...even Christians have written their own documentation that they do not consider the 3 to be the same person.
We have Jesus(as) speaking to God(swt) and even asking God(swt) for favors.
To me that all reads like the Trinity is three separate Unequal beings and that Jesus(as) is the least powerful of them as he Needs to ask God(as) for favors and He prays to God in worship. He also received a Blessing from the Holy Spirit.
Now if that sounds like a description of 3 separate entities being one person. I am hopelessly confused.
I would agree that the 3 separate entities, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are 3 separate personages Who together are the ONE GOD. The problem we humans have is perhaps semantics---the words we use to describe GOD. For Christians, the term and teaching of "Trinity" and 3 "Persons" or "Personages" is merely an attempt to verbalize and summarize what God Himself has said about Himself in His Word, both Old and New testaments. "Let US make man in OUR image..." There are many places in the Old Testament indicating GOD is more than an absolute ONE, but rather a composite ONE. So when Jesus said, "My Father and I are ONE," it should come as no shock to someone who has read all of the O.T. and much of the N.T., with the concept becoming more clear and pronounced in the N.T.
The Three are co-equal in all their
essence, substance, and nature. Those 3 words simply describe what something consists of. God consists of DEITY. Man consists of humanity. Animals consist of animal matter/life. Plants consist of plant matter/life. Rocks consist of inanimate minerals or whatever. Regarding GOD and Jesus and their relationship, we must consider this passage:
Philippians 2:
3. Let nothing be done through
selfish ambition or conceit, but in
lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
4. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
5.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6. who,
being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be
equal with God,
7. but
made Himself of no reputation,
taking the form of a servant, and coming
in the likeness of men.
8. And being
found in appearance as a man, He
humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9. Therefore God also has
highly exalted Him and given Him the
name which is above every name,
10. that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11. and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Now, the context of the passage has to do with pride vs. humility. Paul writes to the Philippians and urges them to do nothing out of conceit but have lowliness of mind (humility), esteeming others better than yourself. He then uses Jesus Christ as the ultimate example of humility. Though He was in the form of God, He did not think it was robbing God to be equal with God or, some versions, He did not think His equality with God was something to be grasped or held onto no matter what, but instead made Himself of no reputation, taking on the form of man and humbling Himself even to a death on the cross. That's the lowest of the low. But afterward He was exalted with a Name above every name and a position that was back to His original where every knee would bow and declare Him to be LORD to the glory of God.
So, we see the incarnation where He Who was in the form of God and equal with God took on the form of a man/servant/slave. Now, Paul would reason, if HE can do THAT, you Philippians should follow His example and be humble too. Now, His example was probably not given to explain God as much as to exhort humility. But we learn from it, if we can receive it. Paul was given so many revelations that he was also given that thorn in the flesh to keep HIM humble. Let's hope we can be humble enough to receive the truth given and not exalt our minds to reject it because we don't understand it.
In any event, when "the Word became flesh" or when He Who was in the form of God and equal with God took on the form of a servant, the question becomes, Did He cease to be God? His "form" or outward expression
did change and when that became that of a servant, all the aspects of servanthood came with it---hunger, thirst, tiredness, etc. So in that respect it is sometimes said He was 100% man. But can He Who was equal with God cease to be that? No, and so in that respect it is sometimes said He was still 100% God. Personally, I don't understand that any more than you do. 100% + !00% seems to = 200%, which doesn't make sense. But He certainly humbled Himself to limit Himself to whatever God wanted, subjecting Himself 100% to the will of His Father, doing and saying ONLY what His Father lead Him to do and say, subjecting His own will 100% to the will of His Father. But the fact that there
were separate wills whereby He could have called it all off and not gone to the cross, shows a distinction of entities, even if both had the same essence, substance, and nature.
So let's do it without no 'fighting' etc.
