DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY

Looking for information on the doctrine of the Trinity? We have Biblical evidence for the Trinity doctrine being true and answers for those who say the Trinity is false.  The Trinity Doctrine is the One God revealed through three distinct Persons as the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.  Below will be some Biblical information on explaining the Trinity in simple terms and following that will be various articles dealing with the doctrine of the Trinity.

Explaining the Trinity

1.      The Bible teaches that there is only one God. (Isaiah 43:10, Isaiah 44:6-8, Isaiah 45:22)

2.      The Bibles teaches that there is one who is called the Father and is identified as being God. (1 Peter 1:2)

3.      The Bible teaches that there is one who is called Jesus and is identified as being God. (John 1:1-3&14-18, John 20:28-29, 1 John 1:1-4&5:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Revelation 1:17-18, Revelation 22:12-20)

4.      The Bible teaches that there is one who is called the Holy Spirit and is identified as being God. (John 14:16-17, John 15:26, John 16:7-15, Acts 5:3-4, Acts 13:2, 1 Corinthians 12:4-18, Hebrews 9:14, Hebrews 10:15-18)

     There are things in life that are triune in nature but one.  For example:  An egg is one but with three distinctions.  You have the yoke, the white, and the shell, but all three composite the one egg.  Another example:  A piece of fruit such as the peach has three components.  A peach has the outer layer (the skin), the inner layer (the juicy stuff known as the meat), and the core.  All three components composite the one peach. 

     Other things that we have in our everyday lives that are triune is water.  Water is one substance that can be liquid, gas, and solid distinctly or all at the same.  The following quote is from the late Dr. Walter Martin:  "It is a well-known fact of chemistry that plain water, when placed in a vacuum under 230 millimeters of gas pressure and at a temperature of 0 degrees Centigrade, solidifies into ice at the bottom of the container, remains liquid in the center and vaporizes at the top! At a given instant the same water is both solid, liquid and gas, yet all three are manifestations of the same basic substance or nature: H2O - hydrogen: two parts; oxygen: one.  If one of the simplest of all created substances can be three in manifested form and yet remain one in nature, then the Creator of that substance can surely be Father, Son and Holy Spirit - three Persons and one Nature - without any violation of logic or reason whatever if He so wills."

     If an egg, a peach, and water can have three distinct things and all be one at the same time, than the Almighty should have no problem.  The word Trinity is way of explaining the belief in one God revealed through three distinct persons.  Some people get all hung up on the issue of the Bible teaching there is only one God.  No where does the Bible state God is only one person, but it does say God is one in Deuteronomy 6:4.  The word for one there is the Hebrew word Echad, which means a composite unity.  For examples of this consider Genesis 1:5, Genesis 2:24, Ezra 2:64, Ezekiel 37:17 where the same Hebrew word Echad is used and means one in unity, not in number! 

 The Bible teaches there is one Church but many members and there is no problems with understanding this, yet when it comes to God some seem to have problems. 

Saved?
How Do We Know?
What Does It Mean?

                   
HOW DO WE KNOW IF WE ARE SAVED?

God has not left us in the dark when it comes to knowing if we are saved. 1 John 5:13 states, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."
The question is, "What is written so that we can know we are saved?"

From Acts 2:38 and Ephesians 1:13, we see that when we repent and believe we receive the Holy Spirit and the following verses tell us that it is through the Spirit that we know we belong to Jesus.
1 John 3:24 says, "... this is how we know that he lives in us; We know it by the Spirit he gave us."
1 John 4:13 says "We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit."
From these verses we can see that our assurance of salvation comes from the presence of the Spirit in our life.

HOW DOES THE SPIRIT MAKE HIS PRESENCE KNOWN TO US?

It's one thing to read in the Bible that we receive the Spirit when we believe, but how do we really know that the Spirit is in our life? In Romans 8:16 & 14 it says, "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" and "those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." The Holy Spirit witnesses to us that we are a child of God and, as we allow Him to lead, He will change us so that what is said in 2 Cor 5:17 becomes a reality in our life ... "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" That is, the Spirit leads us to leave our old, sinful way of life behind and begin afresh ... we are born again and start a new life that pleases God.

