The Mystery of The Trinity

By Pastor J.D. Link

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  Read Isaiah 6:1-10.  In these verses, the prophet has a vision of the Lord of Hosts, sitting on His throne.  The Seraphim cried, “Holy, Holy, Holy” in worship of Him.  Then the Lord said, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”  Notice, there are three “Holy’s”.  Not one.  Not four. Three. Also, notice God says, “Who will go for Us?”  Us is plural - not singular.  The Hebrew word Elohim, used for God, is a plural word.  In Gen 1:26, God said, “Let us make man in our image”. Plural.  In Gen 11:6-7, God said, “Let us go down, and confuse their language”.  Plural once again.  When the Apostle John refers to the verses in Isaiah 6, He says they speak of Christ (Jn 12:36-41).  When the Apostle Paul refers to them, He says they refer to the Holy Spirit (Acts 28:25).  Contradiction?  Not if you know that All three are God.  Other Old Testament Scriptures that elude to the Trinity are 2Sam 2-3, Isa 48:16-17, 63:7-10. 

    This is absolute truth:  The Bible teaches monotheism, which is belief in the One true God (Dt 6:4).  This is also absolute truth: There are three persons in the Bible to whom the attributes and qualities of Deity are completely ascribed - The Father, The Son, & The Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Bible does not teach tritheism, the belief in three gods.  There is only One true God, but He exists in three distinct persons.  The unity of the Trinity in the Godhead is no doubt a mystery - Yet if one is to be honest with Scripture, it cannot be denied.

    Chafer wrote, “The nature of the infinite God must present mysteries to the finite mind, and the triune mode of existence is perhaps the supreme mystery.”  M. Corquerel states, “God is the only intelligent being, for Whom no mystery exists.  To be surprised and indignant at encountering mysteries about God, is to be surprised and indignant at not being God”.  How can we, the finite, ever completely grasp the Infinite?  We can’t.  And it’s intellectual pride and headiness that keeps us from accepting the clear teaching of Scripture about the triunenature of God. What God has revealed, is for us and our children.  What He has not revealed, is His business (Dt 29:29).  Intellect cannot grasp the Trinity - but faith can.  We are to come to Jesus- to The Word - to God (Jn 1:1), with child-like faith.  Jesus didn’t say, “Come, receive answers to every question”.  He said, “Only believe”.

If Jesus is not God, then Christians are guilty of the abomination of pagan worship.  Pagans worship creatures as God (Rom 1). If Jesus is created, and we worship Jesus - then we are pagan worshipers.  No, God calls Jesus “God”, and commands the angels to worship Him (Heb 1:8, 6) as well as all mankind (Philp 2:10-11).  Also, if the Bible says God created everything (Gen 1), and the Bible says Jesus created everything (Jn 1:3, Col 1:16-17) - Then Jesus must be God. 

    Is Jesus called God in the New Testament? Look at Jn 1:1, 14, 1Jn 5:20, Titus 2:13, Rom 9:5, 1Tim 3:16,  Mt 1:23, 1Cor 15:47, Phil 2:6, Col 1:16-18.  What about the Old Testament? Isa 7:14, 9:6, Jer 23:5-6, Mic 5:2.  Peter clearly refers to the Holy Spirit as God in Acts 5:3-4, and Paul does in 2Cor 3:16-17. Is Jesus the God of the Old Testament? Compare these Scriptures: Isa 44:6 & 48:12 to Rev 1:17-18, 2:8. Ex. 3:14 to Jn 8:58, 18:5.  Dt 32:4, 15, 18 to 1Cor 10:4. Isa 43:3, 11, 45:21 to Philp 3:20. 

    Jesus commanded His disciples to baptize in the Name (not names) of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit.  Why is there no example of this in the Book of Acts?  The disciples always baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Were they rebels?  Disobedient to Christ?  Not at all. They knew there was no contradiction.  The fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Jesus (Col  2:9).  To baptize in the Name of Jesusis to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. There is no contradiction within the Godhead (Mt 3:16-17, 1Jn 5:7, 1Cor 12:4-6, 2Cor 13:14).

    The Arian heresy that claims Jesus was created is almost as old as Christianity itself.  It was condemned back then, and it rightly should be today, as well.  The ancient creed says, “We believe… in one Lord Jesus Christ….God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten - not made - one in being with the Father.  Through Him all things were made…”. 

What about the Scriptures that speak of Jesus learning; or not knowing something; or God forsaking Him?  How do you explain that? Quite simply:  Being fully God and fully man, the God-Man, it is natural for the Bible to reveal features of His humanity - as well as His Deity.  Aspects of His human (yet sinless) nature are revealed, as well as aspects of His divine nature.  He didn’t cease to be God because He became man; nor did He cease to be man because He was God.  There is no contradiction in these things; but you must receive them by faith.

    We must humble ourselves at the end of the day, as King David did (Ps 131), and know that there are things to high for us, that we cannot fully comprehend - that nevertheless,  are true. Dr. Robert South said of the Trinity, “As he that denies it may lose his soul; so he that too much strives to understand it may lose his wits”.

Personally, I’m glad that there are aspects of God much too vast for me to understand.  That’s what makes Him God - and not me. We must simply receive by faith what God’s Word teaches, and not try to make it say something it doesn’t in order to settle our intellectual curiosity.  I pray this truth has set people free, and until next time, rejoice in The Lord!