Great Doctrines Of The Bible Three Volumes In One God The Father God The Son God The Holy Spirit The Church And The Last Things

Including three classic volumes: God the Father, God the Son; God the Holy Spirit; and The Church and the Last Things--this three-in-one set helps people understand and apply Christian theology. Now available in paperback with a new cover.

Have you heard people say, “Fearing God doesn’t mean to be afraid of Him but to be in awe of Him and revere Him?” I have, too. But what if it’s more than that? And what if this fear can change our lives? We are living in dark, chaotic times where sin is raging in the world and our hearts. Even many in churches who say they love God are fighting habitual sins. What if our sin problem is a fear problem? In my grief, I searched Scripture, asking the Lord for a deeper understanding of the fear of God. He revealed a powerful point of clarification—fearing God is not only a mindset but a way of life. It’s not just how we feel or what we think about God but how we respond visibly to His glory. With Scripture as its foundation and authority, Holy Gravity explores the connection between our sanctification and the fear of God. God’s people are to be set apart; our greatest distinction from the world is our fear of God manifested in holy living. Through a relationship with Jesus Christ, God frees us from sin, maturing us by the Holy Spirit in visible ways. In this place of God-focused fear, we can offer the hope of Christ to the world and one another. I pray you will find that God intends our fear of Him to transform our lives and make us holy. “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13

From the patristic period until today, John's Gospel has served as a major source for the church's knowledge, doctrine and worship of the triune God. Among all New Testament documents the Fourth Gospel provides not only the most raw material for the doctrine of the Trinity, but also the most highly developed patterns of reflection on this material—particularly patterns that seek to account in some way for the distinct personhood and divinity of Father, Son and Spirit without compromising the unity of God. While there have been recent, fine studies on aspects of John's doctrine of God, it is surprising that none summarizes and synthasizes what John has to say about God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In order to fill this gap, Köstenberger and Swain offer a fresh examination of John's trinitarian vision in this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume. Part One situates John's trinitarian teaching within the context of Second Temple Jewish monotheism. Part Two examines the Gospel narrative in order to trace the characterization of God as Father, Son and Spirit, followed by a brief synthesis. Part Three deals more fully with major trinitarian themes in the Fourth Gospel, including its account of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and mission. A final chapter discusses the significance of John's Gospel for the church's doctrine of the Trinity, and a brief conclusion summarizes some practical implications. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.

When you consider the aspects of Christianity that differentiate it from other religions, one of its most distinguishing characteristics is certainly the notion of a "triune God." This concept has been the bedrock of Christian orthodoxy for almost two millennia, and even today remains the standard by which everything claiming to be Christian is measured. Indeed, in many respects the Trinity has actually become Christianity’s defining doctrine. In addition to its singular importance, though, the Trinity is also one of the most enigmatic doctrines of the Christian faith. For even though most believers are aware of the Trinity, they would probably be hard-pressed to explain it without slipping into heresy themselves. They know it has something to do with "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit," and that the three are somehow one, but that’s about the extent of it. That being said, perhaps the most perplexing thing about this doctrine is that neither the word "Trinity" nor its central premise of "one God in three persons" can be found in Scripture! This comes as a shock to most Christians, who tacitly assume that something as essential as the Trinity must be on virtually every page of the Bible. In reality, though, the Trinity gradually took shape during the 300+ years after the close of the New Testament, a synthesis of Christian doctrine and concepts borrowed from Greek philosophical and religious systems. If you’ve ever had to wrestle with the ideas of Plato and Aristotle, you can start to appreciate why the Trinity is so hard to grasp. So in light of all this, why are we still talking about this doctrine after almost 2,000 years? It’s not in the Bible, most Christians can’t comprehend it, and yet it is deemed to be the litmus test of orthodoxy! Granted, the Trinity has been used many times over the years to vanquish some of the most serious threats that the church has faced; still, when you look at the history of this doctrine it sure feels like the early church fell into the very trap that Paul had warned them about. In his letter to the Colossians, he admonished the church to steer clear of "empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense," yet here we are. Fortunately, there is a better answer to the riddle of "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." We simply need to allow Scripture to speak for itself, rather than listening to it through its would-be interpreter, the Trinity. This is not an easy task, to be sure, since we have been so indoctrinated with the Trinity that it is hard to see anything else when we open the pages of the Bible. Nevertheless, when we set God’s tri-partite designation in the context of the Kingdom of God and the Bible’s overarching story of redemption, the truth of this phrase starts to emerge. The trick, of course, is doing that without also slipping into heresy…which is exactly what "Testing the Trinity" strives to accomplish.

