Exploring The Trinity: One God or Three? Pastor Doug Batchelor

Summary

Pastor Doug Batchelor delves into the intricate subject of the Trinity, exploring whether Jesus was created and the nature of the Holy Spirit. He discusses various scriptures supporting the eternal existence of Jesus as the Creator and shares insights on how the Holy Spirit is a distinct person within the Godhead. Throughout the video, Pastor Batchelor emphasizes the unity and unique roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Trinity, ultimately reinforcing that God is a unified being composed of three distinct persons. With references to biblical passages and theological interpretations, this presentation is an informative exploration for those seeking to understand the doctrine of the Trinity.

Highlights

• Pastor Doug answers whether Jesus was created, emphasizing His eternal existence. ✝️
• He explains how Jesus, as the Word, was present at the beginning and all things were made through Him. 📜
• The Holy Spirit is defined as a distinct entity with roles and emotions, proving personhood. 🌬️
• Pastor touches upon various scriptures, including Proverbs and Philippians, to present his arguments. 📚
• The video underscores the Trinity’s unity, comparing it to human family dynamics. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Key Takeaways

• The Trinity is a complex doctrine, but the Bible supports the unity of three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 📚
• Jesus is not a created being; He is eternal and one with God, as highlighted in scripture. ✝️
• The Holy Spirit is a distinct person with individual roles and characteristics, contributing to the unity of the Godhead. 🌬️
• The concept of God’s unity does not conflict with His Triune nature; it's about oneness in purpose and essence. 🤝
• Pastor Batchelor offers a free book for deeper exploration into this topic. 📖

Overview

In a captivating session, Pastor Doug Batchelor tackles the age-old question about the Trinity: Is Jesus a part of God's creation? He reassures us with biblical evidence that Jesus is eternal, the Creator and not created, making a compelling case with references from the Gospels and the Old Testament. Emphasizing Jesus's role as part of the divine nature, Pastor Batchelor dismantles common misconceptions with clarity and conviction.

Furthermore, Pastor Batchelor navigates through the characteristics and roles of the Holy Spirit, demonstrating how scripture distinctly identifies the Holy Spirit as a separate but integral part of the Godhead. Through detailed explanations and scriptural backing, he illustrates the active presence and personhood of the Spirit in the Trinity, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

This exploration into the Trinity also contemplates the unified love and purpose of God. Pastor Batchelor draws parallels between biblical teachings and human understanding of cohesive relationships, encouraging viewers to grasp the mystery of the Trinity as a divine oneness in essence yet diversity in personhood. This presentation not only informs but invites viewers to deepen their understanding of a fundamental Christian belief.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 10:00: Was Jesus Created? In this chapter, Pastor Doug Bachelor addresses the question, 'Was Jesus created?' as part of a series of discussions on the Trinity. The discussion is introduced as a recurring theme for upcoming weeks, signifying an in-depth exploration of this theological question. A free book, 'Exploring the Trinity: One God or Three?' is offered for those interested in further study. Pastor Doug aims to encapsulate the essence of the subject within an 8-minute summary, inviting readers to delve deeper through the suggested reading material.
• 10:00 - 20:00: The Holy Spirit as a Person The chapter titled 'The Holy Spirit as a Person' delves into the complex theological concept of the Trinity, particularly focusing on the aspect of the Holy Spirit. The discussion opens with an acknowledgment of the awe-inspiring nature of discussing such divine topics, reflecting on the scriptural insight that God's ways and existence are infinitely beyond human understanding. While some elements of the divine, such as the origins of God, remain mysterious and beyond our comprehension, there are aspects that are revealed to us through scripture for our understanding. The chapter sets the stage for exploring these revealed aspects, emphasizing the need for faith and acceptance of divine mysteries.
• 20:00 - 27:00: Is God One or Three? The chapter explores the theological question of whether God is one or three, focusing on the nature of Jesus's existence. It argues that the Bible reveals Jesus as eternal God, suggesting that he has always existed and was not created, contrary to interpretations that he was 'begotten' or created by God the Father. The discussion aims to clarify misunderstandings about Jesus's eternal nature by examining various biblical scriptures.
