THE TRINITY

  

God in Three Persons

The Rationale:

The word Trinity is a term used by theologians to encapsulate the diversity of the Divine person within the unity of the being of God but, as a word, is not found in the Scriptures.  It is an expression, coined by men and used theologically to denote the plurality of the Godhead, a plurality that is found in the scriptures.

 W Lindsay Alexander writes, “But though a truth be not formally enunciated in Scripture, it may be so implied in the statements of Scripture that it becomes the proper and necessary expression of these statements... As a doctrine it is a human induction from the statements of Scripture; but the induction being fairly made, it is as much a part of God's teaching in His word as is any of those doctrines, which He has formally enunciated there.”

As an example he quotes the revealed facts that there is but one God, yet the attributes of God are ascribed to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  He continues,

“How are they to be construed so as that, without doing injustice to either, a just and harmonious expression of the whole truth contained in them shall be obtained?” He intimates that such a construction is found in the word Trinity.  

If the scriptures are truth, then we must find an answer to these apparent contradictions or accept and explain them as a Divine mystery, which the term ‘Trinity’ does.

The Mystery:

The Old Testament very clearly states the oneness of the LORD God. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4). Yet even here, the word God, from the Hebrew elohym, there is a plurality of form.  Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary has its meaning as “gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God.” 

Adam Clarke, in his commentary on Genesis 1:1 writes: “An eminent Jewish rabbi, Simeon ben Joachi, in his comment on the sixth section of Leviticus, has these remarkable words: “Come and see the mystery of the word Elohim; there are three degrees, and each degree by itself alone, and yet notwithstanding they are all one, and joined together in one, and are not divided from each other.”” Here we see someone steeped in the religion, culture and language of Israel, finding in this word a mystery.  It is not a concept understandable to the finite human mind, yet it is clearly and consistently taught in the Word of God.

By Revelation:

Dr. Chafer writes, “The doctrine of the trinity is drawn wholly from revelation, since creation is incapable of serving as a medium of expression for the issues involved” therefore, because it is God’s word we should accept his revelation even though we find it inexplicable.  “It is enough to know from a trustworthy source that the reality does exist…  No argument has been advanced against the Trinitarian conception other than it does not conform to the limitations of the mind of man.”

He quotes a Dr. Channing, who in a defence of Unitarianism, speaks of the Trinitarian doctrine as being “an outrage on our rational nature… contradicting and degrading our reason” yet as Dr. Chafer points out, we are constantly benefiting from things that are beyond our understanding yet we do not feel intellectually outraged by them.

Unbelief:

This Unitarian belief is held by the modern day Jehovah’s Witnesses, who in their attempts to disprove the Deity of Jesus Christ, relegate him to a position of a created being and not the Creator as is clearly taught in John 1: 1-4 and Colossians 1:16-17.  1 Timothy 2:5 tells us that Christ Jesus is our mediator and by the phrase, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and man,” suggests oneness between God and the mediator.  The letter to the Hebrews strengthens this, where we see the mediation of a new testament by the perfect sacrifice of our perfect High Priest, the Son of God.

It is questionable whether such Unitarian beliefs would allow the holder to come to a saving knowledge of the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent.

Arguments to Unbelief:

To quote again from Dr Chafer’s writings: “Thus of the all-sufficiency of Christ, Dr. Richard Graves has declared: "If the Redeemer were not omnipresent and omniscient, could we be certain that he always hears our prayers, and knows the source and remedy of all our miseries? If he were not all merciful, could we be certain he must always be willing to pardon and relieve us? If he were not all-powerful, could we be sure that he must always be able to support and strengthen, to enlighten and direct us? Of any being less than God, we might suspect that his purposes might waver, his promises fail, his existence itself, perhaps, terminate; for of every created being, the existence must be dependent and terminable"”

In defence of the Holy Spirit, he quotes again; this time the words of William Sherlock: "Our salvation by Christ does not consist only in the expiation of our sins, etc., but in communication of Divine grace and power, to renew and sanctify us: and this is every where in Scripture attributed to the Holy Spirit … can a creature be the universal spring and fountain of Divine grace and life? Can a finite creature be a kind of universal soul to the whole Christian Church, and to every sincere member of it? Can a creature make such close application to our minds, know our thoughts, set bounds to our passions, inspire us with new affections and desires, and be more intimate to us than we are to ourselves?”

