Explanation of the Trinity

The Godhead (Acts 17:29, Rm 1:20, Col 2:9) is made up of three persons,

• the Father - Jehovah,
• the Son - Jesus the Christ (i.e., Jehoshua the Mashiyach), and
• the Holy Spirit. 

Concerning their names:

• In the old testament, Jehovah's name is stated 6209 times and is translated LORD (with all caps).  This is more than twice the number of times that Elohim (Hebrew for God) is stated.  Jehovah wanted his people to know that He is God, not some other god by some other name.  Yet today, most christians could not tell you the name of God the Father if you asked them.
  

• Similarly, most christians are not aware that the Christ's (i.e., greek word meaning "the anointed one",  same as the hebrew word Mashiyach (translated Messiah) means, anointed with the Holy Spirit and power) name is Jehoshua (meaning "Jehovah is Salvation"), and is sometimes shorted incorrectly as Yeshua.  This is the same name that King James translates as Joshua in the old testament (similar sound).  The greek word for Jehoshua is Ieesou, which is translated Jesus in the King James.
  

• Also, the Holy Spirit was sometimes translated by the King James as "Holy Ghost".  However, the word translated Spirit/Ghost is always "spirit" in the original greek of the new testament. 

We are sent out in all the world in their name:

Matthew   28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
(see 2 Cor 13:14, 1 John 5:7)

You will notice that it says a single name, because God is a singular Godhead, in complete unity and oneness with Himself, yet in three persons.  This has been revealed ever since the beginning of scripture:            

Genesis    1:1-3
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

We see all three persons at the beginning, the Father speaking, the Word (Jesus) (John 1:1-3, 1 John 1:1-3, Heb 1:1-3) being spoken, and the Holy Spirit moving upon the waters.  The word spirit means literally forced breath; we see God willfully forcing His breath out, which carries His Word and power, to accomplish His purpose in the earth (see Job 33:4, Ps 104:30, Luke 1:35).

The word God in Gen 1:1 is Elohim.  It is a singular word implying multiple individuals acting as one entity. 

• An example would be the word troop.  When we say here comes a troop, we know that there is more than one person in the whole unit, but we understand from the word that they are acting as one unit.  If we said troops, then we would understand that they were not acting in unity with each other.
  

• Another way to understand the Trinity is to look at H₂O, which  we normally think of as water.  However, it also comes as steam with much power and force for performing work, and it comes as ice with the ability to refresh and to keep.  But while the form changes, the molecule of H₂O never changes. 

So is God.  Each of the Trinity has a spirit, a soul, and a body (i.e., the Father and Holy Spirit have a spiritual body).  However, what makes them one God is that their Spirit is one Spiritual essence.  That Spiritual essence is agape love.  Agape is the greek word for the god kind of love, which is based upon a choice (a covenant) and willing to lay down His life for you.  As H₂O is always H₂O, no matter the form, so is the God Elohim is always agape love.

What makes man unique in all creation is that we were created in Elohim's image (Gen 1:26) and of the same spiritual essence(Gen 2:7).  What is (a) man?  Created in God's image?  A man of love, created to agape.

The Trinity always works in (and are in) total agreement and unity.  God is a covenant speaking God, always speaks in covenant terms, even among Elohim (Himself). 

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Plan of the Ages

God formed a plan, the Plan of the Ages, before anything was created.  God the Father formed a plan and presented it to the Son and Holy Spirit, because whatever They do, They do in total agreement and in covenant. 

Proof of plan:

Rev  4:11 all things created for His pleasure
1 Pet 1:18-20 Jesus crucified before foundations of the world
Prov 16:4 God has made all things for Himself

A plan that was hidden in the old testament, that even the angels did not know about:

1 Pet 1:9-12 ~ prophets trying to tell time, angels desire to see
Eph 3:9-11 ~ hid, according to the eternal purpose, in Christ

For what purpose:

Eph        1:4-6
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Eph 1:11-12
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

That Jesus should be the first-born among many brethern.  For God's pleasure thru His good purpose.  For God's glory.

Eph 3:21
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

But God the Father is not a selfish God.  He seeks to bless.  As a loving Father, He sought to leave His Son an inheritance.  As a mature Father, He sought to have His Son grow up and subdue it Himself.

Colos 1:18 -19
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

So the Plan of the Ages was for the Son's sake, to the glory of the Father.  This included the fall of angels, of man, and the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  So that we might be brothers of Jesus Christ, going thru the cross with Him, unto His glory and reign.  Praise God forever more!

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The Working of the Trinity

There is a specific order (Matt 28:19, 1 Cor 13:13) of authority and work in the Trinity.  The Father is the greatest (John 8:42, 14:28), Jesus sat down in His throne and was given dominion, and the Holy Spirit is performing the transformation work with you (preferring Jesus to Himself, which is love).  While each member of the Trinity is equal with each other (Phil 2:5), God is not the author of confusion.  Without a level of authority and system of work responsibilities, there is always confusion.

1 Cor     12:4-6
v4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 
v5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 
v6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

The Trinity works much like a cooperation:

• The Father (God in verse 6) is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who decides what the company's line of business is, and generally how it is going to accomplish it.  He makes the plan and sets the direction.
  

