Copyright © Brad M. Baker
All Rights Reserved
June 20th 2023
Intro: The first indication of the mystery of the Trinity and Deity of Christ that is found in Genesis 1:26 where God said “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”, so God was speaking to someone else within the Godhead that was in His image; and then God identifies all in His image as one “ So God created man in His own image”.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
1 The concept of the Trinity is a mystery which I believe in. 2 I’m not a word god as one who gets petty about terms like Trinity, so just because the word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, does not mean that the concept is not there. 3 The mysteries of the Kingdom of God have to be explained in ways with words that may not be in the scriptures. 4 If that offends people who are word gods then maybe they should stick to the original language and transcript if they can find it and never use english if they want to be true to being a word God.
5 Ed Stevens said: “Quote” The most important doctrine in all of Biblical revelation is the Deity of Christ and the Trinity. 6 This teaching is certainly hard to wrap our minds around, but fortunately a full understanding of it is not crucial to our salvation.
7 What is essential, however, is that we believe in the Deity of Christ, regardless of whether we fully understand it.
8 So we will be looking at several Biblical texts which reveal and illustrate the Deity of Christ and the Trinity. 9 We examine the powerful arguments of Anselm (eleventh century) who showed convincingly from Scripture that our atonement is completely dependent upon the Deity of Christ. 10 No imperfect creature (man or angel) can atone for our sins. 11 Only a perfect sinless sacrifice can die in our place, and only God is sinless. 12 John 17:5 clearly teaches the Pre-Existence and Eternal Begottenness of the Divine Son of God. 13 Revelation 5 shows all saints and angels in heaven giving equal worship and glory to both the Lamb and the One who sits on the throne.
14 There is a difference between believing in something versus deeply understanding that belief; Belief in the Deity of Christ is definitely essential to salvation.
15 If the sinless God-Man had not died physically on the Cross as our substitute sacrifice for sin, none of us could be saved. 16 Consider these points:
- Our substitutionary sacrifice must be sinless,
- The only one in the universe who is sinless is God
- Therefore, Jesus had to be God in the flesh in order to be our substitute sacrifice for sin.
17 That means that the Deity of Christ is absolutely essential for our salvation, and we MUST believe that He is the Divine Son of God in order to be saved. 18 It is a part of our good confession: “I believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the [real, Divine] Son of the Living God.”
19 Do any of us totally understand how Jesus could be both human and Divine? Nope. 20 But we can believe it, nevertheless. 21 And that was my point in the podcast “Deity of Christ and the Trinity”.
“End Quote”
22 Some will argue about the word Trinity not being in the Bible and say it is not in the Bible. 23 One faith one Lord one baptism is in the Bible is their text they use to disprove the Trinity. 24 They say that they don’t like adding to the Word and that Trinity is a man made doctrine from 325 AD Council of Nicaea.
The Council of Nicaea:
25 The Council of Nicaea was the first council in the history of the Christian church that was intended to address the entire body of believers. 26 It was convened by the emperor Constantine to resolve the controversy of Arianism, a doctrine that held that Christ was not divine but was a created being.
Arianism:
27 The council condemned Arius as a heretic and issued a creed to safeguard “orthodox” Christian belief. 28 The creed states that the Son is homoousion tō Patri (“of one substance with the Father”), thus declaring him to be all that the Father is: he is completely divine.
29 Arianism is defined as an early branch of Christianity that held that Jesus Christ was not one with God the Father, but instead just created by God and a holy man.
30 During its early centuries, the Christian church dealt with many heresies. 31 They included, among others, docetism, Montanism, adoptionism, Sabellianism, Arianism, Pelagianism, and gnosticism.
32 One of the key tenets of Catholic Christianity is the Holy Trinity – that the Father (God), the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit are three aspects of the same divine being. 33 On the other hand, Arianism is a form of Christianity in which believers thought that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were three separate entities.
34 Homoousianism was formally affirmed by the first two ecumenical councils; since then, Arianism has always been condemned as “the heresy or sect of Arius”. 35 As such, all mainstream branches of Christianity now consider Arianism to be heterodox and heretical.
36 Arians have been called the “archetypal” Christian heretics; accusations of Arianism have been made in almost every century since the fourth. 37 Taking its name from an Egyptian priest, Arius, this heresy holds that Jesus, while the son of God, is neither eternal nor as fully divine as God the father. 38 Arianism is named after Arius (c. 250 – c. 336), a priest in Alexandria. 39 This is considered the most serious heresy.
40 Judaism rejects the idea of Jesus being God, or a person of a Trinity, or a mediator to God. 41 Judaism also holds that Jesus is not the Messiah, arguing that he had not fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Tanah nor embodied the personal qualifications of the Messiah.
