Understanding the Trinity

It is clear from Biblical scriptures (contrary to what many say) that the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each distinct persons and personalities contained in one Triune Godhead. If you are struggling with this concept, as many Christians still do, you can rest assured upon three basic beliefs which make logical sense that the Trinity is a true and accurate reality of God's nature.

First, there is Biblical support for the Trinity. When I first started my research, many contradicted this evidence, but there certainly are scriptures that bear out the truth of the Trinity. In the Old Testament at Proverbs 30:4, we find this: "who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if thou canst tell?" This would imply that even in the days of David and Solomon, scripture was indicating at least two essences of a Creator God.

In Matthew 28:19 we are told to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Second Corinthians 13:14 tells us, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all." It is significant to note that although early Jewish believers had knowledge about a Holy Spirit which they called the "Shekinah" which encompassed God's holy places, it was not until after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit was fully recognized as the Comforter and Spirit of Truth which we recognize today.

Next, according to both Protestant and Catholic documents on doctrine and by the testimony of church teaching and apologetics, there are three persons of the Trinity which work together for our salvation. In John 14:16, Jesus tells us "I will pray to the Father and He shall give you a Comforter [Greek word parakletos] that He may abide with you forever." This implies a special function or vocation in purpose for each distinct personality of the Triune God. "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me." (John 15:26).

This leads us to our third confirmation of belief, that we can trust what we know by experience. I have heard charismatic Christian leaders say that one cannot know God and God's nature in the Trinity without personally coming before God one-on-one in a personal relationship. This is true. When you have experienced the Triune Godhead, and each of the distinct and separate personalities, you know them to be true unequivocally and self-evidently. Just as we understand God in our relationship, the Trinity itself is a relationship of God to Gods' self, the Father to the Son, and the Son to the Spirit.

I believe it is a mistake for many new-age and charismatic Christians to rely heavily upon just one aspect of God, for example the Holy Ghost, when God is so much more. We can see the power of the Holy Spirit and trust the endearing Biblical strength of the historical Jesus as well as appreciate our traditional roots in doctrine along with our monotheistic brothers and sisters (the Jews and Muslims) who worship the authority of an awesome God. However, one should not limit God's nature which resides in all three. When one is blessed or baptized or healed, all three persons of the Triune Godhead should be called upon and acknowledged.

I have heard philosophers talk about the Trinity as if it were a division in form, or being, or nature, but this is NOT correct because to think of God as changing form (which God does not do) is a heretical doctrine called Modalism, which can lead to Pantheism (creation and creator as one) which we see in the return-to-nature pagans beliefs. It also suggests that God is simply a concept of the mind rather than a real and necessary presence in reality, which we know God is in three very particular personalities. "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?" (Hebrews 9:14).

"For through Christ we have both access by one Spirit unto the Father." (Ephesians 2:18). Both reason and revelation assure us that there is, and can be, only one God, for the very idea of a Supreme Being makes it impossible for God to have an equal, but revelation lets us know that the one God is three distinct Persons. Before the coming of the Son of God this truth was not manifested to mankind nor understood in its entirety, however we do have references in the Old Testament as to the Trinity in creation - "Let usmake man in our image and likeness" (Genesis 1:26) as well as the Old Testament prophesies too numerous to mention here of Christ's coming and the work of the Spirit (Isaiah 40:13; 48:16).

There are Three divine Persons - one divine Nature and all operate together and as one. It is a supernatural mystery because it is made known to us by God alone. God is the personification of Wisdom and Truth. Also, at the Lord's supper Christ states, "as my Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom" (Luke 22:29). So we have the assurance that what Christ has promised in the Bible will be so and we can rest on the authority of the Scriptures, the testimony of many believers then and now, and the truth in our own hearts in the Trinity of God.

References Cited

Holy Bible, King James Version

Morris, Henry M., "Days of Praise" on the Trinity, a devotional publication of the "Institute for Creation Research."