What is the Trinity | What does the Bible teach about the Trinity | GotQuestions.org

Question, what does the Bible teach about the Trinity?

In this video I'll answer that question from a biblical perspective, and afterwards I'll point you to some helpful resources, so stick around to the end.

The most difficult thing about the Christian concept of the Trinity is that there is no way to perfectly and completely understand it.

The Trinity is a concept that is impossible for any human being to fully understand, let alone explain.

God is infinitely greater than we are, therefore we should not expect to fully understand Him.

The Bible teaches that the Father is God, that Jesus is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God.

The Bible also teaches that there is only one God.

Though we can understand some facts about the relationship of the different persons of the Trinity to one another, ultimately it is

incomprehensible to the human mind.

However, this does not mean that the Trinity is not true, or that it is not based on the teachings of the Bible.

The Trinity is one God existing in three persons.

Understand that this does not in any way suggest three gods.

Keep in mind when studying this subject that the word Trinity is not found in Scripture.

This is a term that is used to attempt to describe the Triune God, three co -existence, co -eternal persons who make

up God.

Of real importance is that this concept represented by the word Trinity does exist in Scripture.

The following is what God's Word says about the Trinity.

First, there is one God.

Second, the Trinity consists of three persons.

In Genesis 1 -1, the Hebrew pronoun Elohim is used.

In Genesis 1 -26, 3 -22, 11 -7, and Isaiah 6 -8, the plural pronoun for us

is used.

The word Elohim and the pronoun us are plural forms, definitely referring in the Hebrew language to more than two.

While this is not an explicit argument for the Trinity, it does denote the aspect of plurality in God.

The Hebrew word for God, Elohim, definitely allows for the Trinity.

In Isaiah 48 -16 and 61 -1, the Son is speaking while making reference to the Father and the.

Holy Spirit.

Compare Isaiah 61 -1 to Luke 4 -14 -19 to see that this is the Son speaking.

Matthew 3 -16 -17 describes the event of Jesus' baptism.

Seen in this passage is God the Holy Spirit descending on God the Son while God the Father proclaims His

pleasure in the Son.

Matthew 28 -19 and 2 Corinthians 13 -14 are examples of three distinct persons in the.

Trinity.

Third, the members of the Trinity are distinguished one from another in various passages.

In the Old Testament, LORD, all capital letters, is distinguished from LORD using lowercase.

Letters.

The LORD has a son.

The Spirit is distinguished from the LORD and from God.

God the Son is distinguished from God the Father.

In the New Testament, Jesus speaks to the Father about sending a helper, the Holy Spirit.

This shows that Jesus did not consider Himself to be the Father or the Holy Spirit.

Consider also all the other times in the Gospels where Jesus speaks to the Father.

Was He speaking to Himself?

No, He spoke to another person in the Trinity, the Father.

Fourth, each member of the Trinity is God.

The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.

Fifth, there is subordination within the Trinity.

Scripture shows that the Holy Spirit is subordinate to the Father and the Son.

The Son is subordinate to the Father.

This is an eternal relation that does not deny the deity of any person of the Trinity.

This is simply an area which our finite minds cannot understand concerning the infinite.

God.

Concerning the Son, see Luke 22 -42, John 5 -36, John 20 -21, and 1

John 4 -14.

Concerning the Holy Spirit, see John 14 -16, 14 -26, 15 -26, 16 -7, and

especially John 16 -13 -14.

Lastly, six, the individual members of the Trinity have different tasks.

The Father is the ultimate source or cause of the universe, divine revelation, salvation, and Jesus'

human works.

The Father initiates all of these things.

The Son is the agent through whom the Father does the following works, the creation and maintenance of the universe,

divine revelation, and salvation.

The Father does all these things through the Son who functions as His agent.

The Holy Spirit is the means by whom the Father does the following works, creation and

maintenance of the universe, divine revelation, salvation, and Jesus' works.

Thus, the Father does all these things by the power of the Holy Spirit.

There have been many attempts to develop illustrations of the Trinity.

However, none of the popular illustrations are completely accurate.

The egg and the apple fails in that the shell, white, and yolk are parts of the egg, not the egg in themselves, just as

the skin, the flesh, and the seeds of the apple are parts of it, not the apple itself.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not parts of God.

Each of them is God.

The water illustration is somewhat better, but it fails to adequately describe the Trinity.

Liquid, vapor, and ice are forms of water.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not forms of God.

Each of them is God.

So while these illustrations may give us a picture of the Trinity, the picture is not entirely accurate.

An infinite God cannot be fully described by a finite illustration.

The doctrine of the Trinity has been a divisive issue throughout the entire history of the Christian Church.

While the core aspects of the Trinity are clearly presented in God's Word, some of the side issues are not as explicitly clear.

The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but there is only one.

God.

That is the biblical doctrine of the Trinity.

Beyond that, the issues are, to a certain extent, debatable and non -essential.

Rather than attempting to fully define the Trinity with our finite human minds, we'd be better served by focusing on the fact of

God's greatness and His infinitely higher.

Nature.

Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable His judgments and His paths beyond tracing out!

Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?

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