The Holy Trinity

Someone mentioned to me not long ago that the term “Trinity” and “Holy Trinity” were not in the Bible,therefore they weren’t sure they believed. It is very true, the term “Trinity” cannot be found in the Bible but what is true is that the Holy Trinity is found throughout the Bible. The Holy Trinity lives with us today, three persons, three persons that are one: The Father, The Son Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit.

So, where did the term Holy Trinity come from? The actually term came about sometime between 200-300 A.D. Simply stated it means, “The Trinity is three persons (personae) in one substance (substantia).” By Faith we believe and without this belief in the Trinity, we cannot claim to have saving faith in God.

The references are astounding and I am sure many books have been written on the subject and I for one like to keep things simple. So, let us begin at the beginning. In Genesis 1:26 the Word of God states:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, ….”

“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! (Deuteronomy 6:4).

The Hebrew word for “one” is not the same word as the number used for counting but can also be translated as “unity.” The stress on the unity of God in the Old Testament sometimes contains an indication of three distinct persons in the Godhead. God sometimes speaks of himself in the plural; passages which speak of the Messiah indicate that He is a distinct Person; the Son often appears as the “Angel of the Lord,” who is spoken of as a divine Person; the Spirit is also spoken of as distinct Person.

From the Bible’s beginning we know that God is more than one, yet is one. It is a mystery to be sure and the mind cannot completely understand the concept. That is why we believe through faith.

When my children were little I tried to explain this concept by using an egg or an apple. There are three parts to each, yet all parts make up one substance. This seemed simple enough. I also tried to teach my children to think analytically but sometimes I think they analyze things right out of their faith. I guess we all do that from time to time. To think that everything should be logical is, in my opinion, ridiculous. Why try to think above and beyond the God who created you? Isn’t that what Eve wanted to do when she ate the apple? Be God like in wisdom and knowledge. In the end it only made her a fool and her husband was a fool in not attempting to stop her. Instead he was beguiled by her and simply watched.

God did what he knew was best and here again the term for God is plural by the use of “us”.

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever”
Genesis 3:22.

“Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech” (Genesis 11:7).

In the Old Testament Jesus is often referred to as The Angel of His Presence or the Angel of God, and the Holy Spirit is mentioned throughout as well. In Isaiah 63:9-10 we read:

“In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them. All the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.”

True there are many debates about Angels in the Old Testament. The Angels at Marne visiting Abraham are thought by many to be the Holy Trinity. One thing we do know is that God reveals himself in mysterious ways. The book of John is often referred to as the “I AM” book (Exodus 3: 13-15). In this gospel Jesus reveals that he is the “I AM”, that he is indeed God and that the Father and him are one.

“Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, ‘Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me’” (John 7:28-29).

“Then they asked him, ‘Where is your father?’ ‘You do not know me or my Father,’ Jesus replied. ‘If you knew me, you would know my Father also’” (John 8:19) “‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’” (John 8:58). “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

Jesus makes some pretty emphatic statements in the book of John. And no one but God could make these statements unless he was the Truth and knows the Father and was guided by the Holy Spirit to make these statements.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44).

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6). I have seen this broken up as Jesus is the Way, God is the Life (life giving) and the Holy Spirit is the Truth and speaks truth to us, if we will but listen.

No one takes it from Me (my life), but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” (John 10:18).

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. (John.10:28). Once you give your life to Christ know one can take your salvation from you - but you with your freewill. Many believe once saved, always saved. I do not personally believe this but I do believe God pursues His children until the end.

Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. (John 16:22b). No one can steal away your everlasting joy!

In John 14: 7-11 Jesus clearly declares that He and the Father are One:

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.”

In John 17: 1-5 Jesus clearly prays to His Father on our behave. Just because a certain term such as “Trinity” may not be in scripture, what is more important is the Truth and the concept of that truth is in the scriptures. Jesus and God were and are One, the “I AM” along with the Holy Spirit.

In John 14:26, we learn that the Holy Spirit is our Counselor and teacher: “But the Helper (Comforter), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

In 1 Corinthians 3:16, we see that the Holy Spirit lives inside us: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

In Acts 1:8, we understand where our power comes from: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

What worries me about many intellectuals is that they can talk themselves right out of their salvation. Somehow “Wisdom and Faith” seem to fly right out of their minds and spirit and pure Babel enters.

In I Corinthians 12:3-6, Paul states: “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.”

There are many other terms used in the scriptures that speak of the Trinity in many different ways: The “Spirit of God,” the “Spirit of Christ,” the “Spirit of Jesus,” the “Holy Spirit,” the “Spirit of holiness,” the “Spirit of life,” the “Spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead” and simply the “Spirit” are equated in Acts 16:6-7, Romans 1:3-4 and Romans 8:1-17. Further, in 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, the “Spirit of God” and the “Holy Spirit” are identified with the “same Spirit” who gives gifts, the “same Lord” who receives our service and the “same God” who works in each of us.

However, that spiritual body that the Father and the Son share is not an impersonal matter or a mindless energy, but is throughout scripture ascribed individual personalities. For example, in Genesis 1:1-2, God speaks out his Word while the “Spirit of God” hovers over the waters. At the manifestation, the angel spoke the words of the Father and the Holy Spirit came upon Mary to conceive the Son (Luke 1:29-38). The Holy Spirit has spoken and will continue to speak to people, directly and personally. The Holy Spirit also, is a distinct person of the Trinity, has a mind and experiences emotions.

And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35

The most beautiful illustration God gives us of the Trinity is through marriage, which is a holy estate. We have the man, the woman and the Holy Spirit. When believers marry, they are indeed three in one and marriage unites the three in one. Man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).

The New Testament also clearly states that a Christian marriage is a model of the relationship between Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:22-33). The Church is the body of Christ, and every believer is a member of that body (I Corinthians 12:27). The Church is also the Bride of Christ, and Christ is at the present time (as we see time) perfecting his Bride so that he can present it to Himself without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:25-27; Colossians 3:22). The Son and his Bride are distinct persons, yet a single body, just as the Father and the Son are distinct yet one. Moreover, the Son and his Bride share a single Spirit, that same Holy Spirit which the Father and the Son share.

I am so blessed that the Holy Trinity came to save me, the Three in One.