It was always freezing in my childhood church’s auditorium. Despite the cold, I did my best to listen to the message. My children’s pastor began preaching enthusiastically, “The Trinity is like water. Water has three states: solid, liquid, and gas. Each person of the Trinity is a different aspect of God in one being like the different aspects of water.” If you grew up in church as I did, you’ve probably heard this and many other metaphors utilized to help us wrap our minds around the Trinity such as an apple (skin, flesh, core), a three-leafed clover, or even 3-in-1 shampoo. Some metaphors are better than others; however, most, if not all, fall short of adequately describing or representing the true nature of the Trinity.
“The Trinity” could definitely fit the category of Christianese. The term “Trinity” isn’t even in the Bible. However, Scripture is rich with the concept. Consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:19 ESV, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (along with Luke 3:21-22 and 1 Peter 1:2-3). One temptation could be not to give it any thought because the Trinity is a difficult concept to comprehend. A movement has even begun to discredit it altogether just because “God wouldn’t exist in a way that is confusing.” I want to encourage you to reject those thoughts and acknowledge the Trinity is an essential and foundational doctrine of Christianity. The word “Doctrine” simply means teaching or instruction of what Christians believe about a subject based on Scripture. We should attempt to grasp essential doctrines of Christianity, such as the Trinity.
“But Andrew, why is it essential?” You may be wondering. Before I answer that question, I think this is a good place to pause and define terms. What is the Trinity? The Trinity is three persons in one, undivided divine essence (or nature). God revealed these three persons to us as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” God is not three separate gods that form a council of competing wills (as some cultic offshoots, such as the Mormons, profess to be true). Nor is God one person who shifts into three different “modes.”1 The Son and the Spirit were not created by the Father, but they proceed from Him. The three are co-eternal, co-equal, and co-authoritative divine persons who share the same divine essence.2 They are completely and perfectly unified in will and intention. This is the best human language the Church has come up with to describe God’s relationship with Himself, although it does not fully capture God’s essence. But just because we cannot comprehend God exhaustively does not mean we cannot understand Him accurately. This is an important truth that we must come to. I am glad that God is not fully comprehensible by my human mind. If He was fully understandable, I might quickly lose sight of my dependence on Him.
Now back to the question, “Why does it matter that we believe and profess the Triune God?” To answer that, let’s consider the personal implications of a non-triune God. If Jesus is not God, then His death on the cross would not have satisfied God’s standard of justice to cover our sins, and our salvation would not have been achieved. If the Holy Spirit is not God, then we could not have a personal relationship with God, and all of the miracles found in the Book of Acts and in the world today are done by some lesser spirit. If God is not threeness-in-oneness, then we are headed for destruction, and in Paul’s words, “we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19 NASB). But, praise God! The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all co-equally the triune God! Our salvation is assured, and we can have a personal relationship with God.
Much more can be said about the Trinity.3 My prayer is that you have enough to ponder on the complexity and beauty of our trinitarian God today. It’s worth noting that we don’t seek deeper truths to be intellectually superior to others but to share the beautiful truth of God in love with those around us. And as we consider the Trinity and other complex doctrines, remember that we do not consider it alone. One of the great purposes of the Church is to equip the saints for the ministry. Lean on others as you grow in your faith. The staff at The Crossing Church are always willing to walk with you in this. If you ever need it, feel free to email us at church@thecrossing.cc and ask questions. Have a blessed rest of your week!
- This is called “Modalism” and was declared a heresy (or false teaching) by the councils of Nicaea (325 A.D.) and Constantinople (381 A.D.)
- Parkison, Samuel. “The Bulwark of Trinitarian Theology – Credo Magazine.” Https://Credomag.Com/, https://credomag.com/article/eternal-generation/. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.
- For a deeper dive into the Trinity (but still a pretty easy read), I highly recommend the book Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves