The Trinity

The Mystery of God

I remember living in East Liverpool Ohio, I was a fairly new believer and I received a knock at my door. It was two young men from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints standing on my porch. Anyway they asked if they could speak to me about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I stopped them and said you do not believe in the Jesus of the Bible and I don’t believe in your false Jesus. I had read some of Dr. Walter Martins book Kingdom of the Cults and knew a little about LDS and what they believe. One of the Elders fired back that I don’t believe in the Jesus of the bible either. I said that’s not true, he then asked if I believe in the trinity. I said “yes” he said then show me where scripture says the word Trinity. I grabbed my Strongs Concordance and went to look for the word, surely its in scripture I thought. As you might know the word Trinity is not in the bible. They had confounded me and for a split second, I felt the wheels come off the proverbial bus. The Elder then said, How can 3 be 1, I suppose you think the Trinity is like an egg, a yoke, the white of the egg and a shell. I said no, and asked do you understand math? He said of course, i said what is 1 x 1 x 1 = 1. He looked at me, his own wheels coming off his proverbial bus and would not answer the math problem with the correct answer of 1. He acted like the question never occurred and asked that I would pray with them to know if the book of Mormon was true. I said “no” and they left.

Show of hands: was that 1 x 1 x 1= 1 a good analogy for the trinity? If you said “No” you are correct.

Although this analogy stumped the LDS elders it was just as heretical or wrong as the LDS theology which denies the Trinity.

My multiplication analogy would imply there is only one Divine Person, who eventually multiplied himself. I would encourage you that when it comes to explaining the Trinity do not use an analogy they all fall short and leave you open to ridicule. As you meet people within the body of Christ and outside of it you will find that our beloved Trinity seems like some kind of parler or mathematical trick where we are trying to make 1+1+1=1 make sense and everyone is trying to prove you wrong, and expose how you did your slight of hand. The cults will disprove your analogy and make you question what you know. Our quest is to be faithful to the biblical revelation that God has given us in regards to the Trinity nothing more nothing less.

The distinction and unity of the Trinity is not for us to fully understand because it is a mystery and It has been a mystery for the ages. St. Augustine said “if you can understand it, its not God”.

We can look all the way back 1700 yrs ago to 325 AD, the ecumenical First council of Nicaea convened by Emperor Constantine in part because of a Elder from Alexandria Egypt who preached and taught that Jesus did not always exist but was made before time by God the Father therefore Jesus was not coeternal and was a created being: This was known as Arianism and was found to be a heretical (not standard or orthodox) teaching by this early church council . Understand, if Jesus isn’t eternal, fully God, but instead created we have no hope for salvation in him. This will be explained in more depth, in Statement # 6 the Substitutionary Atonement in a couple of weeks. From this council came the Nicene Creed and is the bases for our Statement of faith in regards to our belief in the trinity. The statement of faith does not fully explain the mysterious character of God. Rather, it sets the boundaries outside we must not step. It defines the limits of our finite reflections. It demands that we be faithful to the biblical revelation that in one sense God is one, and in a different sense He is three.

This is a battleground for Christianity. Its where the cults attack us, its where our own attack us. We need to be confident in what we believe and It starts with the Trinity. God the Father initiates creation and redemption, the Son redeems the creation, and the Holy Spirit regenerates and sanctifies, applying redemption to believers. How do we become confident ? We become confident when we faithfully declare the glory and works of God, in his Word. Allowing it to stand on its own.

SWC Statement #2 There is only one eternal, almighty, and perfect God. Within the Being of this One true God exist three eternally distinct and coequal Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Show the illustration of the trinity cross. on a slide

My hope is that we would faithfully declare the glory and works of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 2. for each of us is that we would be the true worshipers Jesus mentions in John 4:23 “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” We worship the Father by worshiping the Son, by worshipping by The Spirit. Be bold.

