Various Scriptures - The Doctrine of the Trinity

I Timothy 1:17 - Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

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

Titus 2:1 - But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. 

Isaiah 55:8 - For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. 

John 10:30 - I and the Father are one. 

What the Lord is Saying: Tabletalk now takes a moment in this months lessons to speak more of the Trinity. 

"Many people believe the doctrine (of the Trinity) is a contradiction because it refers to both a oneness and a threeness in God....but the way in which God is one is not the same as the way in which God is three. It (is true that it) would be a logical contradiction to say that there is one God and there are three Gods or that God is one in essence and three in essence. However, the doctrine of the Trinity asserts neither option. Instead, it says there is only one God in whom are three personal subsistence or that God is one in essence and three in person - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." 

Subsistence is an interesting word. To define it, the Webster dictionary states, "as in existence or the fact of being or being real." In a sentence...believes in the subsistence of a soul as a separate entity from the body. A human being is one person and yet has a soul and body and each is a subsistence. Another definition of subsistence is an individual instance of a divine essence. 

The Westminster Confession 2.3 states, "In the Unity of the God-head there be three persons, of one substance, power and eternity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding: The Son is eternally begotten of the Father: the Holy Ghost is eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son."

Trinitarian personhood is not human personhood. “Person” carries with it the linguistic baggage of human personhood connected to human essence. There is a personal property of each that distinguishes Him from another person. And yet in this distinguishing this does not result in three gods. John 1:18 states, "No one has seen God (the Father) at any time; the only begotten God (Jesus/Son), who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained/declared."  They still have the same essence (Incomparable or "no one like thee (2 Samuel 7:22)", Inscrutable (impossible to understand-Isaiah 40:28), etc.). 

Monotheistic religions (Islam, Judaism, Christianity) have a common belief that there is only one God, but differ in defining the person of God, in other words, there are differences in defining the essence of God as it relates to persons. Christianity does not teach that there are multiple divine essences, but that this divine essence belongs equally to three distinct divine persons. The Father, Son and Spirit are fully equal, and none is more or less God than the other. Each person of the Trinity does not have His own unique mind, will, or power. They all have the same mind, will, and power; thus, all of the same essence "homoousios". 

Psalm 110 is an interesting text. It reads in verse 1, "The Lord says to my Lord: Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” Looking at the words for Lord and their Hebrew word meanings, it reads the "Lord" (Yahweh) and my "Lord" (Adonai) and this points us in the direction of the Trinity. Jesus quotes this as recorded in Matt. 22:41-46 as He speaks to His opponents, letting them know He is more than a mere human. 

2 Corinthians 13:14 is another text in the New Testament that implies that all three persons of the Trinity God are divine - The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. 

We can have a clearer understanding of the Trinity when looking at some alternate beliefs (heresies). God is simultaneously Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Modalism is a heresy that says that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all one God and one person. The Holy Spirit is God in action, Jesus is Savior and God the Father is creator. Thus, God reveals Himself in different ways or modes. Another alternate idea is Arianism with the idea that Jesus Christ is not equal to the Father by nature, but He is the first creation of God. One prevalent group believing in Arianism today are Jehovah Witnesses. 

I must admit, I have a hard time concluding this study. I feel like I could go on a lifetime trying to study it and understand it. I could look at all of the names of God and compare them one to another. I could look at all of the different attributes of God, again comparing them one to another. And yet, I need to conclude this and continue with my study of other material and then as I do, I will discover more of this subject and what it means. 

Summary: The Trinity is the understanding that God's essence or the way we describe Him is one. But it is explained further in the expression of 3 persons - Father, Son, and Spirit. Each has the same divine essence. The Father is not the Son nor either the Spirit. They are distinct and yet of the same attributes. Let me continue to discover and understand this. 

Promise: Even though we do not fully understand the Trinity, we can still affirm it. It is taught so we can still believe in as we are still comprehending it. God is one in essence and there in person. We do not know fully how that can be; nevertheless, it is the only formula that allows us to affirm everything that scripture says about God. In other words, our Bible sets us up to conclude in a trinity. So it is not something we just force to believe, but the way the Words of God are written cause us to conclude this. And yet we still seek to understand it more fully.

Prayer: Lord, you are good and Holy. Your ways are true and right. I need You every day in every way. I want to know You as You really are. And yet I know that is impossible. So I strive to know you to the best of my ability. There is a little bit of joy that every day I get to know you better and more. I thank you for all the people that have come before me to learn of You and know You and that they have written down their understandings for me to learn from as well. I thank you for the people that you have placed in my path today that are writing today of these subjects of You. Lord, it saddens me that we often don't give you the praise and glory throughout our lives that you deserve. Help me to balance out my days in such a way that will honor You and yet doing things that I enjoy. Sometimes Lord, I just want to do nothing but study and yet you have placed people in my life that I can encourage and even help educate with Your word. Lord, strike the balance in my life so that I know when to keep studying and when to get busy applying and get busy living.