Why God Is Not a Trinity

Well, happy Sabbath once again, brethren.

Recently, I was told about an individual who applied for a legal alternative to the Affordable Care Act.

He needed a health care coverage, and right now, according to the Affordable Care Act, health care is mandated for everyone, so he decided to get some health care coverage through an alternative called MediShare.

Here's what MediShare states on its homepage. It says, MediShare is, quote, a community of Christians who have agreed to live as the early church, it says Acts 2 and 4, when it comes to sharing each other's burdens. Members share each other's eligible medical bills and, most importantly, encourage and lift up one another in prayer.

So he applied. One of the questions on the application was if he believed in the Trinity.

And being an honest individual, being a Sabbatarian, he said no, and his application for membership was rejected.

The first thing that I thought of was what Peter said in Acts 16 and verse 3. Apparently, they don't believe what Peter said. Here's what he said in Acts 16 and verse 3. He said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. Apparently, Peter didn't know what he was talking about. Paul said essentially the same thing in Romans chapter 10 and verse 9. But unfortunately, in the world that we live in, for many who profess to be Christian and claim to believe what the Bible actually believes and claim that they want to live like the authentic Christians did in Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 4, there's an additional litmus test beyond what Peter said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. They have created a litmus test to define what a true Christian is. And this litmus test is the belief in a Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity goes back a long way. It goes back to the early days of the Catholic Church. And here's what it teaches. It holds that God is three consubstantial persons. There's a word there, right? Consubstantial. It means of the same substance or essence. Three consubstantial persons or hypostasis, which is a Greek word that it means distinct substances. The Father, the Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as one God in three divine persons. Now, if you're already confused, that you're already saying to yourself, I don't quite get where consubstantial comes from and where these terms come from, then you obviously don't grasp the mystery of the Trinity. The Trinity doctrine assumes that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are three co-equal persons in one divine being.

As we're going to see as we look through scriptures today, it has to be a mystery, because the Old Testament nor the New Testament uses the word Trinity, and neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament defines the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as co-equal persons being a triune God. Yet, many of us who make it a litmus test that to be a true Christian, you have to believe in the Trinity. Many admit that it's a mystery beyond understanding. I'd like to read you a quote from the book Handbook of Christian Truth by Harold Lin-Sell and Charles Woodbridge. This was written in 1953. And here's what they said, the mind of man cannot fully understand the mystery of the Trinity. He who tries to understand the mystery fully will lose his mind. But he who would deny the Trinity will lose his soul.

Well, that's a fine predicament to put me in. I have to choose between either losing my mind, trying to understand the mystery of the Trinity, or on the other hand, I can just lose my soul.

Author and theology professor Harold Brown wrote a book, Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church. This was written in the year 2003. And here's what he said, it has proved impossible for Christians actually to understand the doctrine or to explain it in a comprehensive way. The doctrine of the Trinity surpasses our human ability to understand, and that must be respected as a divine mystery.

The International Bible Encyclopedia acknowledges that the Trinity is a second-century term found nowhere in the Bible. The scriptures present no Finnish Trinitarian statement, according to the 1988 edition under the article Trinity. It further states that Church Fathers crystallized doctrine in succeeding centuries long after the apostles had passed from the scene.

And finally, the Harper-Collins Bible Dictionary says this, The formal doctrine of the Trinity, as it is defined by the great Church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries, is not to be found in the New Testament. So, apparently, it is a mystery. It's so mysterious that you can't find it in the Bible.

Well, today I want to discuss what the New Testament states about the Holy Spirit in context to whether it is or is not part of a Trinity, whether it is a co-equal person, part of one divine being. I'm not even going to go into the Old Testament today because even believers in the Trinity admit that there is little to no evidence of this concept in the Old Testament. Yeah, they'll claim that there are huge veiled references. For example, if you go to Genesis 126 where God said, let us make man in our image, they'll say, see, that kind of implies that there is a Trinity. Let us. Like, there's more than one. But this isn't a real proof since the pre-existent Christ could have been talking to the Father or vice versa. So we'll begin by going directly into the New Testament because if there's any hope for this doctrine of the Trinity, it has to be there or it doesn't exist. So let's begin by going to Matthew chapter 1 and verse 18. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 18. And we'll introduce ourselves to the birth of Jesus Christ and how the Holy Spirit related to that. Again, Matthew chapter 1 and verse 18.

Matthew was inspired to write, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was his follows.

After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph and before they came together, before they became husband and wife, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you, Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. So it's the power and the presence of God, the Holy Spirit. It says, you're conceived Jesus Christ. Yet Jesus never represented the Holy Spirit as his father. He never ever prayed to the Holy Spirit as his father. He continually addressed and prayed to God the Father and not the Holy Spirit as his father, even though, as the scripture says here, he was conceived in her, that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit.

