The Inescapable Trinity

[Paidion]

UNITARIAN— One who believes in one God.
BINITARIAN— One who believes in two Gods (or a compound God consisting of two divine persons).
TRINITARIAN— One who believes in three Gods (or a compound God consisting of three divine persons).

The apostle Paul made it clear that there is one God, and that this one God is the Father:

... yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. (1 Corinthians 8:6)

(There is) one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:6)

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5)

[darinhouston]

The article is obviously written with a non-Trinitarian bias. You cannot rule out the possibility that God was speaking to the other persons in the Godhead.

That is undoubtedly the case but beside the point, and that is one of the views that the article did point out. But, the NET and NIV commentaries are definitely NOT from a non-Trinitarian bias.

[dwight92070]

In Acts 16:6, Paul and Silas and apparently Timothy were "forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia". Notice verse 7, when they were "trying to go into Bithynia and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them".

So Luke, the author of Acts is here equating the Holy Spirit (of God), with the Spirit of Jesus.

Paul does the same thing in Romans 8:9: "However you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the SPIRIT OF GOD dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the SPIRIT OF CHRIST, he does not belong to Him.

Also Galatians 4:6 - "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the SPIRIT OF HIS SON (the Holy Spirit) into our hearts ..."

And Philippians 1:19 - "... for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST,"

Peter also agrees with this in I Peter 1:11: " ... seeking to know what person or time the SPIRIT OF CHRIST within them ... " Peter is referring to the Old Testament prophets here (verse 10). Who can deny that Peter knew that the prophets were indwelt by the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD?

So the Holy Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, because Christ is God.

Also, Paul tells us that "the Lord (Jesus) IS THE SPIRIT" in 2 Corinthians 3:17

So in these verses, we see BOTH the Trinity and the Deity of Jesus.

[darinhouston]

This is, indeed, a very curious issue that has confused many (Trinitarians and non-Trinitarians alike). I think in large measure the identity and working of the Holy Spirit is one of the most obvious and intentional mysteries in all the Bible. But, we can know a few things. First, this text is not useful as a trinitarian prooftext. A core tenet of orthodox trinitarianism at least is not to "confound" the identity of the persons of the godhead. This would appear to do just that. The only group that does that, I believe, would be the non-trinitarian Sabellianists (or oneness) folk who just say they are all the same person, essentially. If you are trinitarian, the Spirit can can not be identical to Jesus or the Father. Some binitarians could take this approach and maintain that both the Father and Jesus are the godhead and the spirit is something else shared between them or something like that. But, this would be the same position as most unitarians, and doesn't depend on your view of Jesus' divinity. There is a grammatical point made by some which suggests "of" means "from" and this is supportive of the spirit (whatever it is) being something other than a person of the trinity and that the same spirit can be spoken of as from the father or from the son without implying anything about their identity to each other. I think we're in the land of conjecture here, but most verses such as Titus 3:5-6 speak of the spirit being given "by" the Father "through" the Son. So, regardless of whether you maintain the spirit as an independent "person" of the trinity or something else, this doesn't prove much if anything at all once you consider the various implications across scripture and in light of orthodox claims.

[dwight92070]

In Acts 16:6, Paul and Silas and apparently Timothy were "forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia". Notice verse 7, when they were "trying to go into Bithynia and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them".

So Luke, the author of Acts is here equating the Holy Spirit (of God), with the Spirit of Jesus.

Paul does the same thing in Romans 8:9: "However you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the SPIRIT OF GOD dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the SPIRIT OF CHRIST, he does not belong to Him.

Also Galatians 4:6 - "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the SPIRIT OF HIS SON (the Holy Spirit) into our hearts ..."

And Philippians 1:19 - "... for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST,"

Peter also agrees with this in I Peter 1:11: " ... seeking to know what person or time the SPIRIT OF CHRIST within them ... " Peter is referring to the Old Testament prophets here (verse 10). Who can deny that Peter knew that the prophets were indwelt by the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD?

So the Holy Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, because Christ is God.

Also, Paul tells us that "the Lord (Jesus) IS THE SPIRIT" in 2 Corinthians 3:17

So in these verses, we see BOTH the Trinity and the Deity of Jesus.

Darin, there is nothing confusing or intentionally mysterious about any of the above verses: Luke equates the Holy Spirit of God with the Spirit of Jesus; Paul equates the Spirit of God with the Spirit of Christ; again Paul equates the Spirit of His Son with the Holy Spirit; Peter equates the Spirit of Christ with the Holy Spirit of God; Paul tells us plainly that Jesus IS the Holy Spirit. Obviously these are just SOME of the many prooftexts for the validity of the Trinity, even though you deny that. The Bible was not written to confuse us or to be intentionally mysterious to us. If you take it that way, then its no wonder that you question even these simple statements. If they don't mean what they say, then God is just playing with us - which doesn't fit His character.

[Paidion]

I think the words of the hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy" fit Dwight's theology pretty well.
Especially the last line: "God in three Persons; blessed Trinity!"

[dwight92070]

I think the words of the hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy" fit Dwight's theology pretty well.
Especially the last line: "God in three Persons; blessed Trinity!"

Dwight - Amen to that!

[dwight92070]

Romans 8:9-11 are amazing verses, where Paul alternates between the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, using the two terms interchangeably, showing us plainly that the Spirit of Christ IS the Spirit of God, and that Christ IS God.

[darinhouston]

Romans 8:9-11 are amazing verses, where Paul alternates between the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, using the two terms interchangeably, showing us plainly that the Spirit of Christ IS the Spirit of God, and that Christ IS God.

The same spirit is spoken of - that does not give them personal identity. In fact, the Trinitarian position is that the Holy Spirit has a personal identity quite separate from Christ, both being God, but not both being the same person.

[dwight92070]

About 98% of Christians see the Trinity in the Bible. About 2% do not. It appears that the non-Trinitarians are not acknowledging the truth that is right in front of them.