THE NATURE OF THE TRINITY

Surely one of the most intriguing questions must be "What is God like?" 

There is no passage in the Bible that we can turn to which tells us 'the Trinity is like this ...' but there are plenty of references which enable us to compile an understanding of it. The plain fact is that Jesus taught us about the Trinity. I suppose it is true to say that we will never understand how God can be three and yet one, but we can learn how to handle the idea, particularly when reading the Bible. One thing we must be clear on, is that The Trinity is not just a way of thinking about God - but actually what He is like.

The idea of the Trinity is revealed progressively in the Bible. In the OT there are only hints - like Gen1:26 - God said ”Let us make man in our image”. The name for God “Elohim” is a plural word. In Psalm 110, David says “The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand”  - who are these two Lords?   - and there are many other examples of plural thinking about God.

But it is in the life and teaching of Jesus that we meet the Trinity full-on.  Let’s take two prime examples: 

1.   Jesus’ Baptism in Mark 1:9-11  - there is the Father’s voice, Jesus the Son in the water, and the Holy Spirit descending. All three members of the Trinity are present.

2. Jesus speaking in John 14:15 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counsellor  .. the Spirit of truth”. The word 'another' means 'of the same essence as me' ie divine.

Paul frequently speaks of the work of the Trinity: typical is Titus 3:4-8a . These verses spell out how each person of the Trinity has a vital part to play in our salvation. It is the love, kindness and mercy of the Father; the saving acts of the Son, and the washing and new life from the Spirit.

So how do we think about the Trinity in a biblical way? 

There have been many attempts to use analogies to explain the Trinity, (such as a three-leafed clover) but they all fail. It is much better to learn how to handle the idea and to recognise it when we are reading the Bible.

Let’s look at a few fundamental statements:

+   The Trinity is not just a way of looking at how God works.

+   God is and always has been three distinct persons.

+   No person of the Trinity ever acts independently of the others

+  The three persons comprise one God.

    *  Each person of the Trinity is fully God;  no person of the Trinity is more God or less God than any other person.

    *  Each person of the Trinity has the same attributes as are spoken of as belonging to God as a whole

Each member of the Trinity has a distinctive primary role (or work):

    The Father originates, chooses, and calls us

    The Son reveals the Father and redeems us by means of His own death on the cross

    The Spirit witnesses to Christ, awakens our dead souls, gives us new life, and delivers us to heaven

But the personal distinctions are not something added onto God's essential being. His being encompasses them all.

It is not the Son's work to call and awaken our dead souls. It is not the Father's role to die on the cross. It is not the Spirit's role to call us or to die for us. 

According to Romans 8:26 and Hebrews 7:25 both the Son and the Spirit intercede for us with God the Father. They are united in that work.

(If we follow the pattern revealed in the Bible, then prayers may be addressed to God the Father and to God the Son, but not to God the Holy Spirit: although He has a work in helping us to pray - Rom. 8:26) 

But every member of the Trinity is involved whenever any one member does something.

The golden rule is this:

Whenever one member of the Trinity is doing something, then all members are involved in doing it, but we must emphasise that member whose particular work it is to do that thing.

This working definition allows us to understand two types of bible verse (1) those that speak of the distinctive work of one member of the Trinity, and (2) those that  express the united action of the Trinity. Examples of the latter include:

Col.1:27 in which Paul says  '... the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you ...'. But we saw above that it is the distinctive work of the Spirit to be in us: and Christ is now at the right hand side of the Father (Col.3:1 - which is in the same letter of Paul's)!  But this verse (1:27) is a unity reference.  The Spirit and Christ are so united in their action that Paul can speak of Christ being in us when we would usually ascribe that role to the Holy Spirit. 

We should be on the look-out for verses of the two types - those which express the distinctive work of each member and those which speak of the united work of members in the same work. 

Although the members of the Trinity are equal in every way, there is an order among them. 

The Father sent the Son (John 3:16); the Father and the Son sent the Spirit (Acts 2:33).

(That 'order' can exist with equality in the Godhead may be helpful in thinking about the man-woman relationship in the Bible)

The very nature of God is missionary in character: the roles of each member described above are all orientated towards mankind. The implication of this is that God's People should be missionary too.

For further helpful teaching on this subject (and others) see ...

'Know the Truth' by Bruce Milne, IVP

'Systematic Theology' by Louis Berkhof,  Banner of Truth

'New Bible Dictionary'  IVP

'Systematic Theology' by Wayne  Grudem, IVP 

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