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In Scripture we come face-to-face with the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, from open to close. As Scripture unfolds our understanding of the Creator grows in vastness and depth. However, we will never know the Lord completely and exhaustively, but that should not be a reason to be discouraged rather it should be motivation to continue our pursuit of knowing our Lord with greater intimacy. One topic in particular has caused some to fall into one ditch or another. The topic is the Trinity. The ditches are either claiming to know the intricate workings of the Trinity exhaustively or drop our head into our hands and declare eternal ignorance. The reality of the Scripture shows that we will never know the Trinity fully, but that we can understand the Trinity to some extent as it has been revealed to us in the Word. Over the course of this series of articles on the Trinity, our goal is to understand what the Scriptures say about the Trinity and what that means for us as the church and as Christians.

What is the Doctrine of the Trinity?

The doctrine of the Trinity simply states that God exists eternally in one essence as three distinct persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So, there is one God, but He eternally exists in three persons. This truth not only at first glance but continues throughout life to be difficult to wrap our minds around. “How can God have one nature, yet exist in three persons? Would that not mean there are three gods?” These questions have been raised throughout the history of the church and have been answered by Christians who have considered them carefully to give thoughtful, biblical answers.

To answer the 1st question, Scripture tells us clearly that there is only one God. Deuteronomy 6:4 clearly says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Isaiah 44:6-8 states:

"Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”

Both texts clearly illustrate that God is one. There is no other God besides the Lord. Yet, we have other biblical texts that tell us that God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all equally existing as God (Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 3:29-30). Matthew 3:16-17 gives us the clearest picture of the Trinity together:  “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Our one God has revealed Himself in three distinct persons. There is a level that we must acknowledge where we confess this truth as revealed in Scripture, but also understand that we will not know it thoroughly because we are not God. What Scripture reveals we cling to completely! When there is an issue with understanding, the issue is on our end rather than God’s or His Word.

To answer the 2nd question, the Bible does not affirm the belief in three gods. Regularly Scripture condemns the belief in any other god other than the Lord. Texts such as Deuteronomy 4:32-40, Isaiah 44:5, and 1 John 5:21 show us that the belief in other gods are contrary to faith in the Lord. Both the Old and New Testaments teach that we are to believe in one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and no other. One such text from Jesus’ own ministry quotes from Deuteronomy 6 (Stated Above) to answer what commandment is most important (Mark 12:29-30). Jesus responds by quoting from this text to show that faith in the Lord alone is the most important commandment in the Old Testament.

Application to Our Life:

You may be asking at this point, “What is the point of understanding the Trinity? How does this affect my life or the life of the church?” First, faith in any god besides the Lord is foolish, evil, and sinful (Isaiah 45:20; Colossians 3:5). Worship of another god is idolatry and robs the Lord of His due worship and glory. We should put to death anything in our life that attempts to remove God from His throne in the life of the church and our personal life. Simply the priority of our life begins and ends with the worship of God. If family, friends, career, hobbies, traditions, or anything else attempts to be placed above it, it needs to be repositioned to flow from our worship of the Lord. Second, we should grow in our worship of the Lord with every piece of revelation that He graciously gives to us in His Word. Our hearts should be thankful that God has willingly revealed Himself to us, so that we can know Him. We did not deserve it, yet He still chose to make Himself known. What He has made known is for us and what we do not know belongs to the Lord (Deuteronomy 29:29).

We will continue to explore the doctrine of the Trinity together over the coming weeks to grow in our love and worship of the Lord for His glory and honor! Please join us as we grow in our knowledge and worship of God. Soli Deo Gloria!