What is the Meaning of the Trinity?

Many things can be said about this argument. First, it has always been quite difficult for people to understand it with their intellect and mind. My opinion is that some people probably don’t have an answer for it or struggle to accept or understand it, but they are still believers anyway.

 Most people, however, take it by faith. The most important is that we give our hearts to God and believe Him. Other people stand firmly on the doctrine of the Trinity (which is true) and defend it, meaning that doctrinally they are on the right side, but even so, their life shows otherwise, and we become aware that they haven’t really repented and believed in God.

Therefore, the most important is that we believe and accept Jesus with our hearts. What we need to know about the Trinity, however, is that it cannot be comprehended with logic. Obviously, our logic will wonder, “How can one person be divided in three?” but this is exactly what can happen because here we are not speaking about a person, but for God almighty. And He is great, all-knowing, and powerful; for Him, everything is possible. If this is how He needs to perform His work, He will do it then.

One of the reasons He needed to do it this way is that He had to come here on earth in a human form to die for people’s sins. Jesus is the Son of God and is also a part of the Trinity because is God Himself. Of course, people may ask and wonder why Jesus was praying to His Father if He (Jesus) is God Himself. But obviously, He came to accomplish this plan through which we can be saved. He had to be a man and show us a perfect example of how we should live. Jesus indeed lived as a man. Of course, God is powerful enough to be down here on the earth in the form of a man and up there in heaven at the same time because He is omnipresent. And today, He is still here amongst us and in the believers, living in them through His Spirit. 

Even though we don’t find the word “Trinity” in the Scripture, here we are talking about the character and the nature of God and with the following examples found in the Bible we will just confirm that. The expression “Trinity” was first used by one of the early fathers of the church called Tertuliano, to describe what the Bible teaches about the way God works and His nature.

When discussing the “Trinity”, we are not talking about three different gods or three independent beings. The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit live in complete harmony. And they are one. We cannot also simply say that one person manifests himself in three different ways. They have different functions but the same purpose and Spirit. That’s why we are saying that they are three. Here is where we find the mystery of the Trinity and the difficulty of explaining it simply with just a couple of examples.

The Scriptures tell us about their oneness and also about the specific functions they have. Therefore, we need to know and get deeper into the work of each one and His purpose and also focus on their unity and oneness. 

We are speaking about one God in three persons with three different purposes. God the Father governs above all and holds everything in His hand. The Son came to die for our sins and give all of us the opportunity to believe and be saved. He represents the mercy of God. One day He will judge the nations as well, but not before everyone has had the opportunity to accept Him. The Holy Spirit communicates to us the revelations and visions from God. This is the way He wants to communicate with us. These three persons, with apparently different and specific functions, have the same character and vision because they are one God and are perfectly united. John 1:18 states that Jesus is in the bosom of the Father.

We are speaking about the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

“For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Spirit, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” (1 John 5:7).

Obviously, speaking about “the Word,” we mean Jesus because He is the Word, as it is said in the gospel of John 1:1-14.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Each one would react and do as God Himself will because they are one. They all are one God but are just called by different names because of the different functions and purposes they have to perform. That’s why we say they are three different persons, because of the role each one has and the part they accomplish. They all participate in the salvation of the believer, but they all together form one God, and their works are His work, and this is how He performs it. We need to notice that people are more inclined to believe the Holy Spirit is part of God and accomplishes His functions rather than believing Jesus also forms part of the Trinity, and He is God as well. It is like this because He was a man and for people is difficult to believe God made Himself a man, and not only that, but it is hard for them to believe God wants to have a relationship with a man. That was also the struggle the Jewish were having with Jesus, even though they were waiting for a messiah, but in their eyes, He was not the one, probably because of the way and the form in which He came.

“The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” (John 10:33)

Exactly, for this reason, they wanted to stone Him. People today still struggle to believe that God dwells in the hearts of believers. For them, they are just persons like all the rest following some other kind of idea or way of life. Often you can hear someone saying to a believer: “But how can you know what God thinks exactly about this situation, or how can you know the will of God?” But this is precisely what Jesus promised to those who have believed in His name. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:13)

And of course, the believers are just persons with their weaknesses, but it is in this way with a purpose so that the power of God can be seen in them, and it can be known that this power comes from God.

