Trinity III || Aaradhana Platform Bible Study || 2025 || Session || Series

 

What about Gospel?

James White, in The Forgotten Trinity, states:

“The Gospel, as it is proclaimed in Scripture, is Trinitarian. Remove the Father and you have no Gospel. Remove the Son, and the Gospel ceases to exist. Remove the Spirit, and the Gospel has no existence. There is no separating the work of the triune God in salvation from the truth of the Trinity itself”

 Page. 179 (pdf)

Denial of Trinity perverts the Gospel

Look at Mormonism, which denies the pillar of monotheism: the Gospel becomes the means to becoming a god. Look at the Witnesses: the Gospel is a mere appendage, a message of how we can live forever in a paradise earth. Such is what happens when the Redeemer becomes Michael the Archangel, and the Spirit becomes an impersonal active force. And in the Oneness groups the Gospel becomes legalism, replete with "necessary" things one must "experience" to be truly saved

 Page. 179 (pdf)

Other examples: Jehovah's Witnesses, Oneness Pentecostals, Christian Science, The United church of God, etc. 

[Source: https://youtu.be/m_kKOmIeYVA?si=jwYKUmHvLHgrT12E]

Is Trinity necessary for salvation?

It is already evident that Triune God was involved in human redemption

Salvation is not just believing Jesus and work done but it is ongoing journey, a walk with Jesus, getting to know God through him more and more. 

We are already tied in relationship with Triune God: our prayer, our worship and our submission 

The only issue is the complexity of God’s nature we always bother and struggle

Progressing in knowledge is one aspect while making excuses is another

Having certain ignorance is one aspect while total rejection is another

The past generation had only ignorance of Trinity yet they knew something about it although they attached to some sort of weak or false views but the rejection of Trinity is horrible attempt! It has been done by JW, Jesus only groups and so on.

Taking support of OT men of God who didn’t know Trinity is a work of making contextual excuses. Trinity was in progressive revelation and we are not in that era to make such an excuses!

Trinity is indeed the basis of salvation!

We are supposed to know our God more and more 

We are supposed to sanctify our mind and knowledge about God, what he is and who he is, which is something Trinity wholly stands for!

Why our salvation is associated with trinity?

Salvation is an experienced reality, made so by the person of spirit coming into our lives.

Nobody can come to be a Christian without the effective work of Trinity

And my view is: Trinity is the basis of salvation

Gordon D. Fee, Paul, the Spirit and the people of God, Page no. 44

When was trinity revealed?

Many insist it developed over time "in the consciousness of the church," so that the Trinity does not become "doctrine" until well into the church age.

It was during the incarnation and coming of Holy Spirit

not in the Old Testament, or even in the New Testament, but rather in between the testaments, in the ministry of Christ and the founding of the church. 

 White, The Forgotten Trinity, Page. 152 (pdf)

The early church taught Trinity!

Christians already were singing hymns with Trinitarian expression before Constantine

In the 3rd century, church Father Origen taught a form of Trinitarian subordination i.e. Son & spirit were ontologically submitted to the Father. He believed the Son and the Father are both God.

He was pupil of Clement of Alexandria who also taught God as One in three persons

Tertullian was the one who introduced the term Trinity.

Irenaeus also affirmed the Trinitarian theology

Justin Martyr also did affirm Trinity

Same goes to Ignatius of Antioch 

Also Aristides of Athens goes in same lane

Melito of Sardis taught Jesus was God, so did Polycarp

[Source: https://youtu.be/O_2iYSyus5I?si=5vnd9h1a24-cJNEg]

स्वर्गमा दुई शक्तिहरू (Two powers in heaven): भजन ११०:१; ४५:६-७; उत्पत्ति १९:२४

यहुदी ग्रन्थहरूमा अनुभूत गरिएको तीन शक्तिहरू: उनीहरूले पनि परमेश्वर अलावा अन्य शक्तिहरूको उल्लेख भएको र याह्वे भनि पुकारिएको अधिक शक्तिहरूको अस्तित्वको तथ्यलाई याद गरेका थिए | रब्बीहरूले पनि याह्वे नाम गरेका विभिन्न प्राणीहरूको उल्लेखलाई ख्याल गरेका थिए | (प्रस्थान १३:२१; १४:९; २४:१)

परमेश्वर दर्शन (Theophany): परमेश्वरको एक आंशिक र केहि अवधि एवं कार्यका लागि भएको प्रकटीकरण जसलाई पूर्व-देहाधारी ख्रीष्टको रूपमा समेत बयान गरिन्छ: उत्पत्ति १८-१९; उत्पत्ति ३२; प्रस्थान ३; यहूदा ५; १ कोरिन्थी १०:४

[स्रोत: https://www.logos.com/grow/hall-trinity-in-the-old-testament/ 

The Trinity in Ancient Jewish Books: https://youtu.be/d-aVQ8MELeg?si=RzNs4EzrUB_TBdr_ ]