So obviously, as the scripture tells us here, the Holy Spirit is not a co-equal person with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. Let's take a look at another scripture that many people turn to, not understanding the difficulty with translations and genders. John 16, verse 12, if you'll turn there with me, this is a classic scripture in which the Holy Spirit is referred to as a he. And many people would say today, if you were discussing the Trinity, well, look, obviously it's addressed as a person. Jesus said he would do this and he will do that. And that's a masculine pronoun and it reflects the fact they would say that the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is a personage, is a separate part of God. Well, let's read the scripture first and then we'll explain why we find this in these passages. Quote, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide you in all truth, for he will not speak of his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak.

And he will tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine and declare to you all things that the Father has our mind. Therefore, I said that he will take care of mine and declare it to you. So why all of these words he in here? Well, it's the Greek word. The Greek word here is pneuma, and in English it's translated spirit, as we see in this verse. Other places it's also translated wind or breath in the New Testament, depending on the context. In Greek, it is a grammatically neuter word, meaning it's not feminine, it's not used with a feminine or masculine pronoun. Pneuma is a grammatically neuter word. So there's absolutely no theological or biblical justification for referring to the Holy Spirit using masculine pronouns in English. The Greek language neuter pronouns have the equivalent the English has. It may refer to it, itself, which, or that, which properly used in referring to this word into English as spirit. So why do we see this translated as he? Well, before I mention why, I want to read you one other thing from Wikipedia. Here's what it said in Wikipedia under the article Gender of the Holy Spirit. It says, quote, the gender of the Holy Spirit has been the object of some discussion in recent years, questioning whether the Holy Spirit should be referred to as he, she, or it. To some extent, this derives from the gender of the noun used in different languages. Spiritus in Latin is a masculine noun. Continuing, it says, while pneuma in Greek is a neuter noun. Now, the New Testament wasn't originally written in Latin. It was later translated in the Latin. It was originally written in Greek. And the Greek word is pneuma. And as the article says here, that is a neuter noun. So let me get back to the question. So when we read this verse, why do we see all of the he's here? Well, it's very simple. When the King James authorized version of the Bible was translated around the year 1611, the doctrine of the Trinity had been accepted for more than 1200 years. It was only 75 years, around 1611, was only 75 years after Henry VIII broke off from the Catholic Church for the great theological reason that he wanted divorce his first wife and remarry a trophy wife. The Pope wouldn't grant him a divorce, so he said, okay, I'll fix you. I am now the head of all the churches in England. So he did that just by signing a document, and it was done. But at this time, there obviously, because of his history, was a very strong Catholic influence, including the belief in the Trinity in the Anglican Church at that time. So naturally, the all-male translators in 1611 produced a version influenced by their personal belief in the Trinity, and they chose to use masculine pronouns rather than neutral pronouns when referring to the Holy Spirit in English. So that's exactly how that happened. But of itself, it is not a proof that the Holy Spirit is a person or is co-equal with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Now let's go to Matthew, chapter 28 and verse 19. Many people will say, ah, they'll say, but the formula for baptism mentions the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and the baptismal formula reveals that there is a Trinity.

Well, is that true? Let's go to Matthew, chapter 28, and we'll pick it up in verse 19.

Matthew, chapter 28 and verse 19, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even, and to the end of the age, amen.

And people who want to believe in the Trinity will say, see, all three are mentioned as baptizing them in their name. Well, that may be true, and I'm certainly not disputing that, but that does not mean that the Holy Spirit is a co-equal divine presence that is part of a triune God. What this particular passage shows us is that the process of baptism and entering God's family involves the Father, it involves the Son, and it involves the Holy Spirit. This is not a description of the nature of God. Why the Father, Son, and Spirit are mentioned here in Matthew, chapter 28, and verse 19? Well, at baptism, we enter a covenant relationship with the Father.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, makes that covenant relationship possible. The Holy Spirit is the process by which the Father and the Son make all of this possible. It is their unique essence, their power and their presence, that are given to us through the laying on of hands that make it possible for us to have that relationship, for us to be forgiven, for us to literally be the children of God. The Scriptures acknowledge that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are essential in creation and in salvation, but that of itself does not prove that these three are co-equal and co-eternal. You may recall the baptism of Jesus in Matthew, chapter 3, verses 15 through 17, where it said when Jesus was baptized that the Holy Spirit descended upon him as if a dove. Well, there's no hint that there are being three co-equal persons as one being at the baptism of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, the Spirit was not revealed as a person, was it? If you recall Matthew, chapter 3, verses 15 through 17, Jesus speaks in that episode. John tries to stop him and says, no, we need to do this to fulfill all righteousness. So Jesus Christ speaks. God the Father speaks. He says, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, yet the Holy Spirit is represented as a silent dove, not a person. It doesn't speak.

