The Trinity is at the heart of the Christian faith and yet it is often considered one of the most confusing and misunderstood truths. There’s the old saying that when discussing the Trinity, you’re always a gnat's wing away from heresy. Therefore, in this short article we will attempt to provide a simple guide to the Trinity.
The doctrine of the Trinity affirms that there is One God who exists as three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This teaching is essential for our understanding as it explains how the Bible can declare there is only One God and yet at the same time affirm that the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all God.
With an understanding of the Trinity there are two major errors to avoid. The first is Modalism which is the idea that God simply appears in three different forms, or as I like to say wears three different hats. At one time He appears as the Father and another time as the Son and another time as the Spirit. The second error is Tritheism which in effect means there are three Gods. Both of these are of course incorrect and yet at the same time we might find ourselves straying into one of these views.
The problem with Modalism is that it turns God into one person which destroys the relationships that make up who God is. You cannot therefore have the Father and the Son. Rather God appears as Father and then appears as Son. If this was the case, it would eliminate any idea of a relationship between the Father and the Son. The problem with Tritheism is that it directly contradicts the teaching of the Bible. In Deuteronomy 6:4 it says 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!' Since Tritheism would indicate there are three gods, such a position is untenable in the light of Scriptures. In contrast to these two errors the Bible affirms the doctrine of the trinity that there is One God who exists as Three Persons.
In discussing the Trinity, it is helpful to make the distinction between What and Who. When speaking of ‘what’ we are dealing with ontology which derives from the Greek word for ‘being’. ‘What’ deals with the essence of something. However, when speaking of ‘who’ we are dealing with personhood. What God is, is God. However, who God is, is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What the members of the Trinity share in common points to Their essence (what They are). What is particular to Them individually points to Their personhood (who They are).
So what makes God, God? The answer is His attributes. God is eternal (all existent), omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all seeing/knowing) and omnipresent (all present). All members of the Trinity equally share in all these attributes making Them all equally God. No one or two members have any more of these attributes individually or collectively than the other. The Father, Son and Spirit are all God as They all share in these attributes.
But though They share in the attributes of God They are not the same person, neither do They have the same role. For example, the Father did not die for the sins of the world and the Holy Spirit did not become a man. So though they are separate persons they are not independent of one another but interdependent as one cannot act or exist without the other. For instance, you cannot have a Son without a Father and the very titles themselves point to their relationship. What this all means in practice is that no one person of the Trinity can act independently of the other two but all work together as one. In everything that God does: The Father wills it, The Son performs it and the Spirit brings it to completion. Thus, everything that God does, He does as Trinity: one being, three persons.
In summary we have seen that to understand the Trinity, we need to make a distinction between What God is and Who He is. When we speak about ‘what’ we are identifying the attributes of God and these are shared by all members of the Trinity. However, when we speak about ‘who’, we are identifying the individual persons. What They have in common points to Their being, but what They have in particular points to Their personhood.
What we see from the Bible is that everything that God does is triune. The Father wills it, the Son performs it and the Spirit brings it to completion. The members of the Trinity are not independent but interdependent as They exist in an infinite, eternal and loving relationship with one another.