Analogies:

There are comparisons within nature that may be used to show that such phenomena as plurality within individuality does exist in the natural world.

 

R B Thieme used the illustration of light.  Light is one yet it is made up of, Actinic, which is analogous to the Father because it is neither seen nor felt; Luminiferous, analogous to the Son, because it is both seen and felt; Calorific, analogous to the Spirit because it is not seen but is felt. 

We are said to be body, soul and spirit and if we were to examine each of these aspects in turn we would find that our body is the physical manifestation of our being.  It is the vehicle in which we live out our lives and express our being, but on its own is not the complete being. 

     

When the LORD God formed this body out of the dust of the earth, he breathed into its nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, thereby showing that the soul of man includes both his body and that spark of life from God.  Soul comes from the Hebrew nephesh, which Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary has as- “properly a breathing creature, that is, animal or (abstractly) vitality;”

 

In 1 Corinthians 2:11 we see that man has a conscious knowledge because of the spirit, which is in him.  From our Lord’s words in Luke 24:39 we know that spirit is immaterial, for “a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have,” all of which when taken together, leaves us with the conclusion that we are a triune being, with a material body, a vital soul and a conscious spirit. 

Because the scriptures say that “God is Light”, and that we have been made in the image and likeness of God, these are probably the most accurate of analogies, but the fact remains, they are only analogies and can only be used to establish the Trinitarian phenomena, not to prove that ‘light is God’ or that we are ‘as God’. 

Biblical Evidence:

The revelation from Scripture is our only source for such information and since there are many texts, which intimate or allude to the plurality of the divine being we would do well to read the scriptures with an open mind or we will be without excuse in rejecting the doctrine.  To explain the doctrine is probably impossible, therefore proving that it is a Biblical truth will be the surest way of appreciating it.

Jerry M. Henry writes, “A proper biblical view of the Trinity balances the concepts of unity and distinctiveness. Two errors that appear in the history of the consideration of the doctrine are tritheism and unitarianism. In tritheism, error is made in emphasizing the distinctiveness of the Godhead to the point that the Trinity is seen as three separate Gods, or a Christian polytheism. On the other hand, unitarianism excludes the concept of distinctiveness while focusing solely on the aspect of God the Father. In this way, Christ and the Holy Spirit are placed in lower categories and made less than divine...”

The Old Testament has many implications to the Trinitarian idea. We see this in Psalm 33:6&9 “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth… For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” This implication becomes more solidly based when we compare these verses with John 1:1-4 and see that the Word that was made flesh v14, was also God and Creator of all things. See also Proverbs 3:19; 8:27.

The plurality of God is seen, not only from its aspect in the word elohim, but also in the use of the words us and our in Genesis 1:26a “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” and in Genesis 3:22 “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil” This last is interesting, for though man was made in the image and likeness of God it is the acquisition of good and evil knowledge which takes him a step closer to the Divine likeness, yet because of disobedience an eternity away from the Divine being.

In Isaiah 44:6 we see the LORD the King of Israel and his redeemer the LORD of hosts making the claim “I am the first and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”

In Isaiah 48:16 we hear the redeemer make mention of two others; “…from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.”  We know from Galatians 4:4-5 that it is the redeemer who is sent, for“…when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

Hypostasis - The Union of God in Man:

The Messianic verses within the book of Isaiah are significant passages on the plurality within the Godhead, for they show very graphically, the plurality, the union of God and man within the person of the Redeemer.  “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”, Immanuel - with us (is) God (Isaiah 7:14b).

This Jewish virgin is to give birth to a child who by reason of his ancestry belongs to Israel.  He is a child born unto Israel, he is to be a son given, and the government of his forefather David “will be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6-7).  His kingdom will be henceforth even forever. 

