Doctrine of God

1. What is the Trinity? What part in God's relationship to mankind does each member of the Trinity take?

• The trinity is a word used to describe the three persons of God in One, namely God the Father, YHWH, God the Son, Jesus Christ, and God the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Each person of God is unique, and yet also unified. All three were present at creation (Genesis 1:1-2, 27, John 1:1-3) and the baptism of Jesus. Notice Luke 3:21-22, “Now it came about when all the people were baptized, that Jesus also was baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, ‘Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased.’” All three are present inside of believers today (1 John 4:16, John 14:20, Colossians 1:27, 1 Corinthians 6:19, Galatians 4:6). The Father has the sovereign plan for His creation and is actively involved in His creation. The Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man (hypostatic union) to accomplish His predetermined plan of salvation for humanity (Galatians 4:4-5). Jesus Christ fully submitted to the will of His Father and died on the cross, the propitiation for the sins of all humanity for all time, and rose from the dead after three days, conquering the sting of death and ensuring the bodily resurrection for all humanity (1 John 2:2, 1 Corinthians 15). Jesus Christ is our only way of access to the Father (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). We must believe in Jesus Christ as Savior to receive the gift of eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and the righteousness that God demands (John 3:16, Acts 10:43, Romans 3:22, Ephesians 2:8-9). The Holy Spirit convicts the unbelieving world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-10). He convicts people regarding sin because of unbelief in Christ, righteousness because that is what we need to be with the Father, and judgment because Satan has been judged and a deeds judgment is coming for all humanity (John 3:18, 16:8-11, 2 Corinthians 5:10,21). The Spirit indwells all believers in Christ, convicts believers using the Word of God, and is at work in the life of the believer to sanctify and conform the believer to the image of Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14, Romans 8:29). The Holy Spirit is our helper, He illuminates the Scriptures and He is the source of power to live righteously and be fruitful and faithful in our service with God (John 14:16,26, 15:5,26, Acts 1:8, Galatians 5:16, 25). In summary, the Father had the plan, the Son carried out the plan, and the Spirit reveals the plan.

2. Show from the Bible that the Holy Spirit is deity.

• The story of Ananias’ sin in the book of Acts relays the Apostle Peter’s acknowledgment of the Spirit as deity. When Ananias kept back some money from the sale of land, Peter says, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back {some} of the price of the land? While it remained {unsold,} did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God" (Acts 5:3-4). The Holy Spirit is God and fully deity. He is also described as eternal in Hebrews 9:14 - "eternal Spirit." There are also countless places in Scripture denoting that the Spirit is “of the Lord” and “of God.” Finally, the Spirit was involved in creation as mentioned in Genesis 1:2, "And 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. What are God's characteristics (Divine Essence) or attributes?

• Some mentioned in Scripture: God is infinite (Romans 11:33), Spirit - the Father does not have a physical body (John 4:24), eternal - no beginning and no end (Psalm 90:2), omnipotent - all powerful (Romans 4:20-21), omnipresent - everywhere (Psalm 139:7-11), omniscient - all knowing (Psalm 139:1-6), immutable - unchanging (Hebrews 13:8), personal, righteous (1 John 1:5), just - fair (Romans 2:11, 3:26), love - unconditional (1 John 4:8-10), sovereign - nothing surprises Him (Ephesians 1:5-11), wise (1 Corinthians 1:25), truthful - he cannot lie (Titus 1:2).