A Basic Study of The Trinity

Text: Gen. 1:26, 27; 3:22; Matt. 28:19; John 14:16; 2Cor. 13:14; 1 John 5:7

Theme: We believe the doctrine of the Trinity because the Bible declares that God is one and subsists in three distinct Persons.

Relevance:

Why is the Trinity so important?

The Trinity is the most startling, difficult, and distinctive doctrine of Christianity, setting it wholly apart from all other forms of faith in God, so it is the most basic truth of Christianity, for the whole gospel rests upon it. According to Scripture, it is the cooperation of the three that brings salvation. –Packer, J. I.: Growing in Christ

Why do we need to know about the Trinity?

1. To become informed by the Bible on the teaching of the Trinity.

2. To identify and discard false concepts of the Trinity.

3. To recognize false teachers and movements who hold wrong ideas about God.

4. To become capable of communicating truth to others about the Triune nature of God.

5. To humbly acknowledge the awesome indescribable nature of God.

Introduction:

Tell me how it is that in this room there are three candles and but one light, and I will explain to you the [Trinity]. –John Wesley

In Lewis Carroll’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, Alice is asked to believe something that is impossible. Alice replies, “One can’t believe impossible things!” The White Queen replied that of course one could believe impossible things if one simply tried hard enough. She, herself, had made it a habit of believing six impossible things each day before breakfast.

The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the central teachings of Christianity, and yet it is one of the most difficult to understand, for that reason it seems impossible. Simply stated, it says that God is one Being yet three persons. Even to write it, or to read it, one stumbles over the mathematics of it. If something is one, how can it be three? If something is three, how can it be one? It seems like saying that something is wet and yet dry, or hot and yet cold. If something is one thing, how can it be its opposite? If something is singular, how can it also be plural?—Max Anders

The doctrine of the Trinity is, in its last analysis, a deep mystery that cannot be fathomed by the finite mind. That it is taught in the Scripture, however, there can be no reasonable doubt. It is a doctrine to be believed even though it cannot be thoroughly understood. –William Evans

Lesson:

I.                   The Description of the Trinity—What is the Trinity?

A.     Definitions of the Trinity.

1.There is only one God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three eternal and co-equal Persons, the same in substance, but distinct in subsistence. –Charles Ryrie

2.The word “trinity” never occurs in the Bible, but we come to the conclusion of the Trinity simply by trying to be faithful to the Bible, which is the Word of God. The Bible says that there is only one God. This is particularly consistent in the Old Testament, though it is reiterated in the New. Yet the New Testament calls Jesus God and calls the Holy Spirit God. The doctrine of the Trinity is simply an effort to put these statements together. No one started out saying, “I think we need an incomprehensible and unexplainable doctrine.” Rather, any reader can see that the Bible teaches, with convincing clarity, that God is three and yet one.—Max Anders

3.Faced with the biblical passages, we formally articulate the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as three uncreated, eternal, co-equal Persons coexisting in or sharing the same indivisible divine nature. Therefore, each Person is fully God, possessing exactly the same divine attributes because each shares exactly the same nature, yet each Person is eternally distinct—the Father is not the Son or the Spirit, the Son is not the Father or the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father or the Son. In short, there is only one God, but this God is three distinct Persons eternally coexisting in one divine nature (Matt. 28:18, 19; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4–6).

B.     Clarifications of the Trinity.

1.God is One (Deut. 6:4, 5; 1 Kings 8:60; Isa. 44:6-8; 45:5, 6; 46:9; Eph. 4:4-6; 1Tim. 2:5). So how many God’s are there?

                                                                     i.            That there is only one God is a teaching heavily emphasized in the Old Testament. The message of God’s unity was elevated in a time and place when many gods were recognized by those who were not Jews. For the most part, these gods were abominable deities, promoting immorality, self-indulgence, and profound cruelty as a basis for appeasement. There were three gods who had particularly high profiles, and who were especially loathsome to the true God, Jehovah.

                                                                   ii.            Three popular false gods widely worshipped in the Middle East during Old Testament times were:

a.       Baal, the Canaanite sun god of fertility. Canaan corresponds with modern-day Israel. Canaanites lived there until Israel became a nation. Some Canaanite people lived there even after that and kept alive the dreadful worship of Baal.

b.      Ashtaroth, the Phoenician goddess of fertility, the female partner of Baal. Phoenicia was a country just north of Israel near modern-day Lebanon.

c.       Molech, the national god of the Ammonites who demanded child sacrifice. Ammon generally corresponds with modern-day Jordan whose capital city is Amman.

