Author James White wrote about the Trinity: “The Trinity is the highest revelation God has made of Himself to His people¹.” Being the highest revelation of God, the Trinity demands our attention. The Trinity describes the relationship between the three Persons of God who share the one Being of God. If you did not completely understand that definition, you are not alone because the Trinity is one of the more difficult topics to understand. While it is understandable to not completely understand the Trinity, it is vital that we seek to understand the Trinity.
- First, the Trinity is Biblical and Essential. If the Trinity is difficult to understand, why do we believe it? Wouldn’t it be easier to believe something else? If you are tempted to say yes, you must remember that in our quest to know more about God we must begin and end with what God has chosen to reveal about Himself. As people who are committed to the truths found in the Bible, we believe the Trinity because the Bible teaches the Trinity. No other position is faithful to the Bible. Therefore it is essential to believe in the Trinity because any other position is false and thus heresy. While there is no verse in the Bible that says, “God is Trinity”; the Bible clearly teaches the Trinity in two very important ways: 1) there is only one God (Isaiah 44:8) and 2) the Father is God (Eph 4:6), the Son is God (John 1:1), and the Spirit is God (Rom 8:9). .
- Second, the Trinity does not mean 3 gods. The Bible teaches that there is one (and only one) God. The Old and New Testaments are monotheistic (one God) texts that reject polytheism (many gods). An example is Deuteronomy 6:4: “Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.” The one God is revealed as Father, Son, and Spirit. These three are distinct, yet they are not three separate beings forming three separate gods.
- Third, understand the difference between Being and Person. If you remain confused, hopefully this next section will bring clarity. There is an important distinction between “being” and “person”. Being refers to existence or essence. Everything that exists has being (humans, rocks, clouds, etc.) Person refers to behavioral and emotional characteristics. We usually speak of this as personality. This is a necessary distinction because being and person are not synonymous. For example, a rock can have being/existence without person/personality. The Trinity can be difficult to grasp because we are accustomed to human beings who are limited to one person. For humans, person and being is always 1-to-1. But, this is not so with God because God is not a human being but the Divine Being. God is one in Being and three in Person.
- Lastly, love the Trinity. We should love the Trinity because we love God and God has revealed Himself as Trinity. When we speak of the Trinity we are confessing that God the Father is the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (1 Cor 1:3), that God the Son is “the Word made flesh” (John 1:14) and “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18), and that the God the Spirit is our “Helper” (John 14:16) who is provided by the Father as a seal and a down payment (2 Cor 1:22) in our hearts.
Do you embrace the Bible’s teaching of the Trinity? If you do not understand it, take time to read about what it says and why it matters.
¹James White “Forgotten Trinity”. Link
First Baptist Scott City, MO 
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