The Holy Trinity

Summary  (top)

Trinity is the technical name given to the teaching about God, which says that there is only one God, but this God exists in three persons. So while there is only one God, God the Father is God, Jesus Christ is God and the Holy Spirit is God. They are distinct persons, that is, the Father is not Jesus, and Jesus is not the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. Yet there is only one God.

This is the Biblical teaching I show further below, but it must be remembered that the Trinity is taught in the Bible, even though, quite frankly, we don't understand how it works. Still, we would be getting ahead of ourselves to expect to understand the existence of God! As Milne puts it: "If we did not encounter deep mystery in God's nature there would be every reason for suspicion concerning the Bible's claims. For all its difficulty the Trinity is simply (!) the price to be paid for having a God who is great enough to command our worship and service."1

Content of this study  (top)

• Summary
• Introduction
• God is Three Persons
• These Three Persons are each fully God
• God the Father is God
• Jesus Christ is God
• The Holy Spirit is God
• There is one God
• Objections
• Conclusion
• Related Links

Introduction  (top)

The word trinity is never found in the Bible, it is simply the name given to the complex teaching of the tri-unity of God that is found throughout the Bible, although we see that it is progressively revealed from Old Testament to New. That is, whereas the Old Testament is more inclined to suggest or imply that God exists in three Persons (for example Gen. 1:26, 3:22; Ps. 45:6-7 cf. Heb. 1:8; and Isaiah 63:10), the New Testament reveals this truth more explicitly (e.g., 2 Cor. 13:14, 1 Pet. 1:2, and Jude 20-21).

The teaching on the Trinity found on this page, in this site and indeed, in generally accepted Christian teaching, is not supposed to explain the tri-unity of God, but is instead intended to preserve and contain the Biblical teaching concerning God. Many make the mistake of expecting to understand how the Trinity works, and expect a study such as this to explain it. Let me be clear that this page will attempt nothing of the sort, but will merely bring out the various teachings of the Bible that when placed beside each other speak of the majestic deity who created us, and in a way beyond our understanding, exists as Three persons yet One.

The Biblical Teaching

The Biblical teaching of the Trinity is best summed up in three definite statements:

• God is Three Persons
• These Three Persons are each fully God
• There is one God

God is Three Persons  (top)

As God is three persons, the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit and the Spirit is not the Father. We can also say that backwards: the Father is not the Spirit, the Spirit is not the Son, and the Son is not the Father. They are not three roles played by the same person, nor are they three gods in a cluster.

The distinctions above mentioned are seen in a number of passages throughout the Bible, a selection given here:

• Psalm 45:6-7: "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."
• Isaiah 63:10: "Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them."
• Matthew 28:19: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit".
• John 1:1-2: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning" (The Word here undoubtably referring to Christ).
• John 14:26: [Jesus said,] "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

That God the Father and Jesus Christ are separate persons is quite obvious, but some have questioned whether the Holy Spirit is indeed a distinct person, rather than the "power" or "force" of God at work in this world. But there are several different indications in the New Testament as to the distinct nature of the Spirit:

• Designations that are proper to a personality are given to Him (this section quoted directly from Grudem, p.232): "there are places where the masculine pronoun he (Gk., ekeinos) is applied to the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-14), which one would not expect from the rules of Greek grammar, for the word "spirit" (Gk. pneuma) is neuter, not masculine, and would ordinarily be referred to with the neuter pronoun ekino. Moreover, the name counselor or comforter (Gk. parakletos) is a term commonly used to speak of a person who helps or gives comfort or counsel to another person or persons, but is used of the Holy Spirit in John's gospel (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7)."
• Characteristics of a person are ascribed to Him, such as intelligence, will, and affections (intelligence: John 14:26, 15:26, Rom. 8:16; will: Acts 16:7, 1 Cor. 12:11; affections: Isa. 63:10, Eph. 4:30).
• He performs acts proper to personality - He searches, speaks, testifies, commands, reveals, strives, creates, makes intercession, raises the dead, knows, wills, forbids and grieves (Gen. 1:2, 6:3; Luke 12:12; John 14:26; 15:26; 16:8, Acts 8:29; 13:2; 16:6-7; Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 2:10-11).
• He is represented as standing in such relations to other persons as to imply His own personality (Apostles: Acts 15:28; Jesus: John 16:14; The Father and Son: Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:13; 1 Peter 1:1-2; Jude 20-21).
• There are also passages where He is distinguished from His own power (Luke 1:35; 4:14; Acts 10:38; Romans 15:13; 1 Cor. 2:4).