We can see the idea that God cannot live in a person has been around for some time, and the devil is also there trying to set these thoughts in people’s hearts. From this, we can see how important it is for us to believe and stand behind this doctrine. First, because it is biblical, and second because it shows the entity of God that He is interested in us and came to die for us and sent His Spirit to guide us into all the truth.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1-3)

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

The other truth is that believing in the Trinity exalts the person of Jesus because it represents Him as God. Of course, He came as a simple man but was much greater at the same time - much more than any prophet or godly man before or after Him. And this is what the whole Bible is doing - exalting the person of Jesus. Do you think God will share His glory with someone else? Of course not.

“For my own sake, for my own sake, I will do it; for how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another.” (Isaiah 48:11)

This confirms that Jesus is God. We know this because how else would God glorify Him and exalt Him so much if He cannot share and give His glory to anyone else, as this verse says? He did it because by exalting and giving His glory to Jesus, He gave it to Himself. Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Jesus. Glorifying Jesus is actually glorifying God because in Him is what God represents, and in Him is the essence of God. John 1:18 tells us that He was in the bosom of the Father. 

From the way we see how Jesus is exalted in the Bible, we conclude that this all makes Him the same as God, as Isaiah 48:11 says that God will not share His glory with anyone else. For Jesus, we cannot say He is another God or even in the same status as God, but God Himself because God is one. And the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one. Therefore, we conclude that not believing in the Trinity diminishes the importance of Jesus. It places Him just there as another extraordinary man. 

Many extraordinary men have existed throughout history amongst the Christian and non-Christian worlds. Some were right in some people’s eyes; others were not.

But we need to know that here we speak about the author of our salvation—Jesus Christ—the one through whom everything was created and will judge everyone on the final day. That’s why we cannot say He was just an extraordinary man, or just a good example for all (and He indeed was), or that we can measure up with Him. Of course, He left us an example so we can follow His steps and overcome struggles and battles in His name. But He will always be much more than us. Here we are speaking about Jesus, part of the Holy Trinity, equal to God, not another God, but God Himself – YHWH. Why else do you think that His blood is sufficient for salvation and that He was so pure and blameless? Why was this sacrifice so great and capable of redeeming? Exactly because Jesus did it, and only He could have done it.

We can see Trinity’s presence in many parts of the Bible, both in the Old and the New Testament. One is in Genesis 18, where we see three messengers sent by God to Abraham. He receives them as his guests, and after that, they depart to destroy the city of Sodom and Gomorra. We see that two of them go, and one remains with Abraham. I always thought all of them went to Sodom, but then I noticed that only two went there. The other one remains, and He is the one Abraham calls Lord in the same way as he speaks with God Himself, imploring Him to have mercy on Sodom. (Genesis 18:22-33)

We see here the way, the idea of God already to incarnate Himself in someone and to come down to us on the earth. Why? Because we will probably understand Him better. Why did He choose to come down here to dwell amongst us, suffer like us, and feel like us in what we go through? I personally see Jesus in that messenger. We see Him as well in Genesis 1 when God speaks in plural while He creates the world, saying, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to our likeness….” 

There is the parable of the barren fig tree in Luke 13:6-9

He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’”

   We see a man having a fig tree planted in his vineyard. Definitely, we are that tree, and the owner of the vineyard is God. We haven’t been bearing fruit for all the time of our lives and deserve to be cut down. The tree can be generally compared with the whole of humanity and also us personally. What happened and what actually saved the tree was the vineyard’s keeper. He interfered and asked the vineyard owner to give the tree another chance to bear fruit. He gave it some more time and special treatment, which would help the tree bear fruit. If the tree wouldn’t bring any fruit in the next year, it would still be cut. In this case, we see Jesus giving this opportunity to all of us through His sacrifice. He gave us not only another opportunity but also special care and help through His blood. All this through faith in what He has done. We see the other side of God. The one that represents mercy. We all know God is extremely just, and He cannot bear any sin, but at the same time, He has provided a solution. Knowing that He cannot bear with it, that by His nature He cannot stand at this sin, and whoever commits something wrong needs to pay for it, He found a way for people not to pay what they deserve. And as justice needs to be served, He decided to pay instead of us. Here we see the merciful part of God. He knows that justice needs to be served, but He also had pity on us. He didn’t want to see us suffering and decided to give us an opportunity. God is merciful, and He expresses this mercy through Jesus. In Him, He expressed the whole mercy He was having when He sent Him on the earth, and in Him, He will express the entire judgment one day since He told Him to cut the fig tree if it doesn’t bear fruit after the opportunity given to it. (Luke 13:7)

Those who believe obviously will bear fruit, and those who don’t will enter this promise.

