”For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.“ I John 5:7 NKJV
Latin “trinus” means threefold, and is the root word for the term “Trinity”. Though this term is not in the Bible, it is a legitimate use of the word to use as a description of God’s being.
I know this a deep dive into theology, and I am not a theologian by any definition. Husband and I have, however, studied the doctrine of the Trinity.. This is just a brief look at how the Bible confirmed our belief.
God in three persons: Father, Jesus the Son (the Word), and the Holy Spirit that actually dwells in every follower of Jesus.
Jesus was at the beginning of everything: ”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.“ John 1:1-5, 9-14 NKJV
The Holy Spirit was also at the beginning of everything: ”In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.“ Genesis 1:1-2 NKJV
”Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.“ Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV
The Trinity, active in the creation of the universe.
The Father and the Son are one, but not the same: ”Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”“ John 10:25-30 NKJV.
The mystery.
Years ago we were challenged on what we believed as Christians. Our salvation had been questioned by a group of people who denied the doctrine of the Trinity, and believed we had to speak in tongues as the only evidence of salvation and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The second doctrine is for another time. But the doctrine of the Trinity is so foundational to Christianity, we had to take that deep dive into understanding so we could defend our faith. It required time in the Word of God and at the library. We loved it!
One of the first books I picked up at the library was a very thick book, it has been years and I don’t remember the name or authors, but I do remember it started out by confirming that the study of the Trinity was fraught with controversy amid church theologians over the centuries and no one could definitively understand how to explain it. I am certainly not going to try. Here is a simplified explanation:
God in all three persons. Let me clarify “persons.” Especially in regard to the Holy Spirit, referred to in some denominations from days past as the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit is not a ghost or an”it” as I have also heard Him referred to. He is a spirit . . . THE Spirit of the one true, holy God. The Holy Spirit is as much a “person” as is Jesus the Son, and God the Father. Jesus, definitely a person, is 100% God, Jesus sent His Spirit into the believer, Jesus and the Father are one. Algebra in the spiritual realm? Again, the mystery.
One more appearance of God in all three forms is Matthew 3:16-17: ”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. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”“
Regardless of the ability or inability to understand God and who He is, by faith and belief that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, Husband and I accept the Bible’s teaching that we have a triune God . . . Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Under the will and command of our God, we have also been given an assignment to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,“ Matthew 28:19 NKJV. Who are we to challenge who God says He is in that command?
Whether we believe or not, whether we follow Jesus or not, the Word gives us warning. One day we will all stand before God and give an account. These verses, were written to the early believers . . . the apostles and the first followers of Jesus. But they also apply to the church throughout history. “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” I Peter 4:3, 5, 17-18 NKJV.
That is a good question.
I remember an attribution to Martin Luther about the Trinity. Here is a slightly different source of a similar saying:
"I have found it no earlier than Harold Lindsell and Charles J. Woodbridge, A Handbook of Christian Truth (Westwood, NJ: F. H. Revell), 1953, pp. 51-52, where it occurs in the form:
The mind of man cannot fully understand the mystery of the Trinity. He who has tried to understand the mystery fully will lose his mind; but he who would deny the Trinity will lose his soul."