The trinity

The word trinity is not mentioned in the Bible.

The word means tri-unity, or three-in-oneness

However, the doctrine is found throughout Scripture.

The Bible seeks to teach the doctrine of the trinity not through colorful examples, or direct teachings ( although they do exists), but rather through its own idiom. This teaching of the trinity is woven into the Biblical text in micro and macro forms. when examined as a whole the clear picture is of a triune Godhead.

Paul provides a mosaic view of the trinity in his second letter to the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 13:14 NKJV

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Malcolm Yarnell states that here Paul addresses the issue of worship wars and states that the issue is not so much the style or worship but rather the focus of Worship.

The Father Son and the Holy Spirit are referenced in relationship to grace in 2 Cor.

The Father

2 Corinthians 1:2 NKJV

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:21–22 NKJV

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

2 Corinthians 3:3 NKJV

clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

I. The trinity in the Old Testament.

A. There are more than one person of the Godhead.

Genesis 1:26 NKJV

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Let Us make is the Hebrew word ASA. This is a first person common plural Yiqtol.

Here God refers to himself in the plural form.

Genesis 3:22 NKJV

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—

B. Two persons are called God in Psalm

Psalm 45:6–7 NKJV

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.

Psalm 110:1 NKJV

The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

II. A more complete view of the Trinity in the N.T.

Matthew 3:16–17 NKJV

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Here we see all persons of the trinity present. It may be argued that the reference to the Son shows that Jesus was the offspring of God as opposed to God. However, this sonship relates to the manifestation of God in human flesh.

Matthew 28:19 NKJV

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

It has been said that the reference to the Father and Son show the lineage of priesthood shared by both. The fact that the Holy Spirit is mentioned in equal standings

1 Peter 1:2 NKJV

elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

III. The doctrine summarized.

It will never be fully understood.

Why? The realm of God is beyond our field of knowledge and experience. There is nothing by which we can compare or relate to God.

A. God is three persons.

They are each distinct from one another. The Father is not the Son, is not the Holy Spirit.

John 1:1–2 NKJV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

The Son is distinct from God and yet still God.

The Spirit is distinct from the Father.

Romans 8:27 NKJV

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

The Spirit is distinct from the Son.

Luke 4:14 NKJV

Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.

The Son is distinct from the Holy Spirit.

John 16:7 NKJV

Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

B. Each person is fully God

All three persons are distinct, yet each person is fully God.

Genesis 1:1 NKJV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

1. God the Father is obviously God.

This aspect os clear and not debated.

2. God the Son is God.

John 1:1 NKJV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 20:27–28 NKJV

Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

Colossians 2:9 NKJV

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;

3. The Holy Spirit is God

Matthew 28:19 NKJV

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Acts 5:3–4 NKJV

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”

1 Corinthians 2:10–11 NKJV

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

C. There is one God.

The Bible makes it plain that there is only one God.

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 NKJV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Isaiah 45:5–6 NKJV

I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other;

1 Timothy 2:5 NKJV

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,