                                                                  iii.            In this polytheistic content, it is understandable that the Old Testament emphasized that there was only one true God, and that He alone was to be worshipped. Thus God issued the first of His Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). Forty years later, by the inspiration of God, Moses declared, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5).

                                                                 iv.            The truth is affirmed in the New Testament. “As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.” (1 Corinthians 8:4). “[There is] One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:6). “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well” (James 2:19). Both the Old and the New Testaments, therefore, state that there is only one true God.

2.The Father is God (Jn. 6:44-46; Rom. 1:7; 1Pet. 1:2).

                                                                     i.            First, we reiterate what is rarely debated, that the Father is God. The apostle John, recording the words of Jesus, says, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” (John 6:27).

                                                                   ii.            Peter supports this when he mentions “God the Father” in 1 Peter 1:2. Few have difficulty with that.

3.The Son is God (Isa. 9:6; John 1:1; 20:28; 1Tim. 3:16; Tit. 2:13; Heb. 1:8).

                                                                     i.            But Jesus is also recognized as God in the New Testament. Jesus appeared to some of His disciples after his crucifixion and resurrection. However, Thomas (forever dubbed “Doubting Thomas” for his skeptical attitude) questioned the reality of their report. He stoutly declared that he would not believe unless he were able to put his fingers into Jesus’ wounds. Strong words. I do not think he ever thought he would have to eat them. In a magnanimous gesture of accommodation, Jesus appeared to Thomas and said, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.” Thomas then answered Jesus with, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:27–28). What a gracious act of kindness for Jesus to have done that. For the sake of one man who expressed not cynicism, but honest reservation, Jesus went the extra mile to win him over. He does that with anyone who expresses honest questions, in a desire, not to reject the truth, but to know it. (Anders)

                                                                   ii.            Apart from clear testimony as to who He was, Jesus did and said things that can be interpreted only as divine. In a remarkable passage in Mark 2:1–12, Jesus was teaching in a home so crowded that no one else could get in. As a result, the friends of a paralytic man began tearing off the roof of the house to let him down by Jesus to be healed. It was not difficult to spot the faith behind their dramatic actions. Jesus said to the paralytic man, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” With this, the religious leaders went ballistic. Heads jerked. Veins popped. Jaws went slack. What had they heard? This was blasphemy! No one can forgive sins but God! Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?” (Mark 2:9)

The answer is, of course, it is easier to say “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” Who is going to prove you wrong for such an unobservable phenomenon? So to prove that He acted with God’s full authority, Jesus said, “Arise, and take up thy bed and go thy way into thine house.” The point Jesus was making was, if He could heal a man of paralysis it would indicate that He could forgive sin, which would imply that He was God. (Anders)

4.The Spirit is God (Acts 5:3, 4; Heb. 9:14).

                                                                     i.            Finally, we come to the Holy Spirit. The Bible also presents Him, unambiguously, as God. Early on in the Acts of the Apostles, many of the first Christians in Jerusalem were living in a communal situation, probably because of the persecution of Christians which sprang up with the crucifixion of Jesus. Also, the newness of what was happening, all the excitement, miracles and explosive growth created an environment which made people want to stay together for the experience of it all. Many Jews who were there actually lived elsewhere, and had come to Jerusalem for the Passover, and had not yet gone back home.

To survive, many people who had possessions sold them, and brought the money to the apostles to use for the need of the whole. A man named Joseph sold some property and brought the money from the sale and laid it at the apostles’ feet. (Anders)

                                                                   ii.            Perhaps this seemed like an extraordinary gesture of generosity which made Joseph look very spiritual in the eyes of the new Christian community. In this context, a husband and wife named Ananias and Sapphira sold some real estate which they owned, kept some of the money for themselves, and brought the rest to the apostles. They must have made some kind of a statement or pretense when they gave the money, which led the people to believe that they have given all the money from the sale of the property. Either God or someone else let Peter know that they had not given all the money from the sale, and they misrepresented the facts. Peter called them on it. He said, “Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? ⁴ Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God” (Acts 5:3-4). In this passage, Peter equated lying to the Holy Spirit as lying to God. Also, the Holy Spirit has the same attributes as God, such as omniscience (1 Corinthians 2:10) and omnipresence (Psalm 139:7). He also existed before the creation of the world and participated in the creation (Genesis 1:2), along with God the Father and Jesus (Colossians 1:15–16). (MacDonald)

