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b. They Are Distinct but Not Separate

The three of the Godhead are distinct, but not separate (John 8:29, 16b; 16:32b; Acts 10:38; Luke 4:1a, 18a). Since They are coinhering, They cannot be separated. They coexist by the way of coinhering. But there is still a distinction among Them. The Father is the Father, the Son is the Son, and the Spirit is the Spirit. These three titles denote that They are distinct. But when the Son speaks, that is the Father's working. When the Spirit comes, that is really the coming of the Father and of the Son. Thus, They are one, with distinction but no separation.

What I have presented here is the most simple and brief way to speak on the Divine Trinity. What is our God? He is Spirit. Who is the Spirit? The Spirit is God. Who are the Father, the Son, and the Spirit? The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are the Divine Trinity. They are distinctly three but not separate. They are still one. They do not only coexist but also coinhere as one yet three.

According to the economical aspect of the Trinity, the Father planned, the Son accomplished, and the Spirit applies to us what the Son has accomplished according to the Father's plan. The Father accomplished the first step of His plan, His economy, by working to choose and predestinate us, but He did this in Christ the Son and with the Spirit (Eph. 1:3-5). After this plan was made, the Son came to accomplish this plan, but He did this with the Father (John 8:29; 16:32) and by the Spirit (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18, 20; 12:28). After the Son accomplished all that the Father had planned, the Spirit comes in the third step to apply all that He accomplished, but He does this as the Son and with the Father (John 14:26; 15:26; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). In this way, while the divine economy of the Divine Trinity is being carried out, the divine existence of the Divine Trinity, His eternal coexistence and coinherence, remains intact and is not jeopardized. In the divine economy, the three work and are manifested respectively in three consecutive stages. Yet even in Their economical works and manifestations, the three still remain essentially in Their coexistence and coinherence.

B. Concerning Man

1. Created by God as a Tripartite Man

It is very meaningful that God is triune and man is tripartite. God is in three persons— the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—and we men are tripartite, in three parts— the spirit, the soul, and the body. Man was created by God as a tripartite man (Gen. 2:7).

a. With a Body Formed with the Dust of the Ground, as Man's Outer Frame

Genesis 2:7 says that the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground. Our body is our outer frame formed with the dust of the ground.


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The Spirit with Our Spirit   pg 5