If Jesus is God’s son, then they can’t really be the same person any more than my brother is the same person as my dad. So the whole trinity thing doesn’t make sense to me. Can you help?

LAURA POLK says:

I totally understand where you’re coming from. In fact, when I was investigating Christianity for myself, this was one of the things I kept asking people. It didn’t make any sense to me, and almost suggested a flaw in their thinking.

I was given the example, and maybe you have been too, of water. Water can actually have three different forms: liquid (the water we drink), solid (ice), and gas (steam). Though we call them different things, and they take on different forms, they are still one and the same. In fact, they can be more than one thing at the same time. For example, I can drink a glass of water with ice in it. Or, I can boil water in a pot and watch some of it steam.

While you may no more understand how water can do this than how your brother can burp the entire alphabet and flick you in the head at the same time, we aren’t meant to understand everything. That is especially true when it comes to God. In fact, God reveals some things to some people, and other things to other people, all in the same attempt to draw us into relationship with Him.
Part of faith is believing what God tells us to be true, even though we can’t see it for ourselves, or even understand it for ourselves. By giving God our faith in Him, we build a relationship of trust. That we trust what He says to be true, even though we don’t understand it or can’t see it. And though it may be frustrating not to understand, we really have to rely on God that He knows why these things are best not revealed to us at this time.

When I was a new Christian, this concept was really hard for me because I only understood God as God in Heaven. Then, I began to learn about Jesus and came to accept that He was in fact, God on earth. Later in my walk, I began to experience more encounters with the Holy Spirit and began to understand that He was God in Spirit. Being open to these, and accepting them as true even when I didn’t understand it, opened me up to the possibility of experiencing all of them. All three are uniquely different, but also the same.

2 Corinthians 4:18 says:
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

 KELLY MARTIN says:

LISA GODFREES says:

That's a difficult question and something that I struggled with until adulthood, sadly.
In the book of Acts, the coming of the Holy Spirit brought speaking in tongues, flames, and earth shaking (physical manifestations). Some churches today still believe that when someone is "saved" and they receive the Holy Spirit these things are supposed to occur. These types of churches are generally referred to as "charismatic." 

Non-charismatic churches do not believe the gift of the Holy Spirit comes with any physical manifestations, nor that people today prophesy, speak in tongues, or have other miraculous gifts like healing. They believe the things that happened in Acts were specific to that age because it was the beginning of Christianity and at that time proof was needed.

My background is non-charismatic, so I think you can be saved but not feel really different after receiving the Holy Spirit. You prayed the salvation prayer and you don't feel differently. But that's OK. I encourage you to tell someone about your decision (a parent, someone in your church, an adult you trust). Once you believe that Jesus is God's Son and that He died in our place, you've made the important decision. The thing is, you're a baby Christian. They Holy Spirit will guide you and transform you over your life to be more and more like Christ, but that process is easier if you have a mature Christian helping you.

The thing that finally convinced me that I was "saved" and would actually go to Heaven was reading in the Bible about the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit lives in us, then we are saved. How do you know the Holy Spirit lives in you? That is just as difficult a question, but in my life I have felt the Holy Spirit (God) guiding me, helping me, putting thoughts in my head. That realization, along with Scriptures like the one below, finally put my mind at ease.

If you're not sure, the best thing you can do is to pray. Tell God what you are feeling and ask Him to help you. Where other people see coincidences, I see the hand of God. I hope that helps you, little Sister.
Romans 8:9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

Romans 8:10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. (NLT)

LAURA POLK says:

Congratulations! That is a big step, and something to celebrate. Guaranteed they are celebrating in heaven!

Not everyone feels different immediately after being saved. But, rest assured, if you invited the Holy Spirit in, He is in you. So, though you may not feel anything, you will certainly begin to notice other things. You may notice that you see things differently than before. Things that never bothered you, might concern you now. You'll get a new perspective.

You may notice that you feel differently toward others too. You may be drawn to people or groups that you were never drawn to before.
You may notice that you have a yearning to learn more, that you never had before. You may understand things about the Bible you never understood before.
All of these things are the Holy Spirit working in you to create a new you. While you may not notice anything immediately, over a span of time, you will see changes that you'll realize are coming from Him.

Sweet Blessings,
Laura

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That’s a hard one for us humans. You are a human and not a creature from Mars, right? God created us humans to like the things we can see, hear and touch. Things are more real if you can touch them. For instance, if you opened a Wonka chocolate bar and saw an actual gold ticket for a tour of the factory, you’d be more excited than if someone said you might get to go. We like to have something concrete, something we can touch and feel.