The Trinity - Triune God

In contrast to the polytheism of the heathen world with its many gods and idols, the Christian faith centers in one God. This God, however, is revealed to be a Trinity, including the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Though, the word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible, yet scholars, Church history and traditions have validated it over the past 2,000 years along with many other theological concepts not found explicitly in the Bible. There are passages of scriptures found in the Bible that have hints of a trinitarian relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. When it is said, God is love, we mean, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit relate to one another, demonstrate love for each other, and work in concert to accomplish the purpose of God in the world.

In the Old Testament, God is the Creator of both the world, and of the nation of Israel through whom He promised to bless the world. Certainly, God was present in Spirit, and the coming of the Messiah was both prophesied and foreshadowed in various theophanies and encounters (appearances of God at different occasions with different men of God). But primarily in the pages of the Old Testament, we see the God of Israel, Yahweh, El-Shaddai, Elohim, Adonai, and all the other names by which God is called and worshipped.

In the New Testament Gospel accounts, the emphasis is upon Jesus, the Lord God incarnate — His birth, His baptism, His life, His teachings, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension to heaven. We see God the Father approves His Son, and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him and anoint Him for the ministry (Matthew 3:13-17).

In the New Testament Book of Acts and the epistles, the Holy Spirit is at the forefront, equipping, enabling, guiding, empowering the early church.

In the Book of Revelation, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all present, each featured in a way that is both consistent with the Old Testament, witnesses to the New Testament, and brings fully into being the Kingdom of God in its closing chapters.

And Salvation itself — the divine remedy to make us right with God —proceeds from God, is finished through the work of Jesus on the cross of Calvary and is made freely available to the world by the work of the Holy Spirit.

We must know certain things to be true of God, primarily for one reason: in His mercy, God has chosen to reveal some of His characteristics to us. God is spirit, by nature intangible (John 4:24). God is One, but He exists in three Persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17). God is infinite (1 Timothy 1:17), incomparable (2 Samuel 7:22), and unchanging (Malachi 3:6). God exists everywhere (Psalm 139:7-12), He knows everything (Psalm 147:5; Isaiah 40:28), and has all power and authority (Ephesians 1; Revelation 19:6).

Here are some of God’s characteristics as revealed in the Bible: God is just (Acts 17:31), loving (Ephesians 2:4-5), truthful (John 14:6), and holy (1 John 1:5). God shows compassion (2 Corinthians 1:3), mercy (Romans 9:15), and grace (Romans 5:17). God judges sin (Psalm 5:5) but also offers forgiveness (Psalm 130:4).

UNDERSTANDING GOD THROUGH SCRIPTURES

GOD THE FATHER

In Scriptures, God is described as a Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In theology God the Father is called the First Person of the Trinity because in the nature of the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Father sends the Son and the Spirit, rather than the Son sending the Father. As Father, He is Father over all creation. He is Father in the sense that He is the originator of everything that has been made. In Malachi 2:10, for instance, the questions are asked, “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?” In the sense that God the Father is our Creator, it is proper to speak of the universal fatherhood of God. This must not be understood, however, in the sense that all men are the spiritual children of God because this is true only of those who are born again, and the universal fatherhood of God does not bring with it any sense of salvation for all men as some have taught.

In the Old Testament God was also the father of Israel in that He established a relationship wherein He had a special place for Israel in His plan for humankind. In keeping with this, Moses told Pharaoh in Exodus 4:22, “This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, ‘Let my son go, so he may worship me.’ But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.” As in the universal fatherhood of God, the special Sonship that Israel enjoyed did not assure to them individual salvation but did assure to them the promises that God had made to the nation as such.

God is also revealed in Scripture as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as stated in Ephesians 1:3. Though the father and son relationship is not the same as human fathers and sons in that Jesus existed from eternity past as well as God the Father, it does indicate a relationship where the Son accomplishes a work on earth on behalf of the Father. This is embodied in the familiar text of John 3:16, where it says that God, that is, God the Father, gave His Son to provide a Savior for humanity. Accordingly, while the Scriptures are clear that God is the Father of Jesus Christ, the Son is not subsequent to, inferior to, or in any way less God than God the Father.

