Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
It is a wonderful thing to come to the knowledge of the truth. Occasionally, as we read the holy Scriptures, the Lord opens our eyes to something we have seen many times, and yet have never seen. Such was the case some years ago when I was reading in the Bible and came upon a truth that I had read many times before, and yet had never really seen; namely, the apostle Paul was a trinity! I knew he was a great man of God, but I never knew that he was a trinity himself, just like God is.
In 1Corinthians 5, Paul wrote the believers in Corinth concerning a tragic immoral situation among the saints there. In his letter he states, “For my part, absent in body but present in spirit, I have already judged, as if present, the man who has done such as this. When you are gathered together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and with my spirit, in the power of the Lord Jesus, deliver such a man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord” (1Cor. 5:3–5).
Isn’t it amazing? Paul’s spirit was a person, just like God’s Spirit is a person! Paul’s spirit was in Corinth, observing and judging things, while he was somewhere else. Doesn’t that prove Paul’s spirit was a person? On another occasion, Paul’s spirit was in Colossae, seeing things and rejoicing with the saints there (Col.2:5), while he was in another location. So, obviously, Paul’s spirit could travel great distances while Paul remained at home or in other places. And Paul’s spirit knew things, just as God’s Spirit knows things (1Cor. 2:11), and his spirit could sing and pray, just as God’s Spirit can sing and pray through us (1Cor. 14:15). Paul’s spirit was able to be refreshed (1Cor. 16:18), and certainly you will agree that if Paul’s spirit was not a person, it could not get tired and need refreshing. Right?
Some skeptical reader may ask, “Who then is the third person of this trinity, if Paul and his spirit are two of them?” But isn’t the answer obvious? The third person of this trinity would have to be Paul’s father. Don’t you see? Oh, don’t you just see it! Now we have Paul the son, and his father, and the spirit. And these three are one. Three in one, that means trinity. Praise the Lord!
Yes indeed, Paul was a very great man, who, with his father and his spirit, was as much of a trinity as is Jesus, his Father, and his spirit. Every bit as much.
Isn’t it wonderful when Jesus opens your eyes so that you can read the Bible and at long last see all the clear evidence we need to prove that not only is there a trinity but that there are two of them?