Holy Spirit and with power" at His baptism. (Acts 10:36-38) While He is now a priest upon His throne, He anticipates His return as King of kings and Lord of lords. (Rev. 19:16) In this prophetic picture of Revelation, He is called "the Word (Gr. Logos) of God."
When one reviews the second quotation from II Samuel 7:14 in context, he can see, if he has eyes to see, that it is a literal promise made to David concerning Solomon. No stretch of the imagination can perceive of Solomon as having been "conceived" or "generated" by God. It was a commitment by God to David to make his son, Solomon, His son. Paul, recognizing this as an apt illustration of the relationship of the Logos to God in the redemptive process, lifted it from context and applied it to the "Sonship" of Jesus Christ.
In this same setting of Hebrews 1 there is another word, firstbegotten (prwtotokoV), which has been misrepresented so that its true meaning is misunderstood. The same word is used of Christ in Colossians 1:15, 18 - "first born (prwtotokoV) of every creature" and "the firstborn (prwtotokoV) from the dead." One has but to review the record of the Old Testament to know that Jesus was not the first to have been resurrected from the dead. (II Kings 4:34, 36) The Gospels tell of the Widow of Nain whose son was restored to her, and the resurrection of Lazarus. What then is the force of this word? Paul states it clearly - "that in all things, He might have the pre-eminence." (Col. 1:18) This concept of "pre-eminence" is the force used in Heb. 1:6. The One coming into the world is so pre-eminent that God instructs the angels of Heaven - "Let all the angels of God worship Him." Even though a Babe in Bethlehem's manger, He is God manifest in the flesh, to be the pre-eminent One of humanity, to stand at the head of the fallen race, the Second Adam.
To this same Son by decree, pre-eminent in every way, God speaks - "Thy throne, 0 God, is forever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." (Heb. 1:8) He "forever" will be as He "ever" has been, the I AM. He "laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of His hands." (v.10)
Romans 9:4-5
My kinsmen according to the flesh: who are Israelites; ... and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God, blessed for ever. Amen.
In these verses, Paul is contrasting the origin of the Messiah - from the "flesh" of Israel, yet God in that flesh. Some have attempted to make this merely a doxology to God - "Blessed be God" - instead of Christ as God "over all ... blessed forever." The word, euloghtoV (blessed) follows the word, qeoV (God). Alford in commenting on this verse writes - "Without one exception in Hebrew or Greek, whenever an ascription of blessing is found, the predicate euloghtoV precedes the name of God." (Vol.11, p.405) In Romans 9:5, it follows, therefore cannot be interpreted as a blessing on God.
John 1:18
No man hath seen God at anytime; the only begotten Son; which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.
This verse is the final verse of the preface to John's gospel, which is recognized as one of the last, if not the last book written of the books in the New Testament. Textual evidence is divided as to whether this verse should read - "only begotten Son" or "only begotten God." It must be understood, which ever reading is chosen, that John is writing from his viewpoint in time. He is saying that He who had declared Him in the flesh (verse 14), was then, at the time of the writing, in the "bosom of the Father."
The Greek word, monogenhV, is translated by two words in the KJV, "only begotten." This is a faulty translation and thus a false interpretation is drawn by those promoting the neo-Gnosticism.
In analyzing this word, we will first give every reference in the New Testament where this word is used and how it is translated in each verse:
Luke 7:12- the only son of his mother
8:42- For he had only one daughter,
9:35 - for he is my only child.
John 1:14 - as of the only begotten of the Father,
1:18 - the only begotten Son, which is
3:16 - his only begotten Son, that whosoever
3:18 - of the only begotten Son of God.
Heb. 11:17- offered up his only begotten (son),
I John 4:9 - God sent his only begotten Son
A careful comparison of the use of monogenhV in the New Testament indicates that only John uses the word in reference to Jesus. To translate it as "only begotten" places the Scriptures in error as seen by its use in Hebrews 11:17. Isaac was not the "only begotten" son of Abraham; but he was uniquely begotten, a son of promise by the intervention of God. The Greek word, monogenhV is from two words meaning "only" and "kind," thus could be translated "only (one) of a kind," or unique.