The thrust of this passage is that this child of the virgin is a child born to Israel, yet one who is also the Mighty God and the everlasting Father.  This use of the word God is from the Hebrew el and in its fullness is the singular for God.  This child would be both God and man.  In Luke 1:26-35 we are introduced to the virgin.  Mary is to be ‘overshadowed’ by the Holy Spirit and by the power of the Almighty God she would bare a son who she would call Jesus but who would be known as, the Son of God.

Jesus the Messiah/Christ:

In Matthew 3:16-17 we see the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Jesus, and a voice speaking from within heaven itself, saying, “This is my beloved Son”.  In these verses alone we see the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus made claims to Deity and on at least three occasions the Jews who understood what he was saying, attempted to stone him for blasphemy. John 10:30, “I and my Father are one” (John 5:17), “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John 8:58), “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

Now, was Jesus psychotic or was he what he claimed to be?

To deny these assertions is to claim greater knowledge of Hebrew scripture, culture and language, than the Jews of Jesus day, and to assume a better understanding of Jesus’ words than those who actually heard him.  The Jews of his day, those who heard him speak, took up stones to punish him for blasphemy and yet there are those who claim, even today, to know better. The only way to evade this question is to convince yourself that Jesus never made such claims and to do this one must turn a blinded eye to the simple narrative of Scripture.

The disciple Thomas, of doubting fame, at seeing the resurrected Jesus, acknowledged that Jesus was “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Paul the apostle could write “And without controversy (without any doubt) great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (

1 Timothy 3:16), and “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

The apostle John whose unique understanding of Christ Jesus was as the Word, the manifestation of God, wrote “For 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).

Apart from these passages that state the case, there are also others that ascribe Divine activity, and attribute that activity to God (the Father), to the Spirit and to the Son.

Triune Divine activity:

Creation:

 “In the beginning God created…” (Genesis 1:1), “and the Spirit of God moved...” (Genesis 1:2), “All things were made by him (the Word)” (John 1:3b) “For by him (Christ Jesus) were all things created” (and Col. 1:16).

The Death of Christ:

“He (the Father) that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all” (Romans 8:32).  “No man taketh it (my life) from me (the Son), but I lay it down of myself” (John 10:18), “…who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God” (Hebrews 9:14).

The Resurrection of Christ:

The Father, (Acts 14:24; Colossians 2:12), the Son (John 2:19; 10:18), the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18).

The Resurrection of Mankind:

“…he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Romans 8:11b, see also John 5:21).

Triune Divine attributes:

Love:

“For God so loved the world” (John 3:16); in Romans 5:8 we see this love in both the Father and the Son, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” In the constant presence of the Spirit as our comforter, our parakletos - An intercessor, consoler: - advocate, comforter, we see that same divine love (John 14:16).

Truth:

John 16:13 speaks of the comforter as the Spirit of truth, who will receive that which belongs to Christ and declare it to God’s people. Psalm 31:5 declares the LORD to be God of truth, and in John 14:6 Jesus tells us that he is “the way, the truth, and the life:”

Eternal Life:

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).  Hebrews 9: 14 speaks of the eternal Spirit.

The Commission:

And finally, in Christ’s commission to his disciples, found in Matthew 28:19, we are told to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name (singular) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”  In this great commission believers are charged with the duty of identifying to all new converts by means of baptism, the reality of their ‘new life in Christ’, a life that is in the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  This charge places emphasis on the triune existence within the name of God, therefore its relevance must have equal emphasis in the ongoing Christian life.  We deny or ignore it to our loss.

Conclusion:

What singular name for God is there that encompasses a plurality, other than that which we have seen in the Hebrew Elohim?  Which expression is best suited for the purpose and has the authority of the scriptural narrative, other than the word which godly men have devised, the word Trinity?  All in all, taken at face value and from a simple, literal reading of the scriptures, we are justified in seeing in scripture this inexplicable mystery and identifying it by such a phrase.