Trinity Series

ARTICLE 2. In one God eternally existing in three persons; namely, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Crucial, to the biblical doctrine of God is his Trinitarian nature. Trinity is a term that is not found in the Bible but a word used to describe what is apparent about God in the Scriptures. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity affirms that while God is one, He exists as three persons: The Bible clearly speaks of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit...and also clearly presents that there is only one God. I John 5:7 “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.” Other scripture references are Isaiah 48:16, Job 33:4, and Isaiah 6:3 were “the threefold utterance of the seraphim, “Holy,holy,holy” may be taken as pointing to the three persons of the Godhead.” Although each of these three distinct persons has their own identity; they all work together in one accord as one God to accomplish the divine plan of salvation .Belief in God as Three-in-One is as old as Christianity itself.

The word Trinity doesn’t appear as a theological term till near the end of the second century.

“It was first used as ‘Trias’ by Theophilus, the Bishop of Antioch in AD. 180 and later by Tertullian asTrinitas to signify that God exists in three persons.” “The Trinitarian view was affirmed as an article of

faith by the Nicene (325 A.D.) and Constantinpole (381 A. D.)” which attempted to standardize belief

in the face of disagreements on the subject. The word or term Trinity is a way of acknowledging what

the Bible reveals to us about God, that God is yet three persons “who have the same essence

distinguished in three persons.” Some have tried to give human illustrations for the Trinity, “water, ice

and steam all different forms, but all are H2O, and root, trunk, and branch yet there is one tree. These

analogies have a flaw. Neither reflects the dynamic movement by which the three persons of the

Godhead constitute one another and thereby constitute the one God.” John Wesley said “ Tell me how

it is that in this room there are three candles and one light, and I will explain to you the mode of the

triune God.” “Although each of the three persons of the Holy Community has his own distinct idenity,

all work together harmoniously as one God to accomplish salvation.”

Therefore, the doctrine of the Trinity flows from the self revelation of God in biblical salvation history. As God reveals himself through the salvation process in Jesus and the Holy Spirit, each is recognized and witnesses of God in a personal manifestion to the believer. In the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are co-equal and co-eternal, one in essence, nature, power, action, and will. This unified equality and yet distinctness is seen in the Christian baptism in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Futhermore, all “three persons of the Trinity are joined in the Pauline benediction in a different order suggesting the total equality of them. ( 2 Cor: 13:14; cf, Eph. 4:4-6; I Peter 2:2).” Therefore, all of the acts of the triune God in the world are indivisible. The doctrine of the Trinity wants to say to the believer that God is supreme in power, and that God’s love for the world is un inhibited, and is a costly love that liberates the bound and creates new life in those that believe. Furthermore, it wants to say that God loves in “freedom, lives in communion, and wills creatures to live in a new community of mutual love and service. God is self-sharing, other regarding, community –forming love.” The doctrine of the Trinity is a crucial ingredient of our faith. Each of the three, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, is to be worshiped as the triune God. And when we worship we should keep in mind their distinct work. Furthermore, it is appropriate to direct prayers of thanksgiving and praise to each of them individually and collectively. Therefore, through their unity and perfect love within the Godhead we see the oneness and love that should be an example unto the body of Christ.

In closing the scriptures teach everywhere the unity of God plainly and definitely. There can be

no doubt that they reveal a God that is totally one. But their other statements, assure us that they

also teach that there are three divine persons. It is this peculiar twofold teaching, which is expressed by

the word trinity. “The surprise to us, is not that of three Gods; nor of mere manifestation of one person