About Jesus    Steve Sweetman

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It appears to me that the first generation of Christians
had no formulated doctrine of the Trinity. If this were the case
Paul most likely would have clearly set forth this
teaching as he did other truths so very well. Though
there was no specific doctrine of the Trinity in the New
Testament we do see with clarity that there is a Father,
and a Son, and a Holy Spirit. Let's begin our look at
the scriptures in the New Testament.

Recognition of Three Persons

Matt. 3:16-17
"As soon as Jesus was baptized He went up out of the
water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him.
And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son, whom I love,
with Him I am well pleased."

Here we see Jesus, as well as the Holy Spirit. Beyond
that we hear the voice from heaven. This is another
building block verse. There is no hint that the Spirit
and Jesus are of one essence at this point. The point
that is made by this verse is that there is a Jesus and
that there is a Holy Spirit. It is also clear to me
that the voice is the voice of the Father, although the
verse does not specifically say it is. The voice calls
Jesus His Son, therefore who else could the voice be from.
We see Father, Son and Spirit all in one verse.

John 14:16-17
"And I will ask the Father and He will give you
another counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of
Truth..."

Here too we see the fact that there is a Jesus as well
as a Holy Spirit, and a Father.

Matt. 28:19
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit..."

Here is a clear case of seeing Father, Son, and Spirit
all in one verse. Now I feel it is still important to
note that the three are all mentioned here, yet there is
no hint of them being of the same essence. You might also
note that the verse says, "in the name". The word name is
in the singular form, and not the plural form. Because of
this one might argue Trinity in this verse. That is, there is
one name, yet three persons mentioned having this one
name.

It is my personal opinion that the name of the Father,
and Son, and Spirit can also be simply stated as the "name
of the Lord Jesus Christ". There are only a few occasions
in the New Testament where the "name of the Father, Son
and Spirit" is so stated. In the majority of places the
"name of Jesus" is stated. Jesus told his disciples many
times to go and do things in His name. Jesus also told
the Twelve, as seen in the above verse to go and teach in
the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit. What did they
actually do? They taught in the name of Jesus. Peter as
an example, healed the lame man in Acts 3 in "the name
of Jesus", not in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
So I conclude that the two are one. Thus the name of Jesus is
the same as the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit. It
is simply two different ways of saying the same thing.

1 Cor. 12:4-6
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same
Spirit. There are different kinds of services but the
same Lord. There are different kinds of workings but the
same God works all of them in all men."

1 Peter 1:2-3
"...who have been chosen according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying
work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and the
sprinkling of His blood."

Here we see the three mentioned in accordance with
their work, or duties that they perform.

2 Cor. 13:14
"May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love
of God, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you
all."

Here once again the three persons of the Godhead are
mentioned in one verse, yet with no direct hint of being
of the same essence.

Father is God

Now let us move on to the next point. There are
scriptures that show us that the Father, the Son, and
the Spirit are recognized as God. We will now look at
some passages that show the Father as God.

John 6:27
"...on Him (Jesus) God the Father has placed His
seal."

Rom. 1:7
"...grace and peace be to you from God, our Father,
and from our Lord Jesus Christ."

Our Father being God is quite obvious and there are
numerous scriptures showing this fact. The above are just
two of these verses. You can clearly see that the Father
is God.

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