The word “Trinity” is not mentioned in the Bible. The reason for this is probably because if the word Trinity was mentioned believers might make mistakes as to Who it refers to. However we have enough evidence from the Bible to work out Who the Trinity consists of. It is like say there are fifteen chairs or you can describe the same thing a bit differently as three rows of five chairs.
The Bible says “Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Mark 12:29 and quoting Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!”)
“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1Timothy 2:5).
So God is one God but where does the Bible show that He is made up of Three Persons i.e. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. v17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven (the Father), saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3:16-17)
There are other verses that point out the Trinity i.e. Romans 8:9; 1Corinthians 12:3-6; 2Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:4-6; 1Peter 1:2; Jude 1:20-21; Revelation 1:4-5.
As the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all mentioned together like this it shows that they are all fully God.
So how can God be one God and yet three Persons. If you take a triangle you have three different sides but they make one triangle.
If you take away one of the sides it is no longer a triangle. So if you take away one of Person’s out of the Godhead then God is then no longer God.
The Bible does not teach that there are three Gods, but there is one God Who is three Persons. They are three separate Persons with distinctive characteristics as seen below.
GOD THE FATHER
When the Bible mentions God it very often refers to God the Father.
“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” (Galatians 4:6).
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians
1:3).
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent
His Son to be the propitiation (place of mercy) for our sins” (1John 4:10).
“God” is used in the sense of being the source of all things and directs
the Son and the Holy Spirit.
THE SON OF GOD
The Lord Jesus is the agent by which God blesses the human race and the
administration of all things.
Although the Lord Jesus became a man He was also fully God.
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
“For in Him (Christ v8) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).
As the Bible says that Jesus is the Son of God did God had close
relations with Mary so as to produce a Son? NO
There are metaphors which are figures of speech to reveal something. An example is “the mother of all cookery books”. It does not mean that this book produces all other cookery books. What it means is that it is the best of all cookery books. Also when someone is called “a son of the road” it does not mean that two roads got together and produced a son. It means that he travels a lot.
That principle applies to the Son’s Eternal relationship with God.
“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Saviour of the world” (1John 4:14). As the Father sent the Son therefore the Son must have existed before He was sent to this earth. So when the Lord Jesus Christ is called the “Son of God” it means that He was always in the past the Son of God.
That is His eternal relationship with God.
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God” (John 13:3).
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17).
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1Corinthians 15:3).
“In whom we (“His dear Son” v13) have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). (The italics are mine and show that the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s means for salvation.)
THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD
The Holy Spirit’s main roles are to bring people to salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to assist believers in various ways after they are saved.
The Holy Spirit is also fully God.
“But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, … You have not lied to men but to God.’” (Acts 5:3-4)
“… Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” (1Corinthians 2:11) The Holy Spirit knows everything like God and so He is also omniscient.
The Holy Spirit is a Person.
The Bible shows that the Holy Spirit is a person as follows: He can speak (Acts 13:2, Revelation 2:7). He prays (Romans 8:26-27). He teaches (John 14:26). He guides (John 16:13). He commands (Acts 16:6-7). He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). He can be lied to (Acts 5:3). He can be vexed (Isaiah 63:10). He can be resisted (Acts 7:51). He can be blasphemed (Matthew 12:22-32 and Mark 3:22-30).
This is a person in every sense.
Some of the Holy Spirit’s activities are:
- “… You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” (Acts 7:51) The Holy Spirit brings home to people their sin and need of the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Saviour.
- “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is
everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8). When a person trusts in Christ the Holy Spirit gives him/her eternal life. - “… Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” (Romans 8:9) “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the
Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1Corinthians 6:19). So at the point of faith in Christ the Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in the believers. - He helps Christians to understand the Word of God: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1Corinthians 2:12).
- He helps Christians to live for God “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18).
GOD IS REALLY INTERESTED IN YOU!
The above shows that each member of the Trinity is interested in you.
Is being interested in getting you to heaven through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the only goal of the Bible? Certainly not but it is the STARTING point. From that STARTING point God wants you to learn and enjoy many things:
- “So they (Paul and Silas) said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household’” (Acts 16:31). That your everlasting life depends on another Perfect Person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
- “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” (1John 5:20) That God is the truth.
- “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). That God will be with the believer forever.
- God’s unmasking of the devil and his strategy.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (i.e. swallow up in circumstances).” (1Peter 5:8)
“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:2)
The Bible pictures the devil as a serpent (Genesis 3:1; Revelation 20:2), a dragon (Revelation 12:9; 20:2), and a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). This indicates his cunning, hatred, ferocity and cruelty against the people of God. The Bible also calls him the tempter (Matthew 4:3; 1Thessalonians 3:5), the evil {or evil one} (John 17:15), a liar and a murderer (John 8:44). These words indicate the character and aim of the strategy with which he assaults us. The devil seeks to deceive, keep you from the best through worldly friends, i.e. keep you from the truth and God’s real peace, love and joy.
- “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3). God wants you to learn how many rich and eternal blessings you have through the Lord Jesus forever.
- “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). God wants to help you to live the life that He wants you to live.
- “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). The true Christian life is NOT always an easy one. It will COST you but it is certainly a worthwhile life.
- “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Getting to personally KNOW God Who is wonderful and astonishing. It takes time but if, having believed in Christ as your Saviour, you go on for God you will find that you have been blessed in ways you could never have imagined possible!!