• Jesus (Lord in verse 5) works as the administrator or mediator and head over all things. His job is to see that the actual plan or goals are accomplished.
  

• The Holy Spirit (Spirit in verse 4) acts as a first line supervisor, or your immediate boss. He recruits for the company, trains you, equips you with the necessary tools (gifts), and supervises and directs your work.

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The Three Sets of Gifts

Elohim God has setup the working of the kingdom and the spirit realm, as it pleased Him to do, according to the purpose and plan of the ages, as reflected above in the working of the Trinity. 

Specifically, God setup three sets of gifts to assist in the working of the Kingdom:

• You will notice that the Motivational gifts in Romans 12:3-8 are given by God the Father to motivate you to work in the company to help accomplish the overall plan.
  

• The Five Fold Ministry gifts in Eph 4:8-16 are given by Jesus.  The five fold perform the administration work of equipping and training the Body to go forth with the gospel.

• The Charismatic gifts in 1 Cor 12:7-11 are given by the Holy Spirit to equip the believer with the necessary tools to do the actual work.

The gifts are an impartation of the grace (i.e., capability) of God.  Every ministry gift is a gift of giving.  Giving out what God places in you.  The gift of healing is not for the possessor of the gift, but for those to whom he ministers.  The gift of prophet or apostle is not for the possessor to receive those ministries, but to dispense or distribute as the Spirit of God directs.  God gives gifts to the church.  He stores those gifts in chosen reservoirs (divinely selected ones) so that the gifts may flow out of them to touch His people as He directs.  The gift is not theirs, they are but an executor of God's will, manifesting the gifts of God as the Spirit of God directs.


Motivational Gifts
God the Father gives a subset of the seven motivation gifts to a believer at the time of re-birth (i.e., receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior).  

Rom 12:3-8
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

While a believer may operate or work at some level any or all of these seven areas, at least one or more of these gifts will bring great satisfaction when it is done.  By being satisfied or happy or feeling fulfilled, the believer will return again and again to be active in that area.  That is, the satisfaction motives the believer to be involved in the work of the Kingdom.  

This is why it is very important to teach believers about the motivational gifts, have them take a survey to identify their gifting(s), and make room for them to work their gifting(s) in the church and Kingdom... so that they will be happy, fulfilled and productive.  Otherwise, they will be bored, unhappy, frustrated and much less fruitful in the Kingdom. 


Five Fold Ministry Gifts
While every believer is a priest (1 Pet 2:5,9; Rev 1:6, 5:10, 20:6) to those they come in contact with during their normal lives (that is, you are a priest to

(1) intercede to God on their behalf,
(2) make up the hedge of protection to keep the devil and destruction away from them, and
(3) minister / speak to the people on behalf of God),

while every believer has the ministry of reconciliation as an ambassador of Christ (2 Cor 5:18-20), there is a special grace of ministry that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to some believers (not all believers), specifically the five offices or works of

(1) an apostle,
(2) prophet,
(3) evangelist,
(4) pastor, and
(5) teacher.  

Eph 4:11
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

This is what we call the "five fold" ministry.  They are Jesus' spiritual administration of the company.  The purpose of this ministry is to train the rest of the Body of Christ to go do the work of the ministry.

Eph 4:12-13
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

In the original greek, there are no punctuation marks.  While the King James translated it with punctuation as above, it should be a purpose state saying "he gave some... for the perfecting (maturing) of the saints for the work of the ministry (of reconciliation) for the edifying (building up) of the body of Christ".  Most people think that the five fold is the only ministry, call them "ministers", and expect them to do all the work, while they "lay" around doing nothing (and are unhappy and frustrated doing it).  That is wrong.

Quit expecting your pastor or "minister" to do everything, and get in the battle yourself, and fulfill the calling of God on your life.  Heal the sick, raise the dead, get people born-again, and baptized with the Holy Spirit, empowered and activated for their priesthood, in Jesus' name.  So be it. 


Charismatic Gifts
The Holy Spirit gives a subset of the nine charismatic gifts to a believer at the time of receiving the "baptism with the Holy Spirit", evidenced by speaking in a new personal prayer language of "tongues".  That is, charis is the greek word for grace, and charisma is a grace gift.  Therefore, these are grace gifts of the Holy Spirit.  They are an divine impartation of the capability and power of God into your live. 

1 Cor 12:8-11
For to one is given by the Spirit the
word of wisdom; to another the
word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another
faith by the same Spirit; to another the
gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the
working of miracles; to another
prophecy; to another
discerning of spirits; to another
divers kinds of tongues; to another the
interpretation of tongues:
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

While they only manifest as the Holy Spirit wills, what wills Him to manifest is "faith which works by love" (Gal 5:6).  If you find you are having a hard time getting the anointing or gifts to manifest (i.e., getting the Holy Spirit to move), then reach out in the spirit realm and surround the person you are ministering to with love, and watch the Spirit flow.

We will be teaching on these three sets of gifts, in detail, in the coming classes.

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