by David E. Pratte - Bible Study Lessons

1 The God of the Bible A Study of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by David E. Pratte Available in print at God of the Bible Page #2 The God of the Bible : A Study of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Copyright David E. Pratte , 2006, 2013 All rights reserved ISBN-13: 978-1494498900 ISBN-10: 1494498901 Note carefully: No teaching in any of our materials is intended or should ever be construed to justify or to in any way incite or encourage personal vengeance or physical violence against any person. He who glories, let him glory in the Lord 1 Corinthians 1:31 Other Acknowledgements Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are generally from the New King James Version (NKJV), copyright 1982, 1988 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

2 Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are from Holy Bible , New American Standard La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible , English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (MLV) are from Modern Literal Version of The New Testament, Copyright 1999 by G. Allen Walker. Scripture quotations marked (RSV) are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible , copyright 1952 by the Division of Christian Education, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

3 Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the New International Version of the Holy Bible , copyright 1978 by Zondervan Bible publishers, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Page #3 God of the Bible Other Books by the Author Topical Bible Studies Growing a Godly Marriage & Raising Godly Children Why Believe in God, Jesus, and the Bible ? (evidences) The God of the Bible ( Study of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) Grace, Faith, and Obedience: The Gospel or Calvinism? Kingdom of Christ: Future Millennium or Present Spiritual Reign? Do Not Sin Against the Child: Abortion, Unborn Life, & the Bible True Words of God.

4 Bible Inspiration and Preservation Commentaries on Bible Books Genesis Joshua and Ruth Judges 1 Samuel Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther Job Proverbs Gospel of Mark Gospel of John Acts Romans Ephesians Philippians and Colossians Hebrews 1 & 2 Peter Bible Question Class Books Genesis Joshua and Ruth Judges 1 Samuel Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther Job Proverbs Ecclesiastes Isaiah Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Mark Gospel of Luke Gospel of John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians and Galatians Ephesians and Philippians Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon Hebrews General Epistles (James Jude) Revelation Workbooks with Study Notes Jesus Is Lord: Workbook on the Fundamentals of the Gospel of Christ Following Jesus: Workbook on Discipleship God s Eternal Purpose in Christ: Workbook on the Theme of the Bible Visit our website at to see a current list of books in print.

5 God of the Bible Page #4 Other Resources from the Author Printed books, booklets, and tracts available at Free Bible Study articles online at Free Bible courses online at Free class books at Free commentaries on Bible books at Contact the author at Page #5 God of the Bible Table of Contents The Number of Individuals in the godhead .. 6 The Deity of Jesus .. 27 The Nature Of The Holy Spirit .. 61 The Nature of Spiritual Gifts .. 75 The Purpose of Spiritual Gifts .. 104 The Imparting of Spiritual Gifts .. 120 The Duration of Spiritual Gifts .. 129 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

6 144 (Due to printer reformatting, the above numbers may be off a page or two.) Notes to the Reader You may find that major topics of this material will repeat topics or concepts covered elsewhere. This serves to emphasize these points and allows each major topic of Study to be complete of itself (so major sections can be studied independently). Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations are from the New King James Version. Often - especially when I do not use quotations marks I am not quoting any translation but simply paraphrasing the passage in my own words.

7 To join our mailing list to be informed of new books or special sales, contact the author at God of the Bible Page #6 The Number of Individuals in the godhead Introduction: The Bible repeatedly teaches that there is only ONE true God. This God is one in contrast to the many warring, conflicting, different gods of heathen idolatry (Deut. 4:35,39; 6:4; 32:39; Psa. 86:10; Isa. 43:10-13; 44:6-8; 45:5,6,21-23; Matt. 4:10; Mark 12:29). However, the Bible also mentions three beings each of whom is called God, or other such terms used for God. The Heavenly Father Matt.

8 16:16,17; John 6:27,44,45; 20:17; Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1:3; etc. Jesus, the Son John 1:1,14; 20:28,29; Phil. 2:6-8; Heb. 1:8,9; Col. 2:9; Isa. 9:6. The Holy Spirit Acts 5:3,4; Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 4:8. Some people conclude that one God means God is just one individual or personal being. So they conclude that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all the same individual or personal being. They claim that these are just different titles used to refer to the one individual, or that the different terms refer to different parts of the one individual ( Son = the fleshly body, Father = the Divine Spirit that inhabited the body, etc.)

9 This one individual is named Jesus, so the position is often called Jesus only. The purpose of this Study is to show by Scripture that the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit are three separate and distinct living personal beings or individuals. To illustrate what we mean by separate and distinct beings or individuals, consider various existing kinds of living intelligent beings: Angels are intelligent spirit beings or individuals Heb. 1:13,14. Satan and his servants (demons) are intelligent spirit beings or individuals Matt. 4:1-11; 12:43-45; Mark 1:21-27.

10 Page #7 God of the Bible Humans are intelligent beings or individuals (before death a human consists of body and spirit, but at death the spirit departs from the body) Gen. 1:26,27; 2:7; James 2:26; etc. The Bible teaches that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are individual beings separate & distinct from one another, like these various other intelligent beings are separate and distinct from one another. We do not claim the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are physical beings, like humans, though Jesus did have a body on earth. Nor do we claim they are like these other beings in character, authority, etc.