These Three Persons are each fully God  (top)

   God the Father is God  (top)

We need only look to the first verse of the Bible to see that God created heaven and earth. We also see throughout the Bible that God is clearly Lord over all, and is prayed to by all, including Jesus.

   Jesus Christ is God  (top)

There are several passages that affirm the deity of Christ, a selection is found below:

• Isaiah 9:6: [Isaiah predicted,] "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
• John 1:1-4: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men."
• John 20:27-29: "Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.""
• Romans 9:5: [Paul, talking of the Jews:] "Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen."
• Colossians 2:9-10: " For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority."
• Titus 2:13: "...we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ..."
• 2 Peter 1:1: "Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours..."
• For some more direct references to Jesus being referred to as God, see Hebrews 1:8-9; Titus 2:13-14; 1 John 5:20; Psalm 45:6-7);
• For some references to Jesus sharing the same titles etc as God see Rev. 17:14 & 19:16 cf. 1Tim. 6:15-16; Rev. 21:6-7, 22:12-13 cf. Is. 44:6, 48:12 & Rev. 1:8; John 8:58 cf. Ex. 3:13-17)

   The Holy Spirit is God  (top)

It must first be noted that the passages mentioned above indicating that the Holy Spirit is on an equal level with God the Father and God the Son, coupled with the understanding of the deity of these two, indicates in itself the deity of the Holy Spirit. But there are verses as well:

• Psalm 139:7-8: [David cries to God:] "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there."
• Acts 5:3-4: "Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."" (Emphasis added.)
• 1 Corinthians 2:10b-11: "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."

There is one God  (top)

The Bible is very clear on the fact that there is but one God:

• Deuteronomy 6:4-5: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
• 1 Kings 8:59-60: [Solomon speaks:] "And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day's need, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other."
• Isaiah 45:5-6: "I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other."
• Isaiah 45:21-22: "Declare what is to be, present it - let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other."
• 1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus..."
• Romans 3:29-30: "Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith."
• 1 Corinthians 8:5-6: "For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live."
• James 2:19: "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder."

Objections  (top)

   That the Trinity doesn't appear in the OT  (top)

As mentioned in the introduction, quite often it is believed that the doctrine of the Trinity is unscriptural because "it doesn't appear in the Old Testament". Well, below I've listed a number of passages, that in various ways allude to the plurality of God in the Old Testament, and even passages where the individual and divine persons of Christ and the Holy Spirit are mentioned.

It is worth further noting that the New Testament is a response to the Incarnation of Christ; that is, the New Testament was written as a response to God coming to earth in human form. Now when you consider that twenty-seven books were written in response to God coming to earth; His ministry, His person and His teachings concerning Himself (among other things); it seems that you would expect our understanding of God at that point to grow immensely. The Trinity is just one such place where the previous limited teaching on the nature of God was greatly supplemented with the fuller teaching of God as man among us and God the Holy Spirit within us.

      Old Testament Passages alluding to plurality within God

There are many occasions when God speaks of Himself in the plural:

• Genesis 1:26: "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'"
• Genesis 3:22: "And the LORD God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.'"
• Genesis 11:6-7: "The LORD said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.'"
• Isaiah 6:8a: "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?'"

Some attempt to explain the plurality displayed here along a similar line to the "Royal 'we'"; that is, the term a monarch may use to describe themself, applying the plural instead of the singular - "We came to the conclusion..." rather than "I came to the conclusion..." However, to our best knowledge this practice was only developed in relatively recent centuries, certainly not during the time of Moses and before! So it is not a suggestion that should be taken too seriously.

