Ø      Trinity or Triad?

o       Trinity-

§         MSN Encarta defines trinity as a group of three, being three: the condition of existing as three persons or things

§         In religions, Trinity is the existence of One God in Three Distinct Persons.

·        Some Analogies

o       Water- 3 states, one Water

§         Exists in Liquid, Gas (steam), and Ice

o       Apple- 3 parts, one Apple

§         Exists of Core, Flesh and Peel.

o       Time- 3 parts, one Time

§         Exists in Past, Present and Future

o       Triad-

§         MSN Encarta defines triad as set of 3: a group of three people or things

§         In religions, a triad is a group of 3 separate gods.

·        Analogies

o       Media

§         VHS, DVD, and Cinemas

o       Pictures

§         Photographs, Paintings, and Chalk

Ø      One God

o       Only One God?

§         Isaiah 43:10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor there one after me.

§         Isaiah 44:6 “This is what the LORD says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last;  apart from me there is no God.

§         Romans 3:29-30 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

§         Ephesians 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

§         1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

§         James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

o       Who or What is God? (These are just some of the characteristics of God!)

§         Creator

·        Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

·        Job 33:4 The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

·        Isaiah 45:8 “You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it.

·        John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

§         Holy

·        Joshua 24:19 Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.

·        Isaiah 5:16 But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness.

·        Isaiah 30:15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

·        Isaiah 40:25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One

§         Love

·        Exodus 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

·        Nehemiah 1:5  Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands,

·        Psalm 52:8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.

·        1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

§         Eternal

·        Exodus 15:18 The LORD will reign for ever and ever.”

·        Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

·        Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

·        Jeremiah 10:10a But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King.

·        Romans 16:26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him

·        Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

§         Judge

·        1 Samuel 2:10 those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.” He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

·        Psalm 7:11 God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day

·        Psalm 9:8 He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.

·        Psalm 50:6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God himself is judge

·        Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

·        Hebrews 10:30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

Ø      If there is One God, How can there be Three Persons?

o       The Word Trinity does not occur in the Bible. However, the concept is very prominent and crucial to ones faith.

§         Scripture Supporting the Concept of the Trinity

·        Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

·        Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

·        John 1:33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’

·        John 3:34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.

·        John 14:16 and 26 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

·        Acts 2:33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

·        Romans 1:4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

·        1 Corinthians 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

·        2 Corinthians 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

·        1 Timothy 3:16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

·        Hebrews 9:14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

·        1 Peter 1:2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

·        1 Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,

·        1 John 5:7-8 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (KJV)

Ø      Who are the Three Persons?

o       God (called The Father)

§         1 Chronicles 29:10 David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.

§         Psalm 68:5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,  is God in his holy dwelling.

§         Matthew 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

§         Matthew 7:11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

§         John 6:44-46 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.

§         1 Corinthians 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

§         Ephesians 4:6 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

o       God (called The Son, Jesus)

§         Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

§          Matthew 26:63-64But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64”Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

§         John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

§         John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

§         John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

§         John 10:30 I and the Father are one.”

§         John 10:38 But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

§         Acts 10:36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

§         Galatians 4:4-7 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

§         1 John 4:9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

o       God (called The Holy Spirit)

§         Psalm 139:7-12 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

§         Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

§         Acts 5:3-4 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

§         Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!

§         1 Corinthians 2:10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

§         2 Corinthians 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all