Understanding the Trinity Doctrine | Nabeel Qureshi

arguments earlier today as to why from the bible people can argue jesus is not god i mentioned for example the verse from the gospel of john where jesus says the father is greater than i that's interesting we need to be able to explain how jesus can be god while the father is greater than he is uh verses in mark's gospel where jesus says he doesn't know when the end of times is neither the angels nor the son but only the father knows when the end of times is fascinating stuff the first thing we need to do whenever we approach anything when we approach the bible when we approach anything to see what it's saying is we have to get its context so let's read from the beginning now anyone who tries to argue from the gospel of john that jesus is not god has a huge uphill battle to fight because john's gospel starts off with what in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god how is the word with god and also god at the same time whatever the answer is we need to realize that john's gospel says somehow the word was with god and is god and the next verse says he was in the beginning in our day he was in the beginning with god and then verse 14 says the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the idea of the word being the thing through which the universe was created god's interaction with the world was something that actually came partially from jewish thought so there's a guy named philo who's embracing kind of greek thought as well as being a jew and he's trying to think through how does the transcendent god interact with this world and he says it happens through the logos god's interaction with this world is through the logos we see something similar in the uh in the targums so this idea of the logos the thing through which the universe is created that's present in that time in that context and that's what john's gospel is saying that the word is the thing through which the universe is created and we see that in john 1 and john 1 1 and john 1 2. so from the very beginning of john's gospel jesus is introduced as god look at verse 118 by the way of john's gospel when you get the chance unless you have a textus receptus translation if you're using a modern translation like nasb niv etc you will see that 118 says that jesus is the only begotten god interesting so very clearly from from the beginning that's all john's gospel is trying to say so in other words when we read john's gospel it's like john says hey before you read this gospel read verses 1 1 through 118 this is the lens through which i want you to read the rest of my book jesus is the creator of the universe from the very beginning with god and then he became flesh read my book through that lens that's what john is saying and so then you read a verse like the father is greater than i what do you do well look at the context first look at the context because that chapter actually shows that jesus is omnipresent and omnipotent when he says the father is greater than i he also says that when i leave whatever you pray pray in my name and i will do it for you hold on that means that jesus is saying when he's gone he can still hear your prayers he's omnipresent and he also says that he can answer your prayers for you when he's gone that makes him omnipotent so whatever jesus means when he says the father is greater than i we have to read it in the context of that chapter that he's both omnipresent and omnipotent and what he says when when he says the father is greater than i here's how i want to answer that okay i have to go to the trinity then i have to go to the trinity all right make sure you have a good definition of the trinity i see the primary problem with people trying to explain the trinity and going straight to an illustration like the egg or the water illustration is that illustrations are intended to demonstrate a definition so if you skip right over the definition and go straight to the illustration you're going to confuse people here is the definition of the trinity if you write anything down tonight write this down god is one in being and three in person one in being and three in person now that is not a contradiction see if i said he's one in being and three in being that's a contradiction and i'm arguing with myself if i say he's one in person and three in person that's a contradiction god is one in being and three in person so the next obvious question is nabil what's the difference between a being and a person glad you asked thank you the being a being is that quality that makes you what you are or makes a thing what it is so being is what's-ness and a person is that which makes you who you are so for example i am a human being that's what i am in case you were confused i'm a human being who i am is not a human being who i am is nabil qureshi what i am is a human being who i am is nabil koreshi what i am is is heart lungs its muscles its eyes it's it's all this tendons bones etc that's what i am that's not who i am who i am is a kind loving caring compassionate person as my wife would tell you immediately who i am is very different from what i am humans happen to be one being and one person that's what humans are one being one person god is different god is one being yahweh is what we call god but he's three persons father son and spirit those three persons are equal because they're all god they've all existed from the beginning like john chapter 1 says because they're all god so then the question comes up well how can jesus say something like the father is greater than i if they're all god and the answer is actually quite simple let's say i appointed to the president of the united states let's say i said obama i can very accurately say obama is greater than i am because when he goes somewhere he rolls with the posse he's got he's the most powerful man in the world people there's news conferences when he sneezes i mean he's greater than i am but is he any more human than i am no he's not he's greater than me in terms of role but he's not greater than me in terms of essence in the same way the father is greater than the son in terms of role the father is superior the son is subjected to the father in terms of role and we see that in first corinthians 15 it says that jesus is going to subject himself to the authority of the father so the father can be all in all it's because the father is superior in terms of role but is he any more god than jesus is no because they're both god there's only one god and they're equal in essence father son and spirit so okay so i'm kind of there's this is there's so much to cover in this question i want to go back another direction so this is that was to help you understand how some of those critiques simply don't work they're either out of context or they're missing the point why can we know that jesus claimed to be god i want to point to the earliest stratum of christian history because the book of revelation for example in second peter our new testament book sure but they come much later than for example mark's gospel or any of the pauline epistles they're they're all new testament but they were written at different times mark's gospel is the earliest of the four gospels it was written no later than 70 to 72 a.d i believe it was written probably much earlier than that but to concede for the skeptics the latest date possible let's say it was written no later than 70 to 72 80. you've got the pauline epistles paul died around the time of the neuronian persecutions no later than 65 a.d paul wrote letters that were earlier than that i think i'm gonna have to speed this along we've got a lot of questions to ask in the earliest of the four gospels mark's gospel the whole thing points to the deity of jesus that's what the whole gospel is about from the beginning to the end it's