“Does the concept of the Holy Trinity imply the existence of three separate and distinct deities, as we hold each member of the Godhead to be fully divine?”
Answer: Yes, but, although impossible-for-the-human-mind to fully comprehend, the three distinct members of the Trinity, Father-Son-Spirit, are distinctly ONE GOD in total essence and equal to each other in complete unity as each ONE always works in complete and perfect harmony with each other in EVERY thought and action.
One potential error which arises by our limited human reasoning is thinking there are “senior/ junior or higher/lower” gods. There does NOT exist a senior or junior God[s]! This One God, in three persons, is equal in every way. Yet each one shares a particular prominence in the different facets of creation; sustaining and regeneration of all the inconceivable physical and spiritual elements of the workings of the created universe. Father-Son-Spirit work seamlessly and perfectly together in every activity, even though to the created universe, One distinct Member may have a more prominent role in a particular activity at one point in time.
Often reducing something profound to concepts our minds are capable of receiving helps us to clear away some of the “low hanging clouds” that obscure our spiritual visibility.
The following declaration from A. W. Tozer concerning the Triune attributes of God working together at all time appeals to us:
Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
It [this passage] says that the Spirit came out of heaven, the Son came out of the water, and the voice of God spoke from above, saying, this is my beloved Son. So, we have in the baptism of Jesus all three persons simultaneously present.
And you’ll find also in the atonement that the Scripture says that He, Jesus, the Son, offered Himself through the Eternal Spirit without spot unto the Father God. We have all three persons there working together. (Hebrews 9:14, 15)
The resurrection of Christ is attributed to all three persons of the Trinity. The Father is said to have raised His Son. This Jesus, whom he crucified, has God raised up. But also, Jesus said, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up…(See Romans 1:1-4)
And then in salvation, Peter tells us that the three persons work in salvation…through the election of God and through the sanctifying of the Spirit and the cleansing of the blood that salvation comes…
And in John 14, it tells us of the indwelling. We will come unto Him and make our abode with Him. Don’t be afraid of a plural pronoun before the Deity. Jesus used it. Jesus said, I will send another Comforter, and He will be with you, and the Father will come, and We will dwell with Him and dwell in Him.
[John 14:15-18 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.]
So, we have the three Persons here, the three Persons simultaneously present, working and laboring. And while the Father is more prominent in the creation, the Son and the Spirit are there also. And while the Son is more prominent in redemption, the Father and the Spirit are there also. While the Spirit is more prominent in conviction and regeneration, the Father and the Son are not absent.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
[Jon’s Commentary] Upon reading the Bible one will come upon different passages that, at first glance, are difficult to understand or comprehend. We have found, at that point, it is very profitable to simply search through the Bible to find other references to the question or concept. The Bible itself, is the BEST commentary on the Bible because it contains perfect wisdom which the Holy Spirit explains to the worshiping heart. Those of us who attempt to answer Bible questions are only on safe ground when we quote the Scriptures and attempt to keep our human thinking to a minimum by way of explanation, lest we confuse the truth through the insertion of incomplete human reasoning into the mind of the reader.
There are easy-to-be-found some 25-50 or more references to the Trinity working together in the Bible. It is hard to declare our favorites, but for the sake of brevity we listed following some of our favorite passages. All of these, when combined together, are particularly helpful in our attempt to grasp the infinite beauty and truth of Triune God:
Triune God / Father-Son-Spirit – Passages
Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
John 14:15-18 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
John 10:30 [Jesus said] “I and My Father are one.”
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Genesis 1:1-5 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Colossians 1:15-17 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
John 14:9-11 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
1 Peter 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:
Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Matthew 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Colossians 2:9 For in Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God [the Father], and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
1 Corinthians 8:6 . . yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply.”
All our love to All, in Christ
– Jon + Philis + Friends @ WasItForMe.com
