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How Can We Understand the Trinity?
We can't! How can a finite person understand an infinite God? Our responsibility is to believe what God has said about Himself, even if we do not fully understand what God has revealed about Himself. There are many doctrines that we are responsible to believe even though we may not fully understand them. With childlike faith, we can bow before the authority of God's revealed Word and take Him at His Word:
The Bible teaches emphatically that there is but one God, but the Bible also teaches that the unity of God involves plurality. Thus in describing the nature of God, we speak of a plural unity, or more specifically a Tri-Unity.
The Old Testament Emphasized the Unity of God
The Old Testament stressed the fact that there was only ONE GOD. Israel was surrounded by nations which served and worshiped many gods. God's people needed to understand that there was but ONE GOD, and all the other gods were false gods, and did not actually exist except in the imaginative minds of sinfully depraved idolaters. Polytheism, or the worship of many gods, was the false concept of the heathen nations surrounding Israel. Monotheism, or the belief that there is only one true God, was the God-revealed faith of the Hebrew nation. In Old Testament times God did not choose to emphasize His plurality, but He chose to emphasize His unique UNITY as the only true God:
These verses convey two basic ideas: 1) Jehovah is one. This defines the nature of God (God's ONENESS). 2) Jehovah is the only God. This excludes all other gods (God's ONLYNESS).
The Old Testament Hinted at the Plurality of God.
The Old Testament, while strongly emphasizing the UNITY of God, is not silent with respect to the PLURALITY of God's Nature. Many Old Testament passages while teaching that there is ONE GOD, also give hints that this ONE GOD is in some sense PLURAL. How God's plurality harmonizes with His unity is more clearly defined in the New Testament, but the Old Testament lays some important groundwork for the fuller New Testament revelation which was to come. Let us consider some of these Old Testament assertions of God's plurality.
1. The Hebrew word for GOD ("Elohim") is plural in form.
"In the beginning God CREATED" (Genesis 1:1). God is the omnipotent CREATOR! The name for "God" found in Genesis 1:1 is the Hebrew word "ELOHIM" (el-ō-heem). The ending of this word ["...IM"] is a plural ending ("plural" means more than one). In the English language "S" is a plural ending. We make English words plural by adding the letter "S." Can you make the following words PLURAL?
Not only was the TRIUNE GOD involved in the work of CREATION, but the TRIUNE GOD was also involved in the work of the NEW CREATION (2 Corinthians 5:17), that is, the work of SALVATION. God could have accurately said, "Let us SAVE man and renew Him after our image."
In the New Testament Three Persons Appear, and Each is Recognized as God.
1. One is called "God the Father" (John 6:27).
2. Another is called God the Son: "But unto the Son He saith, 'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever'" (Hebrews 1:8). In this passage the Son is referred to as God. Other passages where the Son is clearly identified as God are John 1:1; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; John 20:28 and 2 Peter 1:1. For a detailed study showing that Jesus Christ is God, see Dr. McClain's study on The Deity of Christ.
3. The third Person is the Holy Spirit who is also identified as God (see Acts 5:3,5). Some teach that the Holy Spirit is just an impersonal force, or an impersonal "it." However, read John 16:13-14 and notice the abundance of personal pronouns ("He, Himself") which describe Him as a Person, not just an impersonal force or power. The fact that He is a Person is also seen in John 14:16 where the Holy Spirit is referred to as "another Comforter," another Comforter just like Jesus Christ. The word "another" means "another of the same kind." Just as Jesus was a blessed Person and a wonderful Comforter to the disciples, so also the Holy Spirit was also a blessed Person and would be a wonderful Comforter to the disciples.
The Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, but there is only ONE GOD. There is one God, but there are three Persons.
Each of these Three Persons is Clearly Distinguished From the Other Two
Luke 1:35--"The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." The term "Highest" was a well known Jewish designation for God. Thus we have the Person of God the Father ("the Highest"), the Person of God the Holy Spirit, and the Person of God the Son who was in the process of becoming flesh (John 1:14). Each Person is clearly distinguished.
John 14:16--"And I (Jesus Christ, the Son) will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter (the Holy Spirit)."
John 14:26--"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My (Jesus Christ, the Son's) Name...."
John 15:26--"But when the Comforter is come whom I (the Son) will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me (the Son)." In this one short verse, the Father is mentioned twice, the Son twice and the Spirit three times (counting the pronouns).
