Glory Be to Our Great God | Day 22 - God is Trinity

Give Thanks to the Triune God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

Photo by Sharon Santema on Unsplash

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, - Matthew 28:19

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. - 2 Corinthians 13:14

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” - Matthew 3:16-17

Glory be to the Father
Glory be to the Son
Glory be to the Holy Ghost
As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be
World without end! World without end!
Amen!
- Anonymous, “Gloria Patri” (arrg. Fernando Ortega)

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
- The Apostles’ Creed

This divine and infinite Being consists of three real persons, the Father, the Word or Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three have the same substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence without this essence being divided. - The 1689 London Baptist Confession

The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. - The Baptist Faith and Message 2000

The Triune God is Glorious, Not Over Our Heads

What a sight it must have been to see through the eyes of John the Baptist! Imagine standing by the Jordan River and seeing him dunk people into the water for a baptism of repentance. You see him ripping up the Pharisees and Sadducees by calling them to repent, but then he proclaims “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt. 3:11). You raise your eyebrow thinking, “Who is this one coming after John who is mightier than him—even to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire?” Suddenly, there is a change in the air. Looking around, you hear a commotion in the crowd, and then you see a man coming into the water and walking towards John. “Wait!” a fellow disciple says, “I think that’s his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph. His mother, Mary, is John’s aunt.” You begin to wonder, “Okay if this is John’s cousin, why is his face dumbfounded?” You then hear John speak to this Jesus:

“I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” - Matthew 3:14-17

If you were there, you witnessed the Trinity in action—the Father blessing the Son incarnate and sending the Holy Spirit. What a glorious revealing of the nature of God to be seen!

The universal church for over 2,000 years has recognized, reflected on, and marveled at the reality that God is three persons in one divine nature. Yet, sadly, many present-day Christians are either intimidated by the topic thinking it is too heavy and complicated, or lazy thinking that the Trinity is not a “practical” doctrine. But if the God of the Bible is Triune, then the Christian life is a life that comes from, worships, and lives out the life given by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

In other words, to be Christian is to be Trinitarian, which is a magnificent wonder!

Holy Communion, Three in One

But what do we mean by the word Trinity or that God is “Triune?” Stephen Wellum provides this helpful working definition:

There is only one, true, and living God. There are also three persons in the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three persons are one true eternal God, the same in being, equal in power, glory and authority although distinguished by their personal properties or eternally ordered relations.¹

There is one God, the LORD, whose simple and infinite nature is from himself,² but the Bible reveals that “The one divine nature is possessed by the Three according to an order: Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit.”³ That God is Trinity is essential to being a Christian because “The God who is Father, Son, and Spirit, has reached out through the Son and by the Spirit to embrace us as sons and daughters to the end that we may call God our Father in the Spirit of the Son.”⁴

But how does the Bible reveal that God is Triune when we don’t see the words “Trinity,” “Triune,” or “persons (of the Trinity),” being used? Just because the exact words are not used doesn’t mean the concept and reality of the three persons are not present. In fact, God’s Triune nature is gradually revealed from the Old Testament (OT) to the New Testament (NT). B. B. Warfield famously illustrated this with the following analogy:

The Old Testament may be likened to a chamber richly furnished but dimly lighted; the introduction of light brings into it nothing which was not in it before; but it brings out into clearer view much of what is in it but was only dimly or even not at all perceived before. . . . The mystery of the Trinity is not revealed in the Old Testament; but the mystery of the Trinity underlies the Old Testament revelation, and here and there almost comes into view. . . . Thus the Old Testament revelation of God is not corrected by the fuller revelation that follows it, but only perfected, extended and enlarged.⁵

