3 different persons or 3 different attributes
In contemporary Christian circles, there is a growing trend of emerging teachings that question the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. First and foremost, it’s crucial to recognize that their main argument – that the term “Holy Trinity” does not appear in the Holy Scriptures and was deliberately formulated this way within the Roman Church – are entirely accurate and valid. This concept does not find any expression within the Bible in any form.
There is no doubt that there exists some underlying confusion, which necessitates a reevaluation of the concept of the Holy Trinity because…
It presents a deity made up of three distinct individuals, even though it’s not three individuals but rather one: Yahuwah Echad, who reveals Himself in three distinct ways. We have a singular Elohim who manifests Himself and reveals His nature through three separate modes, each fulfilling distinct roles.
Tripling the concept of Elohim presents a major obstacle for Judaism (and Islam) in recognizing Yahushua as the Messiah. To them, it seems inconceivable that the One they have traditionally described as Echad, signifying One, would now be referred to as shalosh, indicating three.
There have never been three distinct individuals, but rather One who embodies three primary characteristics, roles, forms of manifestation, qualities, and so on!
The plural structure of the Hebrew term ELOHIM similarly conveys this triple role rather than indicating three distinct individuals.
One of the most persuasive analogies often used within Christianity to clarify this concept is that of water. Just as water exists in three distinct physical states governed by natural laws: Gas (steam), Solid (ice), and Liquid, while remaining fundamentally water, Elohim also shares similar characteristics. This analogy perhaps best encapsulates the essence of the Eternal and helps individuals come closer to comprehending it.
For those who find the earlier comparison insufficient and are still not scandalized by the example I previously provided (the 3-in-1 Jacob’s coffee cups), consider this: when sipping such coffee, even though the components blend in the cup, we still distinctly sense all three aspects simultaneously. The combined presence of these elements enhances the flavor. It’s indivisible yet perceptible as separate components, and if any element is missing, the taste loses its fullness.
Although someone may prefer coffee without sugar and/or milk, such preferences do not affect the judgment of people.
However, for salvation, all three components of Elohim must function harmoniously within our lives.
However, if we concentrate exclusively on the Redeemer’s nature, we can identify further divisions within Him, as the Messiah himself embodies a form of “holy duality.” Yahushua, in his role as the benevolent high priest, has distinct roles and responsibilities that differ from the reigning Messiah, who is destined to return as a consecrated King to administer judgment upon the world.
Many individuals struggle to comprehend the extraordinary nature of Elohim, as apparent contradictions on this matter surface in the Bible. These contradictions encompass statements made by Yahushua Himself, such as:
“… the Father is greater than me … He sits on the right side of the Father … and talks with the Father …”
Certainly, these statements do exist, but they do not change the fact that He remains one with the Father. People often converse with themselves, not solely due to senility. To be seated at the right hand of the Father signifies being The very Right Hand of Elohim. He embodies the Hand that creates and acts. He is not a separate body, person, or entity.
When He descends among us in human form, He does not cease to exist in the spiritual realm – in the Kingdom of Elohim – as the Father, as Yahuwah. Instead, He humbles Himself (as described in Philippians 2:5-11) and manifests in the world through two distinct forms: one is spiritual and ubiquitous, while the other is physical, emerging in the Holy Land around 2000 years ago, until He eventually returned to His original and ultimate place. Also see Hebrew 2:9 – …Yeshua, who was made lower than the angels for a little while…
The prophet Zechariah specifically brings us a story from the Spiritual World, depicting the Anointed King who rebukes the adversary for blaspheming Yahushua the High Priest. In this account as well, we observe that the Angel of Elohim (the Messiah – Christ) is to some degree distinct from who He was in the flesh, when He walked among us as Yahushua, the Lamb of Elohim. He now exists in the Kingdom of Elohim, continuing His ministry toward humanity in a special role as the High Priest of the order of Melchizedek. Additionally, He is poised to return as the Anointed Messiah, to unite with His Bride and bring about the downfall of those who failed to acknowledge Him as the Savior.
Holy Trinity as the three stages of Salvation
We, as beings with minds capable of comprehending only three or at most four dimensions, cannot grasp these concepts unless Ruach HaKodesh reveals them in spirit to some of us to selected indiduals.
