How Each Member of the Trinity Works in the Discipleship Process

1 Corinthians 12:4 indicates that many different types of gifts exist but the same spirits gives all of them, and this is the Holy Ghost. 1 Corinthians 12:5 indicates that different kinds of service exist, but Christ would be the one that performs all of them. 1 Corinthians 12:6 indicates that different types of workings exist, but God the Father works all of them in all people. The point is that the different persons of God are responsible for performing different functions in order to complete one task, and thus the discipleship process happens through each person of God developing the disciple in a different way.

An example would be that a Christian exists that has just been saved, and as a result the Holy Ghost would give that person a set of gifts as a new disciple. As the disciple grows more and more in Christ, Christ would do more and more types of service through that person as the person becomes more Christ like. God the Father would thus be responsible for coordinating the work that is done, providing the power ultimately for the work, and doing the work through a disciple.

In the example of the ministry of Jesus Christ to perform miracles the Holy Ghost would provide the gifts (or the talents) that Jesus Christ used to heal people. God the Father was planning and coordinating the work as he was doing the work through Christ. Christ was serving people by matching the talent with the situation according to the Father's plan.

The Burning Bush

In Genesis 22:1-13 when Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abram carried the fire and the knife while Isaac carried the wood. The fire, knife, and wood all symbolize the justice and suffering of God. The fire symbolizes the Holy Ghost that like the burning bush would always give up everything in passion but would never be consumed. The wood that Isaac carried symbolizes the cross of Christ that as a servant Jesus carried with torture and scorn. The knife symbolizes God the Father in that the Father administers the entire process as his suffering is the deep emotional conviction in doing what needs to be done.

The work of the Holy Ghost in bestowing gifts acts like the burning bush in giving, and this can be seen clearly in the case when a woman anointed the feet of Jesus (Luke 7:38) as Jesus would have had her anoint the head as well (Matthew 26:7). The point was that the work of giving everything at the feet of Jesus not only would have resulted in being so highly exalted as to anoint the head of Jesus, like a prophet would do, but it also resulted in the person not being consumed in the process of anointing the head of God the Son. The Holy Ghost as a burning bush that always gives everything but is never consumed (because God sustains it) acts as the very voice of God to speak God's message into the world just like in the example of Moses hearing the voice of God from the burning bush. Overall, in Revelation 1:19-20, to reinforce the point, the angels as servants of God are seen as stars that would be ablaze as they represent the Holy Ghost working in the Church.

Revelation 1:19-20 describes the seven churches as being seven lamp stands like what existed in the temple that lit the way to the Most Holy Place (God's throne room), and thus the churches themselves are like bushes. The servants in the church bestowing gifts from the church act as lights for the Menorah that light the way to the Most Holy Place (thus causing a burning bush). The discipleship process thus produces a total surrender of God's servants as they poor out all of themselves in a blaze that eliminates the very entry to God's throne room.

In John 15:4-6 Jesus is described as the vine and the saints are described as the branches. If people remain in Jesus, then they will produce much fruit, but apart from Jesus they will produce nothing. The reason for this is because the crucifixion of Jesus Christ demonstrated Christ on the cross acting as a 'burning bush' surrendering everything, and the gift that this bestows is the promise of fruitfulness. 1 John 2:19 makes the point clear by showing how heretics go out from the church and their going shows that they had never been part of the vine.

John 15:1 describes the Father as the vine dresser of Jesus the vine like the symbolization of the knife of Abraham discussed earlier, and John 15:8 drives fruitfulness home as it says, "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." (NIV) Discipleship thus involves the process of surrender to Christ as the Holy Ghost bestows the gifts or fruit through a person that is in the vine. Overall, the entire process shows the glory of God the Father as he is the one that planed, predestined, and preordained the entire endeavor.

Turning Water into Wine

In the wedding supper that Jesus attended (John 2:1-11) Jesus took jars of water that would have been used for washing, and he turned that water into the fruit of the vine. The point is that the washing of the waters of baptism to wash away sins can have the promise of turning the water into the fruit of the vine in a person's life if Jesus is the one doing the miracle. If Jesus is not the one performing the miracle, then a person receiving baptism may simply just be getting a bath in someone else's name. Overall, Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit in a baptism of fire, that burns away the chaff, demonstrates that submersion by Jesus is so internal that it works its way out (like washing the inside of a cup to make the outside clean as well).

Isaiah 11:1-2 demonstrates the seven spirits of God emerging from the stump of Jesse (he was the father of King David). Revelation 5:6 shows the fulfillment of Isaiah 11:1-2 as Christ is seen as a lamb that has seven horns and seven eyes as they are the spirits of God emerging from Christ through has sacrifice as Lamb of God (again another burning bush example). Revelation 1:19-20 demonstrates the church as the body of Christ such that the churches are lamp stands, and the stars (or flames of those lamp stands) are the angels in those churches. Overall, the body of Christ as a temple (Matthew 27:40) demonstrates how organized and elaborate people are in interacting with Christ through utilizing and pouring out their talents onto the world.

In Matthew 22:1-14 God the Father is seen as a great King that gives a wedding supper for his Son Jesus Christ. In this case the servants (the Holy Ghost) go out and collect the people that are necessary for the wedding feast. The Holy Ghost thus gives the gift of the invitation to people, but for the gift to be fully realized the people must use it through giving up everything that they would otherwise be doing. Unfortunately many receive the gift of the invitation, but they do not attend and even offend the King. Of those that do attend the wedding supper of Christ (wedding supper of the lamb - Revelation 19:11-21), some are not clothed with wedding garments (robes washed in the blood of the lamb - Revelation 7:15). Those that do not have wedding garments are thus thrown out to the weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Conclusion

The discipleship process thus totally involves God the Trinity working through a person to produce fruit. In the Latten Vulgate, that was used for a millennium in the western church without challenge, 1 John 5:7 states that the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost all give testimony in heaven, and in 1 John 5:8 in the Vulgate the spirit, water, and blood give testimony on earth. The point that the Vulgate makes is that a true disciple bares the testimony of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in heaven, and water, blood, and spirit on earth. Overall, the testimony of God the Trinity in heaven and the testimony of how that works out on earth all have to be in agreement despite differences, and this introduces a set of challenges that the disciple must face in a structured process of transformation.