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WITNESS LEE QUOTES
Chapter Two
GOD IS TRIUNE ETERNALLY
1 PETER 1:
2 According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
EPHESIANS 4:
6 One God and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all.
HEBREWS 1:
8 But as to the Son, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
JOHN 20:
28 Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and My 1God!
281 This Gospel proves strongly and purposely that the Man Jesus is the very God (1:1-2; 5:17-18:10:30-33).
(Witness Lee, Footnotes, 512)
ACTS 5:
3 But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart that you should lie to the Holy Spirit and put aside for yourself some of the proceeds of the land?
4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And when it was sold, was it not in your authority? Why have you contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to men, but to God.
THE FATHER IS GOD
Undoubtedly the Father is God. In various places the New Testament speaks of God the Father. See, for example, 1 Peter 1:2 and Ephesians 1: 17.
THE SON IS GOD
The Son also is God. Hebrews 1:8 says, “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God …” Here the Son is addressed as God. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The Word certainly is Christ, the Son. Since the Word is God, the Son also is God. Furthermore, Romans 9:5 says, “Christ … who is over all, God blessed forever.” I like this verse. Christ the Son is not only God; He is God over all.
THE SPIRIT IS GOD
In Acts 5:3-4 we see that the Spirit is God. In verse 3 Peter told Ananias that he had lied to the Holy Spirit, and in the next verse that he had lied to God. These verses equate the Holy Spirit with God.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are God. How many Gods do we have? We have one. How can the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all be God and yet there be only one God? The only answer we can give is, “I don't know.”
THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE SPIRIT BEING THE ONE GOD
The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one God. First Peter 1:2 tells us that the Father is God; Hebrews 1:8 tells us that the Son is God; and Acts 5:3-4 tells us that the Spirit is God. If you read the Bible in a superficial way, you may believe that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three separate persons. But if you read even only the Gospel of John carefully, getting into the depth of the truth, you will see that the Son came in the Father’s name, He worked out the Father’s will, He worked the Father’s work with the Father and in the Father’s name, He spoke the Father’s word, and He sought the Father’s glory. If you touch the depth in the verses that cover these points, you will realize that the Son and the Father are one. You cannot separate them.
Likewise, the Spirit is not separate from the Son. From these two titles it seems They are two separate persons. But when you get into the depth of the details in the verses that cover this matter, you see that the Spirit comes in the name of the Son, He comes to testify concerning the Son, and He glorifies the Son. Furthermore, the Son has given everything He is and has to the Spirit. These points indicate that the Spirit and the Son are one. If the Spirit and the Son were not one, how could the Spirit come in the Son’s name? How could He come to reveal the Son? How could He come to glorify the Son? How could the Son give everything to Him? Eventually you have to admit They are one. This realization that the Son and the Father are one and that the Spirit and the Son are also one is according to the clear revelation in the Gospel of John.
(Witness Lee, Divine Trinity, 139-140)
All these matters added together show you a crucial point: these Three-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are the one God; They can never be separate. The Second comes in the name of the First and with the First, and the Third was sent by the First in the name of the Second and came with the First and the Second. And They all are coinherent, as the Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son (John 14:10-11). They are mingled with one another. How could They be separated? The Three are one. The Third is the transfiguration of the Second, and the Second is the embodiment of the First. The Son is the embodiment of the Father, and the Spirit is the transfiguration of the Son. Such expressions actually mean that They are one. If the Son were not one with the Father, how could He be the Father’s embodiment? If the Spirit were not one with the Son, how could He be the Son’s transfiguration?
This matter of the Trinity is very mysterious; we cannot explain it thoroughly. It forces us to pick up terminology such as embodiment and transfiguration. We don't like to use the word representation, because we do not there is any kind of representation between the Father and the Son and between the Son and the Spirit. We believe that the Son is the embodiment of the Father, and the Spirit is the transfiguration of the Son. They cannot be separated from one another; neither are They represented by one another.