The dove represents reconciliation between God and man. Back in the time of Noah's ark, eventually a dove showed up with something in its beak, and it represented the fact that God was reconciling himself to humankind and saying, it's okay to come out of the ark now. It's all right. Reconciliation has occurred. The punishment has been paid. Come out and start all over again. Some of the sacrifices in the Old Covenant included use of a dove. Again, that was a form, that sacrifice, it was a form of reconciliation. And in the literal baptism of Jesus Christ, that dove represented not being co-eternal or co-equal with God. It represented God's presence and the reconciliation of Jesus Christ because he was beginning his ministry. And he would live a perfect and righteous life. And he would shed his blood so that all humankind for eternity could be reconciled to God. So we need to understand the purpose of the Holy Spirit, even in the baptism of Jesus Christ. Now let's go to Acts 5 and verse 1, a scripture that was pointed out to me just a few years ago by someone who believed in the Trinity. I had never heard of this line of reasoning before, but they felt it was important. So I thought I would mention it. Acts chapter 5 beginning in verse 1.

Acts chapter 5 and verse 1. It says, but a certain man named Ananias and Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession and he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?

While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon those who heard these things. And the person said to me, see, it said that he lied to the Holy Spirit. And in the next verse, it says, you have not lied to men, but to God. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is God.

That's the line of reasoning. Well, this verse doesn't prove that the Holy Spirit is God. Lying to the Holy Spirit is an insult to the giver of the gift. If I sent one of my grandchildren to you to give you something that was really precious and important to me, and I sent one of my grandchildren to you to give you that special gift from me to you, and you lied to my grandchildren about the importance of that gift, you wouldn't offend the gift. You wouldn't offend my grandchildren, but I can assure you that I would be, as the giver of that gift, offended because you lied. And it's the same. It's true in this verse. It isn't the Holy Spirit that is offended. It is God who was lied to because he had given these two people a very precious gift, something from himself to them, and they had despised that gift and abused it. And it was God who was offended. Now let's go to 1 John 5, verses 7 through 8, a rather classic scripture that people read regarding their support of a belief in the Trinity. 1 John 5, verses 7 and 8. And your Bible, whatever you're reading from, may have all of these words, or it may be truncated. It may not have all of the words that I'm about to read from the new King James Version. And the reason your Bible may not have all of these words are a number of these words were added in the 14th century. They were not part of any of the original manuscripts. So I'm going to read it from the New King James Version. 4 There are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And someone who wants to believe in the Trinity says, Aha! There you go! Verse 8. And there are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree as one. I'm going to read you a statement from the Believer's Study Bible. These are from people who frankly believe in the Trinity, but at least they're honest enough to be intellectually honest and fair about what happened here. So I'm going to read from the Believer's Study Bible. Quote, The words from in heaven, verse 7, through on earth, verse 8, are only found in a few Greek manuscripts, none dating earlier than the 14th century.

Furthermore, the passage is not quoted by any of the Greek church fathers. The textual data suggests that these words were absent from the original letter, meaning the original letter that John wrote.

As a matter of fact, theology professors Anthony and Richard Hansen, in their book, Reasonable Belief, a Survey of the Christian Faith, said this about what has happened to 1 John, chapter 5, verses 7 through 8. They say, quote, It was added by some enterprising person or persons in the ancient church who felt that the New Testament was sadly deficient in direct witness to the kind of doctrine of the Trinity which he favored and who determined to remedy that defect.

It was a waste of time to attempt to read Trinitarian doctrine directly off the pages of the New Testament, end of quote. Now, let's see what John really felt about the nature of God. We're just going to go back a few chapters. The John, chapter 1, verses 1 through 3. Let's read the first three verses of 1 John and see whom John tells us we have fellowship with.

