What Does Trinity Mean?

Posted by Steve on Oct 19, 2009 in Bible Study, Christian Reflections, Theology |

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“What Does Trinity Mean?” is article number two in the series “5 Words You Should Know”.

In this series of articles we’re defining and exploring 5 key theological words that are essential for us, as followers of Jesus, to know and get our heads around, in order to understand our God, His Word, and how to live lives that bring glory to Him.

trinity

To The Point

The doctrine of the Trinity states that God exists as one being – infinite, eternal, and indivisible. This one being consists of three distinct, co-equal co-eternal persons, the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

The exact nature of the Trinity has been the subject of intense debate, and criticism over the last 1900 or so years and despite being a standard doctrine of most mainline evangelical denominations it continues to be a doctrine that divides and confuses.

Over the centuries, many theologians, whilst holding firmly to the doctrine have struggled to fully comprehend and explain the exact nature of the Trinity and their many attempts to illustrate it are always lacking in a lot of ways. For example, water + ice + steam or the sun + light + heat etc, while being kind of helpful, never quite get the full concept across and due to the super-rational nature of the Trinity, I doubt we’ll find anything like it in this world to make a suitable comparison.

As stated above the three persons of the Trinity are distinct from one another while at the same time maintaining complete unity. St Hilary, an early church theologian said it this way:

“The three persons who exist co-inherently in one substance, reciprocally contain one another so that one should permanently envelop and also be permanently enveloped by the other whom He yet permanently envelops.”

(It should also be noted and emphasised here that the 3 persons of the Trinity are equal and equally God although existing with a certain order in themselves but with no subordination in their essential being. For the purposes of redemption there is a temporary, voluntary subordination of the persons as viewed from within redemptive history.)

Some may ask why God exists in three persons and the simple answer is that God is love and love requires an object to pour itself out upon. The Trinity has always existed and from eternity past the three persons were in perfect, and complete community and fellowship needing nothing. More on this later.

The three persons consist of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and throughout the Scriptures the gradual unfolding revelation of their distinction and also of their unity is seen.

The Old Testament of the Bible, the first 39 books, does not contain a full revelation of the Trinity but does in many places give hints. I’ve listed a few below. Look these up in your Bible for further study.

Gen 1:26, Gen 11:7, Ps 45:6,7, Isa 48:16, Isa 61:1

Basically, the Trinity was hinted at in the Old Testament in anticipation of the fuller revelation that was to come in the New Testament. One member of the Trinity, the Son, came to earth as a man named Jesus. He took on a human body and human nature while still retaining His Divine nature that He had from all eternity. He walked the earth, lived a perfect sinless life, and was killed by crucifixion as payment for our sins only to rise from the dead three days later. This coming of Jesus opened the way for a fuller revelation of the Trinity to man so on the pages of the New Testament we see a clearer picture.

Matt 3:16,17, Matt 28:19, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22, 1 Cor 12:4-6, 2 Cor 13:14, I Peter 1:2

Many religious groups however, deny the existence of the Trinity and teach other weird doctrines. These groups include Jehovah’s Witnesseses, Mormons, United Pentecostal Church and Churches of God to name a few. Broadly speaking their doctrines either deny the deity of Jesus prefering to say He was just a man that God chose and empowered, or, alternatively, that God is only one person who changed into the form of Jesus and walked the earth then later changed once again into the form of the Spirit, a teaching known as Modalistic Monarchianism, or just Modalism. A careful, thoughtful reading of the Scripture references above will show how unbiblical these positions are.

So how does the doctrine of the Trinity affect our lives? As mentioned before, the Trinity has always existed and from eternity past the three persons were in perfect, and complete community and fellowship. Genesis 1:27 says that we have been made in the image of God and with that comes a need for community and fellowship, primarily in order to love and serve. We share in the Trinitarian life when we are connected to the Father through the Son by the indwelling power of the Spirit and connected to one another in the body of Christ.

Practically this is achieved by regularly meeting with other believers and loving them, serving them sacrificially, encouraging them, and sharing their life and their burdens. Living that sort of life will probably get us closer to understanding the Trinity more than anything.