I would like to talk about the Trinity. This is an essential doctrine of the Christian faith. The Bible says we have a triune God. That is where we get the word ‘Trinity’.
What do we mean by the ‘Trinity’? We mean three Persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.
Now notice that three Persons form one Being, one God. It is important we understand this. Always remember that there is no salvation apart from the Trinity.
Titus 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
God’s love for the human race was the motive for His kindness and salvation. It was the greatest act of love of all time.
Titus 3:5 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;
It was God who provided us a new nature which has been created in righteousness and true holiness. Furthermore, this has been accomplished by the renewing (or creation) by the Holy Ghost.
The greater point is that our salvation, including our new birth, has been entirely of the Godhead and not of our doing. The Holy Spirit is the active agent thereof. It is He who effectually brings the new birth to pass so that we are, in fact, born of the Spirit. Paul refers to that here as the “renewing of the Holy Ghost.”
Titus 3:6 Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
It is only through Jesus Christ that God has poured out His mercy on us. It was God’s plan to have Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross for my sins and your sins. Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. Praise the Lord and thank you, Jesus.
So, we see that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit all play a part in our salvation. The Trinity is present in our salvation.
Sadly, many people do not believe in the Trinity. Many false religions do not believe in the Trinity and that is why they cannot get saved.
There are two general beliefs of God:
- Pantheism/naturalism: that the universe itself is God. Pantheism has the same fatal flaws as atheism. If everything is God, then God is really nothing — there is really no God. If God is a fly and He’s energy and you and I are God … that would explain why the world’s in a mess. If there is no difference between God and anything else, how could everything create itself? That doesn’t make sense, and we know that from the Laws of Thermodynamics.
- Supernaturalism: that the Creator is distinct from His creation. This makes total sense and is clearly what the Bible tells us.
Isaiah 42:5 Thus saith God the LORD, He that created the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
Within these are two more opposing views:
- Polytheism: the belief that there are many Gods is equally and obviously false. Polytheism teaches that there is no real God who is in charge, so there are many gods. They say, “Well, there’s no one to pull the things together; you don’t have any head god.”
Go back and read Greek and Roman mythology, or Hinduism, and so forth. The gods fight one another; they steal one another’s wives. The gods themselves are immoral. There’s no hope there; there’s no peace among the gods. How can there be peace on earth? That does not make any sense at all. Polytheism is the creation of man’s mind and does not make any sense at all.
- Monotheism: the belief that there is only one true God.
Isaiah 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
Monotheism is divided into two opposing beliefs:
- Unitarianism — the belief that God is a single being, held by Muslims, who insist that Allah and Jehovah are single entities. It is also held by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and by various cults who deny the deity of Christ. Even some Pentecostals wrongly claim that God is a single being and that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are God’s three “titles” or “offices”.
We also see that Allah, the god of Islam and the Jehovah of Jehovah’s Witnesses, for instance, is incomplete in himself, unable to experience love, fellowship and communion before creating beings with whom he could have these experiences. However, the Bible says that God is love.
1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
But the god of Islam could not be loving — for whom could he love when he was alone before creation?
- Trinity – the belief that God has always existed in three Persons who are separate and yet One. This is what we born-again, Bible-believing Christians believe as we read the Bible.
So, the Father loves the Son and the Holy Spirit — they have communion, fellowship, love, one with another — complete in themselves. God did not need anyone!
Now let’s take a closer look at what the Bible says. As I said earlier, the Bible says we have a triune God. That is where we get the word ‘trinity’.
By ‘the Trinity’ we mean three Persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.
Now notice that three Persons form one Being, one God. It is important we understand this.
Peter, James, and John are not a trinity. They are three persons, but they are not the same, they are not equal.
There are three chairs before me. They look alike and probably are constructed of the same material, yet they are not a trinity.
God is one Being, and yet He is three Persons.
However, these three have one nature. For instance, a great many like to make a distinction by saying that the Father is holy, Jesus Christ is love, and the Holy Spirit is infinite. Such is a false distinction.