The translation "only begotten" in John's Gospel and First Epistle, originated with the Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church. It entered early English translations of the Bible through the influence of the Latin Vulgate, the official Bible of the Roman Church. Various Old Latin manuscripts which preceded the Vulgate read, "only" rather than "only begotten." The idea that Christ "was born of the Father before all creation" appears first in the writings of Origen, about A.D. 230. Arius, about one hundred years later, was the first to use gegennemenon, the correct Greek word for "begotten" if used in reference to Christ to affirm that He was "begotten of God before all ages." This Greek word is never used in the Bible in reference to the pre-incarnate Christ. "The idea that Christ was 'begotten' by the Father at some time in eternity past is altogether foreign to the Scriptures." (See Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol.5, p.902)
To Be Continued
By the grace of GOD more tomorrow on this. It truly is an important study. To deny that we truly believe in more than ONE God, is denying either our Savior, or our Heavenly Father, or the Holy Spirit as TRUE individual beings in existence and all three are GODS in their own right. Gods in one agreement.
Please Lord, bless us! Help us to comprehend the truth, all the truth that You have for us!
All by YOUR grace, YOUR mercy, YOUR LOVE!
All through the FATHER, and through the SON JESUS CHRIST, and through the HOLY SPIRIT!
The contemporary SDA doctrine of the Trinity teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are Three Persons distinct one from the other; and so does the Roman Catholic dogma. Under the heading “Dogma of the Trinity” the Catholic Encyclopedia Online states:
The Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion -- the truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these Three Persons being truly distinct one from another. . . Thus, in the words of the Athanasian Creed: "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God.". . . the Persons are co-eternal and co-equal. (Emphasis added.)
The key to detecting the false doctrine is in the word “unity” in the above statement.
The meaning is defined in the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” as follows:
252 The Church uses (I) the term "substance" (rendered also at times by "essence" or "nature") to designate the divine being in its unity, (II) the term "person" or "hypostasis" to designate the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the real distinction among them, and (III) the term "relation" to designate the fact that their distinction lies in the relationship of each to the others. . .
253 The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the "consubstantial Trinity".83 The divine persons do not share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire: "The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e. by nature one God."
254 The divine persons are really distinct from one another. "God is one but not solitary."86 "Father", "Son", "Holy Spirit" are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for they are really distinct from one another: "He is not the Father who is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who is the Father or the Son."87 They are distinct from one another in their relations of origin: "It is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds."88 The divine Unity is Triune. (Emphasis added.)
The central point made above is that there is but One God, and He is One Being in three distinct persons. The Wikipedia Encyclopedia supports this conclusion:
Trinity is the doctrine that God is one being who exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a mutual indwelling of three persons (not to be confused by "person"): the Father, the Son (incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth), and the Holy Spirit. Since the 4th century, in both Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity, this doctrine has been stated as "three persons in one God," all three of whom, as distinct and co-eternal persons, are of one indivisible Divine essence, a simple being. (Hyperlinks left active in case you want to follow up; emphasis added.).)
This description is buttressed by a Protestant source. The online Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry defines the Trinity as follows:
God is a trinity of persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the same person as the Son; the Son is not the same person as the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is not the same person as Father. They are not three gods and not three beings. They are three distinct persons; yet, they are all the one God. . . They are coeternal, coequal, and copowerful. (Emphasis added.)
That the last quotation is from a Protestant source is significant. As much as the contemporary SDA Church wants to associate the statements of Ellen G. White with its adoption of the Trinitarian doctrine, it is based on the Roman Catholic/Protestant concept. Furthermore, here is the “Fundamental Beliefs” Statement No. 2, voted at the 1980 General Conference Session:
2. Trinity:
There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons. . . (Emphasis added.)
The evidence is irrefutable. Rome declares, “. . . in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit . . . there are not three Gods but one God.". . . the Persons are co-eternal and co-equal;” Protestantism echoes, “God is a trinity of persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. . . They are co-eternal, co-equal, and co-powerful;” contemporary Seventh-day Adventism re-echoes, “There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons. . .” It is all of one source.
The Church has drunk from the chalice containing the wine of Roman Babylon. If all of its other contemporary doctrines were biblical Truth, this would still be the deadly potion that it is. The harlotry is aggravated by the fact that the Church connects the Writings of Ellen G. White with this false doctrine; but in describing the Godhead she neither used the word “Trinity” nor the terminology of Trinitarianism. In all of the Writings on the Ellen G. White Estate website, there are only two references to the “Trinity,” and neither of them is the language of Sister White. One is an editorial introduction to the compilation of statements that are interpreted as Trinitarian. The other is a paragraph heading in the book Evangelism, which is clearly a gloss on the text. In the book A Prophet Among You, it is explained that after the compilation of statements from the Writings, “Brief paragraph headings were then chosen.” The paragraph heading reflected the theology of the compilers only. The “Trinity” and Trinitarian terminology were just not in the vocabulary used by Ellen G. White.