Matthew 3:16-17--"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." In this remarkable passage, God the Father is speaking audibly from heaven; the Son of God has just been baptized in water; the Spirit of God comes down upon Him as a dove. Three Persons are doing different things and are clearly distinguished from each other.
Note: Some argue that there is only one Person under three names. This view is known as modalism, and is sometimes referred to as "Jesus only." The passages cited above clearly refute this error. The Son is not the same as the Father. The Spirit is not the same as the Son. God the Father did not die for our sins on the cross. The Son of God did not come down on the Day of Pentecost. The Father did not appear as a dove on the day of Christ's baptism. The Son of God did not say, "This is My beloved Son."
These Three Persons are Set Forth as One God, Not as Three Gods.
Although each of the Three Persons are separately identified as God, the Bible never speaks of THREE GODS. This would be TRI-THEISM, and this doctrine is nowhere found in the Scriptures. Rather, there is ONE GOD, eternally existing in THREE PERSONS--the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus did not say, "I and My Father are two separate Gods." Instead He said, "I and My Father are ONE" (John 10:30).
Theologian Benjamin B. Warfield stated the doctrine of the Trinity in this way: "The doctrine [is] that there is only one true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three eternal and co-equal Persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence." "Same in substance" means that each Person of the Godhead possesses all of the attributes of deity. "Distinct in subsistence" means that each Person of the Godhead is individual and separate and distinguishable from the other two, even though they are one in essence.
These Three Persons are Equal in Being, Power and Glory
These three Persons are associated together in a way that is consistent with equality, rather than with inequality:
Consider the following passages and look for all three Persons of the Godhead in each passage:
We can't! How can a finite person understand an infinite God? Our responsibility is to believe what God has said about Himself, even if we do not fully understand what God has revealed about Himself. There are many doctrines that we are responsible to believe even though we may not fully understand them. With childlike faith, we can bow before the authority of God's revealed Word and take Him at His Word:
The Bible teaches emphatically that there is but one God, but the Bible also teaches that the unity of God involves plurality. Thus in describing the nature of God, we speak of a plural unity, or more specifically a Tri-Unity.
The Old Testament Emphasized the Unity of God
The Old Testament stressed the fact that there was only ONE GOD. Israel was surrounded by nations which served and worshiped many gods. God's people needed to understand that there was but ONE GOD, and all the other gods were false gods, and did not actually exist except in the imaginative minds of sinfully depraved idolaters. Polytheism, or the worship of many gods, was the false concept of the heathen nations surrounding Israel. Monotheism, or the belief that there is only one true God, was the God-revealed faith of the Hebrew nation. In Old Testament times God did not choose to emphasize His plurality, but He chose to emphasize His unique UNITY as the only true God:
| "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD" (Deut. 6:4). "The Lord, HE is God; there is none else beside Him" (Deut. 4:35). "Is there a God beside Me? Yea, there is no [other] God; I know not any" (Isaiah 44:8). "I am the LORD, and there is none else, There is no God beside me...that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the West, that there is none beside Me. I am the LORD and there none else" (Isaiah 45:5-6). |
The Old Testament Hinted at the Plurality of God.
The Old Testament, while strongly emphasizing the UNITY of God, is not silent with respect to the PLURALITY of God's Nature. Many Old Testament passages while teaching that there is ONE GOD, also give hints that this ONE GOD is in some sense PLURAL. How God's plurality harmonizes with His unity is more clearly defined in the New Testament, but the Old Testament lays some important groundwork for the fuller New Testament revelation which was to come. Let us consider some of these Old Testament assertions of God's plurality.
1. The Hebrew word for GOD ("Elohim") is plural in form.
"In the beginning God CREATED" (Genesis 1:1). God is the omnipotent CREATOR! The name for "God" found in Genesis 1:1 is the Hebrew word "ELOHIM" (el-ō-heem). The ending of this word ["...IM"] is a plural ending ("plural" means more than one). In the English language "S" is a plural ending. We make English words plural by adding the letter "S." Can you make the following words PLURAL?
| 1) DOG | Plural: DOGS |
| 2) PENCIL | Plural: PENCILS |
| 3) WATERMELON | Plural: WATERMELONS |
Not only was the TRIUNE GOD involved in the work of CREATION, but the TRIUNE GOD was also involved in the work of the NEW CREATION (2 Corinthians 5:17), that is, the work of SALVATION. God could have accurately said, "Let us SAVE man and renew Him after our image."
