Just what is the "Trinity"?...

Chapter Eight:

I'd like us to look at a very important Christian doctrine that separates Christianity from other religions and cults.  It is referred to as the "Trinity".  The doctrine of the Trinity tells us that God is actually three divine persons:  the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit.  These three persons are distinct, yet coexist in unity and are co-equal, and co-eternal.  

Many religions reject the Trinity on the grounds that it sounds like Christians worship three Gods, not one.  But perhaps a stronger reason for their rejection is that the doctrine of the Trinity makes Christ  co-equal with God the Father.  Many other religions will not admit to who Christ really is or what His purpose on earth was really for.  They want to keep people thinking of Him merely as another prophet, or a holy, wise man of God, rather than being God in the flesh, who came to save humanity from their sins.  Many want to deny the deity of Christ as it is the cornerstone of Christianity;  some even go so far as to say that he was just an angel who was stripped of his angelic nature and became a regular man. Therefore, it was this regular man who was crucified on the cross and a regular man's death can, in no way, atone for the sins of mankind.  And with being only a man, the resurrection of Christ is merely a myth. Therefore, the Trinity is understandably a particular target of critics who adhere to other religions or beliefs.  

The New Testament clearly states that God is one, yet here you find evidence that the unity of God, His oneness, involves three "persons".  In Matthew 28:19 Jesus tells His disciples, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...".  Paul's closing greeting to the church of Corinth in II Corinthians 13:14 says, "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."  

 In addition, note that Jesus frequently referred to Himself as God. John 14:9,10 says,..."Anyone who has seen me has seem the Father.  How can you say 'show us the Father'?  Don't you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me?  The words I say to you are not just my own.  Rather it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work."  In the book of John, Chapters 14-16,  it tells how the Holy Spirit enjoys the same inter-relationship with the Father that Jesus does.  The Son, Jesus Christ, is the God-man who was perfectly human and perfectly divine.  He was one person having two distinct and separate natures (Galatians 4:4,5; Philippians 2:6,7).  The reason some people have difficulty with the Trinity is because they try to see God as some kind of "large entity".  How three persons can be only one (the Trinity) is a puzzle to natural reasoning. But God is much larger than our finite, natural reasoning.

Christians understand that God can operate in separate functions, with each function having a different task to do:

First, as Father God, the Creator.  Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  Matthew 23:9 says, "...for you have one Father, and He is in heaven."

Second, as the Son, Jesus Christ, who came to earth to die for the sins of mankind, was crucified on the cross and was resurrected.  John 1:14 says, "The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth".  Jesus, as is recorded in Romans 8:34, is constantly interceding on our behalf to the Father...it says, " Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us."

Third, as the Holy Spirit, who is our counselor, our comforter and our teacher.  John 14:26 says, "But the counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."  This was Jesus' words to His disciples in order to encourage them that they were not going to be on their own.  John 20:22 says, "...receive the Holy Spirit."   Scripture tells us in Mark 1:10 of the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove when Jesus was being baptized by John..." As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the (Holy) Spirit descending upon him like a dove."

 

Therefore, the Holy Spirit is God; the Son of God is God; and the Father is God. They are all three, God. We have one God, and He's manifest in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.