The Trinitarian doctrine that there is One God denies the biblical proof that there were Two Gods prior to the Incarnation – a duality, and Three Gods after the Incarnation, in Ellen G. White’s terminology - “the Heavenly Trio.” The contention that Three Persons of the One God are co-eternal and co-equal negates the true humanity of the God-man. The I AM in Jesus Christ is indeed co-eternal and co-equal with God the Father; but the human Jesus is not. This is why He could make the following statements concerning Himself:
I can of mine own self do nothing . . . (John 5:30.)
My Father is greater than I . . . (John 14:28.)
And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent (John 17:3.)
The Apostle Paul said of the One who was in the form of God, that He “emptied Himself” (Gr. Phil. 2:7,) to take the form of man.
The doctrine of the Trinity thrusts a dagger through the heart of the “gospel of God . . . Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:1.)
Jesus Christ in His humanity was, after His ascension, highly exalted by God the Father (Phil. 2:9.)
It is because God the Word took part of flesh and blood that we who are “partakers of flesh and blood” (Heb. 2:14,) can now become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4.)
It is because God condescended to become truly man in the flesh that by faith in Jesus Christ the Father has “raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6, 8.)
Pasted from
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My thoughts-
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
The Word.
The Word WITH God.
The Word A GOD.
The WORD GOD with GOD.
It doesn't get much plainer than that, does it?
Two Gods.
Separate one from the other. God with God.
If I tell you that A was with B, and A was like B, am I truly saying that A and B are the one in reality, or perhaps, two that agree in one?
Two human beings- such as a man and wife are two yet joined as one, and still you'd never say they are not two separate beings, because they ARE, even though they create one family. One person plus one person bound by an agreement as one. In a marriage no one of the two is greater than the other. Each will have their own responsibilities, but neither is greater because of their differing responsibilities. The two are in an agreement to be one in marriage.
Why is it we have become so incredibly caught up in being believers of ONE God?
1Co_8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
One God
AND
One Lord Jesus Christ.
These are two distinct beings who agree as ONE.
Do we believe in One God? Yes. I believe in One God- the Father. I believe in One God- the Son (Who was God with God two agreeing as one and it was agreed the Son would be the only Begotten of the Father, and He WOULD take on flesh.)
A deeper study-- MEAT not MILK!
The Eternal Verities – 1
THE GODHEAD
The great divide between two eternities; the great divide in time, and in the chronological reckoning of time, was the Incarnation. However, had there been no God, there would have been no Incarnation; and if no Incarnation, there would have been no atonement; and if no atonement, no Intercessor. Thus the "eternal verities" - the Godhead, the Incarnation, and the Atonement - are inseparably linked as a chain connecting and reconnecting earth with Heaven, and Heaven with earth.
As we study the Godhead, we shall note various verses of Scripture and seek to exegetically analyze them. Having done so, we shall draw certain conclusions, and where there is apparent mystery in reconciling the revelation, we shall leave it as a mystery until other texts which we will consider illuminate that mystery. It will be a progressive study with the sole objective to comprehend truth as far as a mortal can.
Luke 1:35
The angel [Gabriel] answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that Holy [One] which shall be borne of thee shall be called the Son of God.
{The word, "thing" is not in the Greek text, and we have substituted the word, "One" inasmuch as the word, "holy" is an adjective, and requires an object to modify. The word, "Spirit" could just as well be substituted. Such usage is found in the Writings. See 4BC:1147}
This text reveals the following data:
1) To speak "after the manner of men," the Holy Spirit was paternally related to Jesus Christ; thus the Holy Spirit pre-existed Bethlehem.
2) The "Holy One" born of Mary "shall be called the Son of God." Twice Gabriel reiterated this fact. In Luke 1:32, he declared that this Holy One "shall be called the Son of the Highest." Gabriel, who had "firsthand" information of relationships involving God, did not say, "was" or "is" the Son of God, but "shall be" called the Son of God.
