Guest Contributor: Kristopher Keeney
The doctrine of the Trinity
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ~Deuteronomy 6:4
God does not have multiple personality disorder. The key to understanding the trinity is to know the definition of the word "God" in Hebrew, the original language of the Bible. The English translation of God causes much confusion because it is singular, The original word is Elohim, a uni-plural word like team, church, family. The family of God consists of many members, but all one family. God is not a trinity, God is a unity.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ~Deuteronomy 6:4
God does not have multiple personality disorder. The key to understanding the trinity is to know the definition of the word "God" in Hebrew, the original language of the Bible. The English translation of God causes much confusion because it is singular, The original word is Elohim, a uni-plural word like team, church, family. The family of God consists of many members, but all one family. God is not a trinity, God is a unity.
"The
Holy Spirit is referred to as a gift (Acts 10:45; 1 Timothy 4:14). We
are told that it can be quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19), that it can be
poured out (Acts 2:17; Acts 10:45), and that we are baptized with it
(Matthew 3:11). It must be stirred up within us (2 Timothy 1:6), and it
also renews us (Titus 3:5). These are certainly not attributes of a
person.
This Spirit is also called "the holy Spirit of promise . . . the guarantee of our inheritance . . . the spirit of wisdom and revelation" (Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 1:17).
In
contrast to God the Father and Jesus Christ, who are consistently
compared to human beings in Their form and shape, the Holy Spirit is
just as consistently represented in a completely different manner. It is
described as appearing as a dove (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22;
John 1:32) and as "tongues of fire" (Acts 2:3). Jesus compared it with
"living water" (John 7:37-39).
The
Gospels record further evidence that the Holy Spirit is not a person.
In Matthew 1:20, we read that Jesus was begotten by the Holy Spirit
(Moffatt translation). Yet Christ continually prayed to and addressed
the Father, not the Holy Spirit, as His father (Matthew 10:32-33;
Matthew 11:25-27; Matthew 12:50; Matthew 15:13; Matthew 16:17; Matthew
16:27; Matthew 18:10; Matthew 18:35). Never did He represent the Holy
Spirit as His father.
Nor
did Jesus speak of the Holy Spirit as a third divine person; instead He
only spoke of the relationship between God the Father and Himself
(Matthew 26:39; Mark 13:32; Mark 15:34; John 5:18; John 5:22; John 8:16;
John 8:18; John 10:30; John 13:3; John 17:11).
If
the godhead were a Trinity, surely the apostle Paul would have
understood and emphasized this in his teaching. Yet we find no such
concept in his writings. Paul's standard greeting in his letters to
churches, as well as individuals to whom he wrote, is, "Grace to you and
peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." There is no
mention of the Holy Spirit.
This
same greeting, with only minor variations, appears in every epistle
that bears Paul's name: Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians
1:2; Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2; Philippians 1:2; Colossians 1:2; 1
Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:2; 1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2;
Titus 1:4; and Philemon 1:3. The Holy Spirit is always left out of these
greetings—an unbelievable oversight if the Holy Spirit were indeed a
person coequal with God and Jesus.
This
is even more surprising when we consider that the churches to which
Paul wrote had many gentile members from polytheistic backgrounds who
had formerly worshipped numerous gods. Paul's epistles record no attempt
on his part to explain the Trinity or Holy Spirit as a divine person
equal with God the Father and Jesus Christ.
The
apostle Paul states clearly that "there is one God, the Father, of whom
are all things . . . and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all
things" (1 Corinthians 8:6). He makes no mention of the Holy Spirit as a
divine person.
The
final book of the Bible (and the last to be written) describes "a new
heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1) wherein "the tabernacle of God
is with men, and He will dwell with them" (Revelation 21:3). Jesus
Christ, "the Lamb," is also there (Revelation 21:22). The Holy Spirit,
however, is again not explicitly mentioned—another inconceivable
oversight if this Spirit is the third person of a Trinity.
"God
is Spirit" (John 4:24)—that is, He consists of it. And it also flows
out from Him. The Spirit emanating from God, the Holy Spirit, is
described by an angel as "the power of the Highest" (Luke 1:35). It is
the same power we can receive directly from God.
Many
other scriptures also show the connection between the Holy Spirit and
God's power. For example, Paul reminded Timothy that "God has not given
us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2
Timothy 1:7; see also Zechariah 4:6; Micah 3:8).
Luke
4:14 records that Jesus Christ began His ministry "in the power of the
Spirit." Speaking of the Holy Spirit, which would be given to His
followers after His death, Jesus told them, "You shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1:8).
Peter
relates that "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and
with power, [and Jesus] went about doing good and healing all who were
oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38). The Holy
Spirit is here associated with the power by which God was with Him—the
power through which Jesus Christ performed mighty miracles during His
earthly, physical ministry. The Holy Spirit is the very presence of
God's power actively working in His servants (Psalm 51:11; Psalm 139:7).
Paul
expresses his desire that church members would "abound in hope by the
power of the Holy Spirit," in the same way that Jesus had worked through
him "in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God"
(Romans 15:13, Romans 15:19).
The Holy
Spirit empowers Christians to live a life of growing and overcoming, of
transforming their lives to become like Jesus Christ.
When
the Holy Spirit is referred to by personal pronouns such as "he" or
"himself" in the Scriptures, this does not prove the Holy Spirit is a
person. The translators of the King James Version, influenced by their
belief in the Holy Spirit as a third person in the Trinity, generally
translated pronouns referring to the Holy Spirit as personal and
masculine rather than neuter.
Translators
of later English versions of the Bible, also operating from the premise
of the Trinity, have gone a step further and most often translated all
references to the Holy Spirit as masculine. Thus God's Spirit is almost
always incorrectly referred to with such personal pronouns as "he" or
"him" in English Bible translations.
For more insight on doctrines of the Bible, You are cordially invited to Renew Your Strength Bible Study