As the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, God has a peculiar relationship to Him that differs from His relationship to any other person. In John 3:16 the Son is referred to as “His one and only Son,” or, literally, “His only begotten Son.” Likewise, in other passages, such as Colossians 1:15, He is declared to be “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Firstborn does not indicate that He was born in His deity but that He was firstborn in the sense that He was before anything that was created, being eternal like God the Father.

A final aspect of the fatherhood of God is that He is the Father of all who believe in Christ as Savior. This is based upon spiritual birth, not natural birth, but it pictures the believer as belonging to the family of God in which God is Christ’s Father. As believers in Christ, they are declared to be “children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13). This is affirmed in Galatians 3:26, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” That God is the Heavenly Father of believers in Christ leads to the wonderful truth that as the sons of God, Christians are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (John 1:12-13; 3:3-6; Rom. 8:16-17; Titus 3:4-7; 1 Peter 1:4).

The Fatherhood of God is, accordingly, an important aspect of Christian faith and is supported by many Scriptures (John 20:17; 1 Cor. 15:24; Eph. 1:3; 2:18; 4:6; Col. 1:12-13; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 John 1:3; 2:1, 22; 3:1). The fact that God is our Father, a God who is infinitely loving, gracious, powerful, and all-wise is a comfort to believers as they seek to find the Lord’s will for their life and understand the meaning of spiritual experience.

Our Heavenly Father, is worthy of all worship and praise and is everything a father could be, infinitely loving, infinitely wise, infinitely patient, infinitely resourceful, and able to do anything He wills to do.

GOD THE SON

In the Person of the Son, God became incarnate (John 1:14). The Son of God became the Son of Man and is therefore the “bridge” between God and man (John 14:6; 1 Timothy 2:5). It is only through the Son that we can have forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7), reconciliation with God (John 15:15; Romans 5:10), and eternal salvation (2 Timothy 2:10). In Jesus Christ “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). So, to really know who God is, all we have to do is look at Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the central object of Christian faith. Most Christians came to faith because they heard the gospel message that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, had died on the cross for their sins and rose again. Because Jesus Christ is the center of our faith and Christianity gets its name from Christ, it is most important that we understand who He is and what our relationship to Him is.

Scriptures are clear that as the eternal Son of God He is God in all that this term means and that He has existed from eternity past and will continue to exist to eternity future. Though Christ is introduced to most observers in connection with His life on earth when He became man, it is also clear that He existed long before He was born as a man (John 8:58).

Like other members of the Godhead, Jesus Christ existed from all eternity past. This is stated in John 1:1-2, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” Just as Jesus is eternal, it is obvious that He is also God, and Scriptures are abundant in their testimony to this. In fact, the whole gospel of John was written especially to bring men to faith in Christ.

In John 20:30-31 the truth is revealed, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” The Bible not only states in many passages that Jesus Christ is God but also supports this fact by the many miracles that He performed in His life on earth. The fact that He was able to raise Himself from the dead is the ultimate proof that He is, indeed, all that He claimed to be—God’s eternal Son.

Many other direct statements relate to His eternity and deity. In Isaiah 7:14 His virgin birth was announced, and He was given the name “Immanuel,” meaning “God with us.” In Isaiah 9:6-7, referring to the birth of Christ, He is called “Mighty God.” Jesus’ own statement in John 8:58 that He was “before Abraham was born” was correctly understood by the Jews as claiming that He was the eternal God. Jesus Himself referred to the fact that He existed before the world was created.

