Ch. 4
1. What are the two great operations of the spirit?
The two great operations of the spirit consist of knowing and loving. Knowing “infinitely” and loving “infinitely.” God can only infinitely love what is eternal. Even though God loves mankind, to an excessive extent, he still does not love them infinitely. The text touches on that God loves the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit infinitely. Why that is, is because they are eternal in the eyes of the Lord. Like in the text that says, “It is in knowledge and love of the three persons that the divine life is lived.” Christ our own wants to admit us to the knowledge of it.
2. What is meant by saying that there is companionship within the one divine nature? P.26
Companionship within the one
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What can we learn from Luke 10:22 and John 10:30?
Let’s begin with the first one; Luke 10:22 states that “No one knows the Son but the Father; and no one knows the Father but the Son.” This is so important to understand and I never really thought about it until just now. This goes along with everyday family stuff as well. The Son and the Father both know each other more than anything in the universe. But not just know each other; they both love each other infinitely as well. It goes back to the great operations of the spirit, knowing and loving. Now the second one, John 10:30 states, “I and the Father are
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What is the difference between nature and person?
There is a big difference between person and nature. Human nature if composed of body and soul, in a human person is found the added perfection which makes each one an individual, distinct from all others. A human person has only one human nature. Christ is a divine Person having the nature of God and the nature of man. God through time has proved He had both nature of God and the nature of man, which are two totally separate things. This was all by doing some things that only God could do and other things that men do. But let’s make it clear that Christ only is one person.
6. What two points does Sheed believe we must accurately describe? Page 29
The two points that Sheed points out are: The three persons don’t share the divine nature because it can only be expressed in its totality. The three persons are distinct, but not separate in that they are of their own being, but can’t be
He further clarifies that in Christianity, God is not even a person. Instead, he is a dynamic, pulsating activity — almost a kind of drama. Additionally, he says the Holy Spirit also shares in the same love that exists between God and Jesus; and like them, He is eternal also. The author informs us that we too can share in that eternal love, and we can help others share in it as well. Here, he reminds us that those superior traits, as well as appalling ones that we know, come by a kind of infection — we come in contact with the source of the infection. Therefore, we can take part in the shared love that exists between the three persons by coming in contact with that love. Furthermore, we can expose others to that love, so that they might also become infected. Each of us, then, can become a "little Christ," which is the whole purpose of becoming a
The Father possesses the divine nature un-received while the Son and Holy Spirit possess it as it is received and in totality. They receive everything from the Father; therefore, they are all
It is important to note the defined goals of the Trinity. One being that God sent His Son, Jesus did not send God. Jesus tells us in John 6, that He came to do the will of His Father. Jesus was not doing His own selfish will but everything He did was for His Father. Jesus and God sent the Holy Spirit according to Jesus’ words in John 14:26, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you”. It is necessary to recognize the distinctions of the roles of the Trinity as if the roles were not distinctive there would be no Trinity.
This theological “treatise” is divided into six main chapters, that each focus on the Trinitarian doctrine. Understanding the doctrine of the Trinity is essential to the Christian faith, which is the central goal of this book. The main focus of this study is to examine the ways in which the three Persons of the Trinity relate to one another, how they relate to us, and what difference this makes to our lives. Dr. Ware accomplishes this through discussing the wonder of each
One cannot achieve unity with divine, nor have an experience of the divine that is in anyway unusual, simply because the individual and the deity are one and the same; all experiences in life are experiences with the divine because there is no distinction between divine and non-divine. It is because of this that the divine is transcendent, subsuming all things into its being.
Thus, Jesus “shares God’s attributes” because he too has created all things, the ultimate giver, lover, “final judge” and “sustainer of life” (Strauss, 2011, p. 7448). John attempts to show readers that Jesus and God, the Father and Son are one and operate in completeness and certain unity (Strauss, 2011, p.
My word study portrays a sermon given on United States Independence Day weekend. The sermon’s topic related to liberty. One of the verses that were abused was the following: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17) The pastor preached on the how this verse parallels the U.S. Constitution and the liberties it prescribed. Moreover, the pastor mixed metaphors from the Bible and the Constitution. The text is taken out of context. Indeed, the text alludes to the letters of the law written in stone versus those written with the Holy Spirit. And, Paul is referring to the superiority of having the Holy Spirit versus just adhering to the law. Thus, Paul explicitly speaks of a spiritual
He is not half human and half God—He is all human and all God. Neither nature subsumes, dominates, or eliminates the other. The two natures are not mixed up or blended into one; rather they remain separate complete natures within the one person and comprising that one person. The divine nature was not humanized nor the human nature divinized. They became united in one person and are incapable of being separated. The unity of the two is such that acts that are characteristic of one nature are attributed not to that nature alone but to the one person and thus, to both the natures at the same time. Although this concept is difficult (if not impossible) to comprehend, it is to be embraced by
As human, Christ had a body, he had a soul and spirit, he had human characteristics, and he was called by human names. In Luke 2:52, it is written that Christ, even though he had a virgin birth, He was born with a human body that was conceived by a human body. Christ's humanity included both the material and immaterial aspects of the human body (he was flesh but at the same time he was also Soul and Spirit).
The Trinity is an area of the Christian faith where Christians and non-Christians alike struggle to explain the Godhead in a way that is biblical and understandable. In this paper I will discuss whether there is any mention of the the word Trinity in the Bible at all and what does the biblical concept of Trinity mean? I will explain as well how this Triune concept is expressed biblically and what are the similarities / differences between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? Finally, I will discuss what it means to be a Trinitarian with a Jehovah’s Witness.
God is one substance, and is entirely different from man. As a result of this, God cannot be described at all by man.
According to the Christian worldview, God exists in a unique form known as the Trinity. This defines God as a singular being with three distinct persons: the Father, Son, and Spirit. Each person has a unique role: the Father is the Sovereign Creator (Psalm 103:19, New American Standard Bible); the Son is the Messiah and the firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15, NASB); and the Spirit is an Intercessor and Helper (John 14:26, NASB). All three persons comprise the single figure of God. This concept, while complex, is pivotal to the Christian worldview as one begins to analyze the overarching message of the Gospel.
With this as the basis of his thinking Edwards goes on to describe the Triune God through Augustine’s relations perspective with a little twist. The Father has to lavish His love for it to be perfect and He does this on the Son. So this is easy enough to grasp but then how is love lavished back to the Father? This is where the Spirit comes in. The Spirit is the Love that the Son lavishes back to the Father. So by the end of it there is a complete and perfect picture of love, where love is given and love is also received.
The divine persons are truly distinct from one another. The names Father, Son, and Spirit are not simply identical and interchangeable- they represent true distinctions within Gods nature.
God is good. He is loving, merciful and compassionate. The Bible tells us that God is a living personal Spirit. He is not an impersonal force, but a living being who acts (Psalm 115:3-7). God is personal with his own features. He is Spirit who exists separately from the world and is above and beyond it. God is Trinity; Father, Son and Spirit. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct persons within the Trinity and have distinct purposes, yet they are perfectly united in the being of God.