What remains undeniable is that to attain Salvation, every individual must undergo three phases:
- We must recognize the Son so that our sins can be forgiven
- Thus our relationship with the Father is restored through the Blood of the Lamb
- Then through the Covenant of water and fire we are finally filled with Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit)
These three steps follow one another, and none of them can be omitted from the sequence. It’s not sufficient to merely recognize the Messiah in Yahushua; we must also obey Him and establish a covenant with Him in the visible world through water immersion, and then by being filled with His Spirit.
And It doesn’t end here; this is only the beginning, as Ruach HaKodesh starts constructing the Temple within us through our sanctification, which involves the Law and, in a broader sense, the Word of Elohim being inscribed in our hearts.
This Trinity is holy and inevitable. Hence, in this context, we can genuinely refer to the Holy Trinity, because all three aspects of Yahuwah must be active in us for us to be redeemed, which means having our names written in the Book of Life. This triple stamp on our lives could also be called Holy Trinity.
Any theories and theologies that attempt to multiply the One Elohim through the concept of the Holy Trinity are indeed false teachings.
Our human perception
The Trinity of Elohim is a mystery that many people spend too much time pondering. When we excessively delve into a topic that is challenging for our human senses to grasp, it can lead to many incorrect and misguided conclusions.
In my childhood, there was a cartoon featuring an extraterrestrial being who was brought to Earth by an astronaut upon his return from a space voyage. This alien came from a planet inhabited solely by two-dimensional life forms. It could hear people’s voices and communicate with them, but it could only perceive its own two-dimensional space with its other senses, including its eyes. The main human character often attempted to explain to the alien what the three- or four-dimensional world was like, but the foreign guest was unable to comprehend it.
Satan’s desire is to incite in humans the compulsion to the extent that they won’t rest until they have meticulously and exhaustively defined and understood the entirety of Elohim.
Humans often experience an innate urge to grasp and comprehend the precise essence of Elohim, fearing that without such understanding, their very salvation could be imperiled.
However, we must not give credence to these deceitful whispers that arise within us. We need to calm down and recognize that our capacities are limited by our human nature. Elohim does not expect us to possess such a high level of spiritual understanding and insight into the minutest details of His Kingdom and Himself. What He genuinely desires from you is to
accept the spiritual vision that He had personally set aside and sanctified for you, and for no one else.
So the initial step for all of us is to undergo this Triple Salvation process mentioned above, which you must traverse with childlike faith and unconditional love. Following that, there comes our obedience, as we serve the Messiah in accordance with the guidance of the Ruach HaKodesh, the Spirit of Elohim who operates within us and communicates with and through us.
We don’t need to comprehend everything; instead, we should embrace what Elohim chooses to reveal to us. We need to accept certain fundamental truths and, at times, even matters that are currently shrouded in mystery. This should be done without leaving room for contentious debates, theological speculation, and other human philosophies. It’s akin to a child who is curious about how babies are conceived and born and, without receiving a more specific understanding of sexuality, has to be content with their parents’ less detailed and tangible explanation.
The issue often lies in our attempts to define, confine, and explain the Father and the Son without seeking discernment from Ruach HaKodesh. It is only by being filled with the Holy Spirit that we can progressively gain a deeper understanding of the essence of the Unity between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit as we progress along the path of sanctification.
The complete knowledge, sight, and understanding of all this will only be realized when we are transformed into glorified beings and come before the Father, Yahuwah (as stated in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
In the Book of Revelation, John encounters only ONE Elohim, who is portrayed as the Son of Man, donning a robe with a golden sash, having white hair, eyes like blazing fire, feet like bronze, and a voice like rushing waters. Nowhere in the text can we find a depiction of two white-haired men or an older and a younger character with a white dove in a manner reminiscent of certain Catholic imagery.
The figure below effectively complements the analogy of water in illustrating the question.
Abraham’s encounter with the three “angels” is another instance where this threefold aspect of Elohim is presented. Yahuwah, as the Light of the world, manifests to humanity on Earth, traversing the layer of water, which represents the firmament of the celestial vault
revealing the three main attributes of the Light of the World like the colors of the rainbow, which become distinct when passing through a prism.