The truth is:
God is holy, Jesus Christ is holy, and the Holy Spirit is holy.
God is love (that is one of His definitions), Jesus Christ is love, and the Holy Spirit is love.
God is infinite, Jesus Christ is infinite, and the Holy Spirit is infinite.
The three Persons are also the same in their qualities, in their will, and in their purpose. What one wills, all will. When the Lord Jesus came to earth, He made this very clear.
Webster’s 1828 dictionary defined the Trinity as, “The union of three persons in one Godhead, (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit).” All the three are one God as to substance, but three persons as to individuality.
Godhead — is that a biblical term? Yes, indeed. It occurs three times in the King James’ New Testament: Acts 17:29, Romans 1:20, and Colossians 2:9. In Colossians 2:9 Paul wrote, “In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”.
If Jesus Christ is Himself God, then what is the point of saying that “in Him dwells all the fullness of deity”?
If Jesus Christ is the Son and there are two other persons in the Godhead, it means that just as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God, so when the Son became man, He brought that fullness of the Godhead with Him into flesh.
So, you see that word ‘Godhead’ in the Bible clearly proves that God is a Trinity.
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In John 6:38, Jesus said that He “… came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.”
What Jesus Christ had come to do was in harmony with the Father, for all three were in agreement.
- He came to do God the Father’s will;
- He came to do His own will, which was evident;
- He came to do the will of the Holy Spirit — He was led and guided by the Spirit of God.
Each one is God. Christ did not become a Son over time. He was always the only begotten Son of God. You see, God is called ‘the everlasting Father’, and you cannot have an everlasting Father unless you have an everlasting Son. There never was a time when Jesus Christ became the Son — He eternally occupies that position in the Trinity.
Another false view of the Trinity is to say that God is the Father, Jesus Christ is the Son, and the Holy Spirit is sort of like the Grandson.
The Bible tells us that:
- there was never a time when God was not the Father;
- there was never a time when Christ was not the Son; and
- there was never a time when the Holy Spirit was not the Holy Spirit.
There are some who falsely say that because the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth as a man, He is not equal with the Father.
This is also wrong, for in John 10:30, He said, “I and my Father are one.” They have the same nature. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one and they are never opposed to each other.
Now some people will say that since the word ‘Trinity’ is not used in Scripture (that is a correct statement) then we can dismiss the subject and forget about it. No, we cannot, because the Word of God does teach the Trinity, and since it does, we should believe it.
It is a mystery how God can exist in three Persons yet be one God. It is also a mystery how God could have no beginning and create everything out of nothing. We can’t understand what a human soul or spirit is. Nor can we explain love or beauty or justice.
It is beyond human capacity to comprehend the full nature of God’s Being — nor can we comprehend what space, time, or matter are. For every door science opens, there are ten more unopened doors on the other side. The more we learn, the more rapidly the unknown expands before us and we realize how little we actually know.
The fact is that the Trinity, the three Persons in the Godhead (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost) are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. The three Persons form one Being, one God. It is important we accept this truth.
The fact that this is beyond human comprehension is no reason for rejecting what the Bible so consistently presents to us. God is telling us about Himself so we can believe in and know Him. We dare not reject what He says or lower it to the level of our limited minds.
The Trinity in the Old Testament
I turn back now to the Old Testament because it clearly teaches the Trinity. In Isaiah 61 we have the three Persons definitely indicated.
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit (Holy Spirit) of the Lord GOD is upon me (Jesus Christ); because the LORD (God the Father) hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
This is the passage that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself read in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:21) and applied to Himself, saying, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.“
Now notice how the three Persons come before us there.
Luke 4:18 The Spirit (Holy Spirit) of the Lord is upon me (Jesus Christ), because He (God the Father) hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He(God the Father) hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
You see here that the Trinity is mentioned both in the OT and in the NT.
Genesis 1:26,27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Notice that God said, “Let us make man in our image.” He did not say let me, but He said let US, clearly referring to the Trinity.