Trinity in the Old Testament

व्यवस्था ६:४

सन्दर्भ: याह्वे केवल एक मात्रै ‘being’ हुन् र अन्यजातीका देवताहरुको समूह सरह हुनुहुन्न । तर यहाँ "एउटै" लाई हिब्रू शब्द Echad "एखाड" ले जनाएको छ जसले एकताको एकलाई दर्शाउँछ । जस्तैः हामी सबै नेपाली एक हौं । यसको अर्थ स्व पदले परमेश्वर एक भन्दा बढी व्यक्तिको हुन सक्छन् भन्ने कुरालाई पनि केही संकेत गर्दछ ।  जस्तैः उत्पत्ति २:२४, ११:६ आदि । एकताको एक ।

तीन व्यक्तिहरुको प्रकाश:

परमप्रभु: व्यवस्था ३२:६, यशैया ६३:१६, मलाकी २:१०

परमप्रभुका दूत: उत १६, २२, ३१, २१, प्रस्थान ३, १४, गन्ती २२, न्यायकर्ता २, यशैया ३७, २ इतिहास ३२ आदि

परमप्रभुको आत्मा: १ शामुएल १०:१०, प्रस्थान ३१:३, गन्ती २४:२, न्यायकर्ता ३:१०, यशैया ६३ आदि

तीनै जना उल्लेख भएको एक पद: यशैया ४८:१६

[Source: https://youtu.be/BNt5NKSse0Y?si=_xonwg5yuNp0GIVW]

For a single verse that shows three distinct persons together, see Isaiah 48:16 , “Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.”

[Source: https://youtu.be/BNt5NKSse0Y?si=LQ4xv3sRxPhDQa2Q]

These 11 passages show Angel of the Lord is a divine figure: Gen. 16, 22, 31; Ex. 3, 14; Num. 22; Jud. 2, 6, 13; Zech. 3, 12 out of which Gen. 22, Num. 22 and Zech. 3 shows Angel of the Lord distinct from other being who is also called God. The context determines who the Angel of Lord is...

[Source: Inspiring Philosphy || The Trinity in the Old Testament || https://youtu.be/BNt5NKSse0Y?si=d8pXlDW8PPy4Bj4n ]

YHWH is above all, inaccessible to us. But sometimes he reveals himself to us in a way we can see and understand. Angel of YHWH is YHWH made visible. Distinct from YHWH and yet YHWH.

Angel of LORD is God appearing like a human

Jesus is God become a human 

In NT, Jesus is not used the phrase ‘Angel of LORD’ to avoid the idea that Jesus was merely an angel. 

Resource: 

Who the Angel of the Lord Is (and What the Angel Does) • Spiritual Beings Ep. 5

https://youtu.be/qgmf8bHayXw?si=Ivh6J1nvsOu5A5IQ 

Spirit of the lord

1 Sam. 10:10 & Acts 2:17 comparison 

Exodus 31:3, Num. 24:2, Judges 3:10 & John 14:17, Rom. 8:9 denotes Spirit entering people

The term Holy Spirit is used in Ps. 51 & Isa. 63

Isa. 63, Ez. 11:5 & Ps. 104:30 shows distinction between Holy Spirit and God 

2 Sam. 23:2, 3 shows oneness of God and Holy Spirit

Job 33:4 implies the Spirit has made man, therefore God

[Source: https://youtu.be/BNt5NKSse0Y?si=LQ4xv3sRxPhDQa2Q]

पुरानो करारमा परमेश्वरले आफैंलाई सम्बोधन गर्न कहिले एकवचन त कहिले बहुवचन प्रयोग गर्नुभएको छ (प्रस्था ३३:१९; होशे ११:९; यशैया ६:८ आदि)

मशीह सम्बन्धी खण्डहरूमा त्रिएकता झल्किएको पाइन्छ (भजन ११०:१; ४५:६-७)

परमेश्वरको नाम र गुणलाई दोहोर्याइएको खण्डहरूले पनि सायद त्रिएकता दर्शाउँछ (यशैया ६:३; गन्ती ६:२४-२६)

परमेश्वरले आफैं सित उहाँका आत्मा बीच भिन्नता जाहेर गर्नुभएको पाइन्छ (नहेम्याह ९:२०, ३०; यशैया ४८:१६; ६३:१०)

परमप्रभुको दूतको प्रकटीकरण (उत्पत्ति १६:१०; २२:१२; प्रस्थान ३:२; न्यायकर्ता २:१-४; ५:२३; ६:११-२४; २ शामूएल २४:१६; जाकारिया १:१२; ३:१; १२:८)

परमेश्वरका नामहरू: एलोहिम र याह्वे (उत्पत्ति १:१; २:४) एलोहिम वहुवचनमा छ | एडोनाइ पनि वहुवचनमा छ 

[स्रोत: https://www.gotquestions.org/Trinity-in-the-Old-Testament.html ]

My Final say...

Trinity is like a Tesseract: We as created finite beings cannot fully comprehend an Infinite greatest being like God. 

Trinity is like an Asymptote: No matter how much we try diving deeper into it, we can never understand it fully. 

But... this is what clearly scripture reveals about God...

Context: Yes, Trinity cannot be understood but does this question all the efforts we are making to get it clear? Well, the context here is 'excuses' people make so that they can deny and escape it.