SUMMARY TRUTHS ABOUT THE TRINITY

 

From the Scriptures we have studied in this chapter, we may affirm the following truths about God. 

1. God is One. There are not three different Gods in the Trinity—a heresy called “tritheism.” 

2. God is Three. There is one God who exists as three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

3. The Scriptures clearly affirm both of these important truths: God is One, and God is Three. Although we cannot fully comprehend how this can be, we must believe and teach both truths with equal conviction. Heresy (i.e. false doctrine) occurs when we affirm one truth and deny the other, or emphasize one truth over the other. We must hold to all truth equally and avoid all extremes. 

4. The three Persons of the Trinity are real and distinct Persons. The Trinity is not just one Person who wears three different masks or who reveals Himself in three different forms or modes—a heresy called “modalism.” 

5. The three Persons of the Trinity are perfectly equal. The Son is not less than the Father, nor is the Spirit less than the Son.

6. The three Persons of the Trinity may manifest Themselves in different ways and may carry out different functions. No man has seen the Father; the Son became flesh and dwelled among men; the Spirit dwells within every believer in Christ. 

7. The mystery of the Trinity is not grounds for its denial. Some may say that they cannot believe what they cannot understand—if something cannot be explained, it cannot be true. If we were to apply this same logic to the entire Bible or even to our own existence, then there would be very little left for us to believe. Even the simplest truths of Scripture and of human reality go beyond our understanding. Our belief is based not upon our understanding but upon the true testimony of the Holy Scriptures. 

8. Most illustrations used to explain the Trinity are woefully inadequate. Often, students of the Bible have resorted to various illustrations in an attempt to explain the Trinity. Regretfully, these illustrations often do more harm than good. For example, the Trinity is sometimes compared to water, which commonly exists in three different forms—liquid, ice, and steam. Such an illustration is a distortion of the Trinity in that it suggests (as in modalism above) that God is one Person who takes three different forms. It is better to simply affirm both the oneness and threeness of God without explanation or illustration than to give an explanation or illustration that is misleading or even heretical. 

IMPLICATIONS OF THE TRINITY 

The doctrine of the Trinity is not mere theological speculation but the clear teaching of the Scriptures. However, it is not enough that we affirm the Trinity as biblical; we must also understand something of its implications. In the following, we will mention some of the most obvious and important ones. 

1. The Trinity teaches us that God is relational. The Father, Son, and Spirit have existed together throughout eternity in a mutual relationship of perfect unity and love. The believer has been invited to enter into this fellowship (John 14:16, 23). 

2. The Trinity teaches us that God has no need. God did not make man or redeem a people for Himself because He was lonely or needy, but for His own glory, and out of His superabundance. The three Persons of the Trinity are perfectly satisfied in one another. God has no need to be made complete by anything or anyone outside of Himself. 

3. The Trinity teaches us that God is love. Love is not just an action, but also an attribute of God. This attribute is eternal. It is not something that began with creation. Long before the universe was made, God was love, and a perfect expression of this love was found among the Persons of the Trinity. 

4. The Trinity teaches us that our salvation is the work of God. The Father, who designed our salvation and governs its every detail, is God. The Son, upon whose person and work our salvation depends, is God. The Spirit, who indwells us and seals us for the day of redemption, is God (Ephesians 4:30). Each Person involved in our salvation is fully God. Therefore, we can have unwavering confidence that the God who began a good work in us will finish it without fail (Philippians 1:6). 

5. The Trinity is a model for our human relationships. The three Persons of the Trinity dwell together in pure equality and unity, yet have different roles or functions. This is especially evident in the Son’s submission to the Father. Although equal with the Father, He submitted to the Father’s will and humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:6-8). This proves that submission in its proper context is not demeaning to the individual’s dignity or a mark of inferiority. This has special application for each aspect of human relationships, especially with regard to church life (leaders and the congregation), marriage (husbands and wives), family (parents and children), and employment (employers and employees).