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The word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible. It originated in the third century A.D. after many debates about the nature of God, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit between the leaders of what we know now as the Roman Catholic Church.
In various Church Creeds down the centuries it has been defined. These tend to be very long and complicated definitions. Perhaps not surprisingly then no two clergymen or priests seem to have the same understanding of the “Trinity” unless they directly quote the Church creeds of old! Typically these have now been put to one side any way or forgotten about altogether! The lay person too whilst often saying that they have a belief in the “Trinity” will also struggle to explain it.
When pressed the only common ground between “Trinitarians” seems to be along these lines: that God is made up of three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; each of these three are God in their own right, so there is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. When the obvious question is raised whether there are three Gods or one?
The answer is always “one of course!” However a clear and understandable explanation as to how three can be one and one three is rarely given. The person who inquires is usually told that it is a mystery and you simply have to have faith in it!
This is a big subject. In this article we shall concentrate on what the Bible teaches about:
No attempt to look at what other men have said or written will be made. We must try and receive the scriptural teaching on these things.
1) The Unity of God
In Isaiah we read the following words:
“I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”
Isaiah 45: 5 - 7
It is very clear from this passage that God is one, but it is by no means unique, consider these other passages:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
Deuteronomy 6: 4 - 5
“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”
1 Corinthians 8: 6
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
Ephesians 4: 4 - 6
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
John 17: 3
The passage from Corithinians also informs us that “God the Father” is a scriptural expression. Whilst Jesus words recorded in John 17 stress the importance of knowing both God and Jesus whom he sent.
From what we have considered so far it is clear that God is one not three. It is also clear that Jesus is a separate personality in his own right. We have to learn to love them both. Jesus has shown us how we can love his Heavenly Father who is his God and hopefully ours too.
2) God Manifestation
This scriptural idea is one which many people fail to appreciate. When it is understood then many of the passages, which seem to support the idea of the trinity are seen to do nothing of the sort. More positively, a deeper much richer understanding of the scriptures is gained.
We start by considering two passages of scripture, which apparently contradict each other!
“No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”
1 John 4:12
“Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink. And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.”
Exodus 24: 9 - 12
These two passages can be reconciled by considering a third passage:
“This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt”
Acts 7: 37 - 39
The Lord did not come personally down to Moses but it was an angel who came down and represented the Lord and spoke for the Lord. Concerning this angel the Lord says in Exodus 23 the following:
“Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. For mine Angel shall go before thee,”
Exodus 23: 20 - 23
This angel represented the Lord (Yahweh). He carried Yahweh's name. When he spake it is said that Yahweh spake. This is God manifestation. God was manifested in this angel but make no mistake the angel was not God! When you read the Old Testament from now on hopefully you will be aware that it may not be the Lord speaking personally but rather an angel on his behalf.
3) Jesus: God Manifest in the Flesh
“God manifest in the flesh” is a scriptural phrase see if you can find it in one of the Epistles of the New Testament. Now throughout the Old Testament there are prophecies that speak of a greater God manifestation. This is even indicated by the special name of God, which in the Hebrew is “Yahweh” but is printed in the English Authorised Version of the Bible as “LORD”. This is because “Yahweh” means “He will be who he will be”.
Now Jesus is the supreme fulfilment of all these prophecies. He was God manifested in the flesh, but make no mistake, like the angel in the time of Moses, whilst he represented God perfectly, he was not God. Consider the prophecy given to David.
"And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore."
1 Chronicles 17: 11 - 14
Notice here that this son of David is also to be the son of God. If there is any doubt about this consider the opening words to the Gospel of Matthew.
"The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."
Matthew 1:1
It is important here to notice too that this son of David was to be born in the future long after David’s death in fact! So there is no support for the “pre-existence of Christ”. At this point in man’s history there is no Jesus, no Son of God.
In Psalm 89 there is a divine commentary on these promises given to David and the following words are particularly interesting:
“He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.”