all about jesus being god except it's revealed slowly there's only one point where there's a massive climax and that's john mark 14 62. in mark chapter 14 verse 62 finally jesus is being told to answer for everyone who are you up until then whenever jesus was asked are you the christ or a demon would come out for example in mark chapter 3 and say you are the holy one of god what was jesus's response don't tell anyone don't tell anyone mark chapter 8 the disciples say you're the christ jesus says don't tell anyone why he was waiting for a very specific moment to reveal who he is but we see glimpses throughout mark chapter 2 verse 10 jesus has the ability to forgive people's sins mark chapter 2 verse 28 jesus is lord of the sabbath who's lord of the sabbath think about it the sabbath is the fourth of the ten commandments yeah there's an old testament too the sabbath is the fourth of the ten commandments if jesus calls himself lord of the sabbath he's saying he's lord over the ten commandments who is lord over the ten commandments god in mark chapter two verse ten like i just mentioned who has authority on earth to forgive sins god and we see this there's so many more verses to talk about but mark 14 62 we have jesus say publicly and boldly and loudly who he is the high priest asked him are you the christ the son of the blessed one jesus responds by saying i am interesting but we don't have time to go into that and you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming with the clouds of heaven now we in the 21st century scratch our heads and we say what the heck was that about i am and you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming with the clouds of heaven people who know the old testament very well know what jesus is saying when he calls himself the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven he's referring to a very specific passage of the old testament anyone know daniel 7 thank you daniel chapter 7. this is what's going on in daniel chapter 7. the prophet daniel is looking in the sky and he sees the ancient of days he sees god the father being worshipped by angels surrounded throne of fire etc there's the ancient of days and then in verse 13 he says behold in my night visions i looked and one like the son of man was coming on the clouds of heaven and approached the ancient of days time out right there the bible says repeatedly that there's only one who comes on the clouds of heaven and that is yahweh only god according to the bible comes on the clouds of heaven but he's over there who's this guy coming on the clouds of heaven he's one who looks like a son of man he's one who looks like a human approaching the ancient of days coming in a way only god comes interesting let's keep going it says to him jesus was given glory authority and sovereign power people ask me how i remember this stuff by the way glory authority and sovereign power spells gasp gasp glory authority and sovereign power is given to jesus now hold on for a second who has glory authority and sovereign power in heaven god yet here it's being given to this one who looks like a son of man interesting let's keep going it says people of every nation and language will serve him whoa hold on in heaven someone other than the father is going to be served by people of every nation and language well the proper question to ask would be nabil what kind of service and i would say glad you asked because the word latruo which is the greek equivalent in the septuagint but even the word pela because i don't know if you know daniel is the only book of the old testament that has portions written in aramaic so aramaic is the word here in daniel pelah the word pelah and the word le truo is only given to god 130 times throughout the old testament and new the word is used and every single time it is used as a service due to god alone except in this passage where someone who looks like a son of man who rides on the clouds of heaven who's going to have people of every nation and language serve him he receives that service due only to god then it says his kingdom is one that will pas not pass away and his dominion will never be destroyed wow so you have god the father and somebody else who looks like a son of man who comes in on the clouds of heaven like only god does he's given glory authority and sovereign power of heaven he's worshiped and served by people of every nation and language with the worship and service do only to god and his dominion over heaven will never be destroyed jesus when he says you will see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven he's saying remember that guy from daniel 7 that's me that's me and by the way whenever people say something like oh son of man is the human title of jesus and son of god is the divine title i say no that's kind of backwards it's kind of backwards at least from the jewish perspective that's backwards because in the jewish perspective there are a bunch of people who are called sons of god adam's called the son of god solomon is called a son of god but there's only one divine son of man in the old testament and jesus claims to be that one but hold the phone it gets even better jesus says you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power okay what is that a reference to that's a reference to psalm 110 verse 1. the lord said to my lord yahweh said to adonai sit at my right hand and i will make the enemies a footstool for your feet understand the context of what's happening here when god says sit at my right hand in that semitic context what it means is rule the universe with me you are my heir that's why no one in the second temple period of jewish history was ever depicted sitting next to god moses stood next to god enoch stood next to god no one sat at the right hand of god because it would mean being coheir co-ruler over the universe jesus said you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power coming with the clouds of heaven now if you were to say to me nabil this is just mark's gospel how do we know jesus actually said this i would say glad you asked this doctrine of the son of man is found in every layer of gospel history if you believe in q theory it's found in all five sources matthew mark luke and john and q that is why the earliest christians worshiped jesus i'll toss in one last thing for free if i gave any more you'd have to pay paul in philippians chapter 2 verses 6 through 11 says this having yourself the same attitude and having your minds the same attitude is that of christ jesus who although he existed in the form of god did not consider equality with god a thing to be grasped but he emptied himself paul now paul is before mark's gospel and as he's writing to the letter of the philippians that's even earlier and he's saying having yourselves the same attitude as that of christ who although he was god did not resist humbling himself by emptying himself and becoming a man if he wants to make it any more clear he does what he does in the next few verses he says to the name of jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that jesus christ is lord what did he do there he took isaiah 45 which says to yahweh every knee will bow and every tongue will confess took out yahweh's name put in jesus name to jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess the earliest layer of christian history that we have access to shows jesus being worshipped as yahweh himself and i have to ask in a jewish context where people are very very careful not to worship anyone but god how in the world do they start worshiping jesus so fast and the best answer i can give the best conclusion i can give is that jesus himself said he was god you

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Length: 18min 50sec (1130 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 24 2020