The doctrine of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is considered foundational dogma for Christian belief, yet it can be controversial. Tertullian wrote in his treatise Adversus Praxeam (Against Praxeam) in AD 213, that the notion of the Trinity was already a hot-button theological topic at that time.
Today a surprisingly low percentage of people who identify as Christian actively affirm a comprehensive belief in the existence of God in three Persons. One cannot fit God into a conceptual box or fathom the infinity of His attributes. The term Trinity simply means three in one.
This can be a contentious issue with skeptics asserting the word Trinity isn’t in the Bible. However, that does not mean the concept of the Trinity is not biblical. The Bible teaches that the Father is God, that Jesus is God and that the Holy Spirit is God. The Bible is also unequivocal in declaring that there is only one God.
Steam, water and ice are three different states of the same substance. Each have unique energy spacing of their molecules while maintaining identical chemical bonds. Even this illustration falls short of describing the Trinity. The Triune nature of God is revealed as three persons that are equal in being and unique in presence. Psalm 145:3 informs us, “Great is the Lord and most worthy of all praise; His greatness no one can fathom.”
EL AND ELOHIM IN SCRIPTURE
The use of El and Elohim in scripture to reference the one true God signifies the plurality of His triune nature through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Elohim, while plural in form is singular in concept. The term connotes unity and diversity. El is used for God the Father (Genesis 14:8), God the Son (Isaiah 7:17, Matthew 1:21–23), and the Holy Spirit (Job 33:4).
Genesis 1:2 states that “The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” The plurality of God is then illustrated in Genesis 1:26–27, where we are told, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness….’ So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” As God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, humans were created as body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
In Genesis 1:1 the plural noun Elohim is used, and in Genesis 1:26, 3:22, 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8, the plural pronoun for us is used. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’” The scripture does not say “voices” or “Whom shall we send?” It refers to one voice and one “I,” yet maintains the context of the Trinity, connoted by “who will go for us?”
In Deuteronomy 4:35, Elohim is used to underscore the monotheistic belief in the one true God. “You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides Him there is no other.” Again, in Deuteronomy 6:4 we read “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
In Genesis 3:22 we are confronted with the plurality of God; however, in this passage, the phrase “one of us” adds clarity to the one God who is more than one in nature. “And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.’”
These Old Testament passages definitively articulate who God is and that He alone is God. New Testament writings concur with the Old Testament, as one would expect, since God does not lie and He never contradicts Himself. Jesus Christ is concealed in the Old Testament and revealed in the New Testament.
The Almighty is omnipotent, limitless, infinite, sovereign, and omnipresent; therefore, there is no logical reason to believe that He cannot incarnate as the man Jesus Christ. Jesus is God in bodily form, fully human and fully God. The apostle Paul, who knew the Hebrew scriptures intimately, acknowledged this truth (despite being unable to accept it initially).
Paul recognized that Jesus was God, and in Romans 9:5, he writes, “Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” Paul acknowledged that Jesus was both human and God (Colossians 2:9).
WHEN JESUS WAS BAPTISED
When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit descended on Him like a dove, and God spoke from heaven, once again illustrating the plurality of God (Matthew 3:16—17). In this passage all three Persons of the Trinity are distinctly depicted in the same moment at the same location.
John 5:7 states, “For there are three who bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.” In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commissioned the disciples to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” He didn’t say “names,” implying more than one entity; He said “name,” meaning one being.
Paul takes this concept further in 2 Corinthians 3:17–18. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” The trinity is not veiled in the scriptures. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are openly declared to be Lord–not three lords, but one.
Similarly, the language used in Revelation 22:3–4 portrays the Lamb and God as one entity. “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.” It doesn’t say “their servants will serve them” or “they will see their faces and their names.” The revelation clearly conveys that God and the Lamb are one and the same.
Scripture informs us that God raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 2:24, Galatians 1:1), the Spirit raised Jesus (Romans 8:11, 1 Peter 3:18), and Jesus raised Himself (John 2:19, John 10:18). All three Persons of the Trinity were involved in Christ’s resurrection.
Paul wrote in Colossians 1:15–17, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
In Isaiah 48:16, the prophet quotes the Messiah speaking. “And now the Sovereign Lord has sent Me, with His Spirit.” The Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, is depicted as more than a servant, He is a light for the Gentiles. John 1:4—5 states, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”
And in Isaiah 61:1 we find the Lord God, the Messiah, and the Holy Spirit together in one verse. “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Jesus confirmed this passage of scripture was referring to Himself (Luke 4:16—21).
Skeptics will highlight the fact that the term Trinity is not found in the Bible and claim it is a man-made concept introduced in the second century. The Bible is clear, however, that God is revealed as three coexistent, co-eternal divine Persons who are One.
The trinity was a common perspective among early believers as 2 Corinthians 13:14 demonstrates. Paul writes “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
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