HOW DOES THE SPIRIT LEAD US TO BRING THIS NEW LIFE?

When we repent and receive the Spirit into our life, we don't get turned into sinless saints, although immediate and obvious changes can occur in new believers. What does happen though, to all who accept Jesus as Lord, is that the sins of their past are forgiven and the Spirit begins to work in their life to keep them from future sin and to conform them to the likeness of Jesus.

Regarding the Spirit, John 16:8 says, "When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." It is the Spirit's conviction of sin that brings guilt and repentance into a believer's life and leads them to confess that sin, receive forgiveness and be cleansed of it. This is stated in 1 John 1:9 ... "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." It is through this process that a person is not just forgiven, but cleansed of sin and can walk in newness of life. Matt 1:21 and 2 Thess 2:13 tell us that a person is saved from their sins through the sanctifying work of the Spirit.

WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DON'T RESPOND TO THE SPIRIT'S CONVICTION?

Romans 8:12-13 say, "... brothers, we have an obligation ... if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." These verses make it clear that we have a responsibility to follow the Spirit's leading otherwise we will die (which is a polite way of saying we will end up in hell).

The little book of 1 John makes it very clear that a person who is 'born of God' will not continue in sin. 1 John 3:6-10 say, "No one who lives in him keeps on sinning ... He who does what is sinful is of the devil ... No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him ... This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother."

No one will be saved by simply asking Jesus for forgiveness and then going on to do whatever he likes. It would make a joke of Jesus' death to say, "Thanks for dying for my sins Jesus. Now I'm going to carry on as usual because you have died for all my sins, past and future." We are not saved by a simple 'thank you Jesus'. We must, through the power of the Holy Spirit, keep from deliberate sin and lead a life that is pleasing to God. Deliberate sins include lying, stealing, hating, lusting, coveting, bitterness and fits of anger. We can never live a perfectly sinless life, but through the Spirit, we must be kept from ongoing, deliberate and repetitive sin … otherwise we will die. See Galatians 5:16.

SO, HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE SAVED?

In Luke 13:3 Jesus said, "unless you repent, you too will all perish." and in John 3.3 He said, "... no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." So, if you have repented of your sins and asked Jesus to be your Lord, then you will know the Holy Spirit's presence in your life as He brings conviction of sin, guides you in all truth and brings glory to Jesus as stated in John 16:8-14. Hebrews 12:14 says, "without holiness no one will see the Lord." The Holy Spirit's presence enables us to walk in holiness and that walk is our absolute assurance of salvation.

1 John 5:3 says, "This is love for God: to obey his commands" and 1 John 3:23 says,  "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us." As the Spirit cleanses us from sin, God's command to love Him and our neighbour becomes a reality in our life. Romans 13:10 says that, "love is the fulfillment of the law."

                                What We Believe As Baptists:

We have been asked many times concerning the doctrine and beliefs of our Church. Of course the simplest statement of faith that we could make is this: "We believe the whole Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21." However, we believe that it would be good to set forth some of the things which are most surely believed among us. The following statements are not made in an effort to establish a new set of articles of faith, but rather to make plain some of the things that we believe..

There are five words that fairly set forth what we believe. Those five words are: Baptist, Fundamental, Premillennial, Missionary, and Independent.

We Are Baptist

By this we mean that we hold to the historic beliefs and practices which have prevailed among Baptists from the time of Jesus. In every period of time, since Christ established His church during His earthly ministry, there have been churches who were Baptist in faith and practice.. They did not always wear the name Baptist, but they believed and practiced Baptist doctrine, which is none other than Bible doctrine.

Baptists did not come out of the Reformation under Martin Luther, for they were never a part of the Catholic Church. In fact Baptists were on the scene long before the Catholic Church ever came into existence. For those who are interested in studying more on this subject we highly recommend The Trail of Blood, by J.M. Carroll.

We do not believe in a so-called "Universal Invisible Church." We believe that Jesus established a local, visible church, and we are sure that this is the only kind of true church that is in existence today.

