In Old Testament Judaism there is no commandment more important than these: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” and “Thou shall have no other gods before me.” There is but one true God, Yahweh. He is one. Which begs the question, if He is one, what do Christians mean when they speak of the Trinity.

Person of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

First, the word Trinity is not found anywhere in the Bible, but the concept of the Trinity is found throughout Scripture. In Genesis 1, we see the Spirit of God move upon the waters. Later, David pleas with God not to take His Holy Spirit from him (Psalms 51:11-13). Isaiah writes in 63:10 that the Nation of Israel grieved the Holy Spirit and made God their enemy. In 48:16, Isaiah announces that he is endowed with the Holy Spirit.

The Person of Jesus in the Old Testament

We see God appear as a man to Abraham. This, according to many theologians, is a a theophany, pre-incarnation visit of Jesus on earth. Psalms 33:4-7 (ESV) personifies the Word of God:

For the word of the Lord is upright,

and all his work is done in faithfulness.

He loves righteousness and justice;

the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;

he puts the deeps in storehouses.

The Apostle John makes it clear that the Word is Jesus.

Indeed, when three men who appear to Abraham, one of them is Jesus. The visit is considered by many as a foreshadowing of the entire Trinity.

Some believe that passages where the name of the Lord is repeated three times, like Numbers 6:24-26, is an indication of the Trinity.

The Trinity in Second Temple Judaism?

With so much evidence of the Trinity to be found in the Old Testament, why was there no theology of a Trinity to be found in Judaism? In fact, according to Dr. Michael Heiser, by the Second Temple Period, many Jews believed that Yahweh was actually Two in One, Yahweh Above and Yahweh Below, or God in Heaven and God who appears in the form of man. There was, apparently, no thought given to the Spirit of God as a distinct person.

The Trinity in the New Testament

In the New Testament, we see the Trinity manifested at the baptism of Jesus. Jesus, fully God and fully man, is in the Jordan River. The Holy Spirit descends on Him like a dove. The Father’s voice is heard to say, “You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.”

At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, we read the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Not only does Jesus name all three members of the Trinity here, but He implies the coming of the Holy Spirit. In Revelation 1:18, Christ calls Himself the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and End.

Again, John, who earlier named Jesus as the Word of God, teaches (in 1 John 5:6-10) about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here are His words:

This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony.

John, however, was not the only apostle to develop the idea of the Trinity. Paul takes it for granted as he closes 2 Corinthians (13:14).

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

How May Three be One?

It is difficult to understand how three may be one. A pastor I met recently believes that there are not 3 persons in one, rather he believes that the one God shows Himself in three distinct ways. This pastor – and the denomination to which he belongs – is in the minority of Christians. Most Christians believe that God is both three distinct people in one, all at the same time.

Yet, if that be true, how are we, mere humans, supposed to understand it? I don’t know that we are. Maybe the Trinity is a faith thing. As a child, I fully accepted the various illustrations of the Trinity, as three sides of a triangle, if the lobes of a leaf of clover, as – to paraphrase C.S. Lewis – faces on a cube, yet none of them are adequate to explain the profound beauty and complexity of our God and the way in which He had chosen to reveal Himself to His creation.

As an adult and a prolific reader, I can better relate to the Trinity as I can to the imaginative alien creations of science fiction novelists, but that too leaves me with inadequate understanding. That, though, may be a little sacrilegious.

So it is by faith that we – or I – accept that God is three in one, knowing that it is through faith in Jesus Christ, Who proclaimed that He and the Father are One, that we find salvation. Through the mercy of God we are saved and one day, when we see Him gave to face, we may understand who God is.

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Holiness is, perhaps, the most misunderstood concept in Christianity. Anyone who has striven to follow the life of Christ can likely tell you that it is impossible to do. No one can match His love, His grace, or His compassion. For no one but Jesus is perfect. Once the believer is filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, though, he or she is filled to the brim with the love of Christ, and desires nothing more than to please God and follow in Christ’s steps. The love of sin is gone. In its place is a love and passion for others. That is Christian Holiness. This is Christian Holiness Daily.

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In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul speaks to Christians – those who have believed on and followed in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. He tells them they need to be sanctified. They need to live a holy life. He emphasizes that they should turn away from sexual immorality. Today, we see that he encourages them to love one another (and others) more and more.

You see, love is what sets Christians apart from the rest of the world. For mortal man, it may be difficult to love someone outside our immediate family (sometimes, it is not easy to love those within our immediate family). For Christians, love – even love for others and love for our enemies – should come as natural as love for our own children.

If loving others does not come natural, then you should prayerfully and persistently seek sanctification. Ask God to rid you of worldly love, lust, selfishness, pride, and hatred, and fill you with His Holy Spirit. He will. He will perfect His love within your life. When one is filled with the Holy Spirit, one is surprised by love… a deeper love than you thought possible.

We seem to be living near the end of days and Satan has begun one final offensive in the battle against the saints of God. As a result, many Christians have ducked for cover, and are not reaching out to others in love as they should; instead many are looking out only for themselves and their closest loved ones.

We must resist fear. We must stand up to evil and call it by name. We must look evil in the eye and expel it in the name of Jesus. And we must do it all in love.

Remember, Christ sacrificed His life for the sins of the world, not just for you and me (and not just those who agree with our viewpoint). That person that we think is so evil… that one who is causing so many problems in the world…he or she may be the next Saul who finds Christ on the road to Damascus and becomes the next Apostle Paul.

We must love our enemies. Pray for those who threaten us, abuse us, and persecute us. Remember, they, too, need to know God and His love.

