Defining what God is like

[Stan]

How he does that, how he made that, why he made that, how there are three of him but really only one of him and all the wisdom of man.

To me this is like a tiny Ant describing to all the other ants on how a super computer functions.

We have the capacity to think as a human... and ant has the capacity to think as a ant.

Just sayin'

[John317]

The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit--those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized and these powers will cooperate with the obedient. {HP 336.2}

Is this confusing? What is it saying to us?

[Dr. Rich]

The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit--those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized and these powers will cooperate with the obedient. {HP 336.2}

Is this confusing? What is it saying to us?

Yes John, you are confused as was EGW. Jesus gave the Holy Spirit as found in John 20:21,22. What is so confusing about this? Jesus never said anything about Him being anyone's personal Saviour. His Gospel, the real gospel, was about the Kingdom of Heaven. If you don't keep the commandments and hold fast to the words of Jesus, then you will not be in that kingdom. It's your choice!

[Gerr]

Jesus never said anything about Him being anyone's personal Saviour. His Gospel, the real gospel, was about the Kingdom of Heaven. If you don't keep the commandments and hold fast to the words of Jesus, then you will not be in that kingdom. It's your choice!

Rich, are we reading the same gospel? Nobody's personal Savior?

ESV | Jn 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God ...“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

ESV | Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

ESV | Jn 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

ESV | Jn 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

ESV | Jn 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

ESV | 1 Jn 5:12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

[Light Fox]

There are some things upon which we must reason, and there are other things that we must not discuss. In regard to God—what He is and where He is—silence is eloquence. When you are tempted to speak of what God is, keep silence, because as surely as you begin to speak of this, you will disparage Him.

Our ministers must be very careful not to enter into controversy in regard to the personality of God. This is a subject that they are not to touch. It is a mystery, and the enemy will surely lead astray those who enter into it. We know that Christ came in person to reveal God to the world. God is a person and Christ is a person. Christ is spoken of in the Word as “the brightness of His Father’s glory, and the express image of His person.”

[ClubV12]

Good post Qinael, when it comes to understanding the character of God,,,, I'm an ant.

[Aliensanctuary]

According to Rev., God has seven spirits, or, a seven-fold Spirit. In this setting, the seven Spirits monitor the events occurring on the Earth. In Genesis, the Spirit was present during creation.

Spirit, then, is the force used by God, while in his Temple, to make things happen on Earth. Spirit is the creative/healing/life-sustaining force used by God to create life, repair human DNA, cure illnesses, and maintain human life by its presence within them. Without Spirit, everyone would die.

Another function of Spirit is providing communication between Earth and God, and, recording human thoughts and DNA data to insert them into their life records to be used on Resurrection Day and Judgment Day.

Sprit is the eyes, ears, and hands of God. God said, let us make life, and the Spirit assembled it from raw materials. On his own, Jesus couldn't heal a flea. He had to ask God for the Spirit to heal the sick and raise the dead.

We could personify the Sprit by turning it into a person, but it's more likely it is merely a force used by God to connect himself to the inhabitants of Earth, and the universe.

[Dr. Waite]

Originally Posted By: Dr. Rich

Jesus never said anything about Him being anyone's personal Saviour. His Gospel, the real gospel, was about the Kingdom of Heaven. If you don't keep the commandments and hold fast to the words of Jesus, then you will not be in that kingdom. It's your choice!

Rich, are we reading the same gospel? Nobody's personal Savior?

ESV | Jn 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God ...“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

ESV | Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

ESV | Jn 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

ESV | Jn 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

ESV | Jn 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

ESV | 1 Jn 5:12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

"Whoever does not believe(in the name of the only begotten Son of God) is condemned already"

The people who believe in the trinity doctrine are condemned already because they do not believe in the name of the person who is the literal "only begotten Son of God".

[ClubV12]

"only begotten Son of God".

I don't have a problem with that statement, it's speaking about one of the three in the God head, Jesus. I don't see a conflict. Actually, I don't see a conflict in a LOT of the statments made on this subject, which have been presented as "proof" of their only being two in the God head.

It's almost like, a bunch of this conflict is generated by man in support of his position. To me, the issue is fairly straight forward, there are three persons in the God head, not a problem. I have yet to see a verse or quote that clearly demonstrates there are only two. We see many verses speaking of two, or speaking of one, but that doesn't carry any weight as to meaning thats all there is. When I speak to or about my brother, it often has nothing to do with my sister, or my mother/father, when there is no need to mention them in the conversation.

Other times, I speak about my "family" and may mention some of them, rarely (if ever) do I mention ALL of them (Aunts, Uncles, cousins).

In the above quote, Jesus, is being referred to as the "only begotten Son of God". For the purpose(s) of salvation, coming to earth as a man to die for my sins, I "get it". It's talking about the unique roll He (Jesus) has to play, the Holy Spirit, as well as the Father, also have unique rolls to play.

Thank God it's simple enough for even me to understand without employing mental gymnastics to support some position I've staked out. I'm an ant, but I "get it"! :)

[John317]

Originally Posted By: John317

The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit--those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized and these powers will cooperate with the obedient. {HP 336.2}

Is this confusing? What is it saying to us?

Yes John, you are confused as was EGW.

I'm not asking if you agree with Ellen White. I'm asking if her meaning is unclear and confused.

If so, please show the part that is hard to understand and confused.

[John317]

Originally Posted By: John317

The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit--those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized and these powers will cooperate with the obedient. {HP 336.2}

Is this confusing? What is it saying to us?

Jesus never said anything about Him being anyone's personal Saviour.

What does it mean to say "Jesus Christ is my personal Savior"?

Are you saying that Christ is to be our impersonal Savior?

[Dr. Rich]

I kinda like what Aliensanctuary wrote as it shows he is thinking outside of the box. As I posted in another thread, I would probably agree with EGW that we and humans can't fully understand the concept of a spiritual being verses a human being. The trinity that the Adventists believe in is found when Jesus was baptized. I thought that was very clear.

[John317]

"only begotten Son of God".

I don't have a problem with that statement, it's speaking about one of the three in the God head, Jesus. I don't see a conflict.

....In the above quote, Jesus, is being referred to as the "only begotten Son of God". For the purpose(s) of salvation, coming to earth as a man to die for my sins, I "get it". It's talking about the unique roll He (Jesus) has to play, the Holy Spirit, as well as the Father, also have unique rolls to play.

"only begotten Son of God" really means "the one and only Son of God." It is referring to the uniqueness of the Son. There is no other person like Him in all the universe. He alone perfectly reflected God's glory.

"Son of"= of the order of. (In the Old Testament, there were the "the sons of the singers" and "the sons of the prophets.")

Jesus is "the Son of man," or the Son of Adam. This title (a favorite of Christ's) refers to Christ's humanity.

On the other hand, "Son of God," refers to Christ's deity-- the fact that He is God. Many people misunderstand it and think that it means Christ is literally a Son who came out of God's body or God's being in some way. Neither the Bible or Ellen White teach this. Ellen White plainly says that Christ is self-existent and infinite and that His life is original with Himself. John 1: 1 and John 8: 48, among other verses, are telling us the same thing.

It makes a difference whether the One who came and died for us was the Infinite God of the Universe, or whether He was a created being or one who owes his existence to another and who once was not. He was completely equal to the Father. His righteouesness is of infinite value.