This doesn’t mean that God’s nature morphed⁶ from being one person to three persons as time passed. Instead, God progressively shows that He is one LORD God in three persons which is fully showcased in the incarnation of Jesus. But where do we see hints of God’s Trinitarian nature in the OT? First, we see signs of plurality within God throughout the OT. In the creation account, God created everything, and the Spirit of God was present (Gen. 1:2), and later there is an inward conversation where God says “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” and then proceeds to create humanity (Gen. 1:26-27). Other plurality hints include the angel of the Lord (Gen 16:7-13; 22:11-18), “God” or Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) being a plural noun, the three guests of Abraham who foretell the birth of Isaac (Gen 18:1-19:22), and others.⁷ Second, God’s various attributes are personified. For example, throughout the book of Proverbs, God’s wisdom is personified as a woman crying out in the streets (Prov. 1:20-33) and later speaks as being distinct from the LORD yet possessed by him and used it to create all things (Prov. 8:22-31).⁸ God’s word is described with divine attributes like omnipotence, perfection, truth, etc (see Ps. 19, 56:4; Isa 66:5; John 17:17).⁹ Third, the OT points to the Triune nature through the unfolding promises of the Messiah’s identity. There are many examples of this, but one great example is how Isaiah describes a figure who will be a future king who will be called “Mighty God,” rules forever (Isa. 9:6-7), receives the Spirit of the LORD (Isa. 11:1), will be given to Israel as a covenant for all the nations (Isa. 42:6), and will be a suffering servant who will pay for our sins (Isa. 53).¹⁰ This Messiah who is both suffering servant and the everlasting Davidic king is none other than Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, whom the Holy Spirit descended upon at his baptism.¹¹

Although these are just a handful of examples, the biblical narrative clearly demonstrates that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and, therefore, each person is truly God. Sure, God can be called “Father” in the OT sense that he created all things and he is like a father to the nation of Israel, but another thing when Jesus of Nazareth declared to a Jewish crowd “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).¹² No wonder many Jews wanted to kill him because “he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18). But Jesus is the eternally begotten Son of God—the Word through whom all things were created and who took on flesh to save sinners (John 1:1-4, 9-17; 3:16). Later on, we learn that the same Spirit who hovered over the waters in Genesis 1 is the one sent by the Father and the Son to make sinners born again (John 3:3-8). Jesus declared that the Holy Spirit is the Paraclete (παράκλητος) (Advocate/Helper) that proceeds from the Father (John 15:26) and the Son (John 14:16, 26; Phil. 1:19), and the apostles revered him as he one same Lord and God as the Father and Jesus, the Son Incarnate (Acts 5:3-4; Gal 4:6; Rom 8:9; 2 Cor. 3:17-18).¹³ Therefore, the earliest Christians acknowledged that each person of the Trinity is consubstantial or “of the same essence” meaning that each person of the Trinity shares the same divine nature. Lord Jesus himself declares this as fact when he commissioned all Christians to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). As Scott Swain remarks:

If “the name is a reference to God’s proper name, YHWH, then, according to Matthew, the holy name of the Lord, the name that signifies—above all other names—the uniqueness of the one God, belongs to these three: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are the one God.¹⁴

So if each person is truly the LORD God, that means the Trinity is not:

• Three different parts of God (Partialism)

• Three different gods (Tritheism)

• Three changeable manifestations/stages/masks (Modalism/Monarchianism/Sabellianism)

• Three different levels of authority (Subordinationism)

• One God and two lesser beings (Arianism)

The Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit share the same divine nature, but then the question is “What makes each person distinctive from each other?” Here’s the best clue: look at the names. Each person’s names help us understand each’s personal property or what makes one person distinct from the others. The Father is called “Father” because he eternally begets or generates the Son. The Son is called “Son” because he is eternally begotten or generated from the Father. Let’s pause for a moment because we can’t say that the Father “birthed” or “created” the Son in a crass or creaturely manner. Instead, remember God’s divine nature and attributes. If God is his own infinite and eternal source of life and is not made up of components, then the Father’s begetting or generating (causing) is not of one making a creature come into existence.¹⁵ So, instead, the Father’s relation to the Son is one of eternal generation, and, thus, his personal property is paternity (fatherhood) and the Son’s personal property is filiation (sonship). The Holy Spirit, which the OT uses the word for breath (ruach, רוּחַ), proceeds from the Father and Son, and, thus, his personal property is spiration because he is “spirated” from the Father and the Son. These eternal relations of origin not only distinguish each person from the other but also reveal how “he eternally exists in the fullness of his personal relations so that God’s life, love, and perfection are in and from himself.”¹⁶

O What Great Mystery Divine

Herman Bavinck declared, “The entire Christian belief system, all of special revelation, stands or falls with the confession of God’s Trinity. It is the core of the Christian faith, the root of all dogmas, the basic content of the new covenant.”¹⁷ Sadly, many Christians seem to regard the Trinity as too complicated to think through or a theological afterthought that is an essential yet footnoted assumption. This has led many to see God’s triune nature as impractical for our daily lives and designated for ivory tower theologians to quibble about. However, the Bible and church history disagree with such a sentiment and, instead, affirm that true life is found and experienced in understanding the Trinity. Paul writes that “from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36), and as Augustine wrote, “we must find our enjoyment in this same Trinity in order to live blessedly.”¹⁸ Let’s consider the following implications for the Christian’s daily life that are from, through, and to the Trinity.