3) There was to be conceived in the womb of Mary a unique Being, never before known in the Universe from all eternity - a God-man. Yet this unique Being inherits eternity through the Eternal Spirit. He had a pre-existence in Spirit, and now would become "flesh."
Now follow closely the conclusions which this data permits one to draw:
1) The Holy Spirit existed prior to Bethlehem as the "Eternal Spirit." (See also Heb.9:14)
2) Jesus "had a beginning at Bethlehem." (Note the name designation of "Jesus," the God-man, begins at Bethlehem)
3) With God as a "given" factor, you have Two Beings - God and the Eternal Spirit - before Bethlehem, and Three Beings - God, the Eternal Spirit, and Jesus - after.
One further factor to the "mystery" - He who had a beginning at Bethlehem as a unique Being, Jesus, of Him it could be prophesied that His "goings forth [were] from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2).
John 1:1-3
In beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with the God, and God was the Logos. The same was in beginning with the God. All things through Him came into being, and without Him came into being not even one [thing] which has come into being. (Greek, literal translation)
The Gospel of John was among the last books of the New Testament to be written, if not the last one. In the first eighteen verses of his Gospel, John gives a prologue, setting forth data of what was prior to the Incarnation, as well as what happened at the Incarnation.
From these verses, we can observe the following data:
1) There were Two Beings - the Logos (the Word) and God.
2) The Logos was of the same essence as God. He was as much God as God Himself. "God was the Logos." The article is used to denote separate Beings; and omitted when defining the nature of the Logos.
Conclusions which can be drawn:
1) Since "God" is defined as "Spirit" (John 4:24 - no article, literally, "God is Spirit"), then the Logos was as God, also "Spirit."
We are "flesh" in our reality; God is "spirit" in His reality. Paul could use the word, "form" to designate both the reality of God, and the reality of man. (Phil. 2:6, 7)
2) The Logos created all things in conjunction "with the God." Paul states that "God ... created all things by Jesus Christ." (Eph. 3:9)
3) In John 1:1-2, the word "was" (hn) is used 4x. This is in the Greek imperfect tense and denotes continuous action in past time. John is simply saying that there never was a time when the Logos was not.
To Page 4
[ On page 3 we have reproduced the Greek text of John 1:1-35 from the Analytical Greek New Testament edited by Barbara and Timothy Friberg. On this text we have circled the verb hn (was), and designated the absence of the article before arch and qeoV with arrows. The letters under hn tell you that it is verb ( V ) in the indicative mood ( I ) of the imperfect tense ( I ), active in voice ( A ), third person ( Z ) and singular ( S ) ]
Genesis 1:1-2, 26
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ... And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. ... And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
The Hebrew for "God" in these verses is Elohim, plural in form.
It is used with singular verbs and adjectives, and thus perceived as the "pluralis majesticus" or majestic plural. However, in verse 26, the Elohim concur in "Let us."
The question arises - How do you obtain a singular force from a plural word?
Here is where the Shema of Israel enters the picture. It reads - "Hear, O Israel: The Lord God our God is one Lord." (Deut 6:4) [See page 3 for Hebrew text]
The key word is the compound word (two words), Elohenu - "Gods" and the suffix, a plural pronoun, "our." "The masculine plural [In this case Elohim] has before all suffixes the ending ay. ... But certain modifications in the form of this ending take place, due to the character of the following consonants: ... b. The original form ay is contracted to e (הֵי) before all plural suffixes." (Elements of Hebrew, Wm. R. Harper, p.144) This is the case in the Shema of Israel. Thus it reads literally, "Jehovah, our Gods is one Jehovah."
The word for "one" (Echad) expresses oneness in duality. The word appears in Genesis 1:5 - "There was evening; there was morning, day one (echad)" It is also used in Genesis 2:24 - "They [two] shall be one (echad) flesh." This simply implies that both the Logos and God of John 1:1-3 are one Jehovah.
Let us return now to the text in Genesis 1:2 - "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The Hebrew word translated, "moved" is merahepheth - brooded. Gesenius in his lexicon, observes that this word in the Piel Hebrew form (as used here) implies "to cherish one's young, to brood over, as the eagle its young (Deut 32:11) ... of the Spirit of God as thus brooding over and vivifying the chaotic mass of earth. Gen. 1:2" (p.976)
Does this suggest the conclusion that the Spirit of God which "vivified" the mass at creation is the Logos of John 1:1-3, by which nothing was created except by Him?