You might be surprised to find that God is not a trinity. The Trinity is one of mainstream Christianity’s most widely accepted and revered doctrines held by millions of Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox believers. The belief that God is three persons—the Father, Son and Holy Spirit—coexisting in one being is how the trinity doctrine is often defined. But the word trinity appears nowhere within the pages of the Bible. You can not cling to long-held religious traditions if they contradict the Scriptures. Your beliefs must rest solidly on the teachings of the Holy Bible. This Bible Study aid, "Is God a Trinity?", goes into great detail explaning the non-biblical origins of the trinity and how this false gospel replaced the true teachings of Jesus Christ. Discover how the Bible communicates a true picture of God and learn about the awesome plan He has promised for you and all mankind. Chapters in this ebook: -- Is the Trinity Biblical? -- The Surprising Origins of the Trinity Doctrine -- Greek Philosophy's Influence on the Trinity Doctrine -- How Ancient Trinitarian Gods Influenced Adoption of the Trinity -- A Spurious Reference to the Trinity Added in 1 John 5:7-8 -- How Is God Revealed in the Bible? -- Jesus Was Sent by the Father -- Jesus Christ: "The Rock" of the Old Testament -- The Apostles Understood Jesus to Be the Creator -- Did Jesus Christ Claim to Be God? -- "In the Beginning Was the Word" -- The Claim of Jesus' Disciples -- "There Is One God, the Father...and One Lord, Jesus Christ" -- God's Plan to "Bring Many Sons to Glory" -- Jesus Christ's Submission to the Father -- How Is God One? -- "The Lord Our God, the Lord Is One" -- Seven Scriptures That Debunk the Trinity as a Single Being -- Elohim: The Plurality of God -- Is the Holy Spirit a Person? -- Does Matthew 28:19 Prove the Trinity? -- Why the Holy Spirit Is Sometimes Incorrectly Referred to as "He" and "Him" -- What About Passages That "Prove" the Trinity? -- The Holy Spirit: God's Transforming Power -- How to Stir Up God's Spirit -- God's Nature and Character -- God's Purpose for You -- The Likeness of God -- Do Some Verses Deny a Divine Family? -- The God Family Inside this Bible Study Aid ebook: "Most people assume that everything that bears the label “Christian” must have originated with Jesus Christ and His early followers. But this is definitely not the case." "Many historians and religious scholars, some quoted in this publication, attest to the influence of Greek or Platonic philosophy in the development and acceptance of the Trinity doctrine in the fourth century." God the Father is the One who calls us to baptism and a new way of life (John 6:44, 65), and it is His goodness that leads us to repentance and baptism (Romans 2:4). "As even the New Catholic Encyclopedia, quoted from earlier, acknowledges: “The majority of New Testament texts reveal God’s spirit as something, not someone; this is especially seen in the parallelism between the spirit and the power of God..."

This book was compiled for people who want to understand the essentials of Christian doctrine so that they can test the teachings offered by the world.

Despite the fact that the Christian tradition is prevalent, if not dominant, throughout much of the Western world, there remains a considerable amount of confusion and debate over the actual doctrines that feature in this belief system. In this volume, The Great Doctrines of the Bible, author William Evans identifies and explains some of the most important doctrinal and dogmatic tenets of the Christian faith.

The last book in a three-volume series by one of the most influential preachers of this century exploring the essentials of Christian doctrine focuses on echatalogical issues and the church.