Local Church Discussions - View Single Post

Cal · 02-17-2017, 09:19 AM

Lee taught that "God is Triune for dispensing." This is something we all accepted as profound and true.

But, really, why does God need to be Triune to dispense? If God was a monolithic Spirit, why couldn't he just get into us as the Spirit he was? To say "God is triune for dispensing" is to say "God could not dispense if he was not triune." But how do we know this? We don't. Where does the Bible say God could not get into us if he wasn't triune? It doesn't, and simple reflection says there is no reason to assume that.

All we really know is that God is triune and God dispenses (assuming you accept the concept of dispensing). Lee is the one who made the connection. He liked the idea of dispensing so he connected it to the very nature of God.

Lee saw the Trinity as a kind of progression. This isn't totally wrong. As you go from the Father to the Son to the Spirit, God becomes more practical and experiential to us. This is reflected in 2 Cor 13:14 where it says the grace of Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Spirit be with you. Grace is more practical than love and fellowship is more practical than grace, but they all have the same source and nature.

However the Trinity within God is not a progression but reflective of his own inner relationship with himself. The Spirit flows between the Father and Son. The Spirit is the reality of God is in that it is where he "really lives," what he is really about. And he is really about relationship, starting with his relationship with himself, which is the relationship between the Father and the Son, and going on to his relationships with us, and from there our relationships with each other, which we give back to God as our corporate relationship, which is an expression of his relational nature, which gives glory to him.

He lets us in on his inner relationship so when we experience the Spirit we experience fellowship with the Father and the Son, because the Spirit is their fellowship.

But to say God is Triune for dispensing is to say God has no reason to be Triune except to dispense into us, which is to say God has no meaning without us. Simply put, no.

I realize some of the stuff I say here is speculative. But "God is triune for dispensing" is speculative too. And for my money what I'm saying makes a lot more sense than that.

02-17-2017, 09:19 AM	#184
Cal Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: USA Posts: 4,333	Re: Lee's Trinity Lee taught that "God is Triune for dispensing." This is something we all accepted as profound and true. But, really, why does God need to be Triune to dispense? If God was a monolithic Spirit, why couldn't he just get into us as the Spirit he was? To say "God is triune for dispensing" is to say "God could not dispense if he was not triune." But how do we know this? We don't. Where does the Bible say God could not get into us if he wasn't triune? It doesn't, and simple reflection says there is no reason to assume that. All we really know is that God is triune and God dispenses (assuming you accept the concept of dispensing). Lee is the one who made the connection. He liked the idea of dispensing so he connected it to the very nature of God. Lee saw the Trinity as a kind of progression. This isn't totally wrong. As you go from the Father to the Son to the Spirit, God becomes more practical and experiential to us. This is reflected in 2 Cor 13:14 where it says the grace of Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Spirit be with you. Grace is more practical than love and fellowship is more practical than grace, but they all have the same source and nature. However the Trinity within God is not a progression but reflective of his own inner relationship with himself. The Spirit flows between the Father and Son. The Spirit is the reality of God is in that it is where he "really lives," what he is really about. And he is really about relationship, starting with his relationship with himself, which is the relationship between the Father and the Son, and going on to his relationships with us, and from there our relationships with each other, which we give back to God as our corporate relationship, which is an expression of his relational nature, which gives glory to him. He lets us in on his inner relationship so when we experience the Spirit we experience fellowship with the Father and the Son, because the Spirit is their fellowship. But to say God is Triune for dispensing is to say God has no reason to be Triune except to dispense into us, which is to say God has no meaning without us. Simply put, no. I realize some of the stuff I say here is speculative. But "God is triune for dispensing" is speculative too. And for my money what I'm saying makes a lot more sense than that.