Hence, Yahuwah manifested in the form of three “angels” as observed from Earth. It’s noteworthy that even though Abraham, our patriarch, was facing three individuals, he addressed them in the singular, referring to Him as Yahuwah (or Lord, as per the current translation of the Bible). (also see my article on VAYERA, where I talk more about this incredible encounter).
Many engage in debates about a subject that cannot be comprehensively understood by humans. Meanwhile, we may not realize that our focus should be on fostering unity among ourselves. It’s essential to return to the pure Word and remove the human excesses that create divisions among us. The adversary is already constructing his own false ecumenical unity, where all sins, excesses, and human traditions blend together, to the detriment of Elohim.
Judaism needs to rid itself of its Babylonian influences, and Christianity should shed its Roman elements to come together in unity through the blessing of Ruach HaKodesh, with all individuals being filled with the same Spirit of the Messiah. This represents the pivotal moment of gathering, where both communities finally recognize the true Messiah, Yahushua.
Let us return to the Spiritual state of the founding of the Church on Shavuot (Pentecost), to experience this Unity again, and then we will all have the right vision of the person and multifacetedness of Yahuwah.
At that point, all false idols, whether bearded and hanging on a crucifix or portrayed as Yahushua on the screen, will cease to exist. Christianity will finally be in a position to make jealous its older, yet still misled, brother, the Jew. But as long as the false image of the Messiah is presented, reducing Yeshua to the status of an idol and worshipping Him as such, spiritually healthy Jews will never recognize Him as their Messiah. This also applies to our Arab-Muslim cousins, who share a similar perspective and concept of the Most High.
To be holy according to the trinity of Elohim
So there is no Holy Trinity as three different persons, but there is One Elohim who appears to people in 3 main forms having distinct roles and missions.
Humans, who themselves are composed of three main components (body, soul, and spirit), do not act and behave uniformly in different situations and environments. A man will act as a husband with his wife, as a father whit his children, as an employee in the office and will be a son in the eyes of his parents and in the best of cases a disciple before Yahushua.
A human can also express himself and interact with others either in person, by phone, through other intermediary media, or through correspondence, yet they remain the same and singular individual.
Essentially, those who believe in the Holy Trinity are wrong, because they multiply Elohim, while the deniers of the Trinity on the other hand simply mutilate the One Elohim from its individual members, roles and diversity, which is given to us to regain Life.
In short, the problem is bigger than we think.
When he appears in the visible world, physically, that is the role of the Son. Not a separate person or creature, but Yahuwah who saves Yahushua. In that case, He is indeed smaller than the Father, as the Son used to say, since He has emptied himself in order to be able to descend and appear among us. He had to lower himself to our level, take on a human body, so that He can be touched, seen and even sacrificed.
How could anyone imagine that the entirety of Elohim could fit into a cloak of max. 5.5 feet high and 165 pound blood and bones human flesh?
But an even bigger question is how can anyone imagines that the Most High would not have the power to appear in person in such a max. 5.5 feet tall and 165 pound human cloak if He wants to, if it is needed, because of us?
As a sign of His infinite love, He even suffered humiliation and death from the hands of His unworthy creature.
When he takes human form and comes down among us to offer the Atonement Sacrifice, He does not cease to exist up there in the Kingdom of Elohim as Almighty, because then all would collapse, which is impossible. And in the case when people stop at the human form that is the Son, they carve a bearded iesus idol out of it. It is not by chance that Yahushua decided to appear to his disciples in another form following his resurrection (Mark 16:12).
He did not want them to remember him through his facial features after his Resurrection. He intended to signify that He is Spirit and did not want them to remember Him by His imperfect physical form. Indeed, from that point onwards, He returned to the right hand of the Father, effectively becoming the Right Hand of the Father Himself. He ceased to exist physically in the visible world and had transformed back into the Anointed One in Spirit.
And the One who is anointed is anointed to rule, which means to act, just as a right hand is the first to act, to create, to work, to build and also: to restore. If this latter is rejected (restoration), He is also anointed for judging and executing the rebellious ones.
Wishing all my readers to avoid these last two sentences, let Ruach HaKodesh carry out the further needed restorations in us and in the Church. The time is near, the Bridegroom is already at the door.
Let’s get ready to meet Him soon.
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