• 27:00 - 33:00: Trinity in the Bible The chapter delves into the concept of the Trinity in the Bible, starting with the Gospel of John, chapter 1. It highlights the existence of the Word, referring to Jesus, emphasizing that the Word was both with God and was God. The chapter underscores the self-existence of the Word, stating that Jesus was present at the beginning, implying His eternality. It further mentions that all things were created through Him, and without Him, nothing was made, which underscores His divine role in creation.
• 33:00 - 37:30: Unity and Conclusion The chapter explores theological interpretations concerning the existence of Jesus, emphasizing the belief in his eternal existence with the Father. It discusses different theological perspectives, some arguing Jesus was 'begotten' rather than created, suggesting he emanated from the Father rather than being made. This reflects continued debates over the understanding of divine nature and the relationship within the Trinity.

Exploring The Trinity: One God or Three? Pastor Doug Batchelor Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hi friends Pastor Doug Bachelor here we want to welcome you to our Friday evening Bible question of the week and our question today was Jesus created we really be part of a series of questions we'll do over the next few weeks related to the subject of the Trinity I know a lot of folks are much exercised over this and we have a free book we're going to make available if you want more information I'm going to summarize as much as I can and 8 minutes or so and the book is called exploring the Trinity one God or three go to the link at the
• 00:30 - 01:00 bottom of the screen and you'll find out how you can get a free copy of that now when we talk about the Trinity I confess we're venturing on Holy Ground because the Bible says that as the heavens are high above the Earth so are my ways above your ways and God is past finding out and who can understand the almighty and so there are certain Mysteries that we need to just know that we can't understand about explaining where God came from but those things that are revealed belong unto to us and our
• 01:00 - 01:30 children and I think the Bible does reveal very plainly that Jesus is eternal God that he has been there always now some read the verses where it talks about uh Jesus's the only begotten son and they think well that means there was a time in the remote recesses of Eternity when Jesus was brought forth that God the father created him somehow and I think there's plenty of scripture that tells you that Jesus has always been around that he was not created let's look at what the Bible say
• 01:30 - 02:00 starting with John the Gospel of John chapter 1 in the beginning was the word capital W talking about Jesus and the Word was with God and the Word was God now the very fact it says he was it's telling you that he's self-existent he was in the beginning with God wherever the beginning is he was there it's far back as you can go all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was
• 02:00 - 02:30 made so to say that there was a time when Jesus did not exist and yet he came into existence would say that the father made him and um Bible says everything made was made by him so he didn't make himself so he must have always existed along with the father now some are going to pars and argue with the words they say well Jesus was not made he was begotten and he came out of the father and they tried to make an argument with
• 02:30 - 03:00 semantics but the fact is that if there was a time when Christ Jesus did not exist and then through some Act of the father he was brought forth he was created that's all you can say you can't you know change the words and try to say well begotten is different than being created if he's brought forth by the father if he goes from being nonbeing to being by an act of the father he's created and so that would mean that he's a creature and he's is not the Creator
• 03:00 - 03:30 that's a very important Point um now you read here that uh the Bible tells us in Exodus 3:14 when God revealed himself to Moses he said I am that I am that's the self-existent one it didn't need any other to bring him into existence and you can read that Jesus especially in the Gospel of John he calls himself with the I am terms all the time you read in John 8:58 Christ said most assuredly I
• 03:30 - 04:00 say to you before Abraham was I am and look at some of the other I AMS here in John Jesus says I am the bread I am the water I am the way the truth the life I am the door I am the Good Shepherd I am the Vine I am the resurrection and the Jews understood what Christ said when he said I am before Abraham was I am they took up stones to kill him for blasphemy because he was claiming to be Eternal God just like the father that self-existent title you read in Psalm
• 04:00 - 04:30 90:1 and2 Lord you have been our Dwelling Place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth orever you had formed the earth and the world even from Everlasting to Everlasting you are God that means as far as you can go in One Direction as far as you can go in another Direction more eternal than space itself Christ has always existed in Revelation he calls himself the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end that by the way is revelation
