TRINITY
The name “Trinity” is not found in God’s Word, but then neither is the name “Bible,” but the name “Godhead” is in the Bible (Romans 1:20). The Trinity or the Godhead is revealed in three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; these three are the one God. All three are equal, co-existent, and share the attributes of divinity, of eternity past, present, and future, omnipresence (everywhere present), omniscience (all knowing), and omnipotence (all powerful). Those who attack the belief of the Trinity say that the Son, or the Holy Spirit, or both, are less than God. They will say the Holy Spirit is only an impersonal force (see HOLY SPIRIT), or that the Son of God was Michael the Archangel or one of the other angels (see JESUS). There is only one God and all three are said to be God, the Father (Galatians 1:1), the Son (John 20:28), and the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3–4). Jesus said, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30; see also 1 John 5:7). The Trinity is not polytheism, the belief in many gods or different degrees of deity. Nor is it one God with three personalities, but one God revealed in three distinct persons. That is why the Son talked to the Father and the Father to the Son, and it is also why the Son called the Father God, and the Father called the Son God (Hebrews 1:8–9). It is a hard concept to understand, but then it is hard for me to understand how water can be a trinity manifesting itself as a solid (ice), vapor, or liquid, but it is still only water. The Bible itself says that things in nature reveal the Godhead: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20). Though I suppose all the ways we have of illustrating the Trinity would fall short, still God has chosen to not only reveal Himself through the Bible, but at least in part, through nature. Man himself is a trinity made in the image of God, of spirit, soul, and body, yet only one being (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The same could be said of time, with past, present, and future, and many more examples could be given.
We are not to esteem one above the other: “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23). Because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who would “not speak of himself” (John 16:13) but was to lift up Jesus, He is not always mentioned with the Father and the Son (see HOLY SPIRIT). Verses that reveal the Trinity are:
1) “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19).
2) “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).
3) “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).
4) All three are active in spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4–6).
5) All three are needed in our prayers (Matthew 6:9; John 14:13; Romans 8:26).
6) All three are in each believer. “Even the Spirit of truth…he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” “I in them, and thou in me” (John 14:17, 23, & 17:23).
7) They are all three said to be one, and in each other, and each is a Spirit (John 10:30, 14:11, 4:24, 5:23; Romans 8:9; Isaiah 48:16).
The name “Trinity” is not found in God’s Word, but then neither is the name “Bible,” but the name “Godhead” is in the Bible (Romans 1:20). The Trinity or the Godhead is revealed in three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; these three are the one God. All three are equal, co-existent, and share the attributes of divinity, of eternity past, present, and future, omnipresence (everywhere present), omniscience (all knowing), and omnipotence (all powerful). Those who attack the belief of the Trinity say that the Son, or the Holy Spirit, or both, are less than God. They will say the Holy Spirit is only an impersonal force (see HOLY SPIRIT), or that the Son of God was Michael the Archangel or one of the other angels (see JESUS). There is only one God and all three are said to be God, the Father (Galatians 1:1), the Son (John 20:28), and the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3–4). Jesus said, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30; see also 1 John 5:7). The Trinity is not polytheism, the belief in many gods or different degrees of deity. Nor is it one God with three personalities, but one God revealed in three distinct persons. That is why the Son talked to the Father and the Father to the Son, and it is also why the Son called the Father God, and the Father called the Son God (Hebrews 1:8–9). It is a hard concept to understand, but then it is hard for me to understand how water can be a trinity manifesting itself as a solid (ice), vapor, or liquid, but it is still only water. The Bible itself says that things in nature reveal the Godhead: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20). Though I suppose all the ways we have of illustrating the Trinity would fall short, still God has chosen to not only reveal Himself through the Bible, but at least in part, through nature. Man himself is a trinity made in the image of God, of spirit, soul, and body, yet only one being (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The same could be said of time, with past, present, and future, and many more examples could be given.
We are not to esteem one above the other: “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23). Because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who would “not speak of himself” (John 16:13) but was to lift up Jesus, He is not always mentioned with the Father and the Son (see HOLY SPIRIT). Verses that reveal the Trinity are:
1) “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19).
2) “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).
3) “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).
4) All three are active in spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4–6).
5) All three are needed in our prayers (Matthew 6:9; John 14:13; Romans 8:26).
6) All three are in each believer. “Even the Spirit of truth…he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” “I in them, and thou in me” (John 14:17, 23, & 17:23).
7) They are all three said to be one, and in each other, and each is a Spirit (John 10:30, 14:11, 4:24, 5:23; Romans 8:9; Isaiah 48:16).