Before we go through the proof texts for our Statement, I would like to start with Isaiah 6:1-10 I I want you to see how seperate/ otherly/ Mysterious our God is, pay close attention to the scene in this vision. Consider if you can grasp a reality like this. Isaiah 6:1–10 “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for US?

This is what happens when you come face to face with God, you are convicted by his Holy Spirit “Woe is me” I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips. We repent when we come in contact with the Holy one of Israel. This odd part, Holy, holy, holy is called the Trihagion . The primary thrust of the 3 fold repetition of God’s holiness (Holy, holy, holy) is to emphasize God’s separateness from and independence of His fallen creation. In addition it implies that God is 3 persons and the seraphim is addressing the Holy Trinity with its repetition of 3 times. At the end we hear the Lord ask, whom shall I send, and who will go for Us. We see the Father addressing the Son, and Holy Spirit.

1. In explaining the Trinity we have to always be mindful of

Deuteronomy 4:2 “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.” we also read in Revelation 22:18–19 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

God has given us what he has given us in His word, the best way to explain something that is not completely comprehensible to us is to let God’s word speak for itself. With that in mind lets look at our supporting scripture for our SWC Statement #2

The Trinity in relation to creation of the world

Genesis 1:2 “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Hebrews 1:2 “but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

The Trinity in relation to man

Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 3:22 “Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” Genesis 11:7 “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

The Spirit in relation to the Trinity

1 Corinthians 2:11 “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” Proverbs 20:27 “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.”

Deuteronomy 6:4 ““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Colossians 2:9 “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,”

Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Luke 1:35 “And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”

Isaiah 44:6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”

John 10:30–33 “I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.””

Matthew 28:19 “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,”

Matthew 3:16–17 “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

1 Peter 1:1–2 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”

John 14:9–11 “Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”

Philippians 2:5–8 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

John 16:13–15 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Proverbs 30:4–5 “Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know! Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

I was so embarrassed, what the heck the Trinity is not in the bible. How did I trust these preachers. As God would have it the Holy Spirit quickened my memory and reminded me that

show the trinity is serious in regards to cults, Christianity stands or falls with this doctrines

this doctrine is sensible, makes sense of everything

the trinity is sublime, profound.

To help you commune deeply.

Genesis to Revelation

The gospel of John is driven by the trinity

Subject of scripture and trinitys role

Theology proper the study of God

Pnuematology will change

Cristology will change

Angeology will change

Anthropology

Soteriology-

storyline scripture

statements of scriptures

4 truths

1 god

3 persons

eternally god

eternally distint

Ephesians 1 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and thi…”

Revelation 22:1–6 ESV

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

My hope is that we would see the trinity at work in our life at all times. That we would rightly give our praise and glory to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and that we would not neglect any of them especially the Holy Spirit who tends to be left out by today’s church.

This Statement may not appear to agree with common sense. But know this: common sense is “intuition based on our day-to-day experience”. As finite people, we cannot fully understand how the three divine Persons, though Eternally distinct from one another, are one and the same God. Our everyday intuitive experience does not include using our “finite” minds to understand the “infinite”. When I say our minds are finite I mean it has limits or bounds. When I say Infinite I mean limitless, or boundless. I am so thankful I cannot know everything about God, if I could it would mean he is finite, he has limits that can be known, Which means he is not almighty. I remember a preacher explaining one time about Infinite or Infinity in relation to time. He said “ Imagine a seagull flying from the west coast of the US to the East Coast. Each time he would grab a grain of sand from the west coast and deposit it on the east coast shore and fly back for another grain of sand. His mission was to move every grain of sand from the west coast to the east coast.By the time he is finished it wouldn’t even put a dent into what would be the beginning of infinity in relationship to time. Its truly mind boggling. Yet our God is Eternal.

in creation and redemption of all things, active in initiating redemption,the redeeming of fallen creation, and our response to The Holy Spirit’s Illumination of his Tri-Unity with the Father and the Son to reconcile his fallen creation would cause us to fall on our faces and worship in praise of His Glory, Majesty, and Long suffering for us