5.So what do we do with that? The bottom line is that we must either hold to the doctrine of the Trinity, or begin whacking things out of our Bibles. If you think that is extreme, it is exactly what Thomas Jefferson did. He created his own version of the Bible by cutting out what he did not think belonged there and pasting together what he thought did, coming up with the “Jeffersonian” Bible. It is a grand example of making “reason” god and God unreasonable. So, if we are not prepared to begin whacking things out of our Bible, how do we arrive at the doctrine of the Trinity? (Anders)

II.                The Departures from the Trinity—What are some Misunderstandings About the Trinity?

A.     The Error of Tri-theism/ Arianism.

1.A Greek theologian named Arius in the 4th century a.d., holds that there is only one God, Jehovah, denying that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are God.

2.Arius, who lived in the early fourth century a.d. was a priest in North Africa who held the deity of the Father so highly that he denied that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit were also God, in every way equal to the Father. His was the first major ancient heresy regarding the doctrine of God. A modern heresy similar to it is unitarianism (The Unitarian Church), which likewise denies that Jesus Christ is God. Jehovah’s Witnesses regard Arius as a forerunner of C. T. Russell, the founder of the sect. Arianism also has similarities with strict Mormonism, which claims that Jesus was created and not eternally divine. (Grudem, Towns & Willmington)

B.     The Error of Modalism/ Sabellianism.

1.Sabellius, also agrees that there is only one God, but maintains that He is only one person who appears in three different manifestations (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), like an actor changing costumes. It thus denies that Christ and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons within the one Being of God. (Grudem)

2.This heresy denies the eternal Trinity in favor of a God of one eternal person who merely shows Himself on different occasions as Father, Son, and Spirit. Sabellius, who lived around a.d. 250, was the first to champion this view called “modalism.” Sabellius insisted that the one God appeared in three successive modes, first as Father, then as Son, and finally as the Holy Spirit. With the Arians, modalists maintain the unity of God; however, unlike the Arians, modalists also emphasize that Jesus Christ is fully God. Despite its commendable emphasis both on God’s unity and on Jesus Christ’s identity as God, modalism is flawed because it denies that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct personally and eternally. Modalism tells us that God only appears in three different roles, leaving us unsure of who God really is behind or apart from these roles, or modes of manifestation. In contrast, the doctrine of the Trinity tells us that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit eternally. (Geisler & Grudem)

3.The doctrine of the Trinity thus assures us that God’s love toward us is nothing less than the same love that flows perfectly and eternally between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But by denying these personal and eternal distinctions within the being of God, modalism (taught today by “oneness” Pentecostals) undermines our assurance of God’s love for us and blurs the knowledge of God we enjoy through the clarity of the revealed doctrine of the Trinity.

4.Apart from these denials of the Trinity, one distortion of the Trinity remains a constant danger wherever the doctrine is not taught accurately. That danger is tritheism, a distortion of the Trinity that sees Father, Son, and Holy Spirit not as persons within the one Being of God, but instead as three distinct Gods. In this case, the threeness of God is not sufficiently integrated with His oneness. Tritheism is nowhere intentionally taught among Christians. Where it appears, it is the unfortunate result of inaccurate and careless teaching that allows any not to believe what the Bible from Genesis to Revelation consistently emphasizes: God is one. (Geisler & Grudem)

C.     The Illustrations of the Trinity.

1.Some Illustrations actually hinder understanding.

                                                                     i.            A three leaf clover

                                                                   ii.            The three states of water (liquid, vapor, solid—ice)

                                                                  iii.            The threefold nature of man (spirit, soul, and body) (1Thess 5:23)

                                                                 iv.            The three parts of an egg (shell, yoke, and white)

2.Some illustrations actually help understanding.