John, chapter 1, verses 1 through 3. That which is from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the Word of life. And John could say this because he could look any of us in the face and say, Look, I'm not giving you some story. I was there. I touched Jesus. I smelled him. I know what he was like in his physical being and his physical presence. I saw him with my own eyes, John would say. Verse 2, and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. Now, verse 3, that we which have seen and heard, we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Something missing here? Maybe John was having a bad day. Maybe he got distracted and just didn't finish the sentence. No, I don't think that's the case at all. I think John knew who God was, who and what God was, and he didn't need to create some artificial belief that the Holy Spirit, which is the power and the presence of God, to do God's will and do God's work, he didn't believe that somehow that spirit was co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Many people look to Paul's writings for proof of a trinity. Well, let's turn to Romans chapter 1, verses 7 and 8, and see Paul's standard greeting in all his letters to the churches as well as some letters he wrote to individuals. He had a standard greeting, and sometimes he tweeted a little bit, but it was a standard greeting. In each of his greetings, he never mentions the Holy Spirit. By the way, the same can be said of Peter in the salutations that he uses in his two epistles. He doesn't mention the greetings from the Holy Spirit, but from the Father and Jesus Christ. But let's take a look here at Romans chapter 1, verses 7 and 8. He says, To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all and in your faith and that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

Is there something missing here in Paul's salutation? Well, maybe he was just having a bad day. Well, maybe he just got distracted and forgot to finish the sentence. Well, then he would have had to have been distracted about 12 other times because he says nearly the exact same thing in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and 3, 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 2, Galatians chapter 1 in verse 3, Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 2, Philippians chapter 1 and verse 2, Colossians chapter 1 and verse 2, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 1, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and 2, 1 Timothy, chapter 1 verse 2, 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 2, Titus chapter 1 verse 4, and Philemon 3. Do you see, Paul was distracted that many times from sending a grace and peace and omitting the Holy Spirit in giving his salutation to the church? What's Paul missing here? Well, he defines God as the relationship between the Father and Jesus Christ only. The Holy Spirit is always left out of these greetings. An incredible and unexplainable oversight if the Spirit indeed was a person or an entity that was co-equal with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. Let's now go to Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 8 and find out what Paul really felt that the mystery was. Really felt about the nature of God. Ephesians chapter 3 and we will begin in verse 8. He says, He's going to explain what that is. So the mystery from the beginning was the fact that Jesus Christ was the Creator and that Jesus Christ was His Son and that from the foundation of the world, Jesus Christ was designated to come to earth to live a perfect life, to shed his life, to be reconciliation for human sin. Verse 10. Verse 12.

Does he bow his knee to the Holy Spirit? No, the Holy Spirit isn't mentioned here, is it? This is Paul's understanding of who and what God is. I want you to notice what he says in verse 14. He is constantly mentioning the connection, the connected relationship between two beings, God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Is he leaving out another person or another co-equal part of God since he doesn't mention the Holy Spirit? Of course, no. He obviously doesn't believe that the Holy Spirit is God. What do these various examples have in common? Others, I could go on and on and give you many, many examples. We have a very excellent booklet on the Trinity that I encourage you to read.

What these examples show us is none of them teach, explain, or prove the Trinity as many claim. Many turn to these very scriptures that we've already read to try to explain why they believe in the Trinity. They do show that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit as existing and as very important to Christian life. But none present the Holy Spirit as a person or the Father and the Son and the Spirit as some type of triune God.

The scriptures we have reviewed don't substantiate the Trinity in any way. So having said that, what is the Holy Spirit? In a nutshell, it's the dynamic power and the presence of God given to reveal spiritual knowledge and to transform an individual towards becoming a new spiritual creation. It's a tool. It's the literal power and presence of Jesus Christ. Let's take a look at a few scriptures. Here's 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 6. Paul's famous statement to the young Timothy, who in all honesty was struggling with some issues. We don't know what they were, but he was a younger evangelist. Paul had mentored him. Paul knew him when he was a little boy attending church with his mom and his grandma.

So Paul had a particular affection for him and he knew that Timothy was struggling. He had some doubts. He had some issues. That's why Paul wrote these letters to him. Here's what he says in chapter 1 and verse 6. He says, Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. So he was the very person as his mentor who laid his hands on Timothy after Timothy's baptism and asked God to give Timothy the gift of his Holy Spirit.

Paul was there. Paul remembered that. And he says in verse 7, For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Now, if you'd like more details, if you'd like those three different qualities broken down, then I encourage you to go to Galatians chapter 5 and verses 22 and 23 and see the attributes or the fruit of that spirit. All of those attributes are representing power, love, or a sound mind. Paul states that the Holy Spirit gave Timothy these three important qualities as a gift from God the Father. Power, that's the ability to be transformed from this carnal fleshly being that we are that's totally absorbed in self into one that's slowly being transformed into a new creation, a new creature.

And the other, it's said here, the other one is love. It teaches us to have a godly sacrificial love, to have an agape type of love that the Father has that no longer does the world revolve around me.