Then in the eleventh chapter of Genesis He said it again, at the tower of Babel, “Come let US go down”, clearly referring to the Trinity.
Genesis 11:7,8 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from there upon the face of all the earth: and they ceased building the city.
New Testament passages further reveal the Trinity.
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.”
Notice what we have here. The Son, Jesus Christ, in manhood, comes up from the waters of baptism. A visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit descends and abides upon Him and then the Father’s voice is heard saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Furthermore, the instruction to baptize is to do so in the name of each member of the Trinity.
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:
Baptism by water in the name of the Trinity has been practiced by the church from its beginning.
And when at last our Lord Jesus goes to the cross you will notice how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all have their part in the work of the cross.
John 10:17,18 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
We are told the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world and the propitiation (satisfaction) for our sin. The Father God and the Son are mentioned here clearly. Both of them are part of the Trinity.
Let’s look at some more verses in the NT.
Paul, in his apostolic benediction, includes the three Persons of the Godhead:
2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.Amen.
Notice the disctinctions mentioned:
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit.
This is very clear and not fuzzy at all. Clearly the Trinity is the three Persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Romans 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul is saying grace and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Clearly the Trinity.
God also gave us many examples of the Trinity in nature. Let’s look at that for a moment.
One scientist asked, “Have you ever noticed that the universe is a picture of the trinity? You and I live in a physical universe that is divided into time, space, and matter. Can you think of a fourth?”
I couldn’t think of any, so he continued, “Time is divided into three parts: past, present, and future. Can you think of a fourth?”
Again, I couldn’t, so he went on. “Space is divided into length, breadth, and height.“
You can see that this universe in which you and I live bears the mark of the trinity.
Water is a picture of the Trinity, for water exists in three states: in flowing water, in ice, and in steam. They are the same substance, H2O, but they are absolutely three different things.
Apostle Paul speaks of man as also a picture of the trinity.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice that the Apostle Paul says here, their “whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Apostle Paul is clearly talking to those that are saved.
There is a clear mention of the trichotomy of man. God has so created man with a spirit (communication with God), a soul (mind, will, and emotions), and a body (physical body).
However, we need to realize that the spirit part of a man is dead until we are born again or until we are saved.
That is why we see that unsaved people mention much about the soul and body, but not much is said about the spirit of man.
But Jesus said that you must be born again. You need to be saved and then you have the ability to communicate with God through prayer because your spirit inside of you is awakened.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
A person is born again the moment they sincerely are sorry for their sins (that is repentance) and ask Jesus to be their Lord and Saviour. They are born again and become new creatures.
2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
The Bible says when you are born again or saved, you become a new creature because you have your spirit awakened by the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of you.
So, you see that man is a trichotomy. God has so created man with a spirit (communication with God), a soul (mind, will and emotions), and a body (physical body).
Let’s take a look at this more closely.
- I find the body is the seat of all merely physical appetites of every kind. The body is physical.
- Secondly, I know from the Word of God that the soul is the seat of my mind, will and emotions. It is my connection even with the lower creation. Animals themselves are said to have souls. In Genesis you have every creature “wherein is a living soul.” The soul is the seat of the emotions. Animals have an emotional nature but the difference between the soul of the animal and the soul of man is that when the body of the animal dies, the soul dies. With man, existence of the soul continues after the body dies.
- Spirit is the highest part of man, that part of man which gives him God-consciousness, thus distinguishing him from all lower creation. With our spirits, man can communicate with God. Animals cannot.
With careful training, animals have been taught to do many great and remarkable things in which they simply imitate man, but they have no sense of God. The lower animals cannot understand the meaning of prayer. They have no sense of responsibility to God. They have no moral compass to be able to understand right from wrong because the lower creature doesn’t have a spirit.