In John 17:5 Jesus said, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” Philippians 2:6-7 also refers to Christ as existing long before His incarnation; and Colossians 1:15-17 makes a very specific claim concerning Christ, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Christ is said to be the Creator and the “exact representation” of God. So many biblical references support the deity of the Son of God that anyone who accepts the accuracy of biblical revelation also accepts the deity of Christ. Many titles are also ascribed to Christ, including the term “God with us,” “the Son of God,” “the first and the last,” “Lord of all,” “Mighty God,” and “God blessed forever.” Such titles and many others could not be ascribed to Him if He were not actually the eternal Son of God.

In the New Testament Jesus is constantly associated with the Father and the Holy Spirit as equals (Matt. 28:19; John 14:1; John 17:3). Because Christ has all the attributes of God, He must necessarily be God Himself. In the worship of Christ as God and in the obedience to Him as Lord, there is constant recognition that He is God and all that this implies.

In the Incarnation when Jesus was born of Mary the new situation included that Jesus had in addition to His divine nature a complete human nature composed of soul, spirit, and body. The fact of the Incarnation is one of the well-attested events of the Bible and is supported throughout the Bible, but particularly through the four gospels, as well as in both Old Testament prophecy and New Testament fulfilment. In the Old Testament Christ is constantly represented as a man who would die for the sins of the world, as illustrated in Isaiah 53. All the typology of offering a lamb as a sacrifice for sin in the Old Testament looked forward to the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

The life of Christ on earth demonstrated beyond any question that He was a man. His humanity is again revealed in the fact that He died and was resurrected. As the God-Man He is now in heaven at the right hand of God the Father. Though the addition of a complete human nature was a dramatic change in the person of Christ, it did not alter in any way the fact that He was also all that God was.

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

From Genesis 1:2 to Revelation 22:17, the Bible records constant references to the Holy Spirit—His person and His work. Like the Father and the Son, He has all the attributes of the Godhead and is especially active in the world scene. Pharaoh saw in Joseph the working of the Spirit (Genesis 41:38).

The Holy Spirit was not only the source of spiritual power but also was related to skills in various fields of work. For instance, Bezalel, according to Scripture, was filled with the Spirit of God, who gave him “skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts” (Exodus 31:2-3). He was able to work in gold, silver, bronze, cut stone, and wood and work with other types of craftsmanship. Other workers in the temple were also given supernatural skill to produce the tabernacle.

The Holy Spirit also gave men qualities of leadership, as in the case of Joshua. The Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him” (Numbers 27:18). In the encouragement given to Zerubbabel in connection with building the temple, he was told, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6).

God has shut us up to being totally dependent on the Holy Spirit. One of the great dangers of the Christian life is that we are so clever and so experienced and know the rules and doctrines so well that we forget we still cannot do anything apart from the Holy Spirit (John 6:63). The truth is this, we do not please the Son, Jesus Christ, by focusing on Him because His aim is to bring us to the Father. But notice that we have access to Him only by the Holy Spirit. It’s not just a question of doctrine or using certain forms of prayer or certain phrases. You can have all the right phrases and all the right forms of doctrines but if you don’t have the Holy Spirit indwelling in you, you have no access to the Son or the Father (Ephesians 6:18).

The Holy Spirit is God, the third Person of the Trinity. As God, the Holy Spirit can truly function as the Comforter and Counselor that Jesus promised He would be (John 14:16, 26; 15:26).

There is a source of Holy Ghost “power from high” that too many Christians have either overlooked or rejected to their own loss. We must not be ignorant about the mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit — a gift of supernatural power that is for every believer and for today. It will change your life! This is the second encounter with Holy Spirit in the life of a believer, as the first one happened when he or she was regenerated (born again). The second experience is the baptism of the Holy Spirit to make us bold and powerful witnesses for His Kingdom.

In the New Testament the Holy Spirit takes on even more significance than in the Old Testament because He is seen in the miracles of Christ, He descends on the day of Pentecost to indwell every believer, and throughout the present age He works in and through believers to accomplish the work of God. In many respects, the relation of a believing Christian to God is a relationship of fellowship with the Holy Spirit in which the Holy Spirit empowers and enables the individual to lead a life that glorifies God. Though He is the “Sent One” by both Christ and the Father, He nevertheless is equal with them in power and glory and has all the same attributes that belong properly to deity (Matthew 28:19-20).

