THE TRINITY
THE TRINITY
CLASS OVERVIEW
WEEK 1 – THE TRINITY DEFINED
WEEK 2 – WHAT THE TRINITY IS NOT
WEEK 3 – PATTERNS IN SCRIPTURE
WEEK 4 – STILL MORE PATTERNS
WEEK 5 – A RELATIONAL LOVE
WEEK 6 – A WAY FOR US
WEEK 7 – REVIEW, Q&A
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THESIS
IF WE ARE TO LOVE THE LORD OUR GOD WITH ALL OUR HEART, OUR MIND AND OUR STRENGTH THEN WE MUST LOVE HIM FOR WHO HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF TO BE.
OUR GOD IS ONE IN THREE PERSONS; FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT…��AND HE IS PERFECT IN LOVE.
THE TRINITY
THE TRINITY
Why does the Doctrine of the Trinity matter?
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Is the Trinity essential doctrine?
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“Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith. Which faith unless every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic faith is this: that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Essence. For there is one Person of the Father; another of the Son; and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one; the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal…” – Athanasian Creed, 6th Century AD
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What does Scripture say?
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4”Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might…” – Deuteronomy 6:4-5
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“4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” – Ephesians 4:4-6
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“3But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” – Acts 5:3-4
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“1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... 14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:1-14
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What is the nature of our Triune God?
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“15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.–” – 1 John 4:15-16
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What is the character of God’s love?
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Strong's Concordance
agapé: love, goodwill
Original Word: ἀγάπη, ης, ἡ�Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine�Transliteration: agapé�Phonetic Spelling: (ag-ah'-pay)�Definition: love, goodwill�Usage: love, benevolence, good will, esteem; plur: love-feasts.
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HELPS Word-studies
26 agápē – properly, love which centers in moral preference. So too in secular ancient Greek, 26 (agápē) focuses on preference; likewise the verb form (25 /agapáō) in antiquity meant "to prefer" (TDNT, 7). In the NT, 26 (agápē) typically refers to divine love (= what God prefers).
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Of what significance is God’s love for us?
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“1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing…” – 1 Corinthians 13
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“…4Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. 7Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…” – 1 Corinthians 13
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“…8Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known…” – 1 Corinthians 13
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“…13So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13
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So how do we KNOW the love of God?
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THE TRINITY
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” – 1 John 3:16
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