But man is different:
Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
So then, man is spirit and soul and body. The Bible clearly tells us this fact in 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
Practical experience supports the Biblical teaching that I am tripartite. Let me try to bring this home and give you an example. Suppose it is Bible study and prayer meeting night and I am just getting ready to go to the church. You see, I am a Christian, and if you are a Christian, you wouldn’t think of staying away from Wednesday night Bible Study and prayer meeting, would you? You say, “God’s people are going to church and I must be there”.
Suddenly my phone rings. A voice says, “Can’t you come over? It’s such a beautiful warm summer evening. We have ice cream, some watermelons, a nice little break. Won’t you come and enjoy it with us?”
Then there is a knock at my door or the doorbell rings. Another voice says, “Look here, won’t you come over to our place. We have a wholesome Christian movie we would like you to watch with us and we are going to spend a delightful time watching it together.”
If you had never known before that you are a spirit and soul and body, you know it now! You understand at once that you are tripartite. There is a battle going on in me. My body says, “Go get the ice cream.” My soul says, “Go watch the movie.” My spirit says, “Go to church.”
If I am the Christian I ought to be, I say, “Thank you very much, but I am going to go to church. Give me a raincheck for some time in the future, but this evening I have an appointment with the Lord.”
And what is the result? As I spend a season there in the presence of the Lord, my body is rested, my soul is refreshed, and my spirit is built up in Christ. I am tripartite.
So, we see that there is a battle going on within our heart every day, that battle between our body, soul, and spirit.
That proves that human beings are tripartite.
Now let’s keep looking at verses showing that God is a triune Being.
Three Persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible on the Trinity is John 16:28 where Jesus said, “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
That is the moment. Out of eternity, into time. Jesus came from a place where there is not time — eternity. Then He came to earth where there is time. Then He went back to eternity after His ascension into heaven.
Let’s read that verse again.
John 16:28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
He came for one purpose: to redeem man. When His mission was accomplished, He returned unto the Father.
The Trinity Acting always in Unity:
1. In Creation
a. God the Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the waters,
Genesis 1:2 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.
b. God the Father spoke,
Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light.
c. God the Son – the Word – was also the Creator,
Colossians 1:1 For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him:
2. In the virgin Birth
a. God the Father gave His only Son,
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
b. God the Son was born into the world,
Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
c. God the Spirit came upon Mary to cause conception,
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, 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.
- At the Resurrection:
Notice how the Trinity, or the Godhead, all worked in the resurrection.
In John 2:19, Jesus, speaking of His body, said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father.
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Jesus was “quickened [given life] by the Spirit.”
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
The Trinity worked together in the resurrection.
- In our Salvation
Hebrews 9:14 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?
In this verse we see that:
- God the Father gave and accepted the sacrifice of Calvary,
- God the Son offered Himself as our substitute,
- God the Spirit—Jesus offered Himself “through the eternal Spirit,”
We see the Trinity again and again in scripture. Don’t miss this. This is so important that you see this.
The Trinity is also seen in prayer.
We are never taught to pray to the Holy Spirit, but sometimes we don’t know what to pray and the Holy Spirit helps us.
Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
We are taught to pray to the Father through the enablement of the Spirit, by the name of Jesus Christ, because it is Jesus and His death on the cross that has given us access to God
John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you.
You and I today are to pray to God the Father in Jesus’ name.
Jesus is your intercessor and is up there at God’s right hand for you, praying for you. That is the reason that we should pray to the Father in the name of Jesus.
Let’s review what we mean by “the Trinity”
We mean there are three Persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Now notice that three Persons form one Being, one God.
God is one Being, and yet He is three Persons.
God is holy, Jesus Christ is holy, and the Holy Spirit is holy;
God is love (that is one of His definitions), Christ is love, and the Holy Spirit is love;
God is infinite, Jesus Christ is infinite, and the Holy Spirit is infinite.
The three Persons are also the same in their qualities, in their will, and in their purpose. What one wills, all will.
Let’s remember:
“Trinity” means three Persons in the Godhead:
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
God is one Being, and yet He is three Persons.
I am so thankful that God has made the Trinity so clear for us to see in scripture.
Pastor Carl Dornn