Salvation Army Doctrine #3

Hi, this is Bernie Dake. Welcome to the Salvation Army's Words of Life.

Welcome back to Words of Life. I'm Bernie Dake. And I'm Cheryl Gillum. It's great to have you back.

Cheryl, I don't know if the listeners can hear your smile, but it is fun to do these episodes. And what's really cool is we're getting to share with all of you what it is that the Salvation Army believes. We're going to clear up any misconception. And we've got a guest in the studio that we're going to talk about, but we're in our third week.

And thanks to Dan Starrett, our Colonel retired out in Portland, Oregon, is sharing some thoughts on that with us this week. And this week's doctrine is that we believe that there are three persons in the Godhead. So, we talked about one God last week, right? This is, there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Welcome, as we look again at Salvation Army doctrines and beliefs. We're looking at doctrine number three, which states, we believe that there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory.

The third doctrine of the Salvation Army focuses on one of the greatest miracles, plans, purposes in the love of God. Well, how do I get that from the doctrine of the Godhead? First, we don't believe that the Godhead represents equals or refers to other gods.

It only refers to our God. Remember doctrine number two stated, we believe there's only one God, not three. Second of all, the Godhead is clearly stated in at least 20 verses in the Bible. Number three, it is clearly demonstrated in events recorded in the Old and New Testament, such as the baptism of Christ. Fourth, this doctrine is essential to an understanding of God as revealed in the Bible. People who study and look at this doctrine get hung up that we don't use the word Trinity. They will say that Trinity is not in the Bible. Well, that's true, and it's why we use the word Godhead.

But remember, there are many other words we use that are also not in the Bible, such as the word Bible. Our three-in-one definition attempts to describe one, God the Father as the creator and governors and sustains. Number two, God the Son, who redeems and befriends and disciples us. And number three, God the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies, counsels, and empowers.

In person and work, he is three. In personality, love, and intentions, he is one. There are three persons of the Trinity, and I'll use that, are continually revealing one another to us. The New Testament, for example, tells us that the Spirit bears witness to Jesus. In John 11 26, everyone who lives in me and believes me will never die. Jesus Christ reveals the Father.

In Matthew 11 25 and 26, it says, At that time Jesus prayed this prayer, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleads you to do it this way. We see Jesus there was revealing the Father. And then Jesus also testifies to the Holy Spirit. In John chapter 14 and verse 16 and verse 26, we read, And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate who will not leave you. Now let me show you there, and I, Jesus, will ask the Father, God, and he will give you another advocate, God, and he, God, will give you another advocate, Holy Spirit, who will never leave you. There's an example of the Godhead right there in the book of John. But when the Father sends the advocate, he will be my representative.

That is the Holy Spirit. He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. And John 14 and 11 reminds us, Just believe that I am in the Father and that he is in me. Well, let's look at God as Father.

In the Old Testament, Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 6 says, Is this the way you repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Isn't he your Father who created you? Has he not made you and established you? Isaiah chapter 63 and verse 16, Surely you are still our Father. Even if Abraham and Jacob would dozonos, Lord, you would still be our Father.

You are a Redeemer from ages past. Well, what about God the Father in the New Testament? In the teaching from Jesus of God's fatherhood, we see in Matthew 6, 6, But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.

Then your Father who sees everything will reward you. God as our Father image helps us to understand by using a human example how God acts toward us as a loving Father. Jesus reminded us that when we have seen him, we have seen the Father. However, we must be careful not to stretch the image of God compared to a human father too far. God makes himself, his person, his purposes as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all throughout the Scriptures and in his savings accounting with us. Let's look at God the Son, the second part of the Godhead.

God reveals himself in many ways in the Bible through relationships with people. In Genesis chapter 18, one through three, the Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to memory. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day.

The Lord was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to greet them and welcome them, and he bowed low to the ground. My Lord, he said, if it pleases you, stop here for a while. In Exodus chapter three, one through six, one day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law. He led the flock far into God. There the angel appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of the bush. When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush and said, Moses, Moses, here I am, Moses replied. The Lord said, do not come closer, take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.

I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. So we see here that God reveals himself through relationships with people.

He reveals himself through relations with Israel, and God reveals himself through critical events, like the exodus from Egypt, or the rise and fall of the Hebrew kingdoms, and certainly from the Babylonian exile and returned to Jerusalem. God is also involved with us. God isn't distant, but he's as close as his Spirit.

It's been written that the Holy Spirit is closer than our breath. We are regenerated and sanctified or set apart by the work of the Holy Spirit within us. God transforms lives by the indwelling of his Holy Spirit, or we're not really saved at all. And then we see that God saves us. God saved his people in Old Testament days by his gracious actions. In the New Testament, God saves his people through the death and resurrection of his Son.

Romans chapter 5, verses 6 through 11. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because of our Lord Jesus Christ has made us the friends of God. And then we see God is the Holy Spirit, which is God's presence in us. Unlike any other religion in the world where man is constantly trying to reach up and serve God or get God's attention, what an amazing teaching the Word of God tells us that God's presence lives within us. It lives in us through salvation in Christ. It lives in us through sanctification when we're set aside and the Holy Spirit is infilling us. And he lives inside of us through that indwelling Spirit of God.

What a wonderful blessing yet magnificent miracle. And God the Holy Spirit came to us because he was sent by God. He glorifies the living Christ. He points sinners to Jesus. And the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ.

The great promise was Jesus said, I will never leave you forsake you, for I will be in you. And then we see this third part of the trinity where the Holy Spirit is God. He is the Spirit of God. He shares all the same qualities and attributes of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

He is one with Father and Son, distinctive yet the same in essence. Well, undivided in essence as stated in the doctrine can be a confusing thought. It's a difficult word to understand.

We don't often use it. Essence really means the very nature or indispensable nature of something. The trinity or Godhead cannot be divided by their qualities or attributes or characteristics, who and what they are from each other. You can't pin them against each other, divide them, or consider one higher or lower from the others or one more important than the other. This is a challenging biblical principle to learn. I started this doctrine and stated that an amazing teaching of love, care, action, transformational work of the Godhead as God the Father, Jesus as my Savior, and God the Holy Spirit as the presence of God within me was a marvelous, marvelous miracle.

This is a challenging subject for a lot of people to grasp. Use your Bible and the Word of God to help you and shows us the love of God as depicted in Scripture. Well, here's our pick and choose for this one. Some people try to say, well, you know, I'll just pick God the Father and not the Son or the Holy Spirit. Other people say, no, I think I'll just stick with Jesus and not the Holy Spirit or God.

If you try to pick one over the other, the entire magnificent teaching from God's Word falls apart. And so does our entire relationship, salvation, and regeneration, as well as the power of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God bless you. The Salvation Army's mission, Doing the Most Good, means helping people with material and spiritual needs. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army. Visit salvationarmyusa.org to offer your support.

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