The Trinity

The foundational truth of biblical monotheism declares that there is one and only one God. This is the Shema of Israel, the creed recited daily by devout Jews: 'Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.' Yet this unity is not mere mathematical singularity but a rich, complex unity—the Hebrew word 'echad' can denote a composite unity (as in 'one flesh' of husband and wife). The New Testament affirms this monotheism while revealing that within the one divine essence exist three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each fully and equally God, yet not three Gods but one. This mystery transcends human comprehension yet is consistently revealed throughout Scripture.

While affirming one God, Scripture clearly distinguishes three persons within the Godhead. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father—yet each is fully God. These distinctions are not modes or manifestations that God assumes at different times (modalism), nor are they three separate beings (tritheism). Rather, they are eternal, personal distinctions within the one divine being. The Father eternally begets the Son, the Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father (and the Son, in Western theology), yet none is before or after another in time or dignity. This tri-personal existence is essential to God's nature as love—for love requires an object, and God has loved within Himself from all eternity.

Though the full revelation of the Trinity awaited the New Testament, the Old Testament contains profound hints of plurality within the Godhead. God speaks of Himself in the plural ('Let us make man in our image'), the Angel of the LORD appears as God Himself yet distinct from God, and the Spirit of God operates distinctly from YHWH. The Shema's use of 'echad' (composite unity) rather than 'yachid' (absolute singularity) allows for this plurality. These passages, read in the light of New Testament revelation, show that the Trinity was not an innovation but the fuller unveiling of what was always true about God's nature.

Within the Trinity, the Father holds a certain primacy—not of time, essence, or dignity, but of order and origin. He is the 'fount of deity' (fons divinitatis), the unbegotten source from whom the Son is eternally begotten and from whom the Spirit eternally proceeds. This does not make the Father 'more God' than the Son or Spirit, for all three share the identical divine essence. Rather, it speaks to the eternal relations of origin within the Godhead. The Father initiates, sends, and gives; the Son is sent and reveals the Father; the Spirit proceeds and applies. This order reflects the inner life of God from all eternity.

The Father is revealed supremely as the God of love—love that existed within the Trinity before creation, love that moved Him to create, and love that sent His Son for redemption. The Father's love is not mere sentiment but active, sacrificial, electing grace. He loved the Son before the foundation of the world, and He set His love upon His elect people in eternity past. This love reaches its apex at Calvary, where the Father gave His only begotten Son. Such love is the very essