Expert: Elder Greg Madden - 2/14/2007

Question
Hello Greg,
I thank you for your answer; although I definately don't agree with you about many of the things you said, such as the doctrine of the trinity taught by Christ !! Where ?
You have no sciptural proof of this..... I noticed you were very careful not to say God in THREE SEPARATE PERSONS, but if you embrace this catholic doctrine, you must teach it as it is written !! THREE, CO- EQUAL, CO- ETERNAL,CO- EXISTANT
PERSONS in the Godhead..... God the Father(person #1) God the Son(person #2) God the Holy Spirit(person #3)Greg you can't have your cake and eat it too !! Show me just ONE explicit scipture that prove a trinity of 3 separate persons
I can show you many that say: God is ONE ..... Greg the message and the revelation is that God became a man, God robed himself in flesh, 1 Timothy 3:16-And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.Jesus was a Jew, He never took away from the Jews strict monotheistic teachings of God,they were rebuked for many things, but never their teaching of ONE GOD/no trinity......Jesus was King of the Jews..... He came to HIS OWN and they received HIM not. Jesus was the "Father" incarnate, Colossians 2:9-For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.We are complete in HIM !!(not them). The trinity was not even divised for many years after the Bible was written.... Any scripture a trinity believer might embrace may talk about a duality (meaning 2 natures:Spirit/Flesh)but never three separate persons or personalities.
Where in scripture does it teach about water baptism merly being an outward profession of an inward work ? John the Baptist baptised for repentance, Jesus was baptised, Peter preach it on the day of Pentecost- Acts 2:38(this was a command)Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hello Greg,
Since this post is about history: What is the orgin of the trinity, Do you beleive in it ? Do believe water baptism is essential for salvation ? How do you baptize ? (In Jesus Name , Or Father, Son, Holy Ghost ?
         God Bless, david
-----Answer-----
Sorry, computer problems. Here is the rest of the answers.



David,

Greetings, and thank you for your questions. I will answer them in the order in which you asked.

1. "What is the origin of the trinity?"

Here is a brief history.

The doctrine of the trinity was taught by Christ in the Gospels, and was laid out by the early church due to it's reaction towards Arianism. This belief system attempted to protect monotheism by denying the deity of Jesus. Arianism taught than Jesus was divine, but that he was a lesser deity that the Father. To affirm the church's stance on the nature of God, the trinity was formally stated by the Nicene Creed, and later the Athanasian Creed. These affirmed the early Christian conviction that Jesus was God. Arianism caused Christians to assert publicly what was already believed in the earliest Christian theology.

The term trinity. although not specifically mentioned in Scripture, was first used by Theophilus of Antioch around 180 A.D., as a way of expressing the triune nature of the one God revealed in the Bible.

2. "Do you belive in it?"

I believe what the Bible teaches about the nature of God. So yes, I belive in the eternal, omnipotent, omniscience, omnipresent, sovereign, and immutable triune God; and in the unity of the Godhead where three personalities, equal in every divine perfection and attribute, execute distinct, harmonious offices, in the great work of redemption. This does not mean that there are three "people" called God, but rather a way of saying God eternally exists in three personally distinct ways. Scriptures declare that there is only one God, Who is eternally manifested as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

3 "Do believe water baptism is essential for salvation ?"

No, and yes. Let me exsplain. Because of man's total inability to save himself, salvation is by God's grace alone, and the believer in justified through faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is received through sincere, godly repentance, and whole-hearted acceptance and confession of Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord. Therefore baptism is subsequent to conversion and not a saving ordinance, but an outward sign of an inward work. However, baptism is not optional for the believer, but a command of our Lord to be obeyed.
So baptitism is not necessary to obtain salvation, but once salvation has been obtained it is essential for that one to be baptized.

4. "How do you baptize ? (In Jesus Name , Or Father, Son, Holy Ghost ?"

We baptize in full emmesion into water (no sprinkling). Here is an exsample of what we say at baptism...
"By the authority given the church, in the name of Jesus we baptize this our brother/sister, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."
Simply put, we do both because there is Scripture for both.

David, please let me know if this helps, or if you have any further questions.
Elder Greg Madden  

Answer
David,

I apologize for the tardiness of my reply. David, I what you to know that it was not my intention to argue or to draw you into some sort of debate. I had sent you a follow up to find out if I had answered your original question sufficiently. Apparently you disagreed with the answers I gave. If you would like, I will be glad to address these issues you brought up. Please let me know and I will do so, otherwise thank you for your reply.

Also, if you do wish to follow up, please do me a favor. Restate your questions in another (separate) question. If you do not, then the questions and answers can get rather lengthy and hard to read. I am unable to erase those past correspondences, but you have that option.

Thanks!

Elder Greg Madden