The word "trinity" isn't in the Bible, but the concept is!

Is. 44.6
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, AND his Redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

(Here we saw the two in ONE)


Is. 48.16-17
Come ye near to me, hear this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there I AM: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, has sent me.
Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God.

(Here we have all three in ONE) This is a very interesting verse. It sets forth the eternity of Christ, and reveals that the God and His Spirit sent HIM!

The above words were spoken by CHRIST--
and HE is sent by the LORD GOD, and HIS SPIRIT-- and yet He testofies that He is the ONE AND ONLY and EVERLASTING GOD.

There are many verses, but space is limited.

John 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

"In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived... While bearing human nature, He [Christ] was dependent upon the Omnipotent for His life. In His humanity, He laid hold of the divinity of God; and this every member of the human family has the privilege of doing. . . . {Mar 302.4}

So yes, it does refer to His incarnation as a human being, without denying His pre-existance.
His human life was dependent upon God. As a human He fully rested on God the Father's power, not His own.


Luke 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest:
1:35 The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.








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Hi, Dedication,

It seems to me the EGW quote above refers to Christ's spíritual life, and not to His physical life, as is indicated by the phrase "and this every member of the human family has the privilege of doing."

The context of the sentence is:

Had he not been fully human, Christ could not have been our substitute. He could not have worked out in humanity that perfection of character which it is the privilege of all to reach. He was the light and the life of the world. He came to this earth to work in behalf of men, that they might no longer be under the control of Satanic agencies. But while bearing human nature, he was dependent upon the Omnipotent for his life. In his humanity, he laid hold of the divinity of God; and this every member of the human family has the privilege of doing. Christ did nothing that human nature may not do if it partakes of the divine nature. {ST, June 17, 1897 par. 8}

What is your opinion about it?

Colin, we could discuss this ad infinitum, but the truth is that, according to the antitrinitarian view, the Son was originated by the Father, so He lacks one of the attributes of God and cannot qualify as God.

In His human state Christ made Himself totally dependant upon the Father. Spiritually and physically.

So yes, I agree it is speaking of His dependence upon the Father in all aspects of His humanity.

To me that is a key to understanding many of the texts that seem contradictory.

In His original state Christ had and exercised all the attributes of God, for He was God with the Father.

In His human life HE COULD HAVE used His divine attributes, but instead He made Himself fully dependant upon the Father as His source of strength, power, wisdom and yes the life of His humanity as well.

Bible critics argue over Who resurrected Christ --
in one place Christ says "I have power to lay down my life and take it up again".
So some say He resurrected Himself.
Yet there are dozens of texts saying that God the Father raised Jesus Christ.

I see it as Christ had the power and the ability to raise Himself, and He could have called on that power had He chosen to. It was still His even though He had "laid it aside".

But He didn't use that power -- having taken on humanity, He, in all things depended on the Father like we must depend upon Him.

Acts 2:32 This Jesus hath God raised up,
Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

An interesting quote:

Well, I think I have a somewhat different opinion from you. The three persons of the Godhead were together at Christ's incarnation, at His baptism, and yes, at His resurrection. The Bible says that the Father resurrected Christ, but it also says the Spirit resurrected Him (1 Pet. 3:18), and Christ said, "'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' ... He was speaking of the temple of His body" (John 2:19-21).


He had to depend on the Father in all that relates to overcoming sin. He didn't need to depend on the Father, for instance, for things we don't have the power or the authority to do, like forgiving sins and receiving worship.

Ellen White, in the well-known passage of The Desire of Ages, says:



She also says:



If He didn't resurrect Himself, the sentence which says that He didn't have to summon His spirit from heaven doesn't make sense. Although human, Christ was still God. It was He who sustained the life of His own body. That's why He had power to lay down His life and to take it up again.

Well said, Rosangela, and nice quotes. I agree. I sort of see it as the Father saying to Jesus, "You have my permission to raise yourself now. It is time!" And Jesus promptly does so.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Whatever happened to Jesus, remember that whatever he did we can do too: That's why he operated strictly as a human despite having a joint nature.

Hence, while having the power of God, being God, he didn't use it himself but his Father worked through him: the resurrection morning shall be Jesus raising the sleeping saints; Jesus' resurrection morning was his Father raising him.

This appears not to take into account the fact that Jesus had said "It is finished!" on the cross. That ended His earthly life, and simultaneously ended the conflict with Satan in a major way. It put Him beyond the reach of Satan and his temptations. After Jesus was raised to life, there was no chance of His sinning again, was there? Yet that was finished even before that moment--going back to those words of finality spoken from the cross.

Once Jesus died, His experiment with mortal humanity was ended. His divinity did not die, only His humanity did. His divinity was not subject to God the Father as His humanity was. It was Jesus' divinity that raised Him from the grave.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

To the believer, Christ is the resurrection and the life. In our Saviour the life that was lost through sin is restored; for He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will. He is invested with the right to give immortality. The life that He laid down in humanity, He takes up again, and gives to humanity. "I am come," He said, "that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." "Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." John 10:10; 4:14; John 6:54. {DA 786.4}