We Are Fundamental

By this we mean, that we accept the so-called fundamentals of the faith as opposed to modernism which denies the fundamentals of the faith. We believe in the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, the Genesis account of the creation, the Virgin Birth of Christ, His sinless life, His blood atonement, His glorious bodily resurrection, His ascension, and His second coming.

When we say that we are fundamental, we do not mean that this is all that we believe; because we do believe every doctrine and truth in the Word of God without any reservation. No Church or Christian has any right to single out any doctrine of the Word of God and say that it is non-essential. If any of it was non-essential, then God would not have wasted the space by putting it in the Bible.

We Are Premillennial

We believe that Jesus Christ is coming back before the Millennial Kingdom is established. Under the government of man, the world is growing worse and worse morally. This is a fulfillment of the Scriptures which says, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." (II Timothy 3:13).

When Christ shall come in the air, "the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain (the living Christians) shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (I Thessalonians 4:16-17). Then the Anti-Christ will be manifested here upon the earth and the seven years of tribulation shall begin. At the end of the seven years of tribulation, the Lord will return with His saints and utterly defeat the armies of the Anti-Christ. Satan will be bound and cast into the bottomless pit, and then the Lord will establish his kingdom here on earth and reign for a thousand years. (See Revelation 19-21).

We Are Missionary

Every true new Testament Baptist Church should be missionary. Jesus gave the command to His Church in Matt. 28:18-29, that they were to "teach all nations." He also said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). He also said, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and n all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). If people are to be saved, they must hear the Word of God. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!... So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:13-15,17). To be obedient to Christ, we must send missionaries to the foreign field, while we are missionaries on the home field.

It is not enough to be missionary in name, but we must be missionary in practice. This means that we should pray for missions, and support missions with the finances that God has placed in our hand. We receive a mission offering every week. We practice Faith Promise Mission giving.

We support sound Bible believing missionaries. Instead of sending the money to some denominational headquarters where 80% or 90% of it is used up in administration costs, we send it direct to the missionary, through their home church. This way he gets 100% of the money and not just 10 % or 20%. We have recently raised the monthly support for our missionaries, and by God’s grace we intend to continue to raise it.

We Are Independent

We are not independent to do as we please, but we are independent and unaffiliated, in order that we might do as God pleases. God forbid that we should ever want to be independent from God. We are not "affiliated with" nor do we "belong to" any association or convention. Jesus established the local New Testament Church, and we do not believe that He established any convention or association to lord it over the churches. It is our contention that a true church cannot scripturally join anything nor become affiliated with any outside religious organization.

Churches may work together in the work of Christ, but should beware of entangling alliances which bring them under the domination of boards and denominational secretaries. Conventions, associations, and other like denominational organizations are usually started by men of good faith, but they enter into such organizations without one verse of Scriptural authority. Eventually these extra-Scriptural organizations become the citadels of compromise and doctrinal laxness, with an insatiable desire to dominate and lord it over the churches.

During the period of time covered in the book of Acts the greatest evangelistic missionary effort in the history of Christianity may be seen. In those days travel was slow, radio, television, and even the printing press was unheard of, yet the gospel spread like a flame. In no other period of Church history was so much done by so few. In 30 short years greater progress was made than in any other period of history, in establishing churches and carrying out the Great Commission. Yet, there was no convention, association, or outside the church denominational organization. The plan used in the book of Acts worked, and it is working today among churches who are trying to use it.

It is our desire to contend for the faith without being contentious. We can disagree without being disagreeable. We can stand for the faith without kicking. We do rejoice when the gospel is preached and when souls are saved, even though we might not agree completely with the method that is used. Criticism of another man’s method does not constitute obedience to Christ’s command to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth. We must not only believe in the right way, but we must demonstrate the right way.

The church of the living God does not have time for petty arguments, foolish and unlearned questions and the like. This is not the time for factions, frictions, and foolish divisions. This is the time for action. We are approaching the zero hour when we shall soon face Christ. Let us gird up the loins of our mind, put on the whole armor of God and press forward in the battle for Christ. 

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