Christians: What is your belief concerning the nature of the "godhead?"?

I believe Jesus was the Son of God and that the three, God the father, God the son, and God the Holy Sprite make up one Godhead. Case in point in Matthew 3: 16 -17 we read (And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove, and lighting upon him. And lo a voice from the heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom am well pleased.) Let take a look at it this way when 2 people a man and a woman get married it is said that the two be come one in God's eyes. Your last question about salvation is easy and there is just one way to look at it. Anyone that want to be saved has to repent of there sin, ask Jesus to come into the life, and try to live for him. We will still sin after salvation, but when we repent the Blood of Christ wash them away. Please look into this matter and make up your mind your 1 heart beat away from the truth.

The Trinity doctrine does not say that there are three separate beings within the Godhead.

Within the One Being of God subsist the Three Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Not three beings - ONE BEING, made up of three separate Persons. Huge difference.

When Jesus was being baptised, all three Persons were present. The Father, whose voice was heard from heaven. The Son, Jesus, who was being baptised. And the Holy Spirit who appeared in the form of a dove. That is why, when Jesus, the Son, died, the Father and the Holy Spirit did not also die.

However, there is an unorthodox version of the Trinity which says that Jesus only is God and that God can appear either as the Son, or as the Father, or as the Holy Spirit. This version gives the impression that Jesus is his own Father, or that the Father is the Son, which is unbiblical.

I believe that the prehuman Jesus was the eternal Word who was with God in the beginning, and who is God. I believe that the Word became flesh and dwelt with us as the man Jesus. I also believe that Jesus, whilst being fully human, was also fully divine. Yes, Jesus is God - but Jesus is only one person within the One Being of God.

As for salvation, that depends upon placing all your trust in Christ Jesus and acknowledging that our sins can only be forgiven through faith in his sacrifice. Salvation is entirely the work of God because it is God who draws us to Him, and it is the Holy Spirit who brings the sinner to repentance and saving faith. When I became a Christian seventeen years ago, I did not understand the nature of the Godhead, or who Jesus, the Son, really was in relation to the Father and the Holy Spirit. That revelation came later.

There are no degrees of being saved, though. You're either saved - or you're not. The article in the first link gives a detailed explanation (from the Bible) about the Godhead. Halfway down the second article is an explanation how people come to be saved.

LM

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three separate persons, but they are God, aka the Godhead.

John describes perfectly who the Word is: the Word is God and the Word became flesh and dwelt among men..that's the Son, Jesus Christ.

Yes, it affects my salvation in that the only way to God is through the Son, and without being reborn in the Holy Spirit(the Godhead, once again), the Kingdom of God is unattainable.

EDIT: Jesus doesn't say outright that's He's God. He is sent to fulfill OT prophecies of the promised messiah.

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are what is known as the Trinity even though that word is not to be found in scripture. Trinities exist everywhere throughout the universe. I will give you a simple example in a three leaf clover. There are three separate parts to this plant held together by a common thread which is the stem and yet the clover is only one plant.

While this is a poor analogy in comparison to the deeper truth of the Godhead it will aid me in sharing my belief. I believe that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate persons who are so closely linked in mind and spirit that they never disagree in any way. I believe they are all beings without creator and that they are all eternal. A close study of scripture will verify that.

The word for God in all of Genesis One and most of the Old Testament scriptures is Elohim. Elohim is a Hebrew word that denotes "Plurality in the Godhead." Even the best Jewish scholars admit to this, however they refuse Christ as the third member of the Godhead because he didn't fit their idea of how the Messiah would come and what his purpose would be. They were looking for a conquering warrior who would bring their enemies into subjection to him and them. Jesus came as a sacrificial lamb to take away the sins of the world. So they are still looking for their Messiah today while remaining under the law.

It is noteworthy that in Genesis 1:26 scripture says; "And God said; Let US make man in OUR image and OUR likeness."

Since God is uncreated, and angels were created beings God could not have been addressing angels because they were not on the same level as God. To think otherwise would be blasphemy. Further on at the tower of Babel God says, "Let US go down and confound their languages." Once again he is not speaking to angels or men because he doesn't speak on a par with lesser beings as equals.

In the New Testament we are commanded to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To include the son in this formula would be blasphemy if Jesus were not God since as a man he would not be equal to God. But a close study of scripture reveals that Jesus came as God incarnate - or God in human flesh. He is known as the God/man or 100% God and 100% man. This is called in theological circles the Hypostatic Union.

John 1:1 - coupled with John 1:14 gives further evidence that Jesus is God. I Timothy 3;16 also has to be referring to Christ as God if understood rightly in the Greek language.

In the book of John Jesus comes right out and declares he is God and the religious leaders wanted to stone him. They told him that the reason they wanted to stone him was that "YOU BEING A MAN DECLARE YOURSELF TO BE GOD."

There is more, but this should be sufficient.

I would definitely be a strict Trinitarian.

