THE Trinity can Now be discussed.

[Scott Downey]

Yes discussion with love, not the arguing we have seen. And no recognition that it is ultimately a mystery.

Definitely is a mystery which cannot be fully explained, but we must still hold to the mystery as true or we are disqualified by the Spirit as teachers of truth, our ministering is then corrupt.
'Pure Conscience' mean no doubting, believing the mystery of godliness as a little child would without questioning God, like the devil said, Did God say?.

1 Timothy 3

8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the [a]mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.

The Great Mystery​

14 These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; 15 but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and [h]ground of the truth. 16 And without controversy great is the [i]mystery of godliness:

God[j] was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory.

 

[Scott Downey]

Well God did say!

What does God call the Son His Word? And the word was God...

Isaiah 9
6 For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 

[Scott Downey]

What does it mean to always be ready to give an answer (1 Peter 3:15)? | GotQuestions.org

What does it mean to always be ready to give an answer? What is the meaning of 1 Peter 3:15?

www.gotquestions.org

Providing a “defense” or giving an “answer” for one’s hope is based on the Greek word apologian, which carries the idea of “defending” something as a lawyer would defend his case in court. From the Greek word comes the English apologetics, “the discipline of defending” the Christian faith. Notice that Peter does not say that the job of giving an answer is only for the pastor or professional apologist. All Christians need to be prepared to give an answer or defense when someone asks them the reason for the hope that they have.

Peter wrote to the persecuted Christians in Asia Minor. As they were undergoing persecution, their outward behavior demonstrated hope in Jesus—not a wishful thought, but a solid and assured faith (see Hebrews 6:19–20). The believers’ lack of fear in the face of suffering would have propelled others to ask about the reason for their faith, giving the believers a perfect opportunity “to give an answer.” When believers display their sure hope in Jesus despite their circumstances, others will notice (see 1 Peter 2:12).

To properly answer someone who asks about one’s faith, the Christian must use “gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience” (1 Peter 3:15). There’s no place for harshness or disrespect in a Christian’s life, especially as he represents Christ and gives an answer to explain his faith. Peter exhorts the believer to answer unbelievers gently, respectfully, and with the example of one’s life (cf. Colossians 4:6). Believers should reflect Christ’s teaching of gentleness and “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15, NLT).

The command to “always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” presupposes a faith that causes us to live out our hope in Christ visibly before others. When unbelievers see a Christian’s great hope in the face of persecution or suffering, they will naturally want to know the reason for that hope (Matthew 5:16). We need to be prepared to share the gospel in a way that is gentle and respectful. The result will be “that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Peter 3:16).

 

[Hepzibah]

Yes though we cannot yet understand how Jesus is at the same time God, yet Son of God.

 

[Ritajanice]

Definitely is a mystery which cannot be fully explained

Yet all over this thread you have not admitted that you may be in error?

You know 100% that Jesus is God. You couldn’t possibly know that, like everyone else . You are voicing an opinion ,using scripture to push your 100% belief is true.

Then one in particular starts getting personal because I don’t share his view/ belief.throwing accusations right left and centre at other members also.

 

[Ritajanice]

Yes discussion with love, not the arguing we have seen.

We all argue, including you I’ve seen on threads,

 

[Scott Downey]

Yes though we cannot yet understand how Jesus is at the same time God, yet Son of God.

Yes, it cannot be denied, we are to confess Him before men as to who He is.
And we are allowed to be bold, strong and vigorous about this,

Acts 18
27 And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; 28 for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

Acts 9
21 Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”

22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

Acts 4:29
Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,

Acts 4:31
And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

 

[Ritajanice]

Yes, it cannot be denied, we are to confess Him before men as to who He is.

Confessing Jesus, by posting scripture is meaningless..where’s the witness in that truth?

Anyone can post scripture confessing Jesus as Lord....so, how would you know to confess Jesus is Lord, without a Bible?