First, Christians find their ultimate joy, purpose, and meaning from the Trinity. This seems obvious, but if the infinite, all-sufficient LORD God is triune, then it is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit who are the source of our existence, worth, and satisfaction. David states that God alone makes known to him “the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11). Jesus uses the imagery of living water flowing out of spiritually dry hearts which is referring to the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39). Later on, he states, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). In his high priestly prayer to the Father, he prayed “this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:5). The only way we can have everlasting life is by knowing God the Father through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit, and therefore every day is a gift to enjoy communion with the Trinity.

Second, Christians experience salvation and new life through the Trinity. Speaking of eternal life, how can we experience this everlasting joy that is only found in God alone? Although God created man in his image, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 6:23), and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). But, the good news of the gospel is that the Trinity saves sinners. In fact, in Ephesians 1:3-14, Paul writes that out of love and sheer grace, the Father chose and predestined before creation those whom he would save through the redemption accomplished by the blood of Christ. Christians are united with Christ and thus sealed by the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our future hope. All of salvation, from election to glorification, is accomplished by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Christian’s life is united to Christ and in communion or fellowship with all three persons who share the same divine love towards the Christian. “The doctrine of the Trinity is the doctrine of God’s love. You are loved by God the Father, you are loved by God the Son, and you are loved by God the Holy Spirit.”¹⁹

Third, Christians live lives of worship to the Trinity. If man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, then we live every day seeking to live in joyful obedience to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Part of this worship is to get lost in the wonder of who God is. It should stretch both our minds and hearts when contemplating the “who-ness” of God, but this leads us to worship God by praising the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit. In fact, God commands us through Paul to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:16-17). God commands us to worship him with our songs of praise which is also teaching us the word of Christ which is given to us by the Holy Spirit because “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). All of life—from reading the Bible and prayer to church life and evangelism—is for the glory of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. - Romans 11:36

Almighty God, you have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace to continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
- The Book of Common Prayer, “Collect for Trinity Sunday”

1. Stephen J. Wellum, Systematic Theology, Volume 1: From Canon to Concept (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2024), 673.

2. See the previous posts on God as LORD, Simple, Self-Sufficient, and Infinite.

3. Gilles Emery, The Trinity: An Introduction to Catholic Doctrine on the Triune God, trans. Matthew Levering (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011), 11.

4. Scott R. Swain, The Trinity: An Introduction (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 26.

5. Benjamin B. Warfied, “The Biblical Doctrine of the Trinity,” in Biblical Doctrines, The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield, vol. 2 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1932; reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 141-42. Quoted by Justin Taylor, "B. B. Warfield's Analogy for the Trinity in the Old Testament," The Gospel Coalition (blog), December 7, 2018, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/b-b-warfields-analogy-for-the-trinity-in-the-old-testament/.

6. See the previous post on God is Immutable.

7. Robert Letham, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019), 71; Wellum, Systematic Theology Vol. 1, 678-9; see also, Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003-2008), 2:261-4.

8. Matthew Barrett, Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2021), 201-5; Thomas Joseph White, The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2022), 62-4.

9. Wellum, Systematic Theology Vol. 1, 676.

10. Ibid., 680.

11. For more helpful

12. Letham, Systematic Theology, 75-6.

13. Emery, The Trinity, 142.

14. Scott R. Swain, The Trinity: An Introduction (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 31.

15. For more on this, see Emery, The Trinity, 90-5.

16. Wellum, Systematic Theology Vol. 1, 685; See also John Webster, God Without Measure: Working Papers in Christian Theology, Volume 1 (London: T&T Clark, 2015), 20.

17. Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003-2008), 2:333.

18. Augustine of Hippo, The Trinity, ed. Hermigild Dressler, trans. Stephen McKenna, vol. 45, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1963), 253.

19. Jen Wilkin and J.T. English, You Are a Theologian: An Invitation to Know and Love God (B&H Publishing Group, 2023), 46.