It is reported that after a Sunday morning worship service, a perplexed little boy turned to his sister with these words: “I can’t understand all this talk about three-in-one and one-in-three.”

“I can’t either,” replied his sister, “but I think of it this way: Mother is Mama to us, she is Mabel to Daddy, and to lots of others, she is Mrs. Douglas.”

That little girl is to be commended for her attempt to unravel a mystery that continues to baffle the wisest of the wise.

Why do Christians insist on maintaining a doctrine that seems so baffling? Is there a Bible verse declaring God a trinity? No, there really is not. But neither does the Bible attempt to prove the existence of God. Nevertheless, we accept that fact because the evidence supporting it is so overwhelming. For similar reasons, we affirm the doctrine of the Trinity. It is supported by God-supplied evidence that leaves Christian faith with no other option.

No, this doctrine did not originate in the head of some theologian. It is not a human discovery or simply a manmade deduction. It is God-revealed truth!

But how was it revealed? If not in a direct, formal statement, how then? The unfolding of this truth, like many others, was gradual and progressive in many respects. In its earliest form, this truth appears as an underlying assumption woven into the fabric of the Bible record.

There is, for example, in the earliest of the divinely inspired writings, a line of evidence pointing to a plurality in the Godhead. “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). If the Godhead is singular, why these plural pronouns? And to that, add this: the word God, although singular in English, is derived from a Hebrew word that is plural in form. The building of the Tower of Babel brought from God this response: “Let us go down, and there confound their language” (Genesis 11:7).

Centuries later, Isaiah heard God say, “Who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8). The plurality of the Godhead is reflected in this repeated use of personal pronouns.

There is also a line of evidence consisting of passages that go a step further and suggest the number of this plurality. One such instance is the priestly blessing recorded in Numbers 6:24–26. Its threefold pattern contains a triple repetition of the name Lord. Equally significant is the threefold cry of the seraphim, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:3).

Passages such as these prepare one for the further unfolding found in the New Testament. At the baptism of our Lord (Matthew 3:16, 17), the baptized Son, the descending Spirit, and the speaking Father are clearly distinguishable. Jesus assured His disciples that “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things” (John 14:26). Luke, in Acts 10:38, tells “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost.”

These are typical of many New Testament indications that the Godhead does indeed consist of three persons. With evidence as ample as this, one should not need a formal statement to establish the credibility of this doctrine. Christian faith responds to evidence; it does not demand proof. If I demand proof, I betray the fact that I am walking by sight rather than by faith.

The denial of the deity of any member of the Trinity is really an attack on the Trinity. Beware of any teacher who refuses the Holy Spirit a place in the Godhead! Listen to these words of Peter recorded in Acts 5 and addressed to Ananias: “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?” That was followed almost immediately with this declaration: “Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.” What is the inevitable conclusion? The Holy Ghost is God!

Beware too of anyone who denies Jesus of Nazareth a place in the Godhead. Even before His appearance, the prophecies that spoke of His coming very clearly highlighted the element of His deity. “His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6). Another of His assigned names was Emmanuel, “which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Listen yet to the Gospel writer, John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). And he very soon identifies that Word as Jesus of Nazareth.

The denial of the deity of Christ is no light matter, for Christ Himself gave to His generation this warning, and it applies to all: “If ye believe not that I am he [the Son of God], ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24).

Earlier, emphasis was laid on how our knowledge of the triune nature of God was acquired. That knowledge was gained, not by human speculation, but, as has now been demonstrated, by divine revelation. And how are God’s revelations communicated? In two ways, by word and deed. Having looked at His revelations by word, we turn now to His revelations in deed.

As the redemptive purpose of God moved toward its climax, events of tremendous importance began to transpire. At Bethlehem, God the Son entered human history in a new way. And at Jerusalem, on that notable Pentecost Day, God the Spirit entered human lives in a new dimension. As a consequence of these historical developments, godly men and women had personal encounters with God the Son and God the Spirit in ways never before experienced. Although the term trinity had not yet been coined, their experience was profoundly Trinitarian in character. These newly enlightened believers were convinced beyond all doubt that, in Jesus, God had visited man and that, in the Spirit, the Father and Son had come to indwell believers. Galatians 4:4–6 brings these events into sharp focus: “God sent forth his Son . . . and . . . the Spirit of his Son.” There you have the persons of the Trinity in their usual order—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so, the doings of God join the sayings of God to confirm His triune nature.