 

[Hepzibah]

I am talking about refuting something that will remain a mystery which cannot be understood by finite minds. There are many things that can be shown clearly from scripture.

 

[Ritajanice]

I am talking about refuting something that will remain a mystery which cannot be understood by finite minds. There are many things that can be shown clearly from scripture.

There is much about God , that we will never understand..the trinity is one of them.our human brain is far from understanding the mighty Spirit Of God.

Like he says his thoughts and ways are much higher than ours.

Plus the rebirth, not one person can understand how he does that, complete and utter mystery.yet we know in our spirit we’re Born Again.

 

[Scott Downey]

About speaking the truth in love, A true love means you will tell people the truth, if you love them, you want them to know the truth.

If you do not love them, then you will not tell them the truth. And telling lies is showing a type of hatred of the truth towards another, and people speak lies unawares, even with sincerity, but a lie it still is, God will be the judge.

We can verify we know the truth when what we say is in agreement with the Word of God, and we have that written down for us, we know the entire counsel of God in the law, his prophets, the New testament scriptures is true and no lie for God cannot lie.
Which also shows God loves us as he has given to us His truth.

If someone comes to us and does not have this testimony, then he is a liar and an evil worker. Christ will tell them this,

22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

The Certainty of God’s Witness​

6 This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear witness [b]in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.

9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of [c]God which He has testified of His Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has [d]life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, [e]and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

Beware of Antichrist Deceivers​

7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Look to yourselves, that [c]we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.

9 Whoever [d]transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

 

[Ritajanice]

The Certainty of God’s Witness

Gods witness is Alive and Active and he ain’t no Bible.?

 

[Hepzibah]

The things that are mystery, like the incarnation, godliness, spiritual rebirth, the Trinity, cannot be explained in human terms, although we know from the revelation of the Holy Spirit that they are true.

It is much better to demonstrate to others that they are missing this revelation by pointing them to Christ and having the power therein from our obedience, and not through arguing that we understand these mysteries.

 

[Ritajanice]

We grow in spiritual maturity in Gods timing...we look to him for everything, completely rely on him for everything, including asking him for help with our behaviour, he knows our hearts and he knows if we truly want to stop arguing...he ain’t daft, he knows a sincere heart that comes before him.

The old man is continually becoming less and less in us..or he should be as we surrender to the Spirit Of God.

 

[Taken]

Born Again ..are you Born Of The Spirit?

Yes.

How do you know that God exists?

By: what I trust, experience, see, hear, smell, taste, touch.

Spirit gives birth to spirit?

Yes.

By whose witness?...

My body, my soul, my spirit, Lord God Almighty.

and where is this truth witnessed in us?

My spirit in my heart, Gods Spirit in my spirit.


Glory to God.
Taken

 

[Ritajanice]

Yes.

By whose Living witness?

By: what I trust, experience, see, hear, smell, taste, touch.

Not biblical..you need a living witness to know God?

Yes.



My body, my soul, my spirit, Lord God Almighty.

Wrong answer, by whose Living witness is your spirit reborn?

My spirit in my heart, Gods Spirit in my spirit.

By whose testimony?.,Gods Spirit in my spirit is not biblical..that’s why I don’t believe that you couldn’t possibly know that God is 3 in one...your testimony gives it away.

Yet, you push your 100% belief in the trinity, by using snippets of scripture...you deceiver.

Glory to God.
Taken

 

[Scott Downey]

The things that are mystery, like the incarnation, godliness, spiritual rebirth, the Trinity, cannot be explained in human terms, although we know from the revelation of the Holy Spirit that they are true.

It is much better to demonstrate to others that they are missing this revelation by pointing them to Christ and having the power therein from our obedience, and not through arguing that we understand these mysteries.

There is a place for both, and it is needful to preach the good news.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God.

