What is the
Trinity? It is a term that describes the one God who exists in three Persons—Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. In one sense God is one, and in another sense God is
three. The word “Triunity,” or its adjective, “triune”—meaning three in one and
one in three—captures the thought more exactly.
Just how God
can be three and one at the same time is a mystery that no biblical scholar can
honestly claim to understand. So if you have difficulty understanding the
Trinity, don’t panic! You might ask why the Christians came up with a doctrine
that they couldn’t even understand, and tried to describe God using the words
"Trinity" and “triune” that are nowhere found in Scripture. It is
because these words and concepts seem to be the best way of fitting together
the different Scriptures that describe God, such as those that speak of (1) God
being one God,(2) the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all being God, and
(3) God the Son praying to God the Father and sending God the Holy Spirit.
While we will
have difficulty understanding the exact relationships of the three Persons of
the Trinity, let us try to learn what the Bible teaches us about the one God
who exists in three Persons. Perhaps it would be helpful to contrast the
Trinity with an example from our own human experience. Have you ever known a
set of identical twins, or better yet, identical triplets? These sets of
individuals are genetically identical. They started out as a single fertilized
egg but broke into two or three parts early in the embryo stage and developed
into separate individuals. Such twins or triplets not only look alike,
but they often think and act alike.
Is the Trinity
like identical triplets? No, not really; the Persons of the Trinity are far more
alike in every way than even identical triplets. Triplets are separate,
distinct individuals. While they may think and act in similar ways, yet their
thinking and acting is distinct and separate from one another. For example, one
may be writing a letter, another reaching for a snack, and the third one
reading a book—all totally unaware of what the others are thinking, feeling,
and doing. The three Persons of God, on the other hand, are so united that each
one knows what the other two are thinking, planning, speaking, and doing at
every moment throughout time and eternity; more than that, they are all in
perfect agreement with one another’s thoughts, plans, and deeds. Unlike some
identical twins and triplets, there is never, never any argument or
conflict or jealousy among the three Persons of God.
But enough for
introductions and contrasts. Let us see what the Bible itself says about the
Holy Trinity.
The
Oneness of God
“Hear, O
Israel; the LORD our God is one LORD” (Deut. 6:4). “I am God, and there is none
else” (Isa. 46:9). “There is but one God” (1 Cor. 8:4-6; also Eph. 4:4-6).
Note that in
Deut. 6:4, the Hebrew word for “one” can have the thought of a composite unity,
such as many grapes making up “one cluster” (Num. 13:23), or a man and a woman
marrying and becoming “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24), or three divine Persons making
up “one God.”
The
“Threeness” of God
1. The Father
is God. “There is … one God and Father of all” (Eph. 4:4-6; also 1 Pet.
1:2).
2. Jesus
Christ is God. “Thomas … said unto [Christ], My Lord and my God” (John
20:28; also 5:23). “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30-38). “The Word was
God” (John 1:1).
3. The Holy
Spirit is God. “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy
Spirit?… You have not lied unto men, but unto God” (Acts 5:3,4). “God has
revealed them unto us by His Spirit:for the Spirit searches all things, yes,
the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10).
The Trinity in
the Old Testament
There is no
direct revelation of the Trinity in the Old Testament, but this is implied and
hinted at in many Old Testament scriptures.
“In the
beginning God [Elohim, a plural noun] created [a singular verb] the
heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). “Let us make man in our image”
(Gen. 1:26; 3:22). “I am the first, I also am the last…. Now the Lord God,
and His Spirit, has sent Me” (Isa. 48:16).
The Trinity in
the New Testament
“Teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name [singular] of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 28:19). “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all” (2 Cor.
13:14).
Trinity
Not Three Gods
Adherents of
the Jewish and Muslim religions as well as those of certain sects and cults
reject the doctrine of the Trinity, claiming that the Christians have three
Gods while they have only one. Christians, on the other hand, insist that we
worship and serve only one God, even though God is revealed in three Persons.
We shall now consider ways in which the concept of the triune (three in one and
one in three) God is different and distinct from the concept of three Gods.
Unity of
Abilities
Do you remember
learning about Greek and Roman mythology in school? There were the goddess of
fertility, the sun god, the rain god, the sea god, the goddess of wisdom, the
god of war, and on and on. Each individual god or goddess had a special ability
that distinguished him or her from all the others. Not so with the Trinity.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all have the same abilities and skills, all know
the same thing, and all are equally able to help those who call upon God.
Unity of
Thought and Will
If you don’t
remember anything else about the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, you will
remember that they were constantly at odds with one another—arguing,
disagreeing, and jealous of one another, and the like. Not so with the triune
God:The Son said to the Father, “I delight to do Thy will” and “Not My will,
but Thine be done” (Psa. 40:8; Luke 22:42). And here is how the Lord Jesus
described the work of the Holy Spirit:“He shall glorify Me, for He shall
receive of Mine and shall show it unto you” (John 16:14).
