What Is the Trinity Part 2

The Trinity:  Beautifully Revealed in Scripture

 
As discussed in our previous article, God has revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures as triune (three-in-one), meaning He is—at all times and in all points—inseparably three and, at the same time, one.  We stated that we can never overemphasize His oneness at the expense of his three-ness, and, likewise, we cannot overemphasize his three-ness at the expense of his oneness.  Said another way, we cannot emphasize the distinction of each person of the Trinity at the expense of the unity (oneness) of God, or vice versa.  And yet, as we also stated, God has revealed Himself purposefully and gloriously as three persons, so we must not simply ignore that fact.

Revelation of the Trinity

So, how has the One true God revealed Himself?  He has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each is fully God, and together they are fully God.  Theologians have attempted to explain what Scripture undeniably teaches—three and at the same time one—by using the concept of mutual indwelling.  Recall the words of the Lord Jesus, “Believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me…” (John 14:11 ESV).  The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit so fully indwell one another that they share the same essence (God-ness).  Better, we might say they exhaustively indwell one another.  This is helpful for us to understand because it means the Father isn’t off in one place in the universe doing something while the Holy Spirit is off somewhere else doing another thing.  The three persons of the Trinity are always together and always act together with the same will—in everything and at all times. (Theologians refer to this as the “doctrine of inseparable operations.”)

Trinity in Creation

Let’s consider a few examples.  First, think about creation.  "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 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" (Genesis 1:1-2).   Also, John’s Gospel refers to the Son, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3).
 
We see here that God the Father created everything by the Son (the Word) with the Spirit hovering.  And this trinitarian work continues as God sovereignly holds all things together in Christ (See Col. 1:17.)  Further, “He [Christ] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of his power...” (Heb. 1:3).  Moreover, the Spirit “blows wherever he wishes” to accomplish the providential purposes of God. (See John 3:8, Ezekiel 36:22, and Ezekiel 37:1-14.)

Trinity in Redemption

Let’s also think about the example of redemption.  Scripture tells us the Incarnation of Christ is the work of the Father who sent His Son (John 3:16-17), but it is also the work of the Son who willingly took the form of a servant (Phil 2:7) and the work of the Holy Spirit who brings new life. (See Luke 1:34-35).  In the baptism of Jesus, you see the Father saying, “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17), and the Spirit descends on him in the form of a dove.  Additionally, Jesus, in the upper room before his death, tells his disciples that He, the Son, is going to the Father, and that He and the Father will send the Helper (Holy Spirit).  (See John 14:26, 15:26, and 16:7.)  We could continue with more examples, but the point is this: Scripture goes to great lengths to clearly communicate that the Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—work together with one will, inseparably, at all times.  
 
Having carefully laid the foundation that God’s essence (his “God-ness”) is not separated or divided among the persons of the Trinity, we also want to be careful not to do away with all distinctions among the persons of the Trinity. We will focus on this in our next article.