It's not just about me, it's about other people too. And I need to love them and I need to care for people and love them to the same degree that the Father loves them. And that was love and then a sound mind, a balanced soundness in understanding spiritual things. Not knee-jerking off to the doctrine of the week club, not getting all worked up over somebody's personal agenda in their own pet gospel that they want to pull people away from themselves. No, being sound, being balanced, not being jerked around and manipulated by false ideas and concepts or some new truth that somebody invented last week.

That's what Paul is talking about here. Let's now go to Luke chapter 1 and verse 35, another scripture about the birth of Jesus Christ, and see how the Holy Spirit is described coming upon Mary. Luke chapter 1 and verse 35. It helps to define who and what the Holy Spirit is. Luke chapter 1 and verse 35. And an angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you. You know, if you look at the example in the Old Testament, sometimes prophets receive the Holy Spirit and they became ecstatic. They started jumping around and they started speaking.

Some of them tore their clothes off. They literally would be transformed. The Spirit would overshadow them. It would almost fall on them, and they would be literally be transformed in personality and in thought from what they were. And here, Mary is being told that the power of the highest will overshadow you like an umbrella, like being in shade. Therefore, also the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

The Greek word for overshadow here is episceidou, meaning to cast shade upon. When you cast shade upon something, it also can mean to invest with extraordinary influence. I like that. To invest with extraordinary influence. So Mary was being told that the Holy Spirit was the power of the highest, not another person in the God family, not something that was co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and Jesus Christ, but a source of power, a source of God's presence, a tool to literally put her in a sense of being cast upon with shade, being protected, being blessed, entering a new form of thought, a new form of creation, changing who and what she was by being overshadowed by this power.

And again, to learn more about what the Holy Spirit does, I encourage you to study Galatians 5, verses 22 and 23. I have just one more scripture today. This sermon was purposely a little shorter because I knew we would have the camp video. But aside from a lot of what I've read and I hear about regarding the mystery of the Trinity that I call, personally, I call it theo-babble. And I hear people talk about religious terms and co-substantiation and these made-up human words to describe a mystery that I'm told, as we read earlier, would literally blow your mind if you tried to study it.

Let's look at a final scripture, a real-world example, of what the Holy Spirit means to the children of God. Let's look at one scripture that puts aside all of the theo-babble and people's opinions and people's agendas and ideas about what the Holy Spirit is. And let's see what the scriptures tell us. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is in your life. Let's go to Romans chapter 8 and verse 9. The scripture we're familiar with, but it's always inspiring.

And it will help us once again to understand this process, this power, this presence, this tool that God gives us as a gift from Himself that is also shared by Jesus Christ, that they use together as part of the process of transforming us into new creatures. Romans chapter 8 and verse 9.

So if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. So to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, to have a deep, abiding relationship, to be able to call Him brother, to be able to call God father, it says that we have to have the Spirit of God within us. Verse 10. And if Christ is in you and the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. And that righteousness isn't something that we have. It's because when Jesus Christ dwells in us, His righteousness is reflected in us, and He dwells in us through that Spirit. Verse 11. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, He says we are debtors, meaning we are spiritually obligated. We are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. We're now obligated to live to the Spirit, to be working each and every day, to dismantling, to be taking apart this carnal part of our lives, the carnal thinking, our actions, our behavior. And we are spiritually obligated to do what we can to push away and to put out of our hearts and our minds fleshly things and to bring into them spiritual things. Verse 13. For if you live according to the flesh, you'll die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. So if we work hard and we pray and we try to overcome our sins and we do everything through that awesome power that God has given us, that same power of the highest that fell upon Mary is in us. But it's not going to force us to change. It's waiting for us to do our part. And as our counselor, as our paracledos, as the one alongside to help, it will help us. Verse 14. But as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

So what is the real world example of what the Holy Spirit means to us? It means its presence, if we're following it, are that it makes us the sons of God. No theo-babble, no Greek philosophy, no made-up English conjoined words to try to confuse people and make something that could be clear misty. Just very simple, basic living from God's Word. Verse 15.

Verse 16. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, our human minds, that mind that God gave us at creation. It bears witness in combining with that, that we are the children of God.

So in closing, we humbly acknowledge that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are essential in creation and salvation. But that in itself does not prove that the three are each co-equal and co-eternal with each other. We will allow the Scriptures to be our guide.

We're not going to allow tradition, Catholic Church councils, the decisions of men, theologians, or peer pressure to influence our belief in who and what God is. We have one source. We have one guide. If it's in this book, we believe it. If it's not in this book, we reject it. It's just that simple.

So let us appreciate that God has given us the understanding and the truth of who and what God is. And let us not be deluded. Let us not be deceived by believing that God somehow is three persons co-equal in one God, because that simply is not the truth.

Have a wonderful Sabbath day.