• 04:30 - 05:00 2213 you read in Micah 528 prophecy about the coming Messiah but you Bethlehem EPA though you are little among the thousands of Judah yet out of you shall come forth to me the one who is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth are from old even from Everlasting his going forth are from Everlasting now one of for me this is I think a slam dunk truth the idea that Jesus was cre created means that at some
• 05:00 - 05:30 point a person believes that uh God the Father perhaps God the Father with the spirit but these people also don't believe the spirit is God did not exist which would mean that at some point way back that God the Father existed all by himself and there was no other intelligent being now the Bible tells us that the Supreme definition of God is God Is Love by its very nature love must be expressed in order to be
• 05:30 - 06:00 love so for you to say that there was a time when God existed and Jesus did not exist God could not be love unless it was expressed God the father son and spirit something we'll talk about another question um has always existed and that's why God is love there's always been this perfect love between the members the persons of the Trinity now then there'll be people who look at Proverbs 8 let me read this to you Proverbs 8 and I'm going to read verse
• 06:00 - 06:30 22 to2 they believe this is a a prophecy speaking about Jesus the Lord possessed me at the beginning of his ways before his works of old I've been established from Everlasting from beginning before the Earth was ever an earth when there was no depths I was brought forth they're saying see he was from Everlasting but it says that he was brought forth they say this is about Jesus keep reading when there were no fountains abounding with Waters I'm in Proverbs chap um 8: 25 before the
• 06:30 - 07:00 mountains were settled before the hills I was brought forth while you had not made the Earth of the fields of the Primal dust of the world it's start saying that Jesus was brought forth before the world was created this song it's not a proverb it's in the Book of Proverbs but it's one of the songs of Solomon starts with verse eight has nothing to do with Jesus being brought forth it is a a metaphor for wisdom the whole thing let's just look at some of the examples in here
• 07:00 - 07:30 uh Proverbs 8 ver1 does wisdom cry out and understand lift up her voice she takes her stand on the top of the hill whole thing is talking about wisdom and the importance of wisdom and you just go to some of the following verses verse 12 I wisdom dwell with Prudence I find out knowledge and discretion go to verse 14 counsel is mine sound wisdom I am understanding I have strength this is just a soliloquy it's just a Song of Solomon dealing with wisdom and the importance of wisdom wisdom was brought
• 07:30 - 08:00 forth in the very beginning it's not talking about Jesus and so that that's one of the arguments that I've heard before but um really to say that Jesus was begotten or um meaning born begotten doesn't mean that begotten simply means that um when Christ was incarnate the only time God was begotten is in the Incarnation in Jesus and that was when God became a man the Son of God laid aside his divinity and became a man to
• 08:00 - 08:30 say that there was a time when he didn't exist and then suddenly he did exist he's a creature now here's the problem a creature cannot die for the creation the only one who can die for the creation is the Creator and Jesus is the creator I'll close with this one and there's many more verses but you look in Philippians 2: 5-8 let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God
• 08:30 - 09:00 Christ was saying he has perfect equality with God and he didn't feel like that was taking something that didn't belonged to him perfect equality with God but made himself going from that being a Creator equality with God position made himself of no reputation taking the form of a bonder servant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in the appearances a man he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even the death of the Cross and and so you take something away
• 09:00 - 09:30 from the incredible condescension of Christ that he went from being Eternal God to becoming a human uh that he might save us and um this I think subtracts from the importance of the Gospel today we're talking about is the holy spirit a person and interwoven with that is the question is the holy spirit God usually once you can establish the holy spirit is a unique person people won't argue that that person is also God because it becomes pretty clear the same
• 09:30 - 10:00 arguments that are used to establish that Jesus is a unique person and the father is a unique person are the ones we're going to use to show that the holy spirit is a person and the Holy Spirit is God uh first of all uh you can look in John 16:7 and Jesus said I tell you the truth it is to your advantage that I go away for if I do not go away the helper will not come to you but if I go I will send send him to you the word that's used for
