The Divine Triunity

“To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him” (Deut. 4:35 NASB). “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:4, 5 NASB). “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me” (Is. 46:9 NASB). “Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him” (I Cor. 8:6 NASB).

The word “trinity” is not found in Scripture, but it was used as early as the second century to express the Scriptural doctrine of the undivided unity of the Divine nature of the Godhead. There are personal distinctions of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Great debates have risen over the word “Persons” in the distinctions of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Some have argued that the word “person” suggests the existence of three Gods. The argument holds good only when the term “person” is used in its customary, modern sense. Since the distinctions are not those of essence but are personal distinctions within the essence, the word “Person” should not be objectionable. This word as it applied to the three subsistencies of the Godhead, like the word “Trinity,” is not found in Scripture. However, the idea it expresses is Scriptural.

Like all other sciences, in the science of theology some technical terms are necessary. The existence of three distinct Persons in the Godhead does not mean that each one is as separate from the others as one human being is from another. While the singular pronouns I, Thou, He, and Him are applied to each of the three Persons, the same singular pronouns are applied to the Triune God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can be distinguished, but they cannot be separated because each possesses the same identical substance or essence. One Person of the Godhead does not exist without the other two. Some things predicated to one Person in the Godhead are not predicated to the other Persons. The Father sent the Son, but the Son did not send the Father. Both the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit never sent either the Father or the Son. Both Father and Holy Spirit were with the Son in the incarnation, but neither assumed a human nature. God the Father is Deity invisible. God the Son is Deity manifested. God the Holy Spirit is Deity communicated.

The word “person” in theology is defined as a mode of subsistence, which is marked by intelligence, will, and individual existence. The human mind cannot comprehend the mystery of the Trinity because the finite cannot comprehend the Infinite. The word “Person” studied theologically is used in a sense different from its other usages. For example, the Divine essence cannot be at once three Persons and one Person if “person” is employed in one signification. However, it can at once be three Persons and one personal being. The personal characteristic by which the Persons in the Godhead differ from each other cannot be the personal characteristic of the entire Godhead.

“Person” is used to express an idea of personality within the Godhead. This guards against a mere form of manifestation on one hand and the idea of fully independent personalities in human beings on the other. The truth of the Trinity does not assert there are three Gods in one God (tritheism). It does not affirm that God merely manifests Himself in three different ways (trinity of manifestations). Trinitarians maintain that there are three eternal Persons in the substance of the Godhead (monotheism). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God. Each Person has a distinguishing quality. Neither Person is without the others. Each with the others is God.

The Lord our God is one Lord. God is called the living God because He is the fountain of natural life (Acts 17:28) and spiritual life (John 17:2). He has life in Himself (John 5:26) and gives life to all creatures. God is called the true God to distinguish Him from all false gods (I Cor. 8:6). There cannot be two infinites. Two infinites imply a contradiction. How can anything be equal with the Highest or equally excellent with the most Excellent? Since God, the God of Holy Scripture, fills heaven and earth, there is no room for another god.

The doctrine of the Trinity and Christianity are inseparably united. Eternal life is wrapped up in the knowledge of “…this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3 NASB). God by His Spirit has revealed the knowledge that in the power of the regenerating Spirit a person is able to know the Father and the Son: “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God” (I Cor. 2:10 NASB). Election by God the Father, redemption by God the Son, and regeneration by God the Holy Spirit can never be separated in Christianity (Eph. 1:3-14; I John 5:1-9).

A trinity of Persons related to one essence contradicts no absolute truth. Analogies can go no further than establish a principle. For example, there is in man a combination of unity and plurality—the material and immaterial elements combine to form one individual. Therefore, the Trinity affirms no more than a Being existing in one sense singular and in another plural. The words “Triunity,” “unity,” and “equality” apply to the Trinity. The word “Triunity” indicates that in the Godhead there are three personal centers of personal consciousness sharing the same basic equality of Being. The word “unity” signifies there is one in three, not three gods. The word "equality” conveys the thought that each member of the Godhead is coequal and coeternal with the others. Therefore, the Father is God (Rom. 1:7), the Son is God (Heb. 1:8), and the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3, 4). What God is now He was and ever will be. Since the three Persons in the Godhead are presently the one God, they had to be one from eternity.

The Godhead dwelling in the incarnate Christ is not by power, as His dwelling in the universe. It is not by grace, as His dwelling in the saints. It is not by gifts, as He dwelt in the apostles. It is not by symbols, as He dwelt in the tabernacle. The dwelling of the Godhead in the incarnate Christ is essentially and personally in the Son of God who is the Son of man. Christians worship one God in Trinity and trinity in unity without confusing the Persons in the Godhead or dividing the essence.

