(152) – THE TRINITY – II

152 – THE  TRINITY  2

 

The Trinity is a great mystery because, although they are three persons with different functions, there is only one essence: “For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement” (1 John 5:8). This verse is considered to be spurious, for it is not found in the Greek documents, but, if it were so, considering that the Scriptures were produced by the Holy Spirit, this text would not be in the Bible (2 Pet. 1:21). Besides, the reality of the Trinity was amply proven in the first of these two studies (Matt.8:19). The persons of the Trinity have three different functions, as we were saying, though they are one. They are the unity and inseparableness of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

  • In the Holy Spirit resides the vastness (Acts 2:2-4). The beauty is that, the Father being the eternity, the Son has the eternity of the Father (John 5:21, 26). In this same way, the life is in the Holy Spirit (Rom.8:11). Also, the vastness and the simplicity are the substance of the three of them.
  • In the Father is charity, for the Father is love (1 John 4:7-8). In the Son resides the liberality, for through the son all things are given to us (Rom.8:31-32). In the Holy Spirit is quality, for nothing bad or detrimental comes from the Father (James 1:17; Gal.5:22). In an inexplicable but real way, charity, liberality, and quality are also present in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. A most extraordinary fact is that these three things come to be a part of the new born man, that is, the man born of the Father (1 John 4:7-8)born of the Son (John 1:12-13)and born of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3-6). This is why Jesus said: “That they may be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me” (John 17:21).
  • The Father assumes the unity (Eph.4:6). The Son assumes the truth (John 14:6). The Holy Spirit assumes goodness, for love is in the Spirit (Rom.5:5; 15:30). This is, therefore, how the unity assumes the Father, who is the origin of all things. Truth assumes the Son, who comes from the Father as the Verb, and goodness assumes the Holy Spirit, who comes from both of them as love and gift. To the Father, it is convenient to send. The Father sends the Son, and the Father sends the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and by the Son. But since the Son went to the Father after the resurrection, leaving the Holy Spirit in his place, the Holy Spirit also sends, for in the book of Acts of the apostles we read: “And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2). “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of god which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).

Let us look at the possibility of the Trinity ruling the world. The Scriptures seem to show that the Trinity does not rule this world, and here are the reasons:

The government of this world is in the hands of Satan. “And He led him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘I will give you all this domain and its glory; FOR IT HAS BEEN HANDED OVER TO ME, AND I GIVE IT TO WHOMEVER I WISH’” (Luke 4:5-6). Jesus, when he rejected the offer, did not deny the statement of the devil. John declares that the government of this world is in the hands of the devil (1 John 5:19) Jerusalem Bible. When a person believes in Jesus Christ, their eyes are opened; they get out of darkness, and escape the power of Satan. This was the ministry that Paul received from Jesus: “But arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; delivering you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:16-18). The Trinity will then rule the delivered person. Therefore, Jesus said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matt.28:19). When Jesus says: “All authority has been given Me in heaven and on earth”, he is not assuming the government of this world, but he is declaring that he can deliver man from the owner of this world (Matt.28:18). The churches that preach material prosperity ask the Father and Jesus for material things, just as if they held the power over the things of this world, and in doing it, they receive this riches from the god of this world, for Jesus was adamant in declaring that he is not of this world, in John 8:23, and also that his disciples are not of this world, in John 15:19 and 17:16. The only way we have of proving that we belong to Jesus is by not seeking the things of this world. We have to overcome the world with the faith (1 John 5:4).

There is a thought deceiving the Christians. If the Trinity is not ruling this world, and if Jesus tells us not to seek material things (Luke 14:33)and if Paul, when renouncing everything, declared that that which he was renouncing was rubbish (Phil.3:3-8), how do we explain that Jehovah declared himself god of this world in Is.43:12-13? He declared that he was the king of this world (Ps.47:2-8), and he declared himself to be the god of the gold and silver, and also the god of war, for he is the lord of the armies. If the Trinity does not rule this world, and Jehovah does, he is sitting on the throne of Satan, or Satan is at his right hand.

 

By Pastor Olavo Silveira Pereira

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