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Date: _/1/09
 The Trinity

"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that
moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is
my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3/16, 17)

In previous chapters, reference was made on the importance of the Word of God in the
Christian life.

Since the doctrine of the Trinity was unknown to me, I could not understand the divinity
of Jesus. Therefore, i did some research to learn more about this subject. The word
'trinity' itself does not exist in the Bible, but we use it to refer to God in three distinct
persons-Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Obviously, this is not an easy subject to understand
and it is also what makes the greatness of our God! How can simple man like us
comprehend the God of eternity when we ourselves cannot comprehend our personality
which is so complex! Since the word of God teaches us about the trinity, this chapter will
try to exhibit in a certain perspective this vast subject of the TRINITY.

We can try to explain what the trinity is by relying on what the Bible teaches us but it is
difficult to explain why the trinity exists.

The Bible tells us repeatedly of this God in three persons. If we come to the beginning of
creation, we read: "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..."
(Genesis 1/26). For this matter to become more understandable, it is useful to come to the
original Hebrew translation to grasp its meaning. In the English language, we have only
two ways to define quantity - singular or plural. But in the Hebrew language, we have
three; singular (one), double (two) and plural (more than two). The word "God" used in
this verse refers to the plural Hebrew word which means 'Elohim' and therefore to a God
in three persons.

The Bible says clearly that there is one God (Deuteronomy 6/4, 1 Corinthians 8/4 .. etc).
But this God is in three distinct persons (Genesis 1/26, 3/22, 11/7, Isaiah 61/1, Matthew
3/16, Matthew 28/19, 1 Peter 1/2 ...)

"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was
opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a
voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I (Father) love; with him I am well
pleased."(Matthew 3 / 16)

In this verse above, we see the three persons of the Trinity manifesting their presence.
Furthermore, Jesus ordered us "Therefore go 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).

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Moreover, we see that holiness is attributed to the three persons of the trinity in the book
of Isaiah and Revelation (my interpretation).

"Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around,
even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy (Father), holy (Son),
holy (Spirit) is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come"(Revelation 4/8)

"And they were calling to one another: "Holy (Father), holy (Son), holy (Spirit) is the
LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6/3)

Returning back to the Book of Revelation (5/1-14), we read that no creatures could open
the book because they were unworthy. However we read that Jesus came and “took the
scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne”. These verses are so deep that
only a thirsty heart can seize its significance. Studying the Epistles of Hebrews has been
highly beneficial for me to discover Christ’s superiority and authority and I would
suggest Christians to continuously set some time part to study and study again this
wonderful book of the bible.
John had a spectacular vision of how heaven looked like, he saw the living creatures and
the 24 elders worshiping the Lamb!
If the celestial beings worshiped the Lamb (Jesus) and bowed before him, how much
more we must do the same!

"Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea,
and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise
and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" The four living creatures said,
"Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped." (Revelation 5/13,14)

I often heard professing Christians saying that Jesus is not God and that we should not
pray the Holy Spirit. From what we just read, we clearly see that it is an erroneous view.
As we have seen previously:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"
(John 1/1).
"but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all
things, and through whom he made the universe" (Hebrews 1/2).

The Bible clearly says that Jesus is God:

"We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we
may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ.
He is the true God and eternal life."(Hebrews 1/8-10, 1 John 5/20, 21, Romans 9/5,
Matthew 1/23, John 1/20,28, Philippians 2/5, Luke 24/52...)

The three persons of the trinity carry out different functions but this does not mean that
one is superior to the other. As Jesus said, "I and the Father are one" (John 10/30). This
unity between the Father and the Son is clearly seen throughout the New Testament. We
also read in the Epistle to the Hebrews (1/3):

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"He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the]out-raying or
radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God's] nature,
upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word
of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and
riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high,... 1 "

"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created
and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly
realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as
thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created
through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation
together ... "1 (Colossians 1/15-17)

"Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a
long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us
the Father'? "(John 14/9)

Let’s now go deeper in the trinity:

"For God never said to any angel what he said to Jesus: “You are my Son. Today I have
become your Father.” God also said, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.” And
when he brought his firstborn Son into the world, God said, “Let all of God’s angels
worship him.” Regarding the angels, he says, “He sends his angels like the winds, his
servants like flames of fire.” "1 (Hebrews 1/4-7)

We see in these verses that there is unity among the persons of the trinity. As we already
know, only God is worthy to be worshiped and in the verse above we see God
proclaiming that the angels should worship the Son which is really amazing! We will
now see how the members of the trinity addressed to each other in a spectacular manner:

“But to the Son he says, your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a
scepter of justice. You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has
anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.” He also says
to the Son, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the
heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever. They will wear out
like old clothing. You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing.
But you are always the same; you will live forever” (Hebrews 8-14)

As we just read in verse 6 "Let all of God’s angels worship him!" Yet in the book of
Isaiah (42/8) we read: "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to
another or my praise to idols.."
God would not give his glory to another than Himself (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)
because He is the one true God. This is not a contradiction but on the contrary, it just
amplifies more that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not divided but are in perfect
communion and relationship.