The Work of the Triune God in Salvation
| 1. THE FATHER | He planned our salvation (Rom. 8:28-31). He sent His Son (1 John 4:9-10). He gave His Son (John 3:16; Rom.8:32). |
| 2. THE SON | He did the actual WORK of salvation (John 17:4;19:30). He was the Great Saviour (Titus 2:13-14). He died to provide salvation (1 Tim. 2:6). |
| 3. THE HOLY SPIRIT | He gives the saved person a NEW LIFE (2 Cor. 3:6). He gives the saved person a NEW BIRTH (John 3:5; Tit. 3:5). He garnishes and makes the sinner beautiful by placing him IN CHRIST (2 Cor. 5:17), and thus He provides him with the beautiful garments of redemption, sanctification and justification (1 Cor. 6:11, and see 1 Cor. 1:30). |
1. One is called "God the Father" (John 6:27).
2. Another is called God the Son: "But unto the Son He saith, 'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever'" (Hebrews 1:8). In this passage the Son is referred to as God. Other passages where the Son is clearly identified as God are John 1:1; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; John 20:28 and 2 Peter 1:1. For a detailed study showing that Jesus Christ is God, see Dr. McClain's study on The Deity of Christ.
3. The third Person is the Holy Spirit who is also identified as God (see Acts 5:3,5). Some teach that the Holy Spirit is just an impersonal force, or an impersonal "it." However, read John 16:13-14 and notice the abundance of personal pronouns ("He, Himself") which describe Him as a Person, not just an impersonal force or power. The fact that He is a Person is also seen in John 14:16 where the Holy Spirit is referred to as "another Comforter," another Comforter just like Jesus Christ. The word "another" means "another of the same kind." Just as Jesus was a blessed Person and a wonderful Comforter to the disciples, so also the Holy Spirit was also a blessed Person and would be a wonderful Comforter to the disciples.
The Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, but there is only ONE GOD. There is one God, but there are three Persons.
Each of these Three Persons is Clearly Distinguished From the Other Two
Luke 1:35--"The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." The term "Highest" was a well known Jewish designation for God. Thus we have the Person of God the Father ("the Highest"), the Person of God the Holy Spirit, and the Person of God the Son who was in the process of becoming flesh (John 1:14). Each Person is clearly distinguished.
John 14:16--"And I (Jesus Christ, the Son) will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter (the Holy Spirit)."
John 14:26--"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My (Jesus Christ, the Son's) Name...."
John 15:26--"But when the Comforter is come whom I (the Son) will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me (the Son)." In this one short verse, the Father is mentioned twice, the Son twice and the Spirit three times (counting the pronouns).
Matthew 3:16-17--"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." In this remarkable passage, God the Father is speaking audibly from heaven; the Son of God has just been baptized in water; the Spirit of God comes down upon Him as a dove. Three Persons are doing different things and are clearly distinguished from each other.
Note: Some argue that there is only one Person under three names. This view is known as modalism, and is sometimes referred to as "Jesus only." The passages cited above clearly refute this error. The Son is not the same as the Father. The Spirit is not the same as the Son. God the Father did not die for our sins on the cross. The Son of God did not come down on the Day of Pentecost. The Father did not appear as a dove on the day of Christ's baptism. The Son of God did not say, "This is My beloved Son."
These Three Persons are Set Forth as One God, Not as Three Gods.
Although each of the Three Persons are separately identified as God, the Bible never speaks of THREE GODS. This would be TRI-THEISM, and this doctrine is nowhere found in the Scriptures. Rather, there is ONE GOD, eternally existing in THREE PERSONS--the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus did not say, "I and My Father are two separate Gods." Instead He said, "I and My Father are ONE" (John 10:30).
Theologian Benjamin B. Warfield stated the doctrine of the Trinity in this way: "The doctrine [is] that there is only one true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three eternal and co-equal Persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence." "Same in substance" means that each Person of the Godhead possesses all of the attributes of deity. "Distinct in subsistence" means that each Person of the Godhead is individual and separate and distinguishable from the other two, even though they are one in essence.
These Three Persons are Equal in Being, Power and Glory
These three Persons are associated together in a way that is consistent with equality, rather than with inequality:
Matthew 28:19--"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
2 Corinthians 13:14--"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all."Consider the following passages and look for all three Persons of the Godhead in each passage:
