The Trinity
March 6th, 2007
(By John MacArthur) 
The Trinity is an unfathomable, and yet unmistakable doctrine in Scripture. As Jonathan Edwards noted, after studying the topic extensively, “I think [the doctrine of the Trinity] to be the highest and deepest of all Divine mysteries” (An Unpublished Treatise on the Trinity). Yet, though the fullness of the Trinity is far beyond human comprehension, it is unquestionably how God has revealed Himself in Scripture—as one God eternally existing in three Persons.
This is not to suggest, of course, that the Bible presents three different gods (cf. Deut. 6:4). Rather, God is three Persons in one essence; the Divine essence subsists wholly and indivisibly, simultaneously and eternally, in the three members of the one Godhead—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (We considered the deity of Christ last Thursday, in this post.)
The Scriptures are clear that these three Persons together are one and only one God (Deut. 6:4). John 10:30 and 33 explain that the Father and the Son are one. First Corinthians 3:16 shows that the Father and the Spirit are one. Romans 8:9 makes clear that the Son and the Spirit are one. And John 14:16, 18, and 23 demonstrate that the Father, Son, and Spirit are one.
Yet, in exhibiting the unity between the members of the Trinity, the Word of God in no way denies the simultaneous existence and distinctiveness of each of the three Persons of the Godhead. In other words, the Bible makes it clear that God is one God (not three), but that the one God is a Trinity of Persons.
In the Old Testament, the Bible implies the idea of the Trinity in several ways. The title Elohim (”God”), for instance, is a plural noun which can suggest multiplicity (cf. Gen. 1:26). This corresponds to the fact that the plural pronoun (”us”) is sometimes used of God (Gen. 1:26; Isa. 6:8). More directly, there are places in which God’s name is applied to more than one Person in the same text (Ps. 110:1; cf. Gen. 19:24). And there are also passages where all three divine Persons are seen at work (Is. 48:16; 61:1).
The New Testament builds significantly on these truths, revealing them more explicitly. The baptismal formula of Matthew 28:19 designates all three Persons of the Trinity: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” In his apostolic benediction to the Corinthians, Paul underscored this same reality. He wrote, “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” (2 Cor. 13:14). Other New Testament passages also spell out the glorious truth of the Triune God (Romans 15:16, 30; 2 Cor. 1:21–22; Eph. 2:18).
In describing the Trinity, the New Testament clearly distinguishes three Persons who are all simultaneously active. They are not merely modes or manifestations of the same person (as Oneness theology incorrectly asserts) who sometimes acts as Father, sometimes as Son, and sometimes as Spirit. At Christ’s baptism, all three Persons were simultaneously active (Matt. 3:16–17), with the Son being baptized, the Spirit descending, and the Father speaking from Heaven. Jesus Himself prayed to the Father (cf. Matt. 6:9), taught that His will was distinct from His Father’s (Matt. 26:39), promised that He would ask the Father to send the Spirit (John 14:6), and asked the Father to glorify Him (John 17:5). These actions would not make sense unless the Father and the Son were two distinct Persons. Elsewhere in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit intercedes before the Father on behalf of believers (Rom. 8:26), as does the Son, who is our Advocate (1 John 2:1). Again, the distinctness of each Person is in view.
The Bible is clear. There is only one God, yet He exists, and always has existed, as a Trinity of Persons—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (cf. John 1:1, 2). To deny or misunderstand the Trinity is to deny or misunderstand the very nature of God Himself.
* Today’s article was adapted from John’s new commentary on 1-3 John.
Do you think knowledge of the trinity is an essential for salvation?
Christ clearly teaches that if someone doesn’t believe Him to be God, then that person is condemned - John 8:24, “…for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” So we must believe in the deity of Christ to be saved.
But what if someone believed in one God, that the Father and Son were distinct, and that both the Father and the Son are God, but denied the personhood of the the Spirit? Can we consider that person to be saved? It would obviously be unorthodox, but I can’t think of a specific verse that would exclude them from salvation.
And just for the record, I do believe in the trinity, but am trying to come to a better understanding of those truths that are necessary for a saving faith.
Josh.
I had this very same discussion over at my blog on what is needed to be known to be saved? Take a look if it pleases you…
http://contendearnestly.blogspot.com/2007/02/what-must-i-do-to-be-saved.html
As far as the deity of the Holy Spirit. If one denies the deity of the Holy Spirit they are also denying the deity of Christ and of the Father. For both say that they are sending “Their Spirit.” If this is the case the Spirit must be deity…and there are a lot of other verses that point to the Spirit’s deity.
I would also recommend White’s book, “The Forgotten Trinity” very good read on the Spirit’s deity.
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It’s amazing just how much of God’s creation is patterned after His very own nature, the nature of the Trinity. God is both the Whole, and the Parts to the Whole at the same time. Unity and diversity, one and many. Neither God’s oneness nor his tri-personness is more important; both are equal in importance. Communism is bad because it emphasizes the community at the expense of the individual, and radical anarchy is bad because it does the opposite. True Christian culture emphasizes both equally (in the church both the body and the members that make up the body are equal), because it is patterned after the Trinity. I think when Paul admonished us to be imitators of God, he had more than our personal Christlikeness in mind. We should pattern our institutions, our organizations our art, music and other things we create after the nature of the Trinity. Because the Trinity is eternal, we will have a longer lasting impression on the culture around us.
Great article on the Trinity! As a fundamentalist, I’m saddened by the lack of trinitarian sermons I’ve heard the last few years.
I’ve been having a discussion with a JW relative of mine, and in response to her I began to write a Bible verse study dealing with the deity and distinction of the Three Persons, and it came out a lot longer than I had anticipated, because, quite frankly, the Word of God has much to say about it!
Anyway, I published it on our new website, and if anyone is interested, you can find it on www.contendfortruth.com/writings/bible and it is given in 4 parts as “the biblical concept of the Triune God”. Feedback welcome!