• 10:00 - 10:30 helper sometimes comforter is paraclete and it's talking about a person who is an advocate a representative someone who pleads in your behalf but all all of history when that word is used it's an individual and so the Holy Spirit has given the personage of this individual and we're going to look at about 14 different texts there are many more but we'll look at about 14 that show that the Holy Spirit has the same kind of unique characteristics ICS an individual
• 10:30 - 11:00 or a person would have for example the Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us like like a mother might John 14:26 the helper the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I say to you now if the Holy Spirit was really just the spirit of Jesus Jesus would say I'm leaving but I will through my spirit do this but he gives them separate individuality you can look in 1 Corinthians 2:13
• 11:00 - 11:30 another verse it says the Holy Spirit teaches we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the spirit interpreting spiritual things with spiritual go to acts 8:29 says the spirit speaks communicating intelligent thought it says the spirit said to Phillip go over and join this Chariot in Acts 13:2 that was Acts 8:29 acts 13:2 while while they were worshiping the
• 11:30 - 12:00 Lord and fasting the holy spirit said set apart from me Barnabas and Saul for the work that I called them the spirit makes decisions there's cognitive things happening there acts 15:28 it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements now if the holy spirit is really just the spirit of the father or the son it would have said it seemed good to God or it seemed good to to Jesus but it gives the
• 12:00 - 12:30 Holy Spirit separate individuality the Holy Spirit guides now when I read this verse count how many times you find the phrase he or his John 16:13 when he the spirit of Truth has come he will guide you into all truth he will not speak on his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and he will teach you of things to come that's seven times sort of the Divine number says he he he um the spirit can be
• 12:30 - 13:00 grieved you don't grieve electricity you don't grieve some non-personal Force like a robot the Holy Spirit has personhood has feelings Ephesians 4:30 do not grieve the holy spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption I think there are two verses that say that the Holy Spirit can be grieved the Holy Spirit can be outraged and offended Hebrews 10:29 how much worse punishment do you
• 13:00 - 13:30 think he will deserve by the one who has outraged the spirit of Grace and you can say also the Holy Spirit can be lied to now this is one of the verses that proves the holy spirit's God Peter said to ananas why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit you have not lied to men but to God he said when you lie to the Holy Spirit you're lying to God God the spirit obviously the spirit can forbid or prevent human speech and plans acts
• 13:30 - 14:00 16:6 and 7 they went through the regions of friia and galatia having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia and when they had come to missia they attempted to go into bethenia but the spirit of Jesus did not allow them the spirit is saying no don't do this yes do that and it has thought and power to guide uh the spirit appropriates spiritual gifts The Same Spirit a portions spiritual gifts to each one
• 14:00 - 14:30 individually as he will so the spirit looks at a person based on their ability they Beque different spiritual gifts there's an evaluation that is taking place there the spirit intercedes for us and has a mind notice Romans 8:26 and 27 the spirit helps us in our weakness for we do not know how we should pray as we ought but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words and he who searches Hearts knows what is
• 14:30 - 15:00 the mind of the spirit because the spirit intercedes for the Saints according to the will of God so here you've got the Holy Spirit who is pleading and interceding before God in our behalf and obviously and unless it's God talking to himself you've got God the spirit who says look I'll be your rep I'm your Advocate I will plead before the father and son in your behalf separate person the spirit glorifies Christ and takes what is Christ and declares it to
• 15:00 - 15:30 Believers it says in John 16:14 he will glorify me so the spirit is not Jesus he is glorifying Jesus for he will take what is mine declare it to you and Romans 15:30 he said I beg you through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the spirit that you strive together with me in your prayers did you catch that God is love the Bible says the holy spirit is love through the love of the spirit ultimately the Bible tells us in the beginning God created
