Triune God

20.05.20 | Godwin Sunder

God alone is God, God is not alone“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” – Deut 6:4 (Mk 12:29)

My son, Levi, as a 4 year old (now he is almost 7 years) asked me a question regarding a Christian Doctrine and belief. We have all asked ourselves this question at some point in our lives and hopefully we have tried to get a proper understanding. How we answer this question is central to the very foundation of the Christian belief.

The question went like this: Babba, we have God the Father, we have Jesus and we have the Holy Spirit, does this mean we have 3 gods?

Trinity is one of the great mysteries of the Christian Faith. Trinity is not a word that is found in the Bible, but it simply means ‘Triunity’ or ‘3-in-1’ and the concept is clearly taught and revealed in the Bible. Though it is a mystery and goes beyond reason to comprehend it but it does not go against reason to apprehend it. Basically saying, we will never fully comprehend the depth of it but because we believe it, we can explain it to some extent rationally and logically. I will say this, it is important that a believer is able articulate the concept of Trinity if you believe in it.

WHAT TRINITY IS NOT?

Trinity is not –

It is not three gods – tritheism or polytheism
It is not that God choose to reveal himself first as the father, then as the son and presently as the spirit in three modes of operation

WHAT IS TRINITY?

God is one in Being and three in Person. That is not a contradiction but what would be a contradiction is if we said, God is one in Being and 3 Beings. So what is the difference between a ‘Being’ and a ‘Person’.

Being is the essence, or quality or character that makes WHAT you are
Person is the essence, or quality or character that makes WHOM you are

Let me explain further, WHAT type of a being am I? I am human being. Now, WHO am I? I am Godwin Sunder. What I am is my being and who I am is my person; the two are not the same thing. All of us share the same type, we are human beings, but we are essentially different. So the characteristic of a Being is different from a Person – I am one being and one person, and God is one Being and three Persons – Father, Son and Spirit. And this is how He has chosen to reveal Himself.

In other words, God alone is God but God is not alone.

Here are some scripture references where we see the revelation of the Trinity. We’ll start with New Testament because it is in the light of the NT that we get a greater understanding of God in the Old Testament.

At the baptism of Jesus:
Matt 3:16-17; Mk 1:10-11; Lk 3:21-22 : Manifestation of the Godhead
At the Great Commission
Matt 28:19-20 – The Greek construction “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” show that Jesus is referring to three separate persons. He clearly taught the doctrine of the Trinity.
Paul’s prayer
2 Cor 13:14 – The apostle Paul also said “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”
John 14:16,26 – Jesus speaks of the Father as “He,” of the Holy Spirit as “He,” and of Himself as “I.” Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “another Comforter,” separate in identity.
1 Tim 2:5 – For there is one God, one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

OT References:

“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4).
God rejects polytheism (belief in many gods) and demands exclusive devotion: “I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God” (Is 45:5; cf. Deut. 4:35, 39; 1 Kings 8:60; Isa. 40:18; 46:9).
“In the beginning God created…” (Gen 1:1)

Let us look at Gen 1:1 “In the beginning God created…” The Hebrew name used for God is “Elohim.” According to the Hebrew scholars, in Hebrew language there are three ways of numbering: Singular – one; dual – two; plural indicating more than two. Matthew Henry says it (Elohim) signifies “the plurality of persons in the Godhead, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. This plural name of God – Elohim – (confirm) our faith in the doctrine of the Trinity, which though, but darkly intimated in the OT, is clearly revealed in the NT.” ¹

Other references underline the Trinity Doctrine in the OT:
Gen 1:26 – use of the pronouns “us” and “our.”
Gen 3:22 – pronoun “us”
Gen 11:6-7 – pronoun “us
Isaiah 6:8 – pronoun “us”

The differences among the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit are found in the way they relate to one another and the role they each play in accomplishing their unified purpose.
The Father is not the same person as the Son who is not the same as the Holy Spirit who is not the same person as the Father. This should be clear, that it was not the Holy Spirit or the Father that was crucified or resurrected but it was the Son Jesus Christ.

To summarise:

There is one and only one true and living God.
This one God eternally exists in three persons – God the Father, God the Son, and the God the Holy Spirit.
These three persons are completely equal in attributes, each with the same divine nature.
While each person is fully and completely God, the persons are not identical.

Triune God

Godwin Sunder

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