                                                                     i.            The nature of light consisting of three kinds of rays.

a.       Chemical rays—rays that are invisible, and can neither be felt nor seen

b.      Light rays—rays that are seen, but cannot be felt

c.       Heat rays—rays that are felt, but never seen

                                                                   ii.            The dimensional example: a book has height, width, and length. These three cannot be separated, yet they are not the same.

                                                                  iii.            A Triangle. (Willmington)

III.             The Disclosure of the Trinity—Does the Old Testament Teach the Trinity?

A.     The Teaching of the Trinity Appears in the First name for God in the Bible.

1.Gen. 1:1

2.Elohim. “God”—Elohim is a general term for deity and a name for the True God.  This name of the Supreme Being signifies in Hebrew, “Strong,” or “Mighty.” It is expressive of omnipotent power.  By its use here in the plural form, it obscurely teaches at the opening of the Bible, a doctrine clearly revealed in other parts of it, namely, that though God is one, there is a plurality of persons in the Godhead—Father, Son, and Spirit, who were engaged in the creative work (Pr 8:27; Jn 1:3, 10; Eph 3:9; Heb 1:2; Job 26:13). (Willmington)

B.     The Teaching of the Trinity Appears in the Creation of Man Account.

1.Gen. 1:26.

2.The plural pronouns. There is an intimation of the Trinity in Genesis 2:26: “And God [Elohim, plural] said” [singular verb in Hebrew]; the very name of God, Elohim (Gen. 1:1), is a plural form of El. “Let Us [plural] make man in Our image, after our likeness….” The pronouns “Us … Our” are among the first clear indications of the triunity of God (Gen. 3:22; 11:7).

C.     The Teaching of the Trinity Appears in the Expulsion from Eden Account.

1.Gen 3:22.

2.The plural pronoun. “And the Lord God said,” verse 22 give us a glimpse into the inner council of the triune Godhead. Here the council decrees Adam and Eve’s removal from the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life. The passage also portrays the divine unity in the first phrase of the verse, and the plurality of the Godhead with the pronoun “us.” “The man is become as one of us”: By means of their rebellious act, the man and woman now shared something with God. But they were also at enmity with Him because of their sin. Adam and Eve’s knowledge of good and evil had made them not wise but foolish.

D.     The Teaching of the Trinity Appears in the Confusion at Babel Account.

1.Gen. 11:7. “Go to, let Us go down….”

2.The plural pronoun. All three persons of the Godhead were involved in the confounding of the human languages.

E.      The Teaching of the Trinity Appears in the Call of the Prophet Isaiah.

1.Isa. 6:8.

2.The plural pronoun.  “And who will go for Us?” The word “Us” in reference to God hints at the Trinity. This doctrine, though not explicit in the Old Testament, is implicit for God is the same God in both Testaments. God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

3.Coupled with the thrice-repeated “Holy” of 6:3, this reference to us may well point to the trinitarian plurality in God (although it may also include the angels as associated with God in common viewpoint and purpose). –Pfeiffer, Charles F.: The Wycliffe Bible Commentary

IV.              The Declaration of the Trinity—How Does the New Testament Teach the Trinity?

A.     It is Declared at the Baptism of Christ.

1.Matt. 3:16, 17.

2.All three Persons of the Godhead were present in the most conspicuous way.

B.     It is Declared by the Lord Jesus.

1.In the Promise of the Comforter in John 14:16.

2.In the Great Commission Passage of Matt. 28:19, 20.

C.     It is Declared by the Apostle Paul in 2Cor. 13:14.

1.In closing, Paul invoked the blessing of the Triune God so that the grace manifested by Christ, the love expressed by God the Father (cf. “the God of love,” v.11), and the fellowship created by the Holy Spirit might be experienced in Corinth. –The Bible Knowledge Commentary

2.The Trinitarian benediction reminded the Corinthians of the blessings they had received: “grace” from the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 8:9), “love” from God the Father (cf. v. 11), and “communion” with God and each other through the Holy Spirit (cf. 1:22; 5:5). –The MacArthur Study Bible

D.     It is Declared in the Purpose of Salvation in Eph. 1:6, 12, 14.

1.The ultimate goal of God electing and then in predestining us to be His sons is that believers will be to the praise of His glorious grace (Eph. 1:6). This is true for each Person in the Godhead.

