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God is One and not Three

God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

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Page 1: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

 God is One

and not Three

Page 2: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

To put the matter another way…

Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

Page 3: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

Trinitarians tell us that God is somehow a Unity

and a Trinity at the same time.

Is this possible?

Page 4: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

Page 5: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

This is part of a typical Definition of The Trinity

With respect we comment:

there is a contradiction in terms between the idea of God as a unity (ie. One God) and the idea that there are somehow three persons within the One God.

Trinitarians admit that this is a “mystery.”

We would say that it is illogical, or, to quote Sir

Isaac Newton, “inaccessible to reason.”!

Page 6: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

The Alternative Doctrine

God-manifestationMeans God showing Himself to us through someone else

Often through the angels

Above all - in the Lord Jesus

Christ

Page 7: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

Here is an Illustration

Exod 23:20-22

20 "Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

21 "Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.

(NKJ)

Page 8: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

God’s Name

In Scripture, there is only one true Name of God, that is, Yahweh, in the hebrew - usually translated LORD

(in capitals) in our english versions. The pronouns (words used for God) in the Bible, for eg. Lord, God, El, etc. are only titles, not the Name of

God.

Page 9: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

What does “My Name is in Him” mean?

The angel: spoke with the authority of God spoke the words of God performed the actions of God.

Look up

Exodus 3: 1-8, 19-20

Page 10: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

God was Manifested (shown to us) by the Angels

Look up

Exodus 24: 1-4, 7-11

Page 11: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

God was Manifested in His Son, The Lord Jesus Christ

Christ also spoke the words of God and did the works of God:Philip, one of the 12 apostles, once asked:8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?John 14:8-9 (NKJ)

Page 12: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

What did Christ mean?10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells In Me does the works.11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.John 14:10-11 (NKJ)

Page 13: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

The Lord Jesus Christ

Spoke the words of God

Did the works of God

Just like the angels, in the Old Testament

Page 14: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

The Lord Jesus Christ

Was “the Son of God

Never ‘God the Son’

Born of Mary by a miracle, the virgin birth - Christ was a very special man.

Page 15: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

Christ was a Very Special Man

Christ had a very special work to do:

Look up

Hebrew 1:13 through to 2:1-10, 16-18

Page 16: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

To Summarise the Work of Christ

He had to have our (human) nature

So that he might (really) be tempted

So that he could overcome sin

So that he could bring about salvation

Page 17: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

God was Manifest in ChristBy mighty works

By words of great wisdom

In a perfect (sinless) character

In immortality – after his resurrection

Page 18: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

Did this ever make Christ = His Father?

Jesus said: “my Father is greater than I,” in John 14:28

Look up

1 Corinthians 15:22-28

Page 19: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

Christ’s Victory

Christ fought against temptation and won the battle against SIN.

A battle everyone else has fought – AND LOST!

He was really tempted (God couldn’t have been!)

He had to pray to God for help -

Page 20: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

Heb 5:7-8

7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,

8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

(NKJ)

Page 21: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

What of the Holy Spirit?

Said to be the other part of The Trinity

We spoke earlier of the virgin birth of Christ, of Mary.

Look up

Luke 1:30-31, 34-35

Page 22: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

The Holy Spirit

Is the power of God, set apart (made holy) for performing a miracle.

It is not a person

The word “spirit” carries a neutral pronoun, both in hebrew (OT) and in greek (NT)

Page 23: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

Where did Trinity Doctrine Come From?

From the Encyclopaedia Britannica:

Page 24: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

Britannica continues…

Page 25: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

The Encyclopaedia Britannica says…

“The doctrine developed gradually over several centuries and over many controveries..the Council of Nicaea in 325 stated the crucial formula for that doctrine…”

Page 26: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

We prefer…

The simple truths of the

Bible!!

Page 27: God is One and not Three. To put the matter another way… Is God a Unity or a Trinity?

THE END