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Jesus is in perfect union with the Father and wants us to be as one with him.
"I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in
them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that
you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me"(John 17/22,23).

We humans have a soul, a spirit and a body and we perfectly make a distinction between
them and the fact remains that we are still one person. There is also one God in three
distinct persons:
God the Father (1 Peter 1/2, Romans 1/7, John 6/27, Matthew 6/9, Ephesians 4/6 ...)
God the Son (John 1/1, Colossians 2/9, Hebrews 1/8, 1 John 5/20, Revelation 5, 12/10,
13/8, 19/16, 21/6, 22/13 ...)
And God the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1/2, Mark 3/28, Acts 5/3, Romans 8/9, Hebrews 9/8 ...)

Here is a graphic illustration of the trinity:

Another difficult aspect to grasp with the trinity is the "subordination" which exists
between the persons of the trinity. We see this at many instances in the Bible concerning
the Son (Luke 22/42, John 5/19-24, John 14/28 Matthew 24/36) and also about the Holy
Spirit (John 16/13-15)

When referring to verses of the Bible such as 1 Corinthians 8/6, 12/4-6, Genesis 1/3 etc.
this can be explained by the fact that the members of the trinity perform different
functions.

"yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we
live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through
whom we live." (1 Corinthians 8 / 6)

The ideas which will follow about this subject of the trinity constitute my own
interpretation and researches and are not necessarily true.

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The Father is the initiator of what exists. The Son is the divine agent by whom God
accomplishes what He wants. For example, God decided to create the world and we see
that the world is created by the Word (Jesus) while the Spirit moved above the waters.

God decides (the Father) to create man by his Word (Jesus) and man existed. To bring
man to life, God breathed into his nostrils and man became a living being. (Genesis 2/7)

God in the person of Jesus humbled himself by coming in flesh! God (the Creator) so
loved us that He took a human body (the creature) with its limitations and constraints.
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him
Immanuel"—which means, "God with us." (Matthew 1/23)

When God does a work, the three members of the trinity are at work each in His own way
to accomplish perfectly what needs to be done.
To save humanity, God (the Father) sends His Son to do his will (John 3/16) and Jesus
sent the Holy Spirit to sustain the work He did (John 16/7,13-15). Jesus came to save the
world, He reconciled those who repented with God and gave them eternal life. The Holy
Spirit convinces hearts, transforms lives, teaches and strengthens believers...
As a concrete example we read in the Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians.

"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of
service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works
all of them in all men. " (1 Corinthians 12/4-6).

If God (Father) wants a country who never heard the Gospel to hear it (a working),
various ministries (service) such as Evangelist, Pastor, Doctor are usually required to
effectively get involved in this work and it is the Son who will take charge of it.

As we read in the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians (4/11,12) this:

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists,
and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so
that the body of Christ may be built up "

The Holy Spirit is the one who gives the capacity and life to the work that must be done.
For example, spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit for the common good (1
Corinthians 12/7). The Holy Spirit often gives the gift of healing to evangelists and a
word of wisdom and knowledge to doctors. Others receive prophecy to speak more
directly to believers. The administration of these gifts is under the management of the
Holy Spirit. So we see that there are no 'superiority' or division in the trinity but instead
we see a perfect reigning.

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but
only the Father." (Matthew 24/36)

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"You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you
would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” (John
14/28)

The Unitarian (those who do not believe in the Trinity) often use these verses to
contradict the scriptural doctrine of the Trinity. By referencing to the facts described
above, my personal opinion regarding this verse in Matthew is that the coming of Jesus is
a working which the Father will decide when to do and the Son will simply accomplish
this by coming to take us.

This verse in John can be explained in light of Jesus coming as a servant where He
humbled Himself.

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be
grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in
human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and
became obedient to death— even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2/6-8)

"How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding
out." (Job 36/26)

(An adaptation made from www.gotquestions.org as source of reference for the doctrine of the Trinity)