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IS GOD A TRINITY? Is Jesus God? [164] The Bible refers in many place to God while putting Him in the context of three beings. We can see this, for instance, in Matthew 28:19 where Jesus tells the disciples to baptize new disciples in (into) the singular name of three entities! Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, To a Christian though, all their beliefs in God must be consistent. So fitting in with the "Shema" in Deuteronomy 6:4... Deu 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ... we believe there is only one God. There are not two gods or three gods. We believe there is ONE God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three distinct but NOT separate beings making ONE God!
So let's look at how this is illustrated throughout the bible...
Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in our image, after our likeness". Elohim is the Hebrew name used of God over 2000 times and
it has a common Hebrew plural ending (im) which signifies more than two, yet with the
God of the bible it's used with a singular verb showing these are nevertheless one!
Gen 18:1-3 And the LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Notice that when the Lord appeared to Abraham, he saw three men! Then, in the new testament we get confirmation that there are three in heaven... 1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one.
If these three are indeed one then we would find the same attributes being assigned to
all three individually in the bible. For instance...
These examples are not exaustive and may not be considered definitive enough by many, so it may be better to concentrate on the individuals and show how Jesus and Holy Spirit are shown as God in the bible. I won't spend time on showing that the Father is God. It's not likely that many who believe in the God of the bible would think that the Father is not God! So regarding the son...
Is Jesus fully God. We can start by showing how many new covenant scriptures testify that Jesus and the Father are one. John 17:21-22 That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that you have sent me. And the glory which you gave me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: God uses names to convey meaning and reality. For instance He named Abram, Abraham, signifying "father of many nations". In the same way God gave Jesus more than one name. We see one of these names mentioned in Matthew 1:23... Mat 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Just to make sure we would get the point God the Father very specifically called Jesus God in the scripture quoted in Hebrews 1:8. Heb 1:8 But unto the Son He says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom".
Following on from God saying that Jesus is God we can see the apostle Thomas calling Jesus his God when he realizes that Jesus has risen and fulfilled the prophesies of the son of God (who the Father says Is God!). John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. And Jesus accepted to be called God which no angel or man who 'knows' God would do! But, this fits with what God said about His Son through the book of Hebrews... Heb 1:8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. But, going even further we see Jesus accepting worship from men which no godly angel or man would allow to happen; only God! Mat 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshiped him. Now one might think that this was a one-off but Paul, the probable writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 1:6... Heb 1:6 And again, when He (God) brings the firstbegotten into the world, He says, "And let all the angels of God worship Him". God says that the angels are to worship Jesus. He has to be God for this to be allowed! We have seen how starting in Genesis the bible tells us
that God is a plurality of beings and Jesus is the second after the Father and right
through to Revelation we see this stated.
Isa 44:6 “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me. On the other hand in the book of Revelation we see this recorded, inspired by the Holy Spirit... Rev 2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things says the first and the last, who was dead, and is alive; I know your works,.. Now who is this that John is writing about?! John is obviously writing about Jesus, "the first and the last", who was also shown to have always been God in the gospel that is attributed to John. In 'John 1:1' we read this... John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. We see in this one passage that Jesus already existed in the beginning with God (the Father) and that Jesus made all things. He was not made! That it was Jesus who made the worlds is confirmed in the book of Hebrews. Heb 1:1-2 God, who at many times and in various manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; It's not just creation though; Jesus also is our saviour. Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; But if we look at Isaiah 43:11 we learn something very interesting. Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. Jesus came as our saviour and our saviour is God; and this was not lost on the Pharisees!
John 5:17-18 But He answered them, “My Father is
working until now, and I Myself am working.” As you can see, the Jews knew that Jesus' claim to be God's son meant that He was claiming to be God Himself! So Jesus can be seen throughout the bible to be given all the attributes and priveleges of God. He IS God!
Best wishes for Grace and the Peace of Jesus.
Now - Is Holy Spirit God?
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