The fact that they are three different persons is thoroughly established in the Bible itself, let alone reaching beyond that.
These are the kinds of claims that I question and ask for specific examples from scripture because that is not what I have found. It is not an opinion, or a personal position that may differ from others, it is a solid observation of scripture from over a decade of study; just saying - I have sought the Truth on these matters for a long time, that's all. If somebody has discovered something in scripture that I have somehow missed, I am always very interested, and open, to having them show me that.
You don't have to reply to this comment and you're welcome to place me on
ignore.
These types of matters are not a
'you can believe what you like and I'll believe what I like' type of situation. They are
extremely important concepts and actually
do have a bearing on our salvation. These are discussions on the very
nature of God Himself.
Most people that make similar claims about the Trinity do not even consider the
spiritual aspect of the concept. The spirit realm is very difficult for us to understand and consider when striving to understand these things. God is a spirit. John 4:24 He is eternal. Therefore, if God, the Spirit, is Jesus - which Jesus makes many claims to the affirmative on that throughout the book of John and elsewhere - then we must understand the relationship of Jesus to the Father in a different way than we would normally from a physical 3-D human perspective.
To better understand, we must see that the Father exists outside of time and space, because He created time and space - He cannot exist within them. And if He sent His own Spirit into a physical body upon the physical earth, He would still exist outside of the physical realm, from prior to that physical existence upon the earth, throughout the duration thereof and until eternity thereafter.
So Jesus was not performing a ventriloquist act, He was praying (as an example to all that would follow Him) to
the Source of all things, to
God Almighty who generated His physical body.
Jesus makes this more clear in John 14:21-23.
First, in verse 21, Jesus states that those who love Him will be loved by the Father and Jesus and that
Jesus will manifest Himself to them.
Next, in verse 22, Jesus is asked by a disciple
how this is possible.
To clarify, in verse 23, Jesus says something
fascinating. He restates what He's just said, but this time He says that if we love Him, His Father will love us and
"we will come unto him and make our abode with him." -
'we' (they both) will come unto us and make
'their' (both of them) home with us; they
both will come to
live inside of us - that
they (together)
ARE the Holy Spirit.
Let that sink in a while.
Example, Christ’s baptism is not an demonstration of vantiliqosm, but rather three different persons doing different things. Christ doesn’t prey to Himself during the Lord’s Prayer. In the Garden it’s the Son doing the Father’s will, not His own. Etc.
No, we don't see three
people. God's voice is heard from heaven, we see
a spirit in the form of a dove and we have Jesus. That narrows it down to 2 individuals. Yet, in light of the above verses from John, we are
mandated to consider this verse differently. If a verse exists that provides contrary information, we must consider that data against all other verses from scripture. Scripture does
not contradict itself, and it
always defines and explains its meaning.
The Holy Spirit of God is all encompassing. It reaches everywhere. It took the form of a dove for a sign to the people and John that Jesus was the Messiah. I can't seem to draw the conclusion that the spirit is a separate personage. But OK.
And with the verses above from John, one cannot take that position honestly if they're considering all of scripture as a whole.
God bless.