All Christians believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. If you do not believe this—that is, if you have come to a settled conclusion that the doctrine of the Trinity is not true—you are not a Christian at all. You are in fact a heretic. Those words may sound harsh, but they represent the judgment of the Christian church across the centuries. What is the Trinity? Christians in every land unite in proclaiming that our God eternally exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Those who deny that truth place themselves outside the pale of Christian orthodoxy. Show Having said that, I admit that no one fully understands it. It is a mystery and a paradox. Yet I believe it is true. I can think of at least three reasons for believing in the Trinity:
Someone has said it this way: If you try to explain the Trinity, you will lose your mind. But if you deny it, you will lose your soul. Let's take a look at the definition of the Trinity and what the role of the Trinity is today The Trinity DefinedThere are many places we might go to find a suitable definition. Any of the great ecumenical creeds would serve us well in this regard. However, let's stick closer to home and simply reprint Article B—The True God from the Calvary Memorial Church Articles of Faith. We believe in one living and true God who is the Creator of heaven and earth; who is eternal, almighty, unchangeable, infinitely powerful, wise, just, and holy. We believe that the one God eternally exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, co-equal and co-eternal, having precisely the same nature and attributes, and worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence, and obedience. Matthew 3:16, 17; Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3, 4; II Corinthians 13:14. While I am sure that this statement is biblically accurate, I also understand that it can seem very intimidating. Let's break it down into six smaller statements about the trinity that's easier to understand:
As you might imagine, the early church struggled mightily over this doctrine. They eventually reduced their belief in the Trinity to two short statements. They concluded that God is …
When we say these things we mean that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but they are not three gods but only one God. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, the Spirit is not the Father, but each is God individually and yet they are together the one true God of the Bible. Have you ever seen the word "Godhead?" Theologians sometimes use that term when they want to refer to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as three divine Persons in one God. At this point, I think we should acknowledge the chief objection to the doctrine of the Trinity, which is that it is absurd. Sometimes the Jehovah's Witnesses (who pointedly deny the Trinity) ridicule it with this little equation: 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. In their minds, Christians worship three Gods, not one. The answer is quite simple. The doctrine of the Trinity is not absurd if that's what the Bible teaches. Furthermore, there is more than one way to play with equations. You could also say it this way: 1 x 1 x 1 = 1! The Trinity ExplainedWhat exactly do we mean when we speak of the Trinity? Let's start with the negative and work toward the positive. A. What we don't mean B. Where do we find the Trinity doctrine in the Bible? For instance, the Bible contains numerous clear statements regarding the unity of God: Deuteronomy 6:4 tells us that "the Lord is one." 1 Corinthians 8:4 adds that "there is no God but one." 1 Timothy 2:5 explicitly says "there is one God." All Christians heartily affirm this truth. However, the Bible also contains clear statements regarding diversity within that unity. For instance, in the very first verse of the Bible we are told that "In the beginning God." The Hebrew word for God is elohim, which is actually a plural form of the word el. It's a word that in other contexts is sometimes translated as "gods," referring to heathen deities. Later in the same chapter we have one of the most striking statements of diversity-in-unity: Then God said, ‘‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27 Notice the shift in pronouns. "Let us … in our image … So God created man in his own image. … he created him." From us and our to he. Why the shift? Commentators speak of a literary form called the plural of majesty or the "editorial we." This much is certainly true. If Genesis 1 does not explicitly teach diversity-in-unity within the Godhead, it certainly leaves room for it to be developed later in the Bible. Isaiah 48:16 seems to explicitly refer to all three Persons of the Trinity (with my additions in parentheses): "And now the Sovereign LORD (the Father) has sent me (the Son), with his Spirit (the Holy Spirit)." I'm not suggesting that Isaiah fully understood the Trinity or that the Jewish readers would have understood what it meant, but I do think that in the light of the New Testament, we can say that this seems to be a clear statement of the Trinity in the Old Testament. Consider further this line of evidence. All Three Persons are called God in different places in the Bible.
How could the Son and the Spirit be called God unless they somehow share in God's essence? But if they share in God's essence, they are God alongside the Father. Finally, all three Persons are associated together on an equal basis in numerous passages:
This list of passages might be extended. It simply shows how easily the writers of Scripture passed from one Person of the Trinity to another, doing so in a way that assumes their equality of nature while preserving their distinct personhood. If the doctrine of the Trinity is not true, it would seem to be blasphemy to speak so freely of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in one and the same breath. The Trinity ExaminedIn this section of the message I want to examine some of the common questions about the Trinity. A.
Where in the Bible do you find the word Trinity? B. Is there another word we could use? C. How can we illustrate the Trinity? There are others we could mention. An egg is made up of a shell, the eggwhite, and the yolk. All three are needed for an egg to be complete. One of the more interesting illustrations note the different roles a person can play. I am a father, a son and a husband at one and the same time. Yet I am only one person. Perhaps a more biblical approach is to consider that a husband and wife are two persons yet in God's eyes they are "one flesh." Add children and then you have the family as a miniature (and very imperfect) version of the Trinity. Tony Evans commented that the pretzel is a good illustration because it consists of one piece of dough with three holes. Take away any one of the holes and the pretzel isn't really a pretzel anymore. (According to some people, the pretzel was actually invented in Europe several hundred years ago by a monk who wanted to illustrate the Trinity to the children of his village so he took some dough, looped into the familiar three-hour shape, based it, and gave it to the children as an edible object lesson.) My personal favorite illustration comes from noted scientist Dr. Henry Morris. He notes that the entire universe is trinitarian by design. The universe consists of three things: matter, space, and time. Take away any one of those three and the universe would cease to exist. But each one of those is itself a trinity.
