what did jesus believe in regards to God -- the shama the Lord is one ... much of christianity today has abandoned this simple creedal statement -- that along with the 11,000 pronoun
the fact that in the old testament discribes himself in a singular way "I" tell us that God is is one in being and not a trinity, therefore he is one in person and example given is : Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
who formed you from the womb:“I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself, isa 44 :24
this is an interesting argument that anthony had laid -- lets examine it closely starting with this assertion based on a shema
"the shama the Lord is one ... much of christianity today has abandoned this simple creedal statement"
while this is easy to assert -- it is far harder to prove since trinitarian theology which they are refering too -- trinitarians do not reject it since it is the first foundation of 3 that is the basis of the trinity
1 --- the shema ---- one being of God
2 --- the 3 persons -- the father, the son, and the holy spirit
3 --- each of these 3 persons to their nature is in union and are co - existant and co - equal
this is the basic understanding to how we trinitarian veiw the trinity --- and the bible is the very place we come to find this truth
I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord,
according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely And he became their Savior.
In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them;
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people.
Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit,who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name,
who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble.
Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
So you led your people,to make for yourself a glorious name.
Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit,who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name,
who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble.
Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
So you led your people,to make for yourself a glorious name.
Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation.Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me.
For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage -- isa 63 :7 -17
For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage -- isa 63 :7 -17
this passage is one of many in isaiah which reveal the triune majesty of God ... let give some points in this passage which express this truth
*For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely And he became their Savior.
In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them;
In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them;
in this verse we see that God reveal through the prophet that God is the redeemer which both can agree but look at what else is said here .... "and the angel of his presence saved them"; -- the term angel of his presence reflect something which has a very intimate connection .. who has the same nature as God .. and God alone saves this angel is said to be albe to do the same thing .. this mean he is more than a created being
*But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.
they (israelite in the wilderness in moses time) rebelled against the holy spirit who was leading them .. and he (the holy spirit lead them to discruction due to this rebellion
*Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
So you led your people,to make for yourself a glorious name.
Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation
this is the most interseting point since it says the rest that the holy spirit gives is eternal ... which only God can give .. so he is the eternal spirit (hebrews 9 :14) -- then it goes away from the spirit .. and says "you"meaning God -- which indicates God to be multipersonal ... with the fact of this angel of the lord, the father, and the holy spirit .. and on the father we can see this in the next point
but there is one thing that we need to mention and this is "to make for yourself a glorious name" -- this could relate to the fact that through israel God name would be made known and his power and authority would exalted
in two ways
* through the nation of israel ... every one who would love to be connected to God by worship like ruth the moabite and the people of ninveh
* and most prominantly in his own son Jesus christ -- which will come through in the next passages
* For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name
this verse is the final point and a major one .. God is a spiritual father to his people, and is the father of our lord in very different manner you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name
now for the other two passages
I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you -- john 16 :4 -15
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.--- Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because[ the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified romans 8 :12 -17, 26 -30
these passage speak more clarity to the roles of the 3 persons of the triune God in salvation.. and each does have a role God the father is the justifier, the son is the reemer and the holy spirit is the sanctifier of all believer .. and indeed an important truth in this is that God does this before all men came to be ... this was his plan of salvation in eternity has this is seen in romans 8 :28 -30, but this is not a topic i wish to get in depth here as this is not time
other scripture which can be considered in providing a scriptural basis for the trinity are as follows .. john 1:1-3 and 14 and hebrews 1 :4 for the son, acts 5 :3 -4, and 13 :1 -4 for the spirit -- we all agree God is the father but one scripture that hold truth to this is hebrews 1
