Doctrine of the Trinity

The word Trinity does not appear in the Bible. In the same way the word Bible does not appear in the Bible. We as Christians believe in the Trinity because the concept is taught in the Bible.

The Father

God the Father is taken at face value as God.

In the OId Testament

Foundational to Christian belief is that there is only one God.

Deuteronomy 6:4 ESV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Isaiah 43:10 ESV

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.

Isaiah 46:9 ESV

remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,

Romans 3:30 ESV

since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

1 Corinthians 8:4 ESV

Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”

James 2:19 ESV

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

Additionally the worship of any other god’s is strictly forbidden in the 10 Commandments. This separated the the Judeo-Christian faith from the majority of the other near eastern religions. The OT makes this belief explicit

Exodus 20:3 ESV

“You shall have no other gods before me.

The Old Testament itself does not explicitly state that multiple persons exist within the Godhead. This information is revealed to us within the New testament and we can see that the Old Testament did imply that God exists as multiple persons.

Additionally, God is described as non-physical and cannot be seen

Exodus 33:20 ESV

But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

Jesus Christ

When discussing the Trinity the New Testament has to be brought up first since it becomes the revelation and thus the lens on how to interpret OT passages according to how the Apostles and Jesus himself interpreted the multi personal aspect of God.

In the New Testament

Matthew 4:10 ESV

Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”

Yet Jesus accepted worship and expected to be worshipped

God the Father has life in himself, and so does Jesus Christ

John 5:26 ESV

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

God is Unchanging - Jesus is Unchanging

Malachi 3:6 ESV

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

Hebrews 13:8 ESV

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

In the OId Testament

The Holy Spirit

In the New Testament

In the OId Testament

The Incommunicable Aspects of God

Heretical views of the Trinity

Modalism

Themelios: Volume 28, No. 1, Autumn 2002 The Trinity—Yesterday, Today and the Future (Robert Letham)

Sabellius