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Worf replies with a scowl, “What do you mean little?”

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The word “by” is a tough, little word. It is powerful. When unpacked, it is found to mean:

• Identifying the agent performing an action.
• The means by which something is achieved.
• To go past or along.

This word, by, is perhaps the crux of today’s devotional, which is built around Galatians 5:16. If we don’t properly understand its meaning, we miss the point entirely.

Let’s take a look at the verse from the ESV:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

I have read that verse many times and, until recently, never gave it proper consideration.

My first thoughts are of a walk in a dark forest and being led by a beam of sunlight filtered through the canopy. That is not right, for that indicates that while I am walking, that light guides me. While that may be a nice thought, it is not, in this case, correct. It is more than guidance.

To understand the word by, we must take a look at the Greek word that is translated in to the English word. The word by is added to the translation to account for a variant of the word pneuma. That word is Greek for spirit, which -in this verse – means Spirit of God.

The word as found in this verse is pneumati, the ending indicates it is connected to another object or person; here the Spirit is connected to the one walking. The question is, how is the Spirit connected to the walker.

By example, we see the same word used in a few different ways:

Matthew 5:3 “poor in spirit…”

Mark 1:8 “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit…”

Ephesians 1:13 “sealed by the Spirit.”

Throughout the New Testament, we see that the first two English variations of the word, by, apply most often: the acting agent or the means by which action is taken. It is also fair to say that the word can also mean, “along side” or “together with.”

So let’s take a look at the Galatians 5:16 again with a better understanding of those definitions:

But I say, the Spirit is walking for you and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

But I say, allow the Spirit to power your walk, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

But I say, walk alongside the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

But I say, walk together with the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Any one of these alternative definitions give us a more complete understanding of holiness. It may only be achieved through the might of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

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Whereas we hope for His return, Jesus in this passage tells us that we should celebrate His departure. Look at the entire passage and you will see two reasons for celebration. Jesus has gone to be with the Father, who, in Jesus’s words, is greater than He, and the arrival of the Holy Spirit, bringing peace to the hearts of believers. Herein is the hope for this life. 

You see, being a Christian is more than victory over death, more than eternal life. It is victory over sin in this life. Being a Christian is an inexplicable relationship that involves the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit and the surrender of the believer. That is just the beginning, though. Salvation is just the first step in a wondrous relationship between the Father and His child. 

The Christian life is a life of peace. It is a life of comfort. It is a life that can be free of fear. 

Fear Not, for the Father sends the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. 

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God, though, was there with them. His very presence could be found in a tent dedicated to Him called the tabernacle. Within this dwelling place of God was a smaller chamber called the Holy of Holies. Within that chamber one could find the Ark of the Covenant, which could contained the tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments. 

Before the people of Israel crossed over the Jordan into the Promised Land, the tabernacle and all that was within it would be taken across, in front of them. God literally led the way. 

Jesus, in his 33 some-odd years of human life, was the embodiment of the tabernacle. This is signified in John chapter 1, where we see the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus like a dove. Though Jesus was fully God and also fully man from the minute of his miraculous conception, John paints a picture with which the Jews can identify by recounting the baptismal of Christ: the presence of God can be found within the person of Jesus, the Christ. 

In Acts 2, we see the twelve Apostles together with well over a hundred other believers, gathered in the upper room. It is a full 7 weeks after the resurrection of Christ. They are waiting. And, praying. 

On the first day of the eight week, the Holy Spirit descends on those believers in a miraculous fashion, leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind that God was present. It is on that day, day number fifty, the Day of Pentecost, that the very presence of God, the Holy Spirit, filled the lives of that small band of believers. From that day forward, all believers, even you and I, are the Tabernacle of God. 

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3:16 calls us the Temple of God; it’s the same concept. We are the house of the Lord. You and me. God lives in us. He goes with us and before us into battle. He fights for us. The victory is His. 

Someday, when we cross over the River Jordan into the Promised Land, we have the assurance that He crossed over before us.  He will be with us, too, on that final journey. On that day, we meet Him face-to-face. 

Fear Not, for the Lord goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. 

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He shaved his head, ripped his clothing and went into mourning. His three closest friends mourned with him, sitting silently for seven days. 

When Job finally spoke, he cursed the day he was born. His friends, however, had their own ideas about Job’s problems. One believed that Job was being punished for unrepented sin. Another believed that Job had exhibited evil behavior and should have endeavoured to be more righteous. Still, another believed that Job likely deserved far greater punishment than that which he had already received. With friends like that…

Job defended his innocence to his friends and proclaimed that there is a Redeemer in heaven who would vouch for him (Job 16:19, 19:25).  He longed for an intercessor, someone to speak to God on his behalf. Amazing, isn’t it, that this man of God, who lived perhaps 600 years before Christ, could so succinctly sum up the role of Christ, who now sits at the right side of His Father. 

There are many lessons and insights to be gleaned from the book of Job, and one that is often overlooked is this: Job turned to his friends for help, and they were no help at all; instead, they frustrated him. Yet, he stood beside them, and reminded them that he was a better friend to them than they were to him. In the end, Job stood alone and even defended his friends before God. 

Job’s patience is often the topic of discussion, but it is his faith that we should learn from. He trusted in God before there was a Bible to read. He believed in a Redeemer before mankind had been redeemed. And, he had faith that if he trusted in God, God would remain faithful to him. 

We worship a God of infinite might and never-ending mercy, and His Spirit lives in the heart of every one of His children, given to us so that we may experience firsthand that for  which Job could only long. He is our Comforter, our never-failing, True Friend. With Christ in our hearts, we never really stand alone. 

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