THE UNITY OF THE TRINITY

In contrast to the polytheism of the heathen world with its many gods and idols, the Christian faith centers in one God. This God, however, is revealed to be a Trinity, including the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. As such, we distinguish the Father from the Son and both of them from the Holy Spirit. Though described as three persons, they are not three persons in the sense of three individuals, but rather constitute one God. As stated in Deuteronomy 6:4, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” In the Hebrew the word “Lord” is Yahweh, or Jehovah, meaning “I AM,” the most sacred name of God in the Old Testament and used only with the God of Israel. The word “God,” however, “our Elohim,” is plural referring to the plurality of God and implying the Trinity. Thus Jehovah, the one God who is also Elohim, the three persons, is one Lord, preserving the unity of the Trinity.

All truth seekers struggle to understand the doctrine of the Trinity, but it eludes them because it is beyond anything that one can experience in this life. There is really no illustration of the Trinity though a musical chord may combine several notes, and a beam of light may combine several colours. But this is not clearly parallel to the Trinity. Accordingly, the best procedure is to accept the Bible as true and accept the fact that there is one God who exists in three persons and leave the explanation of this to the life after this.

The fact that there are three persons in the Trinity is stressed throughout the Scriptures, particularly in the New Testament, and there can be little doubt that this is what the Bible teaches. For instance, in Matthew 3:16-17 the record is given of Jesus’ baptism, where there was a voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). At the same time, while God the Father was in heaven, the Holy Spirit was descending like a dove and lighting on Christ (Matthew 3:16), and Christ Himself was being baptized. Accordingly, all three persons of the Trinity exist as three persons who are also one. The fact of the Trinity is supported by the baptismal formula mentioned by Christ where He instructed His disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).

The doctrine of the Trinity affirms that there are three persons in the Godhead who are one. However, the members of the Trinity are distinguishable by having certain properties that differ even though they are equal in attributes. Therefore, the first Person is called the Father, the second Person is called the Son, and the third Person is called the Holy Spirit. There is obviously no parallel to this in human experience, and accordingly, the doctrine must be accepted by faith. The doctrine of the Trinity, therefore, presents God as a unique God who differs from all heathen gods as such and is the consistent presentation of the nature of God in the Bible.

By Pastor Renji George

Scriptures: 1 John 1:3, 1 John 1:5, 1 Peter 1:3, 1 Peter 1:4, 1 Timothy 1:17, 1 Timothy 2:5, 2 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Samuel 7:22, 2 Timothy 2:10, Acts 17:31, Colossians 1:15, Colossians 1:15-17, Colossians 2:9, Deuteronomy 6:4, Ephesians 1, Ephesians 1:3, Ephesians 1:7, Ephesians 2:4-5, Ephesians 6:18, Exodus 31:2-3, Exodus 4:22, Galatians 3:26, Genesis 1:2, Genesis 41:38, Isaiah 40:28, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, John 1:1-14, John 1:1-2, John 1:12-13, John 1:14, John 1:29, John 14:1, John 14:16, John 14:6, John 15:15, John 17:3, John 17:5, John 20:17, John 20:30-31, John 3:16, John 4:24, John 6:63, John 8:58, Malachi 2:10, Malachi 3:6, Matthew 28:19, Matthew 28:19-20, Matthew 3:13-17, Matthew 3:16, Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 3:17, Numbers 27:18, Philippians 2:5-11, Philippians 2:6-7, Psalm 130:4, Psalm 139:7-12, Psalm 147:5, Psalm 5:5, Revelation 19:6, Revelation 22:17, Romans 5:10, Romans 5:17, Romans 9:15, Titus 3:4-7, Zechariah 4:6

Sermon Topics: Trinity, God The Father, God The Son, Triune God, God The Holy Spirit, The Spirit, The Son, The Father, Jehova, Trinity Explained