• 15:30 - 16:00 the heavens and the Earth and it says there in Genesis the spirit of God was that creation who Moved upon the face of the waters you find the Holy Spirit mentioned all the way from Genesis to Revelation where it says the spirit and the bride say come it's the Holy Spirit who's making the ultimate invitation to the kingdom of heaven and to Salvation there in the last verses of the Bible so from cover to cover you see God said let us make man in our image the holy spirit's involved in creation certainly
• 16:00 - 16:30 God the spirit is involved in our Recreation which is why this is a very important subject you can also read in Psalm 33:6 by the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the spirit of his mouth now uh while we're talking about this um I know there's some people that in in our last presentation they began to quote some of the spirit of Prophecy statements saying the Holy Spirit uh was not a person or that Jesus was created let me give you some of the spirit of
• 16:30 - 17:00 Prophecy statements on this if you look for instance in manuscript 661 1899 page 4 there Ellen White said we have been brought together as a school and we need to realize that the Holy Spirit who is as much a person as God is a person is walking through these grounds that's pretty clear Desire of Ages 671 sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agent of the third person of the godhead who would
• 17:00 - 17:30 come in no modified energy but in the fullness of divine power it's the holy spirit's third person of the godhead um this is from Christ triumphant page 301 what gift could Christ bestow Rich enough to sign to signalize and Grace his Ascension to the mediatorial throne it must be worthy of his greatness and his royalty Christ gave his rep representative speaking of him as a
• 17:30 - 18:00 different person the third person of the godhead the holy spirit this gift could not be excelled God gave God the spirit here you've got evangelism 617 the Holy Spirit has a personality else he could not bear witness to our spirits and within our spirits that we are the children of God he must also be a Divine person else he could not search out the secrets that lie within the hidden Mind Of God for what man knows the things of man save the the spirit of man which is in him even so the things
• 18:00 - 18:30 of God knows no man but the spirit of God I read that verse to you from Romans a moment ago in 1897 and 1898 Ellen White made her first statement regarding the person her of the Holy Spirit stating that he was the third person of the godhead this is in special testimony series 810 page 25 and 37 and so they just several statements that make it very clear that even the spirit of Prophecy supports this teaching the the holy spirit is a unique person and the
• 18:30 - 19:00 third person of the godhead this will be our third installment of a three-part question we're dealing with on the subject of God and the Trinity and this one should be short and fairly simple it's dealing with the subject is God one or three now of course there are a number of verses in the Bible that say things like the great shama which you find in Deuteronomy 64 here o Israel the Lord Our God the Lord is one you should love the Lord with all all your heart mind soul and strength you go to Isaiah
• 19:00 - 19:30 44:6 thus says the Lord the king of Israel and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts I am the first and the last beside me there is no God Malachi 2:10 have we not all one father has not one God created us and then you can go to John 17:3 and this is eternal life that they might know you the only true God and Jesus Christ who you have sent 1 Timothy also adds verse 5 chapter 2 for there is
• 19:30 - 20:00 one God and one mediator between God and Men the man Jesus Christ and the word one there isad which means first so is there one God or three if if there's only one God and that would be God the Father then Jesus and the Holy Spirit would be lesser gods or maybe Jesus is a created being and the Holy Spirit is just a force now I believe that when the Bible say say one God it's talking about the three persons you say I'm I'm Doug
• 20:00 - 20:30 Bachelor that's who I am a human being is what I am when we say there is one God it's describing what God is God is one God you have to keep in mind that for the Hebrews who had come out of the polytheism of Egypt where there were many gods that all fought with each other and were different and had different objectives and that when God said hereo Israel the Lord our God is one it's really saying God is one God is
• 20:30 - 21:00 United um you know there's a number of examples in the Bible that help bear this out how God can be one and yet be more than one person God himself says there in Genesis therefore a man will leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife and they shall be one so you've got two of course you could have five people in a family that are one family so in the Hebrew mind the idea one did not mean numerical quantity it often meant that you are one unit that
