One of the things that some Christians find it difficult to accept is the doctrine of the Trinity. This has long been debated by some Christians (e.g., Catholics and Iglesia ni Cristo). The logical way of explaining the doctrine of the Trinity is the water in matter. Water is liquid. When it becomes solid, it becomes ice and in gas, it becomes a water vapor. But they are from one source. That's how Trinitarians explain it. Or another example would be, the human person. The person is composed of body, soul, and spirit which comprises the entire person.
JESUS ONLY?
This has been an ancient heresy which is Sabbelianism. It teaches that God manifests Himself in Three modes of existence. Jesus is the Father of the Old Testament, He is the Son and the Spirit as well. They often use 1 Timothy 3:16 to support this:
1 Timothy 3:16 (KJV), "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."
However, there's been loopholes to the Jesus Only or the Oneness Pentecostal doctrine. You see, if we are to accept this, it would imply that Jesus was talking simply to Himself when He was praying on different occasions to the Father (e.g., Luke 22:32, John 17).
Our Lord God and Savior, Jesus Christ
IS JESUS GOD?
This is one of the teachings that are usually attacked in Christianity, the Divinity of Jesus Christ which was attacked first by Arius and then recycled by the Iglesia ni Cristo of Felix Manalo and the Jehovah's Witnesses. In the Gospel of John alone, we can see that Jesus was co-existent with His Father, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). All things were created by the Father through the Son (Colossians 1:16, cf. John 1:3) and eventually took flesh in the womb of the Blessed Mother. In the Gospels, we can see that Christ is making claims which is for God alone for example, "One greater than the Temple is here", "One greater than Solomon is here" (Matthew 12:6, 42). In the Temple, Jesus claimed the Tetragammaton to Himself when He said, "Before Abraham was born, I AM" (John 8:58, cf. Exodus 3:14). That is why the Jews wanted Him dead several times. In the festival of Hanukkah, He said this statement, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). The Jews already said their reasons for wanting Jesus dead, "not for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because thou, being a man, makest thyself God" (John 10:33). The Jews sought His death not only for Sabbath breaking, but for calling God His Father, making Himself equal with God (John 5:18). In His prayer to the Father, Jesus asked the Father to glorify Him (John 17:1, 5).
The Apostles also taught from the very beginning that Jesus Christ was God. For example, in the Resurrection scenario, Thomas made an act of faith to Jesus when he said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). St. Paul also said that Christians ought to wait for the coming of, "our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). In Philippians 2:6-11, St. Paul writes this Christological hymn about our Lord Jesus Christ, "who, being in the form of God, did not think that He should be equal with God". In Acts 20:28, we hear of, "the church of God redeemed by His blood". The God in this verse is none other than Jesus who redeemed the Church with His blood.
If Jesus was only a man like what some other sects are claiming (e.g., Iglesia ni Cristo), then He must either be a liar or a lunatic. If Jesus was only a mere creature, His death cannot atone for the sins of the world since it requires a sacrifice without blemish to take away the sins of the world. It is clear in the book of Psalms, "No man can redeem a man" (Psalm 49:9). The Early Fathers have taught Christians that Jesus was indeed God and in the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., the Church made the Nicene Creed which goes originally like this:
"We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, through Him all things were made".
The Holy Spirit: The Lord, the Giver of Life
IS THE HOLY SPIRIT GOD?
This has also been questionable among Christadelphians, the Iglesia ni Cristo and other ranks who deny the Holy Spirit. For them, the Spirit is only a mere force and was created by the Father and the Son. It derived from Macedonianism. But what does the Bible have to say about the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit first of all, is present at creation. He is the "ruach" (Hebrew word for Spirit) of God. In the book of Genesis it says, "And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2, KJV). He is the Creator at the same time as the book of Job says, "The Spirit of the LORD hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life" (Job 33:4, KJV). In the New Testament, Jesus revealed the Spirit and who He really was.
THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS NOT A FORCE LIKE IN STAR WARS
In the Last Supper discourse, Jesus said that, "The Spirit of God will guide them to all truth" (John 16:13). He will teach us all things (John 14:26). Our Lord called Him, "The finger of God" (Luke 11:20) and the angel Gabriel called Him, "The Power of the Most High" (Luke 1:35). In the book of Acts, lying to the Holy Spirit can mean lying to God like in the case of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:3-5). He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), He can convict (John 16:8-10), and He can also be blasphemed as the Father and the Son does (Matthew 12:32).
THOSE WHO REDUCE THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO A MERE FORCE, BE CAREFUL OF COMMITTING THE UNPARDONABLE SIN.
In the Nicene Creed, here's how the Church described the Holy Spirit:
"We believe in the Holy Spirit: The Lord, the Giver of Life who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who, with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets"
IS THE FATHER THE SON AND THE SON THE FATHER AND THE HOLY SPIRIT THE FATHER AND THE SON?
Some Christians often make this mistake that they are One Person. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are different Persons that are distinct from each other and yet God at the same time. In the Johannine Comma which was included in the Douay Rheims Version prior to the KJV of 1611 it says, "For there are Three that bear record in heaven: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these Three are one" (1 John 5:7). In Matthew 28:19, Jesus said, "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". He does not say, "In the Names". Even in the Apostolic Doxology, the Godhead are mentioned distinctively, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:13).
By the way, the SHEMA in Deuteronomy 6:4 gives us an idea of the Trinity:
Deuteronomy 6:4 (NKJV), "Hear O Israel! The LORD our God, the LORD is one!"
The Hebrew word used for, "one" is, "echad" which means, "compound unity" and not, "yachid" which means, "numeric one". It means, the Father, the Son and the Spirit are one.
To conclude, let us read from Genesis 1:26 and Isaiah 6:8 of the Douay Rheims Version:
This is what the Church has been teaching for over 2000 years!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen!
HAPPY TRINITY SUNDAY EVERYONE! MAY THE BLESSINGS OF ALMIGHTY GOD: THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, BE WITH US AND REMAIN WITH US ALWAYS. AMEN!!!
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