(Witness Lee, Divine Trinity, 140-141)
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ISAIAH 9:
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
HEBREWS 1:
11 They shall perish, but You remain; and they all shall become old as a garment,
12 And as a robe You shall roll them up, and as a garment they shall be changed; but You are the same, and Your years shall not fail.
HEBREWS 7:
3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, abides a priest perpetually.
JOHN 8:
58 Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham came into being, 1I am.
581 The Lord as the great I Am is the eternal, ever-existing God Hence, He is before Abraham and greater than Abraham (v. 53).
(Witness Lee, Footnotes, 454)
HEBREWS 13:
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.
HEBREWS 9:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Some of the rumors and accusations claim that we do not believe that the Father, Son, and Spirit are eternal. I do not know where the critics and accusers get such a thought. We want to declare to all that, in accordance with the Bible, we believe that the Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Spirit also is eternal. We believe this and declare it because the Bible tells us so.
THE FATHER IS ETERNAL
Isaiah 9:6 has the term the “everlasting Father.” The literal translation of the Hebrew phrase here is “Father of eternity” or “eternal Father.” Hence, the Father is eternal.
THE SON IS ETERNAL
The Son also is eternal. Hebrews 1:12 says of the Son, “Thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.” Hebrews 7:3 says that He has no beginning of days nor end of life, meaning that He is eternal. Eternal is that which has no beginning or ending. This is why a circle rather than a straight line is a sign of the eternal God. He has no beginning and no ending.
THE SPIRIT IS ETERNAL
The Spirit also is eternal, for Hebrews 9:14 speaks of “the eternal Spirit.” Therefore, let everyone know that in accordance with the Bible, we declare that all Three, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, are eternal.
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MATTHEW 3:
16 And having been baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon Him;
17 And behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, 1This is My beloved Son, in Whom I delight
171 Or, This is my Son, the beloved. While the descending of the Spirit is the anointing of Christ, the speaking of the Father is a testimony to Him as the beloved Son. Here is a picture of the divine Trinity: the Son went up from the water, the Spirit descended upon the Son, and the Father spoke concerning the Son. This proves that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit exist simultaneously. This is for the accomplishment of God’s economy.
(Witness Lee, Footnotes, 20)
JOHN 14:
16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever;
17 Even the Spirit of reality, Whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.
The Father, Son, and Spirit all exist at the same time. Notice John 14:16-17: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth.” In these two verses we have the Son praying to the Father that the Father would send the Spirit. Hence, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all present at the same time.
In Ephesians 3:14-17 Paul says that he will pray the Father to grant us to be strengthened by His Spirit in our inner man that Christ may make His home in our hearts. In this passage we have the Father, the Spirit, and Christ the Son. All exist at the same time. The Bible does not say that the Father existed for a certain period of time and then the Son came; that after a certain period of time the Son no longer existed and was replaced by the Spirit. There is not a verse that says this. The Bible in this passage indicates that the Father listens to the prayer, the Spirit will strengthen the saints, and the Son, Christ, will make His home in their hearts. Here again, it is clear that all Three exist at the same time.
Second Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” Here are mentioned the grace of
Christ the Son, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship or communion of the Holy Spirit. All Three are present at the same time.
First Corinthians 12:4-6 speaks of the Spirit of gifts, the Lord of administrations, and the God of operations. Here we see the Spirit, the Lord, and God. Once again, the Spirit, the Son, and the Father are shown to exist and work at the same time. The Spirit is giving gifts, the Lord is administering, and God the Father is operating. Therefore, we do not believe that the Father has ever ceased to exist, that the Son came to replace Him, and that, after a time, the Spirit replaced the Son. We believe that all Three, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, are eternal and exist at the same time.