• 21:00 - 21:30 there was Unity happening there so when God says I am one God God the father son and spirit now you see the plurality of God often in the creation God says when he's creating God said in Genesis 1:26 let us make man in our image you can also see that in Genesis 322 then the Lord God said behold the man has become like us the the word Elohim is used 2,700 times in the Bible it's
• 21:30 - 22:00 one of the most common phrases for God it is a plural um word Genesis 11 after the Tower of Babel in verse 7 come let us go down and there confuse their language and so uh God often refers to himself in this plural sense and even when you get to the New Testament um you know Jesus said speaking in John 17 that he prays that the apostles might be one he says father as you and I
• 22:00 - 22:30 are one and then even at the baptism of Jesus you see the three persons of the godhead you see God the Father speaking from Heaven saying this is my beloved Son God the son is in the water God the spirit is coming down in the form of a dove and so there's a number of cases how God uh is three persons but God is united in his work of saving men uh you can find now the word Trinity of course is not in the Bible I don't know that
• 22:30 - 23:00 you find the word bible in the Bible but we know the Bible exists um the word Trinity is just a Latin word Tri entity means three entities like a tricle has three wheels it's talking about the three entities of God and so I wouldn't get hung up on the word it's the idea of the godhead that the god that we worship uh there's these three persons that are actively involved with different roles in our Salvation um you got God the father so loving the world that he sends God the
• 23:00 - 23:30 SP the son and then we are saved and empowered through God the spirit and guided through God the spirit and so they're all working in different roles but there are three persons in the godhead that you see a lot of verses in the Bible bear that out even in the Great Commission Jesus says Matthew 28:19 go ye therefore teach All Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father the Son the Holy Spirit matter of fact I've got 25 different examples in the
• 23:30 - 24:00 back of my book here that use it shows verses where you find the three persons of the godhead in one or two verses together they're often identified you got 2 Corinthians 13:14 the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all why did the apostles issue benedictions like that the three different persons of God Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ
• 24:00 - 24:30 who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God Christ the spirit God one of my favorites is the introduction to Revelation we're here in John I'm sorry John says in Revelation 1 verse4 and five John to the seven churches which are in Asia grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits that are before his throne and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness the firstborn from the dead the ruler
• 24:30 - 25:00 over the kings of the earth Christ is also referred to in Revelation as the first and the last and so Jesus must also be God but here you've got the three different persons of the godhead now we don't believe in something that is like modalism we don't believe that God just puts on different masks and appears different ways at different times probably the best verse that refutes that is the B baptism of Jesus where you know Jesus the son is in the
• 25:00 - 25:30 water and God is speaking from Heaven Jesus is not doing the work of a ventriloquist when he does that you see the three persons of the godhead geographically fulfilling different roles so we believe they are unique individual persons they are all they have no Beginning No End they're Eternal they're perfectly United while they do have different roles uh that they all compose God and they have personhood and so um they self existent and that we believe this is the one God that we love
• 25:30 - 26:00 and worship you know there are quite a few others I'm just grabbing a hold of my handy dandy book here because uh I said I I've got about uh 24 25 examples of this you can look at John 14:26 the helper the Holy Spirit who the father will send in my name you got the Holy Spirit the father Jesus John 15:26 when the helper comes whom I Jesus shall send from the father Jesus the father
• 26:00 - 26:30 holy spirit all involved in our Salvation so I just think it's very helpful for us to understand that um when you find the phrase one in the Bible it doesn't always mean numerical quantity it's often talking about Unity God calls upon us to be one Jesus said all people will know you're my disciples by your love for one another and U God is wanting to be one with us the whole purpose for the Plan of Salvation is we've been separated from God by our sin he wants to once again be one with us
• 26:30 - 27:00 and that's our prayer for you if you'd like to know how you can get a free copy of this book just go to the information on the bottom of your screen you can contact us and get one for you read it and then share it with a friend God bless friends we'll do another Bible question next Friday evening