 "In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God." (John 1:1)"Therefore
He had to be made like His brethren in every respect, so that He might
become a merciful and faithful High Priest in the service of God, to make
expiation for the sins of the people. For because He Himself has suffered and been
tempted, He is able to help those who are tempted." (Hebrews
2:17-18)
"And I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for
ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him;
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not
leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:16-18)
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
(John 14.26)
"And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that
where I am, there you may be also."
(John
14.3)
"Father,
I desire that
they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold
My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of
the world." (John 17:24)
What does the Bible say about the trinity? The actual word "trinity"
does not appear in the Bible. The Bible does, however, portray God as
being made up of three persons. It says that the Father is God, Jesus is
God, and the Holy Spirit is God. There are also two places in the Bible
where God refers to Himself in the plural form. Gen. 1:26 says, "Let
us create man in our own image." Isa. 6:8 says, "Also, I
heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for
us?"
Although the Bible says that the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are
God, it also clearly says that there is only one God. How can we believe
all three are God and still believe there is only one God? There may be no
explanation that is completely satisfying. Therefore, we have only
two choices. The first choice is we can simply recognize the doctrine of
the trinity is one of those aspects of God we are not going to be able to
fully understand with our incredibly limited minds. The only other choice
is to conclude these references to the three persons of the Godhead means
there are some serious errors in the Bible. The repercussions of this
choice are obvious.
Do we really think we can comprehend the magnitude of a being who has
created a universe with more than a million billion galaxies; where
each galaxy has hundred of billions of stars? Are we naive enough to
think we can understand the complexity of a being who created a universe
where every ounce has more than a 100 million trillion highly organized
atoms? (Source: National Geographic, June 1983. ChemCom,
Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 1993.) This complexity of God is part of the
reason we find the trinity so difficult to understand.
Resources you may find of interest include:
|
Our Doctrine |
We affirm our belief in one God,
infinite Spirit, creator, and sustainer of all things, who exists
eternally in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit. These three are one in essence but distinct in person and
function.
We affirm that the Father is the first person of the Trinity and the
source of all that God is and does. From Him the Son is eternally
generated and from Them the Spirit eternally proceeds. He is the designer
of creation, the speaker of revelation, the author of redemption, and the
sovereign of history.
We affirm that the Lord Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity.
Eternally begotten from the Father, He is God. He was conceived by the
virgin Mary through a miracle of the Holy Spirit. He lives forever as
perfect God and perfect man: two distinct natures inseparably united in
one person.
We affirm that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity,
proceeding from the Father and Son and equal in deity. He is the giver of
all life, active in the creating and ordering of the universe: He is the
agent of inspiration and the new birth; He restrains sin and Satan; and He
indwells and sanctifies all believers.
We affirm that all things were created by God. Angels were created as
ministering agents, though some, under the leadership of Satan, fell from
their sinless state to become agents of evil. The universe was created in
six historical days and is continuously sustained by God; thus it both
reflects His glory and reveals His truth. Human beings were directly
created, not evolved, in the very image of God. As reasoning moral agents,
they are responsible under God for understanding and governing themselves
and the world.
We affirm that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, though written by
men, was supernaturally inspired by God so that all its words are the
written true revelation of God, it is therefore inerrant in the originals
and authoritative in all matters. It is to be understood by all through
the illumination of the Holy Spirit, its meaning determined by the
historical, grammatical, and literary use of the author's language,
comparing Scripture with Scripture.
We affirm that Adam, the first man, willfully disobeyed God, bringing sin
and death into the world. As a result, all persons are sinners from
conception, which is evidenced in their willful acts of sin; and they are
therefore subject to eternal punishment, under the just condemnation of a
holy God.
We affirm that Jesus Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice by the
appointment of the Father. He fulfilled the demands of God by His obedient
life, died on the cross in full substitution and payment for the sins of
all, was buried, and on the third day He arose physically and bodily from
the dead. He ascended into heaven where He now intercedes for all
believer.
We affirm that each person can be saved only through the work of Jesus
Christ, through repentance of sin and by faith alone in Him as Savior. The
believer is declared righteous, born again by the Holy Spirit, turned from
sin, and assured of heaven.
We affirm that the Holy Spirit indwells all who are born again, conforming
them to the likeness of Jesus Christ. This is a process completed only in
Heaven. Every believer is responsible to live in obedience to the Word of
God in separation from sin.
We affirm that a church is a local assembly of baptized believers, under
the discipline of the Word of God and the lordship of Christ, organized to
carry out the commission to evangelize, to teach, and to administer the
ordinances of believer's baptism and the Lord's table. Its offices are
pastors and deacons, and it is self-governing. It functions through the
ministry of gifts given by the Holy Spirit to each believer
We affirm that the return of Christ for all believers is imminent. It will
be followed by seven years of great tribulation, and then the coming of
Christ to establish His earthly kingdom for a thousand years. The unsaved
will then be raised and judged according to their works and separated
forever from God in hell. The saved, having been raised, will live forever
in heaven in fellowship with God. |
|