Unless Christians learn to distinguish the works of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, confession of the Trinity is meaningless. The Father is the source of all things. The Son is the One through whom things are constructed. The Holy Spirit is the One through whom all things attain their final destiny: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:33-36 NASB). If the Persons in the Godhead existed independently, such cooperation would be impossible. Therefore, the Father’s purpose, the Son’s redemption, and the Holy Spirit’s regeneration are described in Scripture (Eph. 1:3-14; II Thess. 2:13, 14; I Pet. 1:1-3).

If there were no trinity in the Divine nature, Fatherhood in God would have had a beginning and would have an ending. Furthermore, Sonship would not be perfection but imperfection because it would exist for only a temporary purpose. The same can be said for the Holy Spirit that is said for the Son. Since fatherly giving and filial receiving are eternal in God, the law of love requires Christians to conform to God in both these respects as the highest dignity of their being. The reciprocation of affection dates beyond time. A human father may be both father and son. However, that cannot be true of a Divine Person. A human person may be a son and not a father, but become a father subsequently. Such change in the Godhead would destroy immutability. The three Persons in the Godhead are co-eternal. They exist side by side, but not independently or separately.

The Father is God. If the Son of God had no preexistence in His Divine nature before He was born of the Virgin Mary, there was no God the Father 2,000 years ago. To deny the eternal Son is to deny the eternal Father: “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also” (I John 2:23 (NASB). “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal him” (Matt. 11:27 NASB). “No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (John 1:18 NASB). “Jesus answered, if I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, He is our God; and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say I do not know Him, I shall be a liar like you, but I do know Him, and keep His word” (John 8:54, 55 NASB).

The Son is God. Jesus Christ is revealed in the Scriptures as God; therefore, He should be worshipped, served, and obeyed as God. His own Divine excellencies prove that He is God: (1) “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy kingdom” (Ps. 45:6 NASB) is applied to Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:8). (2) “THE LORD says to my LORD: Sit at My right hand, Until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet” (Ps. 110:1 NASB) is applied to Jesus Christ (Matt. 22:44). (3) “Of old Thou didst found the earth; And the heavens are the work of Thy hands. Even they will perish, but Thou dost endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing Thou wilt change them, and they will be changed. But Thou art the same, and Thy years will not come to an end” (Ps. 102:25-27 NASB) is applied to Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:10-12). (4) “IN the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the LORD sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory” (Is. 6:1-3) is applied to Jesus Christ (John 12:41).

Scripture is clear that Jesus Christ existed and acted before His incarnation. The objective revelation of God is the work of the Son of God. The subjective manifestation of God is the work of the Holy Spirit. As the distinctive feature of God the Father is that He is not begotten, the distinctive feature of the Son is that He is begotten. Christ’s subordination to the Father is official and essential. As a human son is not less human than his father, the Divine Son is not less God than the Divine Father. Christ not only gives the Spirit, but He also works through the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is God. Many professing Christians have no higher concept of the Holy Spirit than that of an impersonal, supernatural influence of God. The Holy Spirit is a Person, and He is God (Acts 5:3, 4; I Cor. 12:6, 11). The Spirit is called another Comforter (John 15:26). He is mentioned with the Father and the Son in the commission to baptize (Matt. 28:19). He is placed on a plane of absolute equality with the Father and the Son as the source of power and blessing (II Cor. 13:14). As a Person, the Holy Spirit speaks (Acts 8:29), sends (Acts 10:19, 20), calls (Acts 13:2), guides (John 16:13, 14), comforts (John 14:16, 17), regenerates (John 3:8), teaches (I John 2:20-22), intercedes (Rom. 8:26, 27), and can be grieved (Eph. 4:30).

The statement “the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39 NASB) is confusing to some. To say the Spirit “was not yet” is like saying, before Thomas Edison electricity was not yet. There was as much electricity in the world before Edison as there is now. Thomas Edison taught the existence of electricity and how to harness and use it. There are many references in the Old Testament concerning the existence and work of the Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:2; Ex. 28:3; 31:2, 3; Job 26:13; Ps. 139:7; Zech. 4:6). The Holy Spirit came in His abiding presence on the day of Pentecost as the incarnate Christ came at His first advent when He was born of the Virgin Mary. As the Father was not clearly revealed until the birth of Christ, the things of Christ were not clearly revealed until the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. He did not reveal the things of Christ until they were ready to be made known. Scripture is clear that the Holy Spirit existed and acted before Pentecost. The subjective manifestation of God is the work of the Holy Spirit. The objective revelation of God is the work of God the Son. The Holy Spirit turns the objective revelation of God into a subjective experience in the elect.