Non-trinitarianism:
42 Non-trinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian theology of the Trinity. 43 Oneness Pentecostals believe that, citing the absence of the word “Trinity” from the Bible as one evidence of this. 44 This doctrine states that there is one God, a singular divine spirit with no distinction of persons who manifests himself in many ways, including as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 45 This stands in sharp contrast to the doctrine of three distinct and eternal persons posited by Trinitarian theology. 46 Oneness believers solely baptize in the name of Jesus Christ as opposed to the Trinitarian formula of baptizing “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” 47 Oneness believers state that Jesus is the one name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and so all religious activities should be performed in that one name.
Trinity Doctrine:
48 The New Testament contains no explicit trinitarian doctrine. However, many Christian theologians, apologists, and philosophers hold that the doctrine can be inferred from what the New Testament does teach about God.
49 A Trinity doctrine is commonly expressed as the statement that the one God exists as or in three equally divine “Persons”, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 50 Every term in this statement (God, exists, as or in, equally divine, Person) has been variously understood.
What does it mean that Jesus is eternally begotten?
51 For Athanasius, Jesus could not be lesser then the Father in any way; Jesus had to be of the same substance and of the same eternity Thus, the addition of the word, “eternally” to “begotten.” 52 Yes, Jesus is the Son of God, but he has also always existed with (and as) God. 53 He is as eternal as the Father.
54 Adam was neither God nor the Only Begotten Son of God. 55 He was a child of God in the spirit as we all are (see Acts 17:29). 56 Jesus was the firstborn in the spirit, and the only one born to God in the flesh.
Acts 17:29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.
Conclusion:
57 Another way to help understand the mystery of God is in the sun. 58 The sun, like all stars, contains mostly hydrogen. 59 This fusion reaction occurring inside the sun produces a lot of energy in the form of heat and light.
60 The Sun is mostly hydrogen but the hydrogen is not the light or the heat likewise to the rest. 61 But all three bring out the true nature of the Sun as a source of life for us in the form of light and heat; yet this hydrogen, light and heat are all one in the sun.
62 Jesus was called many names in the Bible, yet the Hebrews get hung up on Yeshua. 63 Should Christians get all hung up on others calling the Father, Son and Holy Spirit the Triune Godhead of the three in one as one Lord…?
63 Words like Full Preterist, Corporate Body View and Covenant Creation are not in the Bible, or anything that you would hear the Spirit say with words not quoting straight from the Bible. 64 I see it this way that God’s word can not be chained.
65 Words can help describe the mysteries of God that no one fully understands. 66 Like I use the word Preterist and that is not in the Bible, but anyone who knows what the word means has a better understanding of what I mean in the context of what I’m saying.
2 Corinthians 3:6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Three Persons in One God:
67 There are many scriptures that indicate that God is three persons yet all are one God. 68 Here are a few that represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as individuals.
Acts 1:6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
69 John 8:13-58 tells the story of how Jesus is one with the Father and yet both are witnesses as two in verses: 17 It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”
Paul describes the mystery of God to the men of Athens:
70 Acts 17:22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
The Deity of Christ:
71 Perhaps John 17:5 is the most convincing verse that Jesus existed before the creation of the world and it would be wise not to disagree with this like those who are Arianism do.
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
72 We do not have to fully understand it, but we most certainly do have to believe in it in order to not die in your sins. 73 John 8:13-58 pretty well tells the whole story of the Deity of Christ and it comes with a warning in:
John 8:24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
John 8:58Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
John 10:30 I and My Father are one.”
Exodus 3:14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Romans 9:5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen
.
1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God 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.
1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
74 Perhaps the most convincing scripture that says it all about the Deity of Christ is found right here in Hebrews 7:3 where Melchizedek who was without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life was like the Son of God Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 7:1For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
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.
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
75 If there is one Lord and it was Jesus only, does that mean the Father is not Lord…? Of coarse not, nor does it mean that Jesus created Adam and Eve and the Father had nothing to do with it.
1 Corinthians 8:6 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.
Genesis 3:21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”
76 The only logical conclusion is that the mystery of the Trinity is correct and the Deity of Christ is true. 77 All other views can not be worshipping God is Spirit and Truth and this is why we are required to believe in the Deity of Christ whether we understand it or not.
78 Someone asked: No one in the Bible taught the Trinity, why should we?
79 I’ll tell you one very good reason why, keep in mind we do not have to understand the Trinity but we do have to believe in the Deity of Christ.
80 Here is why, if you believe in the Trinity it is a safe guard from not Blaspheming the Holy Spirit because if someone was to say the Holy Spirit was not Deity then that person is taking a chance with their eternal life.
81 It is extremely foolish to me to see anyone not believe in the Trinity, especially when they have absolutely nothing to gain by it but everything to lose.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Manifested Sons of God AD70 