Although I believe in the importance of knowing the truth when it pertains to God, I do not automatically think that anyone who does not have the total truth about God (ex: the Godhead) will not go to Heaven because of this. In the end, only God can judge a person's conscience and their culpability or non-culpability for not believing in His truths. I can remember a guy that was about to become either a Brother or a Priest saying that we cannot judge where anyone goes, even Hitler-----and it is true, because no one knows where a person's heart was at the time of their death (even someone as vicious as Hitler could have sincerely repented for their heinous sins before they died). My lifelong belief in this fact really helped when I recently lost someone very dear to me------were I not to know that only God knew what was in his heart at the time of his death, it would have been way harder for me to deal with his being dead. Just think of the many times we misjudge peoples' actions and sometimes even intentions----to think that we know in the end where anybody ends up when it comes to Eternity is utter foolishness (only God can read peoples' minds and hearts)...

There's no such thing as being more or less saved.

I believe the Bible is clear that there is one God. That he is spiritual, physical and emotional but one; and that this three-in-one image is what we are created to mirror, if for no other reason than to reflect the basic understanding how it is possible to have three complete parts yet one being.

I won't judge the heart of someone else, nor are we permitted to do so. I do however wonder how those who reject the identity of Jesus Christ will stand before him and explain it since they have to pass through him. I also wonder how someone can claim to know him (or anyone) and not start with his identity. (1 John 2:23 "no one who denies the Son has the Father.") And I am not confused by all the passages that would have to be ripped out of the Bible to support an alternative view, which is why so many who are do re-write the Bible to have their own that supports their own doctrines. (That's an interesting point to know since while some difference of opinion about specific books being included in the cannon is primarily the only difference between Protestant and Catholic Bibles, while those who reject the deity of Jesus have their own Bibles!)

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Eric may not see your added details but there are so many, not the least of which is the passage in John that records a very long encounter with the Jews who continued to question Jesus about his identity in which he proclaims it numerous times, not the least of which is in 8:58 where he uses the term "I AM" which is the same name given to Israel for God the Father when he led them out of Egypt and they all knew that which is why their response was to attempt to stone him and they said, "We are not stoning you for any good work, but for blasphemy, because you claim to be God." (See John 8:19-John 10:33)

There's also a big issue for those who reject this to deal with Jehovah God proclaiming he would send himself to "live among the people" in Zechariah 2:10-11 which is supported by John 1:1 and 14 that tells us he did just that by the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, there's a huge issue when you consider Colossians 2:9-10 that tells us "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. He is the head over every power and authority" since if Jesus is not God in bodily form as it says, than he is superior to God the Father since the Father is a power and authority, but that contradicts everything ever said on the subject completely and would require a complete re-write of the Bible to support a polytheistic view.

How in the world do you twist Jesus' own words to proclaim that the one presently "looking at me is seeing the one who sent me"? Who sent Jesus? God the Father. Obviously his proclamation is that they are one in the same...this occurs in John 12:45 and then again in John 14:8-9 when he also from his own lips proclaims that "He who has seen me has seen the Father."

People try to twist the meaning of "I and the Father are one" from John 10:30 to support their own ideas but they have to reject the first hand witnesses to these statements which I've already shared, which was that they fully understood he "claimed to be God" because their response was to pick up stones and confirm his identity with the very words they spoke!

All three are God. One God, one Godhead. If Jesus isn't God, then there is no salvation at all. If Jesus isn't God then He lied. In denying Christ is God one also denies that there is redemption from personal sin. One can't be a Christ follower if in denial of what Christ flatly stated about Himself. These things are very basic to being a genuine Christian.

The Trinity doctrine is based upon parts of scripture combined with the ability of natural reason to determine the existence of one self aware God who is capable of knowing Himself and acting upon that knowledge. But the only thing that triggers the Trinity doctrine are those parts of scripture that prove that each of the Persons is God. Without that scriptural proof, the Trinity doctrine is not possible since it is not used to prove that each Person is God. All who are saved are saved by following a sincere, honest and informed conscience regardless of belief.

Its Father + Son + Holy Spirit

The Father has a body of flesh and bone, the Son also but the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit so that He can enter into our hearts and thoughts, to communicate with our spirits, testifying of the other two.

God, the Father, is in charge. He assigned His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to organize and be in charge of this earth, thus making him both Son of God and God in His own right. The Holy Ghost assists both of them to carry out their plan, to elevate each of us back to their presence if we would repent and obey.

Yes, an understanding of the nature of God is essential to our exaltation. Those who only accept the workings of the spirit will be in the Telestial Kingdom. Those who accept Christ will be in the Terrestrial Kingdom and those who accept the fulness of the Father, will be in the Celestial Kingdom. It doesn't matter what church you belong to in this life but it does matter that you receive and accept all of God's covenants and ordinances through proper authority before you go to judgment. It just so happens that in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, all of those requirements are available.