(Witness Lee, Triune God, 9-11)
Some of our critics say, “When Witness Lee teaches that Christ is the Father and the Spirit, he is teaching modalism and denying the coinherence and coexistence of the three Persons of the Godhead.” I deny this accusation. If the critics were to ask me whether I believe in Matthew 3:16 and 17, where the Son is standing, the Spirit is descending, and the Father is speaking, I would answer that I believe it at least as much as they do. All three, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit were present at the same time. I fully believe in the coinherence and coexistence of the Three of the Godhead. I not only believe Matthew 3:16 and 17, but all the verses that pertain to this subject. For example, Revelation 1:4 and 5 say, “Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ…” In these verses, the Father is the One “which is, and which was, and which is to come" the Spirit is the “seven Spirits" and the Son is Jesus Christ, “the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.” Here, the Father, the Spirit, and the Son are not only present after Christ’s resurrection, but even after His ascension and after Pentecost. Many other verses reveal the same thing. Second Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (Gk.). Here we see the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Spirit. Furthermore, Ephesians 3:14-17 says, “I bow my knees unto the Father … that he would grant you … to be strengthened with might by his Spirit … that Christ may make his home in your hearts … “ (Gk.). Once again, the Father, the Spirit, and Christ are all present at the same time. The charge that I am a modalist is false, and I absolutely repudiate it. Modalism teaches that God is not at the same time Father and Son and that the revelation of the Son ended with the ascension. The permanence of the Father, Son, and Spirit was denied by modalism. Modalism is a heresy, and we do not believe in it.
(Witness Lee, What A Heresy, 3-5)
THE COINHERENCE AND COEXISTENCE OF THE FATHER, SON, AND SPIRIT
Some of the critics say, “Matthew 3:16-17 says that the Son was standing there, that the Father was speaking from heaven, and that the Spirit was descending upon the Son. All three took action at the same time. Surely by the way you speak you don't believe this,” Our answer is that we believe it more than our critics do, for we believe the Bible according to the pure word. We believe whatever the Bible says. I can point out many verses which say that the Father, Son, and Spirit are there at the same time. Second Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (Gk.). All three, the Son, the Father, and the Spirit, are here. In Ephesians 3:14-17 Paul bowed his knees to the Father, praying that He would strengthen the saints by His Spirit so that Christ might make His home in their hearts. Here we see the Father, the Spirit, and Christ. This is the Triune God.
(Witness Lee, Young People’s Training, 83-84)
What is the error in modalism? Modalism. teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not all eternal and do not all exist at the same time. Rather, it claims that the revelation of the Son ended with the ascension and that after the ascension the Son ceased to exist. Modalism has gone too far, not believing in the coinherence and coexistence of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Unlike the modalists, we believe in the coinherence and co-existence of the three of the Godhead, that is, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all exist at the same time and under the same conditions. We also believe that all three are eternal. Isaiah 9:6 says that the Father is eternal, Hebrews 1:12 and 7:3 indicate that the Son is eternal, and Hebrews 9:14 speaks of the eternal Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not temporary, but are eternal.
(Witness Lee, Young People’s Training, 84)
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JOHN 1:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 3with God, and the Word was God.
13 The Word is not separate from God. It is not that the Word is the Word, and God is God, and they are separate one from another. They two are one; hence, in the following clause it says that the Word was God.
(Witness Lee, Footnotes, 407)
JOHN 10:
30 I and the Father are one.
JOHN 14:
9 Jesus said to him, Am I so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How is it that you say, Show us the Father?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words which I speak to you, I do not speak from Myself; but the Father Who abides in Me, He does His works.
11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me; but if not, believe Me because of the works themselves.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:
45 So also it is written, The first man, Adam, became a living soul; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
COLOSSIANS 2:
9 For in Him dwells all the 1fullness of the Godhead bodily,
91 “Fullness” refers not to the riches of God but to the expression of the riches of God. What dwells in Christ is not only the riches of the Godhead, but the expression of the riches of what God is.