Psalm 89: 26 - 29
God speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ says here that he will make him “my firstborn”. So obviously God exists before Jesus and he is pre-eminent. Jesus was not part of the Godhead at this time, as many trinitarians believe. He was still to be born; he was still to come into existence! That phrase “my firstborn” also speaks of others who will be part of a special creation. The others are those who are “born again” in the spiritual sense. Those who by God’s saving grace shown through the Lord Jesus Christ will be given eternal life in the Kingdom of God to come.
Jesus we are also told here in this Psalm will cry unto God “Thou art my father”. Jesus truly is the Son of God. It is evident from these words too that Jesus is dependent upon God. He even calls his Heavenly Father “the rock of my salvation”. Once again we notice that Jesus as the Son of God is wonderfully unique, but he is not God. Look now at the words of verse 24 of this Psalm:
“But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.”
Psalm 89: 24
In the same way that the Angel in Old Testament time had carried the name of God and represented God, so concerning this son who was to be born to David, God says “In my name shall his horn be exalted”. In a wondrous and glorious way to know Jesus is to know God. He is the supreme, perfect manifestation of God but not God himself. The following passages are now worth thinking about with this concept in mind:
Jesus could rightly say of himself: “I am come in my Father's name”
John 5: 43
This is also why John the Baptist could say: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
Luke 3: 4
And why Jesus can be called Emmanuel: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”
Matthew 1: 23
Jesus was not and is not God, but he has shown us what God is like. He has manifested him or declared him: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”
John 1: 18
“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”
John 14: 8 - 10
Hopefully with this idea of God manifestation understood you can now view lots of passages in their true and glorious light. We too, as baptised believers of Christ, can put on the name and become part of this new spiritual creation. Do the words of the Father dwell in us to his honour and glory?
4) The Birth of Jesus
Consider now the circumstances concerning the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and recall the words given to Mary by the angel Gabriel:
“And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
Luke 1: 30 - 33
Once again Jesus is still to come into being so he was not part of the Godhead. He was not to be called God the son either (which is a title never found in scripture) but rather the Son of God. He shall be, says the angel Gabriel, “the son of the Highest”. God is the Highest he has no equal. Jesus is to be his son. Now in response to all this Mary asks: “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
Luke 1: 34 - 35
The Holy Ghost (i.e. Holy Spirit) which is defined as the power of the Highest was to bring about the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary. In Matthew’s Gospel we have the words: “She was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”
Matthew 1: 18
“That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”
Matthew 1: 20
Now if the doctrine of the trinity was true, and we have God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit is the father of Jesus, for she was “found with child of the Holy Spirit”. But surely God the Father is to be the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ! The trinity is a nonsense!
The simple truth is that God (who is the Father) by his power (which is the Holy Spirit) brought into existence the Son (that is the Lord Jesus Christ) in the womb of Mary. And so Jesus was the son of David through Mary and he was the Son of God because he was begotten by the power of the Holy Spirit.
5) Jesus Needed Saving
Do you remember that we read in Psalm 89 that it was prophesied that Jesus shall call God the “rock of his salvation”? This being the case he obviously looked to God for salvation. Now if Jesus was God then he would not need saving! But if he were a man, albeit a unique wonderful man, then he would need saving from the fight against sin. Look now at the following verses from Hebrews:
“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;”
Hebrews 5: 7
“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption”
Hebrews 9: 11 - 12
“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,”
Hebrews 13: 20
Jesus needed salvation just like us because he bore our nature. Although he was sinless and therefore able to give the perfect sacrifice for sin, nevertheless he was subject to temptation and the threat of sin throughout his mortal life. At Calvary he crucified the flesh. He destroyed sin in the flesh. To be able to do that he had to be both Son of man and Son of God. He was Son of man, born of Mary of the line of David and at one and the same time he was the Son of God conceived by his power, the Holy Spirit. In having the mind of his Heavenly Father he was able to subdue the temptations that assailed him from without and also from within.
With his resurrection not only did Jesus conquer the grave and gave us a way of escape from sin and death but he was blessed personally with eternal life from his heavenly Father. Jesus now lives for evermore. Jesus has a new life free from the temptations which the flesh readily affords.
We thank God for sending the Lord Jesus to be the propitiation for sin. We thank the Lord Jesus also for laying down his life for his friends. It is now vitally important that we understand him and his Heavenly Father as was intended from the outset.