The Trinity
2018-02-11
Introduction
The subject of the Trinity is something that we often dismiss as being too complicated to understand. There is some truth to this, since it is a complicated doctrine that we cannot possibly know everything about. God is far more complicated than the human mind can fathom. However, the Bible does give us a lot of information, so we can know something about the Trinity.
The word Trinity is not in the Bible. It is shorthand for 1 John 5:7: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” This verse, which is not without controversy, tells us that the Father, the Word (or the Son), and the Holy Ghost are three separate persons, but are one. They are three separate persons that bear record. If these three were not separate persons, they could not bear record, because “in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” (Matthew 18:16; cf. Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28).
However, these separate persons that bear record are one. The Bible repeatedly states that there is one God; one such succinct verse is the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4). These three are the one God of the Bible, but they are not equivalent. We can summarize it this way.
- The Father is God, but He is neither the Son nor the Spirit.
- The Son is God, but He is neither the Father nor the Spirit.
- The Spirit is God, but He is neither the Father nor the Son.
Another way to say it is that there is one “what” and three “whos.”
Persons of the Trinity in Creation
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (2) And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (3) And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3)
All three persons of the Trinity were involved in creation. God, by implication the Father, created the heaven and the earth. The Holy Spirit subdued the primordial waters in the early hours of creation. The Bible tells us “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” (Hebrews 11:3). Since the Son is the Word of God, when we see “God said, Let there be light,” we know that the Son is active.
Us
God is often using the pronoun “us.” This is a reference to the persons of the Trinity.
- Man is made “in our image.” Genesis 1:26
- After they sinned, Adam and Eve “is become as one of us.” Genesis 3:22
- When Babel was built, God said “let us go down, and there confound their language.” Genesis 11:7
- God calls Isaiah, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah 6:8
- Jacob “spake with us.” Hosea 12:4
Persons of the Trinity as Witnessed in Time and Space
There is a false doctrine called modalism, which says that there is no Trinity, but one God who showed Himself in different modes or forms throughout human history. The Bible clearly tells us about the three persons of the Trinity.
The clearest passage that debunks modalism is the baptism of Jesus Christ.
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 heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:16-17)
And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. (Luke 3:22)
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)
These three passages all show the Holy Spirit resting on Jesus Christ, with the voice of the Father declaring Jesus to be His Son in whom He is well pleased. They cannot all be the same person; they are all seen in this narrative at the same time. John the Baptist was one of the witnesses of this event (John 1:32-34).
The Authority of the Trinity in the Great Commission
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)
The disciples were commanded to baptize people “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). Those that teach modalism or oneness will use this passage to say that because these three have one name, that they must all be the same. The use of “in the name” simply means in the authority of or on behalf of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Take, for example, the following:
For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever. (Deuteronomy 18:5)
The Levites were chosen by God to minister in the name of the LORD, meaning on behalf of or in the authority of God.
And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. (Deuteronomy 25:6)
The brother will marry the widow to give the dead seed. The wife brought forth seed in the name of the deceased, or on behalf of him, so that his inheritance would continue.
Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. (1 Samuel 17:45)
David told Goliath that he came in the name of the LORD of hosts, or in the power of the LORD of hosts.
The usage is the same here in baptizing in the authority, power, and on behalf of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Since all three play a role in our salvation, we will see plenty of examples of these three mentioned together.
The Father Sent the Comforter When Christ had Ascended
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. (Acts 1:4)
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. (Acts 2:33)
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6)
The Father gave His only begotten Son Jesus to us, who secured our salvation by dying for our sins and rising again. When He sat down at the right hand of the Father, the Father sent the Spirit to us. The Spirit is to be our teacher (John 14:26), the earnest of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:14), who has sealed us unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30) and prays within us to the Father (Romans 8:26; Galatians 4:6).
The Role of the Trinity in Our Salvation
I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me. (Isaiah 48:15-16)
Jesus Christ, who was from eternity past, was called by God and sent by God and the Holy Spirit.
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)
The Trinity is active in distributing gifts to fully equip the local church to function.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Paul’s prayer is for each member of the Trinity to be with the churches of Achaia.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:1-4)
God’s gospel concerns His Son Jesus, who is declared to be the Son of God with power by the Holy Spirit when He was raised from the dead.
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:18-22)
Because of Jesus Christ, whether we be ethnically Jewish or not, we have access to God the Father by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:18). We as believers also become the temple of God through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22).
But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)
God saved us in His mercy, renewing us in the Holy Ghost.
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:13-14)
Jesus Christ offered Himself by the Spirit to God.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. (1 Peter 1:1-2)
We are the elect by the Father’s foreknowledge, sanctifying of the Holy Spirit, and the blood of Jesus Christ.
Final Thoughts
The most important thing to take away from this study is that there is one God, but He exists in three persons. By persons, we mean that they have their own personality and volition. A son is not his own father; they are distinct one from another. Whenever you find a religion that departs from the doctrine of the Trinity, you will find that the religion is a cult with bad teaching in other areas as well.
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