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Trinity Table

by | Oct 15, 2016 | Doctrine and Theology, Christian Theology

The Trinity is one God in three distinct, simultaneous, eternal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is monotheism. However, the Father is not the same person as the Son. The Son is not the same person as the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is not the same person as Father.  They are not three gods nor three beings.  They are three distinct persons, yet, they are all the one God (Divine Simplicity).  Each has a will, can speak, can love, etc., which are demonstrations of personhood.  They are in absolute perfect harmony consisting of one substance (Ontological Trinity). They are coeternal, coequal, and copowerful. If any one of the three were removed, there would be no God.

There is an apparent separation of some functions among the members of the Godhead (Economic Trinity). For example, the Father chooses who will be saved (Eph. 1:4); the Son redeems them (Eph. 1:7); and the Holy Spirit seals them, (Eph. 1:13).

A further point of clarification is that God is not one person, the Father, with Jesus as a creation and the Holy Spirit as a force (Jehovah’s Witnesses). Neither is He one person who took three consecutive forms, i.e., the Father who became the Son, who became the Holy Spirit (Modalism/Oneness).  Nor is the Trinity an office held by three separate Gods (Mormonism).

Note: Please see An in-depth Examination of the Trinity for more information.

Person and Personhood

The word “person” in relation to the Trinity has a theological significance. It is used to describe the three members of the Godhead because the word “person” is appropriate.  A person is self-aware, can speak, love, hate, say “you,” “yours,” “me,” “mine,” etc.  Each of the three persons in the Trinity demonstrates these qualities.  But, the word “person” here is not to be understood as a separate being, where you and I might be separate individuals.

The Trinity: One God, Three Persons

The chart below should help you to see how the doctrine of the Trinity is systematically derived from Scripture. The list is not exhaustive, only illustrative.

The first step is to establish the biblical doctrine that there is only one God.  Then, you find that each of the persons is called God, each creates, each was involved in Jesus’ resurrection, each indwells, etc.  Therefore, God is one, but the one God is in three simultaneous persons.  Please note that the idea of a composite unity is not a foreign concept to the Bible; after all, man and wife become are said to be one flesh.  The idea of a composite unity of persons is spoken of by God in Genesis (Gen. 2:24).

There is only one God: Monotheism

The first step is to establish how many Gods exist: one! Isaiah 43:10; 44:6, 8; 45:5, 14, 18, 21,22; 46:9; 47:8; John 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:5-6; Gal. 4:8-9

  • “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me,” (Isaiah 43:10).
  • “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me” (Isaiah 44:6).
  • “…Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none” (Isaiah 44:8).
  • “I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God” (Isaiah 45:5).

Having established that there is but one God, we turn to the biblical data showing that the one God is three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

FATHER SON (Jesus) HOLY SPIRIT, THE
ATTRIBUTES OF THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT
Called God Phil. 1:2 John 1:1,14; Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:8 Acts 5:3-4
Eternal Psalm 90:2 Micah 5:1-2 Heb. 9:14
Creator Isaiah 64:8 John 1:3; Col. 1:15-17 Job 33:4, 26:13
Indwells us 2 Cor. 6:16 Col. 1:27 John 14:17; Rom. 8:11
All-knowing 1 John 3:20 John 16:30; 21:17 1 Cor. 2:10-11
Everywhere 1 Kings 8:27 Matt. 28:20 Psalm 139:7-10
Searches the heart Jer. 17:10 Rev. 2:23 1 Cor. 2:10
Resurrects Jesus 1 Thess. 1:10 John 2:19, 10:17 Rom. 8:11
Sanctifies 1 Thess. 5:23 Heb. 2:11 1 Pet. 1:2
PERSONHOOD OF THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT
Has a Will Luke 22:42 Luke 22:42 1 Cor. 12:11
Has a mind 1 Cor. 2:16 (as LORD) 1 Cor. 2:16 Rom. 8:27
Speaks Matt. 3:17; Luke 9:25 Luke 5:20; 7:48 Acts 8:29; 11:12; 13:2
Loves John 3:16 Eph. 5:25 Rom. 15:30
Fellowship with 1 John 1:3 1 Cor. 1:9 2 Cor. 13:14; Phil. 2:1
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT
We belong to John 17:9 John 17:6
Savior 1 Tim. 1:1; 2:3; 4:10 2 Tim. 1:10; Titus 1:4; 3:6
We serve Matt. 4:10 Col. 3:24
Believe in John 14:1 John 14:1
Judges John 8:50 John 5:21, 30
Gives joy John 15:11 1 Thess. 1:6

 

Therefore, the doctrine of the Trinity is arrived at by looking at the whole of scripture, not in a single verse. It is the doctrine that there is only one God, not three and that the one God exists in three persons:  Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  An analogy would be time.  Time is past, present, and future.  But, there are not three times, only one.

 

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