The Trinity can be considered one of the most significant doctrines of the Christian faith. While it has been often attacked by people who have held other beliefs, and it has been alleged that it is not a Biblical doctrine due to the fact that the word “Trinity” is not mentioned in The Bible, the doctrine, according to Christians is, at least in substance, Biblical.
At the outset we must state the study of The Trinity, because it discusses the nature of The One, true God, is holy ground and the doctrine itself can be known only by divine revelation. Human reason is incapable of fathoming it. It was God’s Will to reveal to humanity His inner working. According to mainstream Christianity, the doctrine, having been revealed to mankind through Scriptures, is far from being the result of human reasoning.
To define The Trinity according to the teachings found in The Bible, we have to first make it very clear that there is only One eternal God, Who is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe (Deut. 4:35; 4:39; 32:39; 2 Sam. 22:32; Isa. 37:20; 43:10; 44:6-8; 45:14; 45:21-22; 46:9; John 5:44; Rom: 3:30; 16:27; 1 Cor. 8:4-6 etc.). He is the only God that exists (2 Chr. 15:3; Jer 10:10; John 17:3; 1 Thess. 1:9; 1 John 5:20-21) and all other “gods” that various nations have created are false gods / idols (Deut. 32:21; 1 Sam. 12:21; Psa. 96:5; Isa. 37:19; 41:23-24; 41:29; Jer. 2:11; 5:7; 16:20; 1 Cor. 8:4; 10:19-20). However, within His nature, this One God is three co-equal and co-eternal persons, or three centers of consciousness: The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. While being distinguishable or distinct from one another, these three Persons (also called “Hypostases” by some Christian denominations) constitute the One God.
Also, it is important to understand that, despite being possible for everything that is true about God to be true about The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, the reverse is not true. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God, but it is incorrect to say that God is the Father, God is the Son, or God is the Spirit. God’s nature consists of three distinct Persons and, while it is permissible to pray to only one Person of The Trinity, it generally regarded as an error to limit God to one particular member of the Trinity.
Let us analyze some of the points made by Scripture about the nature of God.
1. There Is Only One God That Exists
Central to the doctrine of the Trinity is the biblical teaching of the existence of only one God. It would be false to affirm that any other divine being has real existence. Trinitarians, or those who believe in the Trinity, are positive that only one God exists. Additionally, it is impossible for the essence of God to be divided. God, by nature, is spirit and possesses no physical form. It is not possible to divide up spirit. The God of the Bible is One single infinite being Who has always existed, exists and will always exist in an indivisible state.
2. There Are Three Distinct Persons Who Exist (The Father, Son, And The Holy Spirit)
Scripture also implies that there are three distinct Persons Who exist within the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. To give some illustrative examples: Jesus prayed to God the Father, not to Himself. At His baptism the voice of the Father spoke in an approving way of Jesus; it was not Jesus who spoke of Himself. Consequently, the three Persons should not be confused with one another.
3. Each Of The Three Persons Is Called God
This one should be pretty easy to grasp: The Father is God, The Son is God, and The Holy Spirit is God. Each are called God, and each possesses attributes that only God can possess.
4. The Three Persons Are The One God (The Trinity)
If we take the above facts into consideration, we can come to the conclusion that, if only one God exists, and if there are three distinct persons who are all called God, then the three persons must be the one God. This is the doctrine of the Trinity.
An additional clarification of the doctrine of The Trinity would have to be the following: all the three Persons of The Trinity are distinct in their roles and have different functions within the Godhead. The Father is The One Who sent The Son and then The Holy Spirit to testify of The Son (Jesus The Messiah). While being equal in nature with God The Father, Jesus and The Holy Spirit are subordinate in their relationships. This should not be understood as meaning that they are lesser in character, as that would be incorrect. They are equal in dignity, majesty, glory, and power but different in their roles, so we should not only focus on only one Person of The Trinity (for example, only on Jesus or only on The Holy Spirit), but rather on the entire Trinity. Jesus Himself instructed us to pray to God The Father, so we should conclude that we should focus our prayers on the Persons of The Trinity in the hierarchical order of their relationships, asking God The Father to help us in Jesus Christ’s Name through The Holy Spirit.