The only plausible possibility aside from a true plurality within the godhead, is that God refers to the angelic community in heaven. But this doesn't make sense, as such a definition would imply God asking His creation (the angels) for their advice, and including them in His glory and power, and seems to be more a possibility-out-of-desperation rather than the actual implied and desired meaning of the verse.

Several passages clearly speak of more than one person who is God:

• Psalm 45:6-7: "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."
• Psalm 110:1: "The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'"

      The 'Angel of the Lord' called 'God'

The 'Angel of the Lord' is in several places explicitly called 'God' or 'the Lord'. This messenger is clearly distinct from God, and yet can be referred to as God:

• Genesis 16:11-13: "The angel of the LORD also said to her: 'You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael,for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.' She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: 'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me.'"
• Exodus 3:2-6: "There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, 'I will go over and see this strange sight - why the bush does not burn up.' When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!' And Moses said, 'Here I am.' 'Do not come any closer,' God said. 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.' Then he said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.' At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God."
• Exodus 23:20-22: "See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him." (Here, "My Name is in him" is the significant text.)
• Numbers 22:35, 38: "The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, 'Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.' So Balaam went with the princes of Balak... 'I have come to you now,' Balaam replied. 'But can I say just anything? I must speak only what God puts in my mouth.'"
• Judges 2:1-2: "The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, 'I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, `I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?'"
• Similarly, when Manoah realises he's seen 'the angel of the Lord' in Judges 13:9-22 he exclaims "We are doomed to die!...We have seen God!"

It should be noted that theologians are divided on the issue of whether or not 'The Angel of the Lord' can be associated with the preincarnate Christ. Some insist that every instance of "The Angel of the Lord" is a reference to Christ, others that only some are a reference to the preincarnate Christ, and others, that it was just an angel who didn't specifically preface his comments with "These are the words of the Lord".2 Nevertheless, it does seem clear that this angel, or "messenger" of the Lord is in several places explicitly called God and treated as God, as and such serves as a reminder of the possibility of the plurality of God, if not a direct reference to Christ before His incarnation.

      The Spirit of God as Divine in Himself

While "God's Spirit" is mentioned throughout the Old Testament, His distinction from the Father is only made clear in a few passages, mostly as the two are mentioned at the same time clearly doing different things or in different places:

• Genesis 1:1-2: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."
• Isaiah 61:1: "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners"
• Isaiah 48:16: "Come near me and listen to this: 'From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there.' And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me, with his Spirit."
• Nehemiah 9:20: "You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst."

      Conclusion to OT witness to the Trinity

The above passages do not expressly teach the tri-unity of God as Father, Son and Spirit, but they do insist upon a certain unity in diversity in the make up of the one God. There is definitely a plurality, there is definitely the Father and the Spirit, and possibly another. In summary, the Old Testament definitely points to the New Testament's idea of the Trinity.

It is interesting to note that the New Testament church, which was initially full of Jewish converts who would have been thoroughly versed in the OT - and indeed whose only standard for proper teaching was the OT - readily accepted the obviously divine teaching on the Son and the Spirit in the early Church. It is hard to imagine this happening if the Jews did not have some understanding of the plurality of God beforehand.

Conclusion  (top)

The three different persons of the Trinity are one not only in purpose and in thought, but also in essence - in their essential nature. God the Father is God, Jesus Christ is God and the Holy Spirit is God, but there are not three Gods, there is only one God. This 'threeness' of God is also the basis for the teaching that God is love. He does not need us to live in a relationship with him, He has lived in a loving relationship in Trinity for all of eternity.3

Related Links

• The Character of God
• God the Son
• God the Holy Spirit

1   B. Milne, Know The Truth (2nd Ed.), p.79.   (jump back to text)

2   See L. Goldberg, "Angel of the Lord" entry in W.A. Elwell (Ed.), "Theological Dictionary of the Bible", p.23; J.B. Taylor, "Angel of the Lord" entry in J.D. Douglas et. al. (Eds.), "The New Bible Dictionary", p.37; S.E. Meier, "Angels" article in B.M. Metzger (Ed.), "The Oxford Companion to the Bible", pp.27-28.    (jump back to text)

3   See B. Milne, Know The Truth (2nd Ed.), p.79 for more on this.   (jump back to text)