(Witness Lee, Footnotes, 992)
NOT ONLY COEXISTING, BUT ALSO COINHERING WITH THE FATHER
Christ the Son not only coexists, but also coinheres with the Father. In the Gospel of John we are told that in eternity past the Son and the Father coexisted, because the Word was with God (John 1:1). When the Son came, He said that He was not alone, that the Father was with Him (John 8:16, 29). So while He was on earth, He and the Father were existing together. But on the other hand, the Lord said that He was in the Father, and the Father was in Him (John 14: 10a, 11a; 17:21). Some have said that the Son and the Father are separate, and that the Son just represents the Father. But the Lord said if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father (John 14:9). This is not a matter of representation; this is a matter of embodiment The Father is totally embodied in the Son (Col. 2:9). When you see the Son, you see the Father, because the Son is the embodiment of the Father. You cannot separate them because the First is embodied in the Second, and the Second is the very embodiment of the First. So the Second is in the First, and the First is in the Second. The two are one.
(Witness Lee, Divine Trinity, 119-120)
This is not for doctrine, but for experience on our side and for dispensing on His side. When we called on the Lord and were saved, right away we had the realization that Someone had come into our being. Who was that? Was it the Father, or the Son, or the Spirit? It is hard to say. First, it seems the Son is in us; later it seems the Father is also in us; eventually it seems the Spirit is in us as well. As long as we have the Spirit, we also have the Son and the Father. When we have one, we have three, because the Three are one. This is the dispensing of the Triune God, and this is for our experience.
(Witness Lee, Divine Trinity, 120)
When Christians are asked about the Holy Spirit, they often say that the Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead. They point out that the Godhead includes three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Although it is true to say that the Holy Spirit is the third of the Godhead, this understanding is not adequate. It is very important to see that the Father and the Son are fully realized in the Spirit as the third of the Godhead. This means that we cannot separate the Holy Spirit from the Son or the Father.
The three of the Godhead not only coexist, but They also coinhere. Hence, among the Father, Son, and Spirit there are both coexistence and coinherence. God is triune; He is three-one. Coexistence means to exist together at the same time. Coinherence is much more difficult to define or understand. Applied to the Triune God, this term means that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in one another. The Bible reveals clearly that when the Son came, the Father came with Him. Likewise, when the Spirit comes, He comes with the Son and the Father. Furthermore, when the Son came, the Father came with the Son not in an outward way, but inwardly, subjectively, within the Son.
(Witness Lee, LS of Philippians, 335-336)
Regarding the relationship between the Father and the Son and between the Son and the Spirit, the Gospel of John uses a particular Greek preposition, a preposition which can be translated “from with” (6:46; 16:27). The Son came not only from the Father, but even from with the Father. He came from the Father and also with Him. This indicates that when the Son came, the Father came also. The Father came in the Son. Therefore the Lord could say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). He could also testify, “I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me” (John 14:10). On the one hand, the Father and the Son are two; on the other hand, They are one. Because the Father came not only with the Son but also in Him, the Son, the Lord Jesus, could say, “The words which I speak to you, I do not speak from Myself; but the Father Who abides in Me, He does His works” (John 14:10). Furthermore, according to the Bible, if we have the Son, we have the Father also (1 John 2:23). Because the Father is with the Son and even in Him, we receive the Father when we receive the Son. Moreover, when the Spirit comes, He comes with both the Son and the Father. Therefore, to have the Spirit is to have the Son and the Father.
The Holy Spirit is the ultimate and consummate reaching of the Triune God to us. Do not think that when the Holy Spirit reaches you, only He, the third of the Godhead, comes, and that the Father and the Son remain in heaven. Some Christians have such an understanding. Instead of believing that Christ is in us, they claim that Christ sent the Holy Spirit to function as His representative in us. This concept is altogether wrong. The Bible does not speak of the Spirit representing the Son in the believers. On the contrary, according to the Scriptures, when the Holy Spirit comes, the Son comes with Him and in Him. The Father also comes with the Son and the Spirit. This means that when the Holy Spirit comes to us, the entire Triune God comes. According to the Bible, we may say that the Father is the source, the Son is the course, and the Spirit is the flow. How marvelous that the Holy Spirit is the consummate reaching of the Triune God to you and me!
(Witness Lee, LS of Philippians, 336-337)
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