Exodus 3:13-14
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM; and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel , I AM hath sent me unto you.
The Hebrew word translated, "I AM" is the imperfect form of the verb, hahyah, "to be." Most of us have names which are classified as nouns. Not so the name chosen by God to designate Himself. Further the verb is in the imperfect tense denoting unfinished action. Gesenius suggests in his Lexicon that the meaning of "I Am that I Am" is that God "will never be other than the same" and is. (p.384) In other words, by this name God designates Himself as eternal and immutable. This word is the root for the name Jehovah. Jesus in His humanity claimed this name for Himself. (John 8:58)
A comparison of various verses in Revelation (1:10-11, 17-18; 22:12-13 with 1:8) indicates that both He who liveth and was dead but is alive forevermore, has the same designation as "the Almighty." This reinforces the Hebrew Shema that the Gods of Israel is one Jehovah. Gesenius observes in his discussion of the Hebrew word, Yehowah that "several ancient writers" relate "that the God of the Hebrews was called IAW." (ibid.) ["I am Alpha and Omega"]
Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a child is given . . . and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible, following closely the Hebrew, renders the titles of the prophesied God-man, as: "Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Mighty God." The expression, "the Father of Eternity" is the best that human language can find to express the eternal pre-existence of the Logos. Eternalness is an attribute of Deity, and thus "eternity" is synonymous with God, and not a creation of God. It is the "time" frame of God's ever-existence which the human mind, limited as it is by time as we know it, cannot comprehend.
The same thought is given in Micah 5:2 where the Messianic prophecy, revealing the place of the birth of the Coming One, describes His "goings forth" as being "from everlasting." The word translated "everlasting" (gohlahm) is the same word used in Psalm 90:2 - "From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." Again, the eternalness of God cannot be limited because of the limitations of human language and thought to express or comprehend what "everlasting" really is. He who has existed from all eternity comes forth in time from that incomprehensible reality.
Zechariah 6:12-13
Thus saith the Lord of Hosts saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: Even he shall build the temple of the Lord: and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne: and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
The literal Hebrew reads that "the counsel of peace shall be between the Two of Them." It was "through our Lord Jesus Christ" that man could be once more at peace with God. (Rom. 5:1) He, as the great High Priest, sits upon His "throne of grace" (Heb. 4:15-16), at "the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Heb. 1:3) It is in this context that the Sonship motif is set. Observe closely
Hebrews 5:5-6:
Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high priest; but He who said unto Him, Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee. As He saith also in another place, Thou art a priest forever after the Order of Melchisedec.
The "Sonship" came to Christ in the same way that the High Priesthood came to Him - by the calling and decree of God. This calling is emphasized in the context of Hebrews 1. The rhetorical question is asked - "For unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son?" (1:5)
The first question is drawn from Psalms 2:7, and the second from II Samuel 7:14.
The Messianic second Psalm speaks of Christ by three titles or offices: the "Anointed" One (ver. 2); the "King" (ver. 6); and the "Son" (ver. 7). He who became the Anointed One (Messiah), and the Son, and who will come as King of kings, emanated from times eternal as the Logos. It is clearly stated in language that should not be misunderstood by anyone, that the "Sonship" was by "decree." Peter set forth to Cornelius that He who is "Lord of all" was "anointed ... with the Holy Spirit and with power" at His baptism. (Acts 10:36-38) While He is now a priest upon His throne, He anticipates His return as King of kings and Lord of lords. (Rev. 19:16) In this prophetic picture of Revelation, He is called "the Word (Gr. Logos) of God."
When one reviews the second quotation from II Samuel 7:14 in context, he can see, if he has eyes to see, that it is a literal promise made to David concerning Solomon. No stretch of the imagination can perceive of Solomon as having been "conceived" or "generated" by God. It was a commitment by God to David to make his son, Solomon, His son. Paul, recognizing this as an apt illustration of the relationship of the Logos to God in the redemptive process, lifted it from context and applied it to the "Sonship" of Jesus Christ.