2.This is an exclamation—a holy gasp at the transcendental glories of such grace. It is an explanation that the object and the result of all God’s gracious dealings with us is His own glory. Eternal adoration is due to Him for such matchless favor. Finally, it is an exhortation. Paul is saying, “Let us praise Him for His glorious grace”. Since salvation is all of God’s grace, Christians certainly ought to praise Him for it! And that is why we were chosen: to give Him praise.

E.      It is Declared in the Administration of Spiritual Gifts in 1Cor. 12:3-6.

1.Paul referred to God, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in verse 3. Now he stresses the unity of the Godhead in relation to the different spiritual gifts.

2.Their unity and significance did not rest in the gift they possessed but the Triune God to whom they belonged.

F.      It is Declared in the Great Trinitarian Statement in 1John 5:7.

1.The Law of Moses required “the testimony of two or three witnesses” to validate the truth of a particular matter (Deut. 17:6; 19:15; John 8:17, 18; 1 Tim. 5:19). If we accept the testimony of men, then clearly the testimony of the Triune God is greater!

2.John refers directly to the Trinity as an accurate three-fold witness to the reality of the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ. Although many passages imply the Trinity strongly, there is no verse in the entire Bible which so unequivocally declares the obvious reality of the Triune Godhead.

V.                 The Duties of the Trinity—Are There Differing Roles Within The Trinity?

A.     Each Person Holds a Different Office.

1.The Father is Superior in the Godhead (Jn. 10:29; 14:28; 6:35-40, 44-47).

2.The Son is Subject to the Father (Jn. 4:34; 8:18-19).

3.The Spirit is subject to the Father and Son (Jn. 14:16, 26; 16:7).

4.Equality in Personage is not the same as the role one plays, the authority one wields, or the prerogatives one exercises. Both a general and an airman in the US Air Force may be Americans with equal rights and privileges as citizens. They may both be men, they may also be stationed at the same military installation, but they both occupy different roles and administrate different responsibilities. They both are under the authority of the President of the US who governs himself with prerogatives unique to that office. There is a voluntary subjection within the Godhead with regard to the execution of each Person’s office. All three Persons are still equally one God.

B.     Each Person Fulfills a Different Role.

1.Consider Creation.

                                                                     i.            Creation was willed and executed by the Father (Gen. 1:1; Rev. 4:11).

                                                                   ii.            Creation was executed and sustained by the Son (Jn. 1:1-3; Col. 1:16, 17).

                                                                  iii.            Creation was executed and filled with life by the Spirit (Gen. 1:2; 2:7; Job 33:4; Ps. 104: 29-30).

2.Consider Redemption.

                                                                     i.            Distinct roles are ascribed to each Person in the great work of salvation (1Pet. 1:2; Rom. 15:16; 2Thess. 2:13).

                                                                   ii.            The Father took initiative to elect us (Eph. 1:3-6).

                                                                  iii.            The Son provided the basis through His Cross (Eph. 1:6-12).

                                                                 iv.            The Spirit applied the value of the Cross to the believer (Eph. 1:13-14).

VI.              The Difficulties with the Trinity—Can the Trinity be Fully Explained?

A.     What do you do with this information?

B.     Reject this biblical teaching. The first option is mischievous because if you do not believe the entire Bible, where do you stop believing?

C.     Hack up our Bible. Choosing the second option is to give ourselves over to nonsense. People who do this end up with a meaningless Bible.

D.     Believe the Bible teaching of the Trinity. The third option makes sense-you do not have to explain the Trinity. (Anders)

Conclusion:

So, God is Three in One. The Bible clearly states that the Father is God (John 6:27; Rom. 1:7; Gal. 1:1), Jesus Christ is God (John 1:1–3, 14; Col. 2:9; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:2, 3; 1 John 5:20), and the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3, 4; 28:25–27; 2 Cor. 3:16, 17; Heb. 10:15, 16) and these three are one.

If you find this difficult to understand, be of good cheer—you’re not alone! Should not the God of all the universe be “slightly” beyond our description, seeing He is God? In submitting to faith, know that throughout the centuries churches have upheld this understanding of God as a faithful description of what the Bible teaches. Truly great minds are consistently willing to acknowledge their finite grasp and to leave room for the “possibility” that the transcendent greatness of God “might” exceed their full grasp. Yet still, in the personal nature of His love He has chosen to reveal Himself to us. (Anders)