The Trinity

The Trinity is not easy to explain because it concerns God and God is so much greater than us, that our minds cannot comprehend Him at all. God reveals Himself to us in different ways. The Trinity (tri-unity = three in one) was not thought up by people, but it is the only way to understand how God revealed Himself to us in the Bible.

As the Father, He cares for us, provides for us, disciplines us (Matthew 6:28-32, Hebrews 12:5-6).

As the Son He came to show us what God is like (2 Corinthians 4:6) and to show us how to live (1 Peter 2:21-23). He also died for us to be our Saviour (Romans 5:8).

As the Holy Spirit, He convicts us of sin, leads us to Jesus and when we accept Jesus as our Saviour, He comes to live in us making us God’s children (John 16:8, 13-14; Romans 8:16).

In Matthew 28:19 Jesus says that the disciple should baptize believers in the name (not names) of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

In Isaiah 44:6 we read: “I am the first and the last; apart from Me there is no God.” But in Isaiah 63:7-10 God is called the Lord, the Saviour, the angel of his presence and the Holy Spirit in the same passage! Throughout the Bible the same divine attributes are given to each of the three persons in turn.

An illustration which may help you to understand this is to think of a man. In one way he is one person, but in another way he is three people or more. He is the son of his parents, the husband of his wife and the father of his children. He behaves differently to each of these people. Yet he is just one man. This may give us some idea of understanding the Trinity.

But if you accept by faith that God is one and yet three Persons, you will begin to experience what He does for you and the understanding will come. The important thing is to accept Jesus as your Saviour by confessing your sins and you will become a child of God.

God is one. And yet He reveals Himself in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We do not have to understand Him. We dare not argue about Him. We only have to believe in Him as He reveals Himself to us.