Same essence, distinct entities.Monergism:
"The heart of the Christian faith in God is the revealed mystery of the Trinity." - J.I. Packer
Marquette
Good evening all, my question in regards to the name trinity, where does it appear in Holy Writ? Yet I do see in Scripture that in Christ Jesus is the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Marty
The word "Trinity" may not appear in Scripture, but the concept does, see for example: Matthew 28:19 & 2 Corinthians 13:14
Monergism
God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God. You may find the following biblical study helpful: http://www.irr.org/trinity-outline.html
Sing F Lau
God existed eternally as God, Word and Spirit.
The Son is the eternal Word made flesh at a specific time in history.
Before the Eternal Word was made flesh, there is no Son. There is the second person of the triune God as the Eternal Word, John 1:1-2.
The Son refers to that divine-human being that began to exist at a specific point in time. The Eternal Word existed from eternity, and is wholly divine. But the Eternal Word is not the Son, the DUAL natured person who is wholly divine and wholly human, one Person with two natures.
The usage of the term 'Son' began at a specific point in time, i.e. when the Eternal Word was made flesh, and took upon Himself humanity for the purpose of redemption.
Marquette
Jesus Christ, is the perfect manifestation and representation of God, thus He is fully God in every way. How can it possibly be 3 persons or personalities? Christ posseses the fulness of the divine nature and attributes. His going forth has been from everlasting to everlasting beloved.
Sing F Lau
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he HIM; male and female created he THEM."
There is one man... but there are two distinct persons in the one man, with both the male person and the female person fully and completely human!
Man is HIM as well as THEM. What a living and vivid testimony of the mysterious truth of the PLURALITY in UNITY. This truth of the PLURALITY in UNITY is specifically stated as in the image of God! ... See More
He who rejects this simple truth in the Godhead is indeed without excuse!
God is ONE as well as THREE. Without the inerrant and infallible revelation, and the teaching of the Spirit, it would be impossible to believe this truth!
Rick
The common thread between every cult today is a denial of the Trinity.
Monergism
Marquette appears to take the poisition of the oneness pentecostals (like TD Jakes), which, like Modalism & Sabellianism, teaches that the three persons of the Trinity as different “modes... See More” of the Godhead. Adherants believe that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not distinct personalities, but different modes of God's self-revelation. A typical modalist approach is to regard God as the Father in creation, the Son in redemption, and the Spirit in sanctification. In other words, God exists as Father, Son and Spirit in different eras, but never as triune. Stemming from Modalism, Patripassianism believed that the Father suffered as the Son. This position is not historic Christianity and was, due to the overwhelming bibkical evidence to the contrary, declared heresy by the early church and affirmed as heresy by the vast majority of the history of the church as being unbiblical.
Monergism
For some reason Oneness folks have difficulty distinguishing between "essence" and "persons". The idea that God is one in essence but three persons is illogical to them, so they reject the Trinity based on unaided human logic rather than the plain Scriptural witness.
Martin
The Lord Jesus Christ himself said.
John 15:26, “But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father, He shall testify of me.” The 'He' is the Holy spirit, referred to as the 'comforter'. The 'Father' is God the father, and the 'Me' is Jesus Christ. 3 person's in that sentence clearly expressed.
Isaiah 48:16: “I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was, there am I; and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.”
Again the 'Lord God' refers to the father. 'His spirit' refers to the person of the Holy spirit and the 'hath sent me' is referencing the future Jesus Christ.
The speaker is God in Isaiah 48:16: talking of himself in 3 persons.
