The Trinity

For most people, the doctrine of the Trinity is confusing at best and totally incomprehensible at worst. The important things to remember first of all are that God is one. There is not a God family in heaven. Christianity is not a poly-theistic religion or even a tri-theistic religion, we believe in only one God. Remember the Schema, God is one.

Secondly, while we believe that somehow there is that in God that is three in nature, through the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, God is not schizophrenic, nor is the appearance of God being three done with smoke and mirrors. We do not have to understand how God is one and yet three at the same time, we just need accept it by faith.

Third, we need to realize that when we attempt to explain the Trinity, we are finite created beings with very limited understanding trying to understand and explain an infinite and eternal being that had the power, knowledge, understanding and intelligence to create everything that exists in the Universe. After 35 years of study, I have come to believe that it is impossible for us to understand the nature of God and explain his being and to explain how God is one and three at the same time. It is a paradox and we just need to accept that paradox.

Fourth, The Father is God. But so is the Son. And actually the Holy Spirit is also God. Not only are all three God, but as the writers in the fourth century council at Nicaea said, they are of the same substance or same essence. In other words, everything that makes the Father God, makes Jesus God and it also makes the Holy Spirit God. So while God is one, somehow that one God is three.

Fifth, we just have to accept this by faith. Not because some council 1,700 years ago said so, and not because the Assemblies of God almost 100 years ago said so in the 16 Fundamentals, but because there is clear evidence in Scripture for this.

I think that most of you have noticed that I did not spend any time trying to explain the Trinity; instead I briefly described the conditions that caused the development of the doctrine of the Trinity. I spent this time explaining how we changed from a belief that there is one God and that God is one to how we now believe that there is one God and that God is three. God is still one, yet somehow he is also three.

Now I could have taken an entire semester in a graduate class to explain the historical development of the Trinity. I could have provided you with the political, religious and theological climate that caused the development in detail and the main players and still would have only had time to hit the highlights and not much more. Also, I could have taken an entire graduate semester at seminary to explain the Trinity and still I would left you confused on the topic.

Again, when you boil down all the wrangling of words to a clear simple statement, what we as the Church needs to accept and believe as the Trinity is: God is one . . . yet he is eternally existent as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is one, yet somehow he is also three.