Sufficient Self's Bible Study Group

[savingdogs]

While Denim Deb's explanation was helpful, I'm still stuck back there a page or so ago on the concept of the Trinity. You guys are all light years ahead of me.

I have never really understood it. I guess it has never been presented to me in a way that I can put my mind around it. I remember studying this as a teen at a Catholic church and never quite understood. I understand father and son, but why is the holy spirit seperate?

Can someone here help me....

How about this....what is the purpose behind each.....according to your personal faith or church of course? I've recited the words in prayers but not because they meant something to me. I understand better if I get the overall concept first and then work around to the fine details.

 

[BarredBuff]

The trinity has always been its never changed. Its always been there and it makes the substance of God. God is ONE but THREE distinct persons

God The Father: He is the creator and the nurturer of his people. In a way he is the master mind of the entire universe. He is outisde of time and space. He has no Earthly physical form (that I know of) he is a spirit in Heaven. (forgive me if I made a boo boo)

God The Son: He is the savior. He is God, he was there from the beggining. He is God incarnate.

God The Spirit: He is the force within all of us, that tells us to do good and that assists us. He is God also. He was not revealed until after the Son was revealed yet he has always been and will always be.

I hope I explained it good.

 

[Beekissed]

I understand father and son, but why is the holy spirit seperate?

I've never been taught they are separate. I've always been instructed that they were One but perform distinct and separate functions while still being of one body(body meaning 'of a whole' and not necessarily a body like we inhabit).

The thing to remember that God is supernatural and multidimensional, omnipresent. Because we are humans we cannot fathom the intricacies of His being. Our level of comprehension is as far from God's as the east is from the west and Heaven from the Earth.

I know there are scriptures dealing with this subject but I can't put my finger on a good one right now.

My hardest concept was always trying to wrap my mind around where God came from? I know He was and is and always has been....but as a human I cannot understand time out of mind. Our lives are bound by time so I always wonder when He started.

I'm going to have many, many questions one day....I can't wait to know the answers!

 

[BarredBuff]

I understand father and son, but why is the holy spirit seperate?

I've never been taught they are separate. I've always been instructed that they were One but perform distinct and separate functions while still being of one body(body meaning 'of a whole' and not necessarily a body like we inhabit).

The thing to remember that God is supernatural and multidimensional, omnipresent. Because we are humans we cannot fathom the intricacies of His being. Our level of comprehension is as far from God's as the east is from the west and Heaven from the Earth.

I know there are scriptures dealing with this subject but I can't put my finger on a good one right now.

My hardest concept was always trying to wrap my mind around where God came from? I know He was and is and always has been....but as a human I cannot understand time out of mind. Our lives are bound by time so I always wonder when He started.

I'm going to have many, many questions one day....I can't wait to know the answers!

I have always wondered that too. Revelations point out that when we are reunited the mystery of God will be completed and we will know him.

 

[Wannabefree]

While Denim Deb's explanation was helpful, I'm still stuck back there a page or so ago on the concept of the Trinity. You guys are all light years ahead of me.

I have never really understood it. I guess it has never been presented to me in a way that I can put my mind around it. I remember studying this as a teen at a Catholic church and never quite understood. I understand father and son, but why is the holy spirit seperate?

Can someone here help me....

How about this....what is the purpose behind each.....according to your personal faith or church of course? I've recited the words in prayers but not because they meant something to me. I understand better if I get the overall concept first and then work around to the fine details.

That is the seperation I was talking about. If we are made in the image of God...then we have 3 seperate parts as well.

Body~ God's body is Christ. Our body is our physical self, which we somewhat have control over but not entirely because we can't make our own heart beat or lungs take in air.....

Mind~God's "mind" would be the Father...perfection of mind, completely sound. Our mind is carnal, we think in terms of this world, and have no control over what we think about to a LARGE degree. We are influenced by environment more than anything else. we have little knowledge or grasp of eternity where God resides. This may also be the reason for confusion, because what our Spirit knows, our carnal mind will argue against. Could this be why the trinity is so confusing?

Spirit~God's spirit is Holy and ours is often a whole lot less than holy Our spirit is lead by our mind and body until we accept Christ and He gives us a bit of His Spirit to lead the WHOLE person to doing God's Will.

I believe if we FULLY give ourselves to God, then we are one of His people, but if we hold back any part of it, we are living in sin.

That is why I think it is seperate yet same. We are seperate in aspects of our personal selves, yet we are ultimately one single person. Each aspect is very very different, but we aren't split into 3 pieces, neither is God. When the bible says Christ sits "at the right hand" of the Father, I think that He may be trying to show us that while the body is of great importance, it is still second to the mind and spirit, but for us to get our meager little minds wrapped around the whole concept He had to give a physical example for us, because mostly thats the first thing we allow our minds to be concerned with...the body. We think in terms of without a body we would be "dead." thanks to the sacrifice of Christ...no longer so.

 

[BarredBuff]

WBF, so its really more symbolic than literal, right?

 

[Wannabefree]

WBF, so its really more symbolic than literal, right?

I think so. I do think that a persons body is seperate from their spirit and mind, but not in a physical seperation sense. There are more than just physical things going on in this world at any given time within any given person. A thought is not physical but it is the fruit of the mind. A feeling isn't physcal, but it is fruit of the spirit. The only thing physical is the body, but our minds are wrapped up in physical things, though we know the others exist, we more readily recognize the physical aspects of things.

I know my family in a physical sense, I can hug them, smack them...hehe jk, or go sit beside them and communicate with them.

Under no circumstances have I ever been able to take on their pain, think what they are thinking, or pluck an idea out of their ear. GOD CAN if He wants to! That is how He is dfferent from us. He is the master of every aspect of reality, mental, physical, and spiritual. We have very limited grasp of this It makes it hard to comprehend how He does it. So I think He has given us clues into the nature of Himself on terms we can wrap our pea brains around

 

[BarredBuff]

Okay I understand it a tad better now. Thanks.

 

[Beekissed]

I tend to think it is literal. Jesus prayed to God, not to Himself. He called God His Father. We can use the human body for a metaphor but God's being is not like ours. He is not confined to a physical form nor is He confined to being just a spirit.

When it states that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God, I believe that He is actually sitting there, right beside God, the Father. I can't imagine that a God as powerful as the one true God would have to be confined to our perception of a being.

Just as the Holy Spirit can abide in each of us and still be in God, so can Jesus abide separately but still as one with God, the Father. Jesus is God in the flesh and now inhabits a resurrected body. God had to take this form to redeem the flesh as well as the spirit, as humans are both. Jesus still inhabits that new and resurrected body and we shall know him and fellowship with Him in Heaven, just as we will with God, the Father.

 

[BarredBuff]

I tend to think it is literal. Jesus prayed to God, not to Himself. He called God His Father. We can use the human body for a metaphor but God's being is not like ours. He is not confined to a physical form nor is He confined to being just a spirit.

When it states that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God, I believe that He is actually sitting there, right beside God, the Father. I can't imagine that a God as powerful as the one true God would have to be confined to our perception of a being.

Just as the Holy Spirit can abide in each of us and still be in God, so can Jesus abide separately but still as one with God, the Father. Jesus is God in the flesh and now inhabits a resurrected body. God had to take this form to redeem the flesh as well as the spirit, as humans are both. Jesus still inhabits that new and resurrected body and we shall know him and fellowship with Him in Heaven, just as we will with God, the Father.

Thats makes better sense.