There are three persons in ONE God. The Father is God. Jesus the Son is also God. And the Holy Spirit is God. This is not an easy concept for humans to understand because our understanding of God is limited. We are finite creatures, and finite creatures cannot be excepted to understand something that is infinite in nature. With God all things are possible....and even human logic and reason cannot understand how this is so. For example, the verse in Isaiah 9:6 says that the Son is the eternal Father, Mighty God, and Counselor (which is another name of the Holy Spirit).
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Already, in the Old Testament, a prophecy is foretold of God's nature. The Son, Father, and Holy Spirit are one and the same God; yet, they are also distinct.
Hi Selene,
It's not hard to understand. The word translated God, is the Greek word "Theos" it means deity or divine. The Father is diety (God=Theos), Jesus is deity (God=Theos), the Holy Spirit is deity (God=Theos). It's not three persons in one being, "Theos" doesn't mean being. Concerning Isaiah, you have to check the Masoretic text when you see things that don't fit. The clause, everlasting Father is "NOT" in the Septuagint. The Septuagint is the Greek Old Testament that Jesus and the apostles quoted from. Here is Isaiah 9:6 from the Septuagint.
KJV Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isa 9:6 KJV)
I think you've got some of these passages out of context. In Romans 9-11 Paul is explaining God's plan to fulfill His promises to Abraham. It's not about the Gentiles.Who is a Jew? Paul's definition is found in (Romans 2:28-29).
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly ,
nor is circumcision that which is outward in
the flesh.
29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly ; and
circumcision is that which is of the heart, by
the Spirit, not by the letter ; and his praise is
not from men, but from God.
Who is an Israelite? Once again, let's get Paul's definition.
(Romans 9:6-8),
6 But it is not as though the word of God
has failed. For they are not all Israel who
are descended from Israel ;
7 nor are they all children because they
are Abraham's descendants, but:
"THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS
WILL BE NAMED."
8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh
who are children of God, but the children
of the promise are regarded as descendants.
Wow... what a mystery! Can we possibly understand the
implications of the statements that Paul has given to us.
Now we know why the Jews stoned him. Romans 10:11-13
says,
11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER
BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE
DISAPPOINTED."
12 For there is no distinction between Jew
and Greek ; for the same Lord is Lord of all,
abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME
OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."
Basically, Paul is telling us that through Isaac ( the promised
son) you and I become a Jew and eventually an Israelite. It
doesn't matter what genetics you have... what makes you an
Israelite is your faith in the plan of God.
I understand Paul was talking about genealogical Israelites in
Romans 11, but the plan was to gentilize them. Just because
one is descended from Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob does not make
him an Israelite. They are not all Israel who are from Israel.
As Steven Jones says,
God divorced Israel as a nation and maded them lose their name.
But he promised to remarry them in Hosea, and He will. However,
He will not marry the same carnal people that He divorced. They
will marry Jesus Christ the same way the gentiles do by having faith
in their King. Matthew 13:44 says,
44 "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure
hidden in the field, which a man found and hid
again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all
that he has and buys that field.
We know the field is the world (Matthew 13:38). When God scattered
Israel and caused them to lose their name Israel, He hid them in the
world. The only way Israel could be "lost sheep" was to hide them among
the nations.
But Ezekiel 34:11 says that God Yahweh Himself would come to search
for His lost sheep. Yahweh God came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ,
in part to search for His lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. 15:24). So
the “sheep” are also the “treasure.” Jesus sold all that He had, in that He
gave up everything to come and die.
The most important element in this short parable is the fact that He did
not merely take the treasure when He found it, for that would have been
theft. In order to obtain the treasure, He had to purchase the field in
which it was hidden. Once He owned the field, then He could lawfully
claim the treasure in the field. This teaches us that in order to re-claim
His people, Israel, He purchased the entire world, for “the field is the world.”
This was the divine plan from the beginning, for in this way the world
benefited by Israel’s fall. Romans 11:12 says,
12 Now if their transgression is riches for the world
and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much
more will their fulfillment be!
The divine purpose was to gentilize Israel. By God divorcing Israel, she
became like all other nations in the sense that she was not married to
God. But because of the promises given in Hosea and other places, God
bound Himself to remarry and regather Israel into His house. Matthew
13:44 teaches, however, that He was to do this by purchasing the entire
field. Ultimately, this means that the entire field will become Israel, not by
physical genealogy, but by obtaining legal citizenship in the Kingdom of God.
In regathering Israel, the Gospel went to all the nations among whom
those Israelites lived. All began to hear the Gospel and have opportunity
to gather into God’s Kingdom. The way into God’s Kingdom is the same
for all people, “for there is no partiality with God” (Rom. 2:11).
Logabe