No one, this side of heaven can fully explain the concept of trinity. In Christian doctrine, trinity refers to three divine persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit united in what is called “the godhead.” The Father is God. The Son is God. And the Holy Spirit is God. Yet, rather than three gods, there is only one God (Galatians 3:20 and James 2:19) who exists in three simultaneous, distinct, persons fulfilling their individual responsibilities. Trinitarian doctrine is accepted by most Christians as a matter of faith, yet the word does not appear in Scripture.
The two passages that come closest to describing the concept of trinity are 2 Corinthians 13:14 (NIV) May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. The second one would be Jude 20-21 (NIV) But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Although they are co-equal, there is a hierarchy: Father, Son, then Holy Spirit.
In 325, at the Council of Nicaea, it was decided that the Son is of the same substance, homoousios, as the Father, but the Holy Spirit was not addressed in detail. We know the Father is God and has eternally existed, the Son is begotten and the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and Son. “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.” (John 15:26 | NIV, see also Galatians 4:6 and Philippians 1:19)
The Spirit was with God at creation. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:2 | NIV) And Jesus was with God from the beginning. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-2 & 14 | NIV)
All three persons play a role in our salvation. The Father made a way of reconciliation by sending the Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sin. We receive and respond to the gospel through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Finally, we are saved by grace through faith in the Son and are sanctified through the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Click to see a drawing depicting a close approximation of the trinity.
