The Distinction of Persons in The Holy Trinity

"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptise them into the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19)

Jesus does not say, in “ta onomata”, in the Greek, which is the plural, “Names”. But, clearly uses the singular, “to onoma”, THE NAME. It might be reasonably asked, that, as there are Three Persons mentioned in this verse, why would Jesus use the singular, “Name”, and not the plural, “Names”? This singular “Name” is common with the Three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They share this equally.

When Moses witnessed the spectacular event of the “Burning Bush”, which was not consumed, in Exodus chapter 3, the Lord God spoke to him from the bush, are told him that he had been chosen to deliver God’s people, the children of Israel, from Egypt. Moses asks the Lord, that if he were asked for the identity of this God, what Name should he give them. To which the Lord God Almighty answered, "Ehyeh ’ăsher ’ehyeh", which is best rendered in our English as, “I am Who I am”(verse 14), which means, “Eternal, Self-existing, All-powerful, Creator God”. In fact, the Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament, which was produced some 150 years before the Birth of Jesus Christ, by the best Hebrew scholars of the day, render the Hebrew text as, “"ego eimi ho on", which is, “I am the Eternal One”. Say to those who ask of you, that “I AM” (’ehyeh), has sent me to you. “God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The YHWH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My Name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” (verse 15). The Hebrew Name of God, “Yahweh”, has its root in the verb, “’ehyeh”, speaking of the “eternal, self-existence” of the God of the Holy Bible, Who is Unique, as He has no equal.

The main Name of the Triune God of the Holy Bible, is “Yahweh”, or, as some use the corrupted form, “Jehovah”. It is this NAME, that Jesus Christ refers to in Matthew 28:19, which is used equally for the Three Persons.

Next, we read, “του πατρος και του υιου και του αγιου πνευματος”, that is, “The Father and The Son and The Holy Spirit”. The Greek "article" (tou), is repeated, with each noun, to show that a "distinction" of Persons is meant. “The repeated article, on the other hand, implies a separation, in themselves, or in the view taken of them” (Dr Samuel Green; Handbook to the Grammar of the Greek Testament, pages, 198-199). The Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit. The Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, is not the Father or the Son.

John in the first verse of his Gospel, writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. “and the Word was with God”, in the Greek is, “ο λογος ην προς τον θεον”, where we have two articles in the Greek, “ο τον”, the verb “ἦν”, and the preposition, “προς”. This shows that “the Word”, is “distinct” to “the God”, where we have the two articles in the Greek, but also the preposition that literally means, “in the presence of, besides”, which cannot be understood of “the Word”, as being identical Person, as “the God”, Who He is “with”. Had John wished to show that “the Word”, and “the God”, in this verse, were “one and the same Person”, then, instead of the preposition “προς”, he would have used, "εv". This would mean that the “Godhead” cannot be a “Trinity”, and that “Unitarianism” was true. However, the precise language in the Greek, used by the Holy Spirit, shows that “Unitarianism”, is heretical. John goes on to identify “the Word”, by saying, “και θεος ην ο λογος”, literally, “and God was the Word”. The Greek used by John here does not allow for “a god”, or “divine”

In John 10:30, Jesus is the Speaker, were He says, “εγω και ο πατηρ εν εσμεν”, where the literal English is, “I and the Father one We are”. “I” is “distinct” from “ο πατηρ the Father”, which is also seen in the use of the plural, “εσμεν”, which cannot mean “one Person”. Then we have the neuter “εν”, literally, “one thing”. In verse 28 Jesus is speaking of His sheep, and says, “no one shall snatch them out of my hand”. In the next verses He says, “My Father… no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand”. This shows the equality of “power” and “protection” that is “united” with Jesus Christ and His Father. Note also, that Jesus places Himself first here, then the Father, showing that He is 100% coequal with the Father, and as much “God”, as the Father is. Again, the distinction between Jesus Christ and the Father, is clear.

In John 16:28, Jesus says, “ I came from the Father”, (εξηλθον παρα του πατρος), where the preposition, “παρα”, means, “beside, from the side of”, showing that Jesus and the Father are “distinct”, as Persons. In Luke 6:12, we read of Jesus praying to “του θεου” (the God), where it is clear that He is “distinct” from the One to Whom He was praying. When Jesus was being baptized by John, in the river Jordan (Matthew 3:13-16), we read in verse 17, “And there came a Voice from heaven: This is My Beloved Son. I take delight in Him!”. The Voice of God the Father, came “out of the sky”, which cannot be the same place that Jesus was, which was on earth with John.

In Acts chapter 5 we read, “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back [part] of the price of the land? While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? thou has not lied unto men, but unto God.” (verses 3-4). Why did the devil cause you to lie to “το πνευμα το αγιον”, (the Spirit the Holy). By doing so, you have not lied to “ανθρωποις”, a “human being”, but, to “τω θεω”, the God. A very clear passage for the absolute Deity of the Holy Spirit. Note the use of the Greek “τω”, which makes the use of “θεω”definite. It cannot be understood in any lower sense, as “divine”, or “god”.

In John’s Gospel Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit, as “another Comforter” (14:16). “another” is from “ἄλλος”, which means, “another, i. e. one besides what has been mentioned”. The Holy Spirit continued His work after Jesus had departed from earth (John 16:4-16). Jesus Himself is called “Advocate”, in 1 John 2:1, which is the same Greek word as “Comforter”. Jesus says that The Holy Spirit is One “like” Himself, but not Himself. In John 15:26, Jesus says of the Holy Spirit, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall bear witness of Me”. Here the Holy Spirit is said to be “παρα the Father”, the same word used in John 16:28, of Jesus Christ and the Father. It should also be noted here, that Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “εκεινος”, that is, the masculine, personal, “He”, and not the impersonal neuter “εκεινο”, which would have been expected as “το πνευμα” (the Spirit) is in the neuter gender. This destroys the heresy of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others, who teach that the Holy Spirit is just an “impersonal force”, used by God. In this verse, Jesus is the Speaker, Who says that He will send the Holy Spirit, “another Comforter”, distinct from Himself, Who “comes from beside the Father”, Who is yet another Person. The Three Persons of the Holy Trinity seen here!

There are some who suppose, that in the Holy Trinity, there is some hierarchy of Persons. The Father is the “Primary”, and then the Son, as “Secondary”, and even lower, the Holy Spirit. This is seen from Scriptures like Matthew 28:19, where it reads, “the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". But, as we shall see, this is not true. In 2 Corinthians 13:14, it says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” Jesus Christ is first, and then the Father, and then the Holy Spirit. However, in Ephesians 4:4-6, it says, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all”. The Holy Spirit is first, then Jesus Christ, and then the Father. And in Titus 3:4-6, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior”. The Father is first, then the Holy Spirit, and then Jesus Christ. So, the “order” in which the Persons of the Holy Trinity are mentioned, make no difference on how important they are, or, if one Person is more “Deity” than the other. In should be noted, that in the Greek of these passages, there is a distinction between the Persons, so that they are not one and the same.

 

In this passage, from John 1:1, to verse 18, the Lord destroyed: Sabellianism, Arianism, Docetism, Patripassianism, Monarchianism, Tritheism, Subordinationism, etc

 

yes, very sad

 

There is a "pastor" in your country called T D Jakes who denies the Holy Trinity. He has a mega church

 

Truly sad and tragic

 

Copeland Hagee Hagin Hinn Osteen Dollar Myers etc etc

 

that is because they teach that we are "little gods"!