Belief in the Trinity is not gullibility. Rather, it is Christian faith taking God at His word. As the foregoing evidence indicates, God had revealed Himself as the triune God. To refuse to take Him at His word is to make Him a liar (1 John 5:10). The only acceptable way to view God is to regard Him as a trinity, a three-in-one being, one Godhead consisting of three persons. This always has been one of the earmarks of orthodox Christianity.

It needs to be emphasized that being a Trinitarian does not involve a repudiation of monotheism. That God is one, is a truth that God sought to write indelibly on the heart of every Israelite. Their being surrounded by polytheism made this emphasis imperative. However, the same note is sounded in the New Testament: “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). That monotheism and trinitarianism are indeed compatible should be very apparent from the fact that, with but one exception, the writers of the New Testament were intensely monotheistic Jews, and yet their inspired writings clearly reflect the trinity concept. No, the Trinitarian is not a worshiper of three Gods, but rather a worshiper of the one and only true God who has existed eternally as three persons in the only existing Godhead. This does not mean that the Trinitarian splits Deity into three parts as though each person were one-third of the total Godhead. To the contrary, each of the persons is recognized as the full and complete God (Colossians 2:9). Although distinct from one another, they are one in essence and equal in rank.

But are there not passages that represent Christ on a plane below His Father? Did not even Christ Himself admit, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28)? The apparent contradiction that this creates disappears as soon as one calls to mind that Christ was both divine and human. On the human side, He was less than equal with His Father. But in becoming man, Christ had lost none of His deity, although there are indications that He did submit to a temporary functional subordination that nevertheless did not rob Him of His inherent equality with God the Father.

History has witnessed numerous deviations from the triune concept of God. Many of the current deviations follow the same general pattern as the earlier deviations. Any denial of either the personality or the deity of either Father, Son, or Holy Ghost is a denial of the Trinity and must be viewed as a spiritually dangerous heresy.

Regretfully, the doctrine of the Trinity has sometimes suffered at the hands of those who claim to be its friends. Sometimes, for example, the impression is given that God the Father is in character different from God the Son. Consequently, God the Son supposedly stepped in to save us from the wrath of God the Father. That is a distortion of truth. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). The persons of the Trinity differ neither in attribute nor in attitude.

How does the Trinity operate? Do the persons of the Trinity perform their functions independently or conjointly? Is each one limited to a sphere of activity that is His exclusively? It is not uncommon to come upon statements that attempt to delineate lines of responsibility within the Godhead. There may be some Biblical ground for this thinking, but one needs to be cautious lest he represent any person of the Godhead as acting independently of another. One highly regarded man of God maintained that “all of God does all that God does.” Although difficult to explain, there is Biblical support for this view. Consider, for example, that marvelous conditional promise recorded in John 14:23: “We [the Father and Son through the Spirit] will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

Numerous attempts have been made to establish the credibility of the Trinity by the use of analogies and illustrations. Without prohibiting this practice, it is necessary to point out that there is really no wholly accurate analogy to the Trinity. The impossibility of finding any such analogy is suggested by God Himself: “To whom will ye liken me?” (Isaiah 40:25). Mabel, the mother of that little girl introduced at the beginning, could not serve to adequately illustrate the Trinity, for she could never be more than one person.

The credibility of the Triune nature of God is sometimes called into question because it is so difficult to comprehend. But human inability to understand the Trinity should never be made an excuse for disbelieving it. Do we wait until we understand electricity before using it? No. Then let us be consistent.

Christians freely acknowledge that the trinitarian nature of God is a mystery that no amount of illustrating and explaining will ever be able to unravel. But rather than apologize for this, we view it as further evidence that God is indeed the kind of God we need and, in fact, want—one who is greater than we can comprehend. If He were one whom we could fully understand, He would be neither worthy of our worship nor big enough to be our God.

What we have been looking at is more than mere factual knowledge; it is heartwarming truth. For it is indeed consoling to know that our God is not a loner. His being a trinity marks Him as one who enjoys the company of others. To know that He forms within Himself a circle of fellowship and wants to include me in that fellowship adds meaning to my life. Learning of how the Godhead works together on our behalf provides a sense of security. Learning of the perfect unity that exists within the Trinity supplies believers with a model for them to copy. The heart cry of Jesus is that believers might be one as He and the Father are one. With the knowledge we have of the plan of salvation, one is left wondering—If God were not a trinity, how could He have accomplished the great plan of redemption? Dear reader, are you ready to affirm with me that our Triune God is God?

—Merle Ruth

Language

English

Author

Merle Ruth

Publisher

Rod and Staff Publishers Inc.

Topics

Trinity