This parable shows how the vineyard keeper advises the owner to keep the tree. Just think, would God receive advice from someone lower than Him since He is an all-powerful and all-knowing God? Of course not. But here we see the same person, but with different sides represented by Himself. I know it is difficult to understand or comprehend logically, but this is how it happened. For us, it is difficult to comprehend that He was there in the Son and heaven at the same time and that He came in the form of a man. As we said before, this is a common thought today, and it was before as well, that God could not just be present here as a man, but He did. And still today, He abides in men, living in them by His Holy Spirit. Obviously, they are not equal to Jesus, but when the Spirit is in them, then yes, they understand and perceive the truth that comes from God. By this, we see that God wants to come closer to men; He wants to have a relationship with them. And this is the way He uses.

If a person cannot receive from Him directly through His Spirit, then He might send another person to him to warn him, to give him the message. Same as He sent Jesus in the form of a man so that His message can reach people. And also, today, He sends people inspired by His Holy Spirit to other people. The difference between them and Jesus obviously is that He was always and nonstop a perfect incarnation of the Father. Something that we cannot do, but the Holy Spirit can still fulfill His purposes through us if we allow Him.

“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.” (John 14:9, 10)

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7)

And by all this, we see that all lead to the Father. The work of both Spirit and the Son leads to the Father because all of them are one. And the work of the Son and the Spirit is to glorify the Father.

“He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14, 15)

Here we also see how the three of them work perfectly together as one because they are. We see that the Holy Spirit partakes in what belongs to Jesus and that all the things the Father has also belong to Christ.

And the work of the Spirit is to glorify God. By this, we can see if someone is a Christian and the Spirit of God dwells in him. If he glorifies the Father, if he has this desire. The believer will desire to glorify God because the Holy Spirit will dwell in him. No one is capable by his own strength and desire to really glorify God, but the Holy Spirit helps him. Only what we receive from Him is worthy enough to be given and received by Him.

Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in your hand is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You. (1 Chronicles 29:12-14).

From all these Scriptures, we see all three of them—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Three, but one. Divided into three, probably because of how God wants and has to reach us. Still difficult to understand, but the fact is that Jesus couldn’t be just an average person, a prophet, or a godly man because, in the end, He died for the sins of humanity. Any other person couldn’t have done that. I am not referring just to the fact that He died but that He loaded all those sins on Himself, and His blood being innocent, was capable of forgiving the sins of those who believe. There was something much more to that than a good intention or a good deed. Where did the strength and power of Jesus to accomplish all that had come from? It was the power of God.

Jesus represented the merciful part of God while He came here on earth. Obviously, we need to know that God is not divided into parts. He is complete love, complete justice, and complete mercy, but at that moment, while Jesus came amongst us, He represented mercy. Jesus is God, so He is also complete, and we can see this by the fact that He will perform God’s judgment at the end as it is written in the book of Revelation (Revelation 19:11-16). He is the one seated on the right hand of the Power. We can say He is the right hand of God, through which He created everything. He is the one performing God's actions, He is that action Himself since everything was created by Him.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1)

Everything visible and invisible comes from Him. He is the word spoken by God.

One day Jesus will return, not to show mercy anymore, but for judgment. It was pleasing to God, however to give first to everyone opportunity and then to judge so that no one would be without a chance to be saved. Unfortunately, we know that not everyone will accept the gift of God.

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.” (Revelation 19:11)

We see the authority of Jesus here. He is the one through whom God works. He is the one through whom God reveals Himself to humanity. He is the way God reveals Himself to us, but always being God at the same time. They all—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—represent God, who is one.