Unity of
Attributes
To give just a
few examples, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are eternal (Psa. 90:2; John
1:2; Mic. 5:2; Heb. 9:14). They are omnipotent or all-powerful (Eph.
1:19; 3:16; 2 Cor. 12:9). They are omniscient or all-knowing (Psa. 139:4;
Luke 11:16,17; John 21:17; 1 Cor. 2:10,11). They are omnipresent or
present everywhere (Jer. 23:23,24; Matt. 18:20; Psa. 139:7). They are holy
(Psa. 22:3; Luke 1:15,35,41,49,67).
Unity
of Action
Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit all were active in the creation of the universe (Psa. 102:25;
John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13). All were involved in the
Incarnation, that is, God the Son becoming a Man (Luke 1:26-35), and in
anointing the Lord for His earthly ministry (Matt. 3:16,17). All three were involved
in the death of Christ and His work of redemption (Rom. 8:32; 1 John 4:10,14;
John 10:18; 1 Pet. 2:24; Heb. 9:14), as well as in His resurrection (Acts 2:24;
John 10:18; 1 Pet. 3:18).
Some False
Teachings Concerning
the
Trinity
1. Jews,
Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and other groups acknowledge that there
is one God, but do not accept that the Son and the Holy Spirit are co-equal
with God the Father. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus is the
same as Michael the archangel, God’s highest created being. (See John 1:1;
5:23; 10:28-38; and 20:28 to answer this error.)
2. A number of
cults teach that the Holy Spirit is only an impersonal force, not a divine
Person with intellect, emotion, and will. (See John 14:26; 16:8; Rom. 8:11; and
Eph. 4:30 to answer this error.)
3. Other groups
teach a sort of progressive Trinity. They say that God initially revealed
Himself as Father, then as Son in the God-Man Jesus Christ, and presently as
Holy Spirit, but never as three Persons all at the same time. (See John 14:26;
17:1-26; 1 John 4:10 to answer this error.)
Why Is
This Important?
Some of you may
be thinking at this point, “So what? I don’t have any problem with the doctrine
of the Trinity, but at the same time I don’t understand what’s the big deal.
Why is it important to me?”
Good question.
There are a number of reasons why it is important to us:
1. It is
important to have an accurate understanding of God if we are to worship Him
properly (John 4:24).
2. Our
salvation depends on the Trinity. If God had merely created an angel or
a man to serve as the suffering sacrifice for mankind’s sin, would this not
have been the most unjust act in the history of the universe? And if it was a
sinless creature who died for our sins, rather than the holy, spotless
Son of God, how could we be sure that He would remain without sin throughout
eternity? (If our Redeemer were just an angel, and were to fall into sin like
another very high angel once did—Isa. 14:12-15—wouldn’t that dash to pieces our
salvation?) If He were only a finite creature, how could we be sure that He was
capable of making atonement for all of our sins? If there was no God in
heaven when Jesus Christ was suffering on the cross, whose wrath was poured out
upon Him (Psa. 88:6,7), and who forsook Him (Matt. 27:46)?
3. The fact
that God is Father, Son, and Spirit emphasizes the love and fellowship that
exists within His own being (John 1:18; 15:9). And God invites all of us to
enjoy His love and fellowship (1 John 1:3; Jude 21).
4. Some people
have the idea that God created man because He was lonely. But given the eternal
fellowship enjoyed mutually by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we can be sure
that God was never lonely. Therefore, God did not need to create. This
fact makes it all the more wonderful that God, in fact, did create man
in His own image, and did make it possible for finite, sinful man to be
brought into a close relationship with the infinite, personal, holy God by His
grace. So the truth of the Trinity causes us to praise Him all the more!
5. Have you
ever heard one justify his sinful behavior by saying, “I’m only human”? The
born-again child of God, however, is not “only human.” We have the Holy Spirit
indwelling us, and so closely is the Spirit linked with the Father and the Son
that we are told in Scripture that the Father and the Son are in us as well (1
Cor. 6:19; Eph. 4:6; Col. 1:27).
So with the
love, grace, wisdom, and power provided to us by the triune God indwelling us,
we have all the ability we could possibly need to overcome the trinity of
evil—the flesh, the world, and Satan—that daily opposes us. Praise His Name!
The
Christian’s Responsibility
to the
Trinity
To the
Father. “I seek … the will of the Father who has sent Me” (John 5:30).
“Prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2;
also Heb. 13:21).
To the Son.
“For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor.
3:18).
To the Holy
Spirit. “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). “Grieve not the Holy
Spirit” (Eph. 4:30). “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19).
May it become
the daily prayer of each one of us that we would learn to know and be faithful
to do the Father’s will, that we would be conformed more to the image of
Christ so that His life might shine out in our lives, and that we would be
filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him liberty to have full control of our
lives.