Today, we will start a two part study on the Bible Doctrine of the
Trinity. Misconceptions of this important teaching have even split
certain denominations in the past. However, when we look to Scripture,
this teaching is no more difficult to understand than any other.
-Common Misconceptions.
1) The Trinity is ‘not understandable’, some sort of mystery.
2) The Trinity is in reality three facets of the same being.
3) Jesus is the only Member of the Trinity with a recognizable form.
4) The Trinity is an exclusively New Testament teaching.
5) The Doctrine of the Trinity was invented by the Roman Catholic Church.
6) Those who believe in the Trinity ‘worship three Gods’.
Instead of addressing these misconceptions on a point by point
basis, we will explore the Trinity in light of the Old Testament and New
Testament revelations (Rom. 3:4). Interestingly, the word rendered
‘mystery’ in the
KJV New Testament is the Greek ‘musterion’, or a revealed truth that was
formerly hidden. Without further ado, let’s get into the Word.
-The Old Testament
The concept of more than one individual doing the things God does
goes all the way back to Genesis, and we’ll examine one of those
incidents
shortly. First, Let’s look at the writing of the Prophet Isaiah:
“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we
did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”
-Isaiah 53:4 KJV
‘…smitten of God…’. Here we see God the Father imputing the sin of
all mankind on the Suffering Servant.
“…and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
-Isaiah 53:6 ,KJV
Another definite reference to two separate persons. Otherwise, the
passage would read,”the LORD hath *TAKEN* the iniquity of us all.”. This
whole chapter is full of references to two separate persons. However,
Isaiah is not the only Old Testament writer to understand the nature of
God.
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man
came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they
brought him near before him.”
-Daniel 7:13 ,KJV
Here, the statesman prophet Daniel sees two separate persons, the
Ancient of days and the Son of man. Why would they be described as
separate persons if such were not the case? David even understood this.
“The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make
thine enemies thy footstool.”
-Psalm 110:1 ,KJV
One manuscript reads here: ‘Jehovah said to my Jehovah’. Adonai was
substituted in the manuscript the KJV used for the second Jehovah because
of the
great reverence of the Hebrew people for the name of God. This also
occurs
at Ps. 110:5 which should read ‘The LORD…’ instead of ‘the Lord…’ as
it does. This substitution is made in 134 different passages, according
to
noted Bible expert and theologian Dr. Finis J. Dake. There is another Old
Testament passage we will conclude this teaching with, a rather
troublesome passage that we will explore in depth in another lesson.
“Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and
fire from the LORD out of heaven;”
-Gen. 19:24 ,KJV
We see here two separate persons, equally God as the covenant name
is used for both. The idea is one Jehovah sent another Jehovah as His
messenger. It is our earnest hope that this exploration of this important
doctrine has been helpful. We had originally planned to make this a one
part teaching, but Scripture is so rich on this subject that we thought
it
best to make it a multi-part teaching as to do it the justice it
deserves.
Watch this space for Part II.
© 1999 DIP
E-mail: rhema6@juno.com
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