What Is The Trinity?
When I was a child, my church leaders explained the Christian God to me using the image of water.
God is like water: he is the liquid, but also the ice and the steam.
There are other illustrations too. Maybe you’ve heard of the one about the egg…
God is like an egg: he is the shell, the egg white and the egg yolk.
I have no doubt that my church leaders were sharing these illustrations with the utmost integrity according to their knowledge and with the sincerest of intentions to answer one of the scariest questions any Sunday school teacher could be asked: “Miss, What is the Trinity?” However, these analogies of the water or the egg, although admirable attempts, are ultimately desperately inadequate.
Why? Well, the shell, the white and the yolk are parts of the egg, not the egg itself, and the liquid, ice and steam are forms of water, not water itself. Similarly, God cannot be separated into parts or forms. This would be to believe the heresy of Modalism which falsely believes that the Father, Son and Spirit are merely manifestations of the one divine Person and he switches between them. But then what about the fact that the Bible does teach that the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God? Does this not mean that there are three Gods? No, because God is one (Deut 6:4; 1 Cor 8:4; Gal 3:20; 1 Tim 2:5). This would also be an error and the heresy of Tritheism which believes in three separate gods. Therefore, I ask again, what is the Trinity and how can we best understand it?
This article hopes to shed light on this often intimidating and daunting doctrine in order that each of us can stand more confidently in the knowledge of the God of the Bible who has revealed Himself to us. Of course, it is not a light subject and we will not cover everything. But here are the questions I hope to answer:
1) Where do we get “Trinity” from?
2) What does God as Trinity mean?
Let’s take this a bite at a time…
Firstly, where do we get “Trinity” from?
The word ”Trinity” is not actually in the Bible. It is believed that the term was coined by one of the Early Church fathers Tertullian at the beginning of the 3rd century. The term was then embraced and affirmed in early creeds (a set of beliefs or outline of doctrine) upheld by the Church, such as the Nicene (325 AD) and Athanasian (around the 5th century) creeds.
These are the opening lines of the Athanasian creed:
“Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic [that is, of the universal church] faith.
Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.
Now this is the catholic faith:
That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity…”
In short, Christians believe in one God in three Persons. This is what the term “trinity” was coined to communicate.
Secondly, what does God as Trinity mean?
Trinity could also be expressed as “tri-une” meaning 3-in-1.
God is one. This is clear from Deuteronomy 6:4 which states, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.’ And even in the New Testament, we see this again: ‘God is one’ (Gal 3:20). There are not multiple forms of God or separate Gods. He is one essence or being.
But God is also three. The “Father” is God: ‘One God and Father of all…’ (Eph 4:6). The “Son” is God: ‘For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus…’ And the “Spirit” is God: when Peter accuses Ananias of lying to the Holy Spirit he says, ‘You have not lied to men but to God.’
The relationship between the three Persons is intricately bound and beautifully intimate. They remain one God but they each have distinct roles. For example, we are told that the Father sent the Son (John 8:42) and that the Son was begotten, not made, from the Father (John 1:14). The whole of creation was made by God the Father through and for the Son (Col 1:16). The Son is the only one to have ever seen God the Father (John 1:18) and, thus, the Son reveals the Father perfectly (John 14:7-9; Col 1:15). We are also told that both the Father and the Son sent the Spirit to those who believe (John 14:16-17, 15:26). The Spirit was there at the beginning of creation itself (Gen1:1) and now He is the very presence of God in believers (John 14:17) who grants us new birth in Christ (John 3:5-6), enabling us to bear godly fruit (Gal 5:22-23), empowering us for good works (1 Cor 12:7), and who testifies about Christ (John 15:26) and reminds believers about Christ’s teachings (John 14:26).
(As a fun side note, you’ll notice that most of the Bible quotes in the previous paragraph come from John’s gospel. If you want to dig deeper in your own understanding of the Trinity go and read John! Even if the word “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible, the concept definitely does!)
One of the moments we most clearly see the Trinity at work is at the moment of Jesus’ baptism. Mark 1 records: ‘In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. As soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”’ The voice of the Father and the presence of the Spirit with the Son on earth. It is in the name of this Tri-une God that Paul prays at the end of 2 Corinthians: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all’ (13:13). And it is in the same name that Jesus instructs us to go and baptise others: ‘Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’.
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To return to the original question: What is the Trinity? The Trinity is our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three persons, One God. Distinct and yet of the same nature. Equal in divinity, equal in glory, equal in substance, coexisting from eternity past. This is our God. The God of salvation, the God of all glory and the God in whose presence we will one day dwell for eternity.
We may not understand Him fully and we may still have questions, but we know enough, thanks to the gracious Word He has left us. When someone next asks about our God may we delight to remember the glorious truth of the Trinity. Unsearchable, yes, but knowable. Unfathomable, but trustworthy. Vast, but intimate. Almighty, but compassionate. Utterly set apart, but willingly united to us.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
Psalm 145:3
