Chapter 3

God

The Trinity

God is a complex being. That gives many people difficulty in trying to understand Him. While we cannot completely understand everything about Him, we can know about His three-in-one nature because the Bible tells us about it. The word "trinity" refers to the one God existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all at the same time, but all with distinct personalities.

God — Three In One

The Bible is clear that while God is one God, He is revealed in three persons called the "Trinity." The word "trinity" is not in the Bible, but it does describe His nature. God is a three-part unity; but He is not three individual beings. There are some illustrations which help us understand, though they cannot fully explain, a three-part unity because there is nothing in our earthly experience like it.

But, some illustrations can give us limited insight into the nature of the Trinity. Here are two examples: 1) in the Old Testament (Numbers 13), twelve men were sent to spy out the land of Canaan and came back with a large bunch of grapes. Each grape drew life from one stem, but together they made just one bunch of grapes. 2) Scientifically, water can be steam, liquid, or ice, all made of the same thing. It illustrates unity of being with differences in expression. Nevertheless, no illustration can really describe God in a way that can be easily understood.

The biblical teaching may be stated this way: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each God, each having personality, and yet there is only one God. God is a tri-unity, each person being equal to the others in power, nature, and eternity.

The Trinity in the Old Testament

Now, let's look briefly at the biblical teaching about the three-in-one nature of God. The Old Testament uses many plural words when referring to God. The very names of God in the original language, "Elohim" and "Adonai," are plural rather than singular, as was pointed out in chapter one.

Creation of man: — As God started to create man, He said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). Notice that He used the plural "Us" and "Our" speaking of Himself. Some people teach that God was speaking to angels. However, angels had not yet been mentioned in the Bible. Furthermore, though angels are spirit beings (Hebrews 1:14), they are never said to be created in God's image as men are. When God said "in Our image," He meant in His own personal image because verse 27 says, "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

Expulsion from Eden — Another indication of God's three-in-one nature is where He expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden because of their sin:

Genesis 3:22-23
22 Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" –
23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

Notice the plural pronoun "Us." It is clear that God is discussing with Himself the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden.

Confusion of languages: — Genesis tells about the erection of the tower of Babel against God's wishes. Seeing that, God said,

Genesis 11:7-8
7 "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.

Verse eight shows that God had been talking with Himself when He said, "let Us go down." It does not say "God and the angels scattered them," but "the Lord scattered them." Again, here at the tower of Babel, the Lord refers to Himself as "Us."

Isaiahs's Call — Isaiah 6 is another place where God refers to Himself as "Us." Isaiah the prophet discusses his call to the ministry and his vision of the Lord high and lifted up. Isaiah 6:8 says, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I, send me!'" Once again, God is speaking and He is saying, "who will go for Us?" Isaiah did not seem to have any problem with that, even though he lived in Old Testament times and was seeing God high and lifted up on His throne. A few verses before the prophet wrote that it "is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah 6:3). It is obvious that God referred to Himself using plural pronouns and gave a clear declaration that He is one God.

The Pierced Lord — One important Old Testament passage indicating the trinitarian nature of God is found in Zechariah 12. The discussion of that verse is being reserved until the next chapter about the nature of God.

The Trinity in the New Testament

At Jesus' Birth — Luke 1:35 refers to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one verse. An angel says to Mary, the mother of Jesus, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God." Notice all three members of the Trinity were involved when God became man: the Holy Spirit, the Most High God, and the Son of God.

At Jesus' Baptism — Later, when Jesus was baptized it is written: "the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, 'Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased'" (Luke 3:22). Again, we find Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the voice of God the Father from heaven claiming Christ as His own beloved Son.

Unity of Father and Son — The relationship between God the Father and Jesus is brought out clearly in John's Gospel. In John 10:30, Jesus said, "I and the Father are one." The meaning of the word "one" shows that Jesus and the Father are one in nature and being. This relationship is also brought out when Jesus answers Philip's request, "Show us the Father" (John 14:8). Jesus responded, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father … Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? … the Father abiding in Me does His works" (John 14:9-10).

God the Holy Spirit — It is also very clear from Acts 5:3-4 that Peter regarded the Holy Spirit as a member of the Godhead. He called Him "God" when he said to Ananias, "why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit… You have not lied to men, but to God."

Paul Mentions the Godhead — And, of course, Paul's epistles are filled with references to the Trinity. Look at just one example, the blessing given by Paul in 2Corinthians 13:14, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God [the Father], and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." Once again, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit appear together in one verse.

The Entire Godhead Participates in Salvation — God the Father is active: Jesus said, "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him" (John 6:44). God the Son is active: for He said, "no one comes to the Father, but through Me" (John 14:6). And, God the Holy Spirit is active because Paul wrote, "no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit" (1Corinthians 12:3, see Romans 10:9-10).

The Godhead is also at work in choosing God's people and enabling them to live a godly life. We are: (1) loved by the Lord Jesus – "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you" (John 15:9), (2) chosen by God the Father – "And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved" (Colossians 3:12), and (3) sanctified by the Holy Spirit – "that my offering of the Gentiles might become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:16).

Christians may be: (1) filled with all the fulness of God – "that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:19), (2) filled up with the fulness of Christ – "until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13), and (3) filled with the Spirit – "but be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18).

The Lord God Almighty – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is the object of our faith. No man truly understands the idea of the Trinity, but it is clearly taught in the Bible. It is truth beyond the range of human experience; therefore, it is difficult, if not impossible, for man to understand.

Make It Personal

We have seen that God is complex in His being, to a point beyond our ability to understand. He is a trinity who speaks of Himself as the one supreme God, and at the same time uses plural words to describe Himself.

The one who was crucified upon the Cross and pierced through for your sin and mine was God in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you will receive Him into your life as your own Lord, He will free you from the guilt and burden of your sins, and give you eternal life, guaranteeing you an abundant entrance into heaven.

Won't you open your heart to Him today? Won't you confess your sins before God and ask Him to forgive and cleanse you because of Christ's death on Calvary? Ask Him to receive you into His heavenly kingdom because Jesus Christ died for your sins, was resurrected, and now sits at His right hand. You can trust Him completely. He will never fail you.

John 6:37
37 "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out."

Do you know for sure that you will spend eternity in Heaven? The Bible speaks clearly about how you can know for sure if you are Heaven-bound.
Click here to learn more.

Return to top of page
Return to How Not to Get Burned table of contents.