Thus the whole universe witnesses to the character of the God who made it (cf. Psalm 19:1). It's important to remember that all illustrations fail eventually. They don't "prove" the Trinity, they simply help us understand the concept. The Trinity AppliedI am sure that many Christians think this doctrine has no practical value. That is, even if it's true, it doesn't and shouldn't matter to them. However, that simply isn't true. Let me suggest five important ramifications of this truth. A. The Trinity helps us answer the question, "What was God doing before he created the universe?" But the Trinity teaches us that before the world's foundation, God had fellowship within his own being. That's why the Bible tells us that the Father loves the Son (John 17:24). In some sense, we can never understand that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have forever communicated and loved each other. Francis Schaeffer emphasized this point in his books. He says this is where the human desire for intimacy and communication comes from. We were made to communicate. That design is part of the image of God within each of us. It also teaches us that God is never "lonely." He didn't create us because he "needed" us. God could have existed forever without us. That he made us at all is a statement of his great love and the wisdom of his plan. B. The Trinity sets the limits on human speculation about the nature of God. C. The Trinity teaches us that God is beyond all human
comprehension. D. The Trinity exalts the Son
and the Spirit. Let me draw one important inference. Since all Three Persons of the Trinity are equally God, we may pray to any member of the Trinity. That, by the way, is the number one question I have been asked about the Holy Spirit since writing Names of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians simply do not feel comfortable praying to the Spirit even though we often sing songs that are essentially prayers to the Spirit, such as "Spirit of God, descend upon my heart" and "Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me." Surely if we may sing to the Spirit, we may also pray to him. If he is God, our prayers may be directed to him. I do agree that Christian prayers will customarily be made to the Father (e.g. The Lord's Prayer). But let us not quibble or imagine that the Father is slighted if we direct our prayers to the Son or the Spirit, according to the moment's need. There is no jealousy among the members of the Trinity, nor could there ever be. E. The Trinity helps us understand what really happened at the Cross. A Doctrine that Unites and DividesThe doctrine of the Trinity has been called the most puzzling doctrine in the Christian faith and the central truth of the Christian faith. Which is it? Inscrutable puzzle or central truth? The answer is, both are true. This doctrine unites all true Christians and separates us from those who are not Christian. You may believe and still not be a Christian, but if you deny this doctrine in your heart, you are not a Christian at all. I come now to the end of my sermon. In so doing I end where I began. The Trinity is a doctrine that all Christians believe but no one really understands. That much should be clear from this message. If you try to explain the Trinity, you will lose your mind. But if you deny it, you will lose your soul. Someone asked Daniel Webster, who happened to be a fervent Christian, "How can a man of your intellect believe in the Trinity?" "I do not pretend fully to understand the arithmetic of heaven now," he replied. That's a good phrase—the arithmetic of heaven. The Trinity should cause us to bow in humble adoration before a God who is greater than our minds could ever comprehend. Let us rejoice that we have a Triune God who has provided for Trinitarian salvation. When we were lost in sin, our God acted in every Person of his being to save us. The Father gave the Son, the Son offered himself on the Cross, and the Holy Spirit brought us to Jesus. We were so lost that it took every member of the Godhead to save us. In 1774 a man named Ignaz Franz wrote a hymn of praise to the Trinity: Holy God, We Praise Your Name. Verse three may serve as an apt conclusion to this message. "Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, Three we name you; Indeed it is a mystery, and with all the saints we bend the knee in worship before our great God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How to Explain the TrinityThe following is a transcript from the video above with Alistair Begg,
Find inspiration with 15 Bible Verses Every Christian Should Know By Heart HERE for you to download or share with loved ones! Why should we try to understand the Trinity?Christianity.com: Why should we try to understand the Trinity? - Sam Allberry from christianitydotcom2 on GodTube. As transcribed in the video above, Sam Allberry discusses why we should try to understand the Trinity: Let me give you a couple of reasons why we should try to understand the Trinity. God has shown us that he is one God in three persons, God has given us that insight for us to know and to understand. Anything God tells us about himself will have practical relevance and application for us as his people, we are made in his image, we live in his creation. The more we understand about him, the more we'll understand about ourselves and the world in which we live. So, a small insight about God can lead to a very big insight about us. And, when it comes to something as central and essential to who God is as the Trinity, that must be significant, that must inform how we view him, how we view our lives, living with him. So, the fact that God has revealed it to us means that we are to think about it, to try to understand it, to see what he's said and what that means, rather than just ignore it. If I was to tell you something very personal about myself that gets to the heart of who I am, and then you were to totally ignore that, it would be rather strange, I've told you that so that you can know me better because of it. And actually, it helps us to get to know God authentically when we understand that he is Trinity. Dr. Ray Pritchard is the president of Keep Believing Ministries. He has ministered extensively overseas and is a frequent conference speaker and guest on Christian radio and television talk shows. He is the author of 27 books, including Credo, The Healing Power of Forgiveness, An Anchor for the Soul, and Why Did This Happen to Me? Ray and Marlene, his wife of 35 years, have three sons-Josh, Mark, and Nick. His hobbies include biking, surfing the Internet, and anything related to the Civil War. This article is part of our larger resource library of terms important to the Christian faith. From heaven and hell to communion and baptism, we want to provide easy-to-read and understand articles that answer your questions about theological terms and their meaning. What is Blasphemy and Why is it So Deadly? What is the Sabbath and is it Still Important? The Trinity - Father, Son, Holy Spirit Explained What does Trinity of God mean?A Trinity doctrine is commonly expressed as the statement that the one God exists as or in three equally divine “Persons”, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Where does the Bible define the Trinity?While the developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament, the New Testament contains a number of Trinitarian formulas, including Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, 1 Corinthians 12:4–5, Ephesians 4:4–6, 1 Peter 1:2, and Revelation 1:4–5.
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