One aspect is by the hearing of faith, the Spirit speaks to us in various ways.
Directly to our spirits, His Spirit to our spirit the things of God, Jesus says all those who have heard and learned from the Father come to Me.
God can also speak to us by the words His people speak. They can be inspired by the Holy Spirit to encourage us in the faith.

Rejected by His Own​

41 The Jews then [g]complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” 42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them, [h]“Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who [i]has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes [j]in Me has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

 

[St. SteVen]

St. SteVen said:
Maybe Fred, or George?
Whatever you like.

Fred or George? You are not a serious student of the Bible! I'll save myself grief by putting you on ignore.

Get a sense of humor already. - LOL
The Bible treats the Holy Spirit as a person, which I have demonstrated.

The Holy Spirit does not need a name beyond the Advocate,
or the Comforter to be a person of the godhead.

@Ritajanice recently reminded us that: "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children." - Romans 8:16 NIV
Only a person can testify that "we are God’s children."

The fact that it has no name proves it is not a person. You just refuse to see it.

I answered the @Wrangler ABCs and 123s in my post #1779 (link)
To which I got no response that I have seen. Please provide if someone saw it, thanks.
Now he will likely run and hide to avoid a real showdown. Claiming I am not a serious student of the Bible.
He has been attacking individuals with his demeaning comments this whole time rather than sticking to the facts.

[

 

[Grailhunter]

I would like to present what Eastern Orthodoxy teaches about the Trinity, and propose that what has happened here, on this thread, only proves that they are right.

They do not believe in the same Trinity as we find in the western world of Christians. They believe in Monarchial Trinitarianism, Monarchianism (from the Greek monarkhia, meaning "ruling of one" which says that, the Father is not the same as the Son or the Holy Spirit as He alone is uncreated, the Son and the Spirit, having their origin at the beginning of creation. They were brought forth by the Father. That is all we know about that.

The Orthodox also say that man, being of finite mind, cannot understand the Trinity and must accept that for now, it is a mystery, how the Son is able to forgive sins and save us and how God could die on the cross.

The Son and Spirit share in the divine essence, not just the energies, of which mankind is allowed to take part in, in the Spirit's sanctifying and glorifying work. So they are divine. Jesus Christ is divine.

All of this arguing just goes to show how futile it is and those who think they understand the great mystery of the Trinity are just fooling themselves.

Well it is a distraction from where mans concentration should be - on obedience. Futile arguments are already banned in scripture and it is clear where the temptation for this row comes from..

I am proud to say that there has only been so many arguments and rudeness on this incredibly popular thread. We have just continued a discussion that has been going on for 2000 years. Pondering and thinking about the Trinity and you are right, whatever formula it is we will never fully comprehend it no matter how close we get.

Thinking about the Son of God for the Christmas season. Christ we love you and all worship to you. God bless you all and have a safe and Merry Christmas.

 

[St. SteVen]

Here's what I had to say about his ABCs and 123s.

ABCs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
St. SteVen says:

Since YHWY is Elohim, he is NOT the only god. Define Elohim. (all the gods)
YHWY is one of many gods. Israel was to have no other gods but YHWY.
Therefore, there were other gods to have.

The Trinity means one God in three persons, NOT three gods.

123s
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
St. SteVen says:

Jesus being God's anointed does not negate his deity as God the Son.
The word YHWH (Yahweh) is nowhere to be found in the NT. Not sure what that proves.
The NT doesn't even call God the Father YHWY.

God made Jesus?
The Word was God. The Word was with God in the beginning.
The Word became flesh, God the Son, conceived by God the Holy Spirit.

There is a hierarchy of authority in the godhead.
God the Father, then God the Son, then God the Holy Spirit.

God the Father can be God to God the Son without negating the deity of either one.

Jesus, God the Son, sitting at the right hand of God the Father does not negate His deity.
In fact God the Father handed over all authority to God the Son when he was enthroned.

Matthew 28:17-18 NIV
When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

[ cc: @Wrangler