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roposition # 23: An essential relationship is implied by the fact that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are drawn together in the baptismal command given by Jesus at Matthew 28:19 in a manner and under the same singular designation of authority. Also there are other passages of Scripture where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are mentioned together.
Response: That there are a Father, and Son, and holy spirit, we do not contest. That there is an important relationship between them, we do not contest. But that this relationship is trinitarian, we do contest.
First John 5:8 reads, “And there are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.” Do trinitarians conclude that there is a triune entity composed of spirit, water, and blood? Or that Persons are indicated here because they bear witness and are in agreement?
As for the three being mentioned together in some passages, consider Matthew 24:36 and 25:31-45 of which only a small portion is quoted here:
(24:36) But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. / (25:31) When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne… (34) Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world….’
Here the Son is mentioned, the angels are mentioned, the Father is mentioned, even believers are mentioned. Why in these verses is the holy spirit never mentioned if he is a co-equal, co-eternal person of the trinity?
Note also John 5:23 which reads, “that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” If the holy spirit is a co-equal, co-eternal person of a triune God, why is he left out?
In Revelation 7:10 the great multitude cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” Why do they not ascribe salvation to the holy spirit if he is a person of the trinity?
In Revelation 7:15-17 of this same chapter both God and the Lamb [Jesus Christ] are spoken of, yet the holy spirit is not mentioned. In Revelation 14:1 the “hundred and forty-four thousand” have the Lamb’s “name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.” Why do they not have the holy spirit’s name written on their foreheads? In Revelation 21:22-23 God and the Lamb are each mentioned twice, yet the holy spirit is not mentioned. At 2 John 9 the holy spirit is omitted where it reads, “whoever abides in the teaching [of Christ] has both the Father and the Son.”
Why, if he is one person of the Godhead?