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Life Bible Study, LLC is a Christian Publisher serving churches and Christian communities in order to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ, making disciples as we go. © 2015 Life Bible Study All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Life Bible Study. Address all correspondence to: Life Bible Study, LLC 1400 Meadowbrook Road Suite 100 Jackson, Mississippi 39211 All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION(r). NASB(r). Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ISBN 978-1-63204-053-4 31 Verses Every Teenager Should Know™ www.lifebiblestudystore.com www.31verses.com 1 2 3 4 5 6 / 20 19 18 17 16 15 Printed in the United States of America
TRI:UNITY
Intro I How to Use
HOLY SPIRIT
JESUS
GOD
ii Verse 1: Ephesians 3:16-17 Verse 2: Psalm 139:7 Verse 3: Isaiah 28:17a Verse 4: Psalm 103:2 Verse 5: Genesis 1:1 Verse 6: Acts 17:24-25 Verse 7: Psalm 102:27 Verse 8: Deuteronomy 32:4 Verse 9: Isaiah 6:3 Verse 10: Daniel 2:22 Verse 11: 1 John 4:14
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21
Verse 12: Isaiah 53:6 Verse 13: Luke 2:32 Verse 14: Matthew 3:17 Verse 15: Luke 4:2b Verse 16: Matthew 5:17 Verse 17: John 2:11 Verse 18: Mark 4:41 Verse 19: John 3:16 Verse 20: Matthew 28:6 Verse 21: Acts 1:9
23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41
Verse 22: John 14:26 Verse 23: Romans 1:4 Verse 24: 2 Timothy 1:7 Verse 25: 1 John 3:24 Verse 26: John 16:13 Verse 27: 1 John 4:6 Verse 28: Romans 8:2 Verse 29: 2 Corinthians 3:6 Verse 30: Ephesians 1:17 Verse 31: 1 Peter 4:14
43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61
Tri:Unity…The Triune Godhead…God in Three Persons…the blessed Trinity. Probably one of the areas that is least studied is The Trinity—the relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Maybe that’s because it can be a difficult thing to understand…that God exists in three forms, but is still One God; that all three of these forms are actively involved in our lives; that all three have different roles and different identities; that all three are One. 31 Verses Every Teenager Should Know: Tri:Unity will help you understand the Trinity: God the Father—and His glory, God the Son—who gave His life for us, and God the Holy Spirit—who lives within us. It sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? You’ve probably heard several illustrations to help you understand the Trinity. There’s the one about how H2O can have three forms—water, ice, and steam. Each form is different, but all three are still H2O. That helps a little, but not really, because H2O cannot exist in all three forms at the same time. But God exists in three persons. And there’s the illustration about the egg, which has an egg yolk, an egg white, and a shell. All three are part of the egg. But that’s the problem…all three are only parts of the whole. God, in the Trinity, IS the whole, and each member of the Trinity is completely God. We tend to like things that are easily understood, with the same limitations that we have. We are limited by our physical abilities and what we can actually do—how fast we can run, how strong we are, how much we can know. We are limited by our three-dimensional world and the things we cannot do—like walking through walls or moving effortlessly from one place to another. And, we are limited by the laws of our universe such as gravity and the speed of sound. We are totally limited in what we can and cannot do. Yet, the Trinity isn’t limited by anything. The Trinity has all knowledge, all power, and is everywhere, totally unrestricted by any of the limitations we face. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each completely God. And there is only One God. This is your opportunity…this little book…to study each One of the Trinity separately, and to see how they all interact in your life in different ways. And this little book will lead you into The Book so you can find out for yourself what the Bible tells us about the Trinity…about God the Father who loves us so much that He sent God His Son who loves us so much that He willingly died on the cross for us and then sent God the Holy Spirit to be with us every minute of every day. Wow! That’s a study that you can get excited about! In the name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Margie Williamson Editor
Now that you own this incredible little book, you may be wondering, “What do I do with it?” Glad you asked. The great thing about this book is that you can use it just about any way you want. It’s not a system. It’s a resource that can be used in ways that are as unique and varied as you are. A few suggestions . . . THE “ONE MONTH” PLAN On this plan, you’ll read one devotional each day for a month. This is a great way to immerse yourself in the Bible for a month-long period. (OK, we realize that every month doesn’t have 31 days. But 28 or 30 is close enough to 31, right?) The idea is to cover a lot of information in a short amount of time. THE “SCRIPTURE MEMORY” PLAN In this plan, you’ll memorize the verse for each day’s devotional; you don’t move on to the next devotional until you’ve memorized the Scripture you’re on. If you’re like most people, this might take you more than one day per devotional. So this plan takes a slower approach. THE “I’M NO WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE” PLAN Don’t like to write or journal? This plan is for you. . . . Not everybody expresses themselves the same way. If you don’t like to express yourself through writing, no problem. Simply read the devotional for each verse, and then read the questions. Think about them. Pray through them. But don’t feel as if you have to journal if you don’t want to. THE “STRENGTH IN NUMBERS” PLAN God designed humans for interaction. We’re social creatures. How cool would it be if you could go through 31: Tri:Unity with your friends? Get a group of friends together. Consider agreeing to read five verses each week, then meeting to talk about them. Pretty simple, right? Choose a plan. Or make up your own. But get started already. What are you waiting for?
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Introduction to t he Trin i ty Ephesians 3:16-17a
“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” The Trinity is, perhaps, one of the most confounding doctrines of the Christian faith. Many preachers and teachers have used analogies upon analogies in an effort to help believers wrap their minds around the doctrine of the Trinity. But even still, believers struggle to understand how one God can be three Persons. Would you believe me if I said that this is good news? Because the moment we are able to wrap our minds fully around God, it is no longer God we have in mind. God can’t be completely encapsulated in our analogies or fully explained with our limited vocabularies, but that doesn’t mean that we should simply give up on the tough truths of the faith. On the contrary, the difficult beliefs of our faith—the ones that refuse to be spelled out plainly—those are the very beliefs that we must meditate on heavily. Read Ephesians 3:14-19. We have the entire Trinity in our sights in this single passage of Scripture. We are all members of the Father’s family. He has brought us together, adopted us into His family, and put our names in His book of life. The Spirit is referenced in Scripture as the Helper, Comforter, and Counselor (among other titles). Here, Paul prayed that believers would be strengthened in their faith by the power of the Helper, Comforter, and Counselor living inside of them. And then Paul emphasized Christ, who dwells in our hearts through faith. The word “dwell” means to “settle” or “inhabit.” This is one of the beautiful promises of the gospel: when we put our faith in Christ, He makes a permanent home in our hearts. There is no danger of Him packing up His things and leaving. The doctrine of the Trinity can be a difficult truth, but it is also a hopeinspiring truth. The Father has adopted us into His family and put our names in His book of life. We will never be un-adopted and our names cannot be erased from His book. Christ has made a permanent home in our hearts through the indwelling of His Spirit. There is no danger of Him abandoning us. And His Spirit gives us power from the inside and He fills us up with the fullness of God.
How would you describe the Trinity to an unbeliever?
What are some questions you have about the Trinity?
Have you ever prayed and asked God to help you better understand the wonderful mystery of the Trinity? Take a moment to pray and ask Him to do so.