In this same setting of Hebrews 1 there is another word, firstbegotten (prwtotokoV), which has been misrepresented so that its true meaning is misunderstood. The same word is used of Christ in Colossians 1:15, 18 - "first born (prwtotokoV) of every creature" and "the firstborn (prwtotokoV) from the dead." One has but to review the record of the Old Testament to know that Jesus was not the first to have been resurrected from the dead. (II Kings 4:34, 36) The Gospels tell of the Widow of Nain whose son was restored to her, and the resurrection of Lazarus. What then is the force of this word? Paul states it clearly - "that in all things, He might have the pre-eminence." (Col. 1:18) This concept of "pre-eminence" is the force used in Heb. 1:6. The One coming into the world is so pre-eminent that God instructs the angels of Heaven - "Let all the angels of God worship Him." Even though a Babe in Bethlehem's manger, He is God manifest in the flesh, to be the pre-eminent One of humanity, to stand at the head of the fallen race, the Second Adam.
To this same Son by decree, pre-eminent in every way, God speaks - "Thy throne, 0 God, is forever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." (Heb. 1:8) He "forever" will be as He "ever" has been, the I AM. He "laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of His hands." (v.10)
Romans 9:4-5
My kinsmen according to the flesh: who are Israelites; ... and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God, blessed for ever. Amen.
In these verses, Paul is contrasting the origin of the Messiah - from the "flesh" of Israel, yet God in that flesh. Some have attempted to make this merely a doxology to God - "Blessed be God" - instead of Christ as God "over all ... blessed forever." The word, euloghtoV (blessed) follows the word, qeoV (God). Alford in commenting on this verse writes - "Without one exception in Hebrew or Greek, whenever an ascription of blessing is found, the predicate euloghtoV precedes the name of God." (Vol.11, p.405) In Romans 9:5, it follows, therefore cannot be interpreted as a blessing on God.
John 1:18
No man hath seen God at anytime; the only begotten Son; which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.
This verse is the final verse of the preface to John's gospel, which is recognized as one of the last, if not the last book written of the books in the New Testament. Textual evidence is divided as to whether this verse should read - "only begotten Son" or "only begotten God." It must be understood, which ever reading is chosen, that John is writing from his viewpoint in time. He is saying that He who had declared Him in the flesh (verse 14), was then, at the time of the writing, in the "bosom of the Father."
The Greek word, monogenhV, is translated by two words in the KJV, "only begotten." This is a faulty translation and thus a false interpretation is drawn by those promoting the neo-Gnosticism.
In analyzing this word, we will first give every reference in the New Testament where this word is used and how it is translated in each verse:
Luke 7:12- the only son of his mother
8:42- For he had only one daughter,
9:35 - for he is my only child.
John 1:14 - as of the only begotten of the Father,
1:18 - the only begotten Son, which is
3:16 - his only begotten Son, that whosoever
3:18 - of the only begotten Son of God.
Heb. 11:17- offered up his only begotten (son),
I John 4:9 - God sent his only begotten Son
A careful comparison of the use of monogenhV in the New Testament indicates that only John uses the word in reference to Jesus. To translate it as "only begotten" places the Scriptures in error as seen by its use in Hebrews 11:17. Isaac was not the "only begotten" son of Abraham; but he was uniquely begotten, a son of promise by the intervention of God. The Greek word, monogenhV is from two words meaning "only" and "kind," thus could be translated "only (one) of a kind," or unique.
The translation "only begotten" in John's Gospel and First Epistle, originated with the Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church. It entered early English translations of the Bible through the influence of the Latin Vulgate, the official Bible of the Roman Church. Various Old Latin manuscripts which preceded the Vulgate read, "only" rather than "only begotten." The idea that Christ "was born of the Father before all creation" appears first in the writings of Origen, about A.D. 230. Arius, about one hundred years later, was the first to use gegennemenon, the correct Greek word for "begotten" if used in reference to Christ to affirm that He was "begotten of God before all ages." This Greek word is never used in the Bible in reference to the pre-incarnate Christ. "The idea that Christ was 'begotten' by the Father at some time in eternity past is altogether foreign to the Scriptures." (See Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol.5, p.902)
To Be Continued
By the grace of GOD more tomorrow on this. It truly is an important study. To deny that we truly believe in more than ONE God, is denying either our Savior, or our Heavenly Father, or the Holy Spirit as TRUE individual beings in existence and all three are GODS in their own right. Gods in one agreement.
Please Lord, bless us! Help us to comprehend the truth, all the truth that You have for us!
All by YOUR grace, YOUR mercy, YOUR LOVE!
All through the FATHER, and through the SON JESUS CHRIST, and through the HOLY SPIRIT!
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