TRINITY
This term, used for the first time by Tertullian (2nd century AD), expresses a great biblical truth. The one God reveals himself to us in the three Persons of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. There are two facets to consider based on the texts:
(a) the essential deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit, it being unnecessary to deal with that of the Father;
(b) the fact that the three Persons are one and the same God.
(a) Deity of Christ.
See DEITY OF CHRIST.
(b) Deity of the Holy Spirit.
See DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
(c) The unity of essence of the three divine Persons.
By constantly revealing the one God, the OT makes us sense the plurality within the Deity. In Gen. 1:1 it is said, lit.: “In the beginning he created the Gods” (“Elohim”, plural form, with the verb singular), and Gen. 1:2 already mentions the Spirit of God present in the creative act.
In Gen. 1:26 says, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.” After the fall, God says, “Behold, the man is like one of us…” (Gen. 3:22).
The NT constantly presents the Three Persons united in the work of salvation in the same way in which they have manifested themselves united in that of creation. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were manifested in the baptism of Jesus (Mt. 3:16-17).
Christ commanded that the disciples be baptized in the name (singular) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19). The new birth is possible through regeneration wrought by the Holy Spirit, the love of the Father, and the gift of the Son, who died on the cross for our sins (John 3:5-6, 14-16).
The Father, the Son and the Spirit come to make Their home in the heart of the believer (John 14:17, 23; cf. 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19; Col. 1:27); together they communicate the fullness of divine life (Eph. 3:14, 16-19).
The apostolic blessing is given in the threefold name of the Deity (2 Cor. 13:13). The resurrection of Christ is attributed to the Father, Jesus himself, and the Spirit (Acts 2:24; Jn. 2:19; 10:17-18; Rom. 8:11); This will be the case with the resurrection of believers (John 5:21; 6:40; Rom. 8:11; cf. other Trinitarian passages: Acts 2:33; 1 Cor. 12:4-6; Eph. 4: 4-6; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rev. 1:6, etc.).
The Three Persons of the one Godhead are united in such a way as to manifest the fullness of the one living God: Each person performs the same works and receives the same worship; They participate in the one undivided Being of the Deity, maintaining at the same time a tripersonal relationship of love and communication within the Deity, with infinite perfection and harmony, with total unity, infinite love, perfect submission to the Father, of from whom the Son and the Holy Spirit proceed eternally, who proceed from the Father and the Son (John 15:26; Rom. 8:9; Gal. 4:6).
The strict monotheism of the OT is not affected at all. Simply by revealing Himself fully in the person of Christ, God has made known to us more realities about the ineffable nature of the one true God.
In the OT, we have first of all the revelation of the sovereign Creator and Lord, “God for us”; In the Gospels, the Lord became incarnate, becoming “God with us”, Immanuel. Once the redemption was accomplished, at Pentecost he became “God in us” by the Holy Spirit.
The dogma of the Trinity has given rise to numerous controversies and attempts at explanation. However, the believer must accept that a finite being cannot encompass the Infinite. Who can fathom such depth?
Regarding our very being, Paul mentions the spirit, the soul and the body (1 Thes. 5:23), and it is not possible for us to determine how they are united and how three essences come to form a single person.
The revealed fact of Three Persons in the one being of the Godhead, maintaining, in the context of this one being, an interpersonal relationship of mutual love and communion, cannot be rejected as contrary to reason.
There is no contradiction. It is not stated that God is “one person in three persons”, but rather “Three Persons in one Being.” This is not contradictory. It surpasses human reason, but does not militate against it.
The denial of this truth does not come from a logical impossibility; our inability to understand it is due to our limitation. It is a doctrine that must be accepted even if it cannot be understood.
Just as the eternal existence of God, the wonder of his creation, cannot be understood; as man cannot understand his own nature. Reality itself, ignored by our familiarity with it, is incomprehensible.
How much more the riches of the Being of God, which He has been pleased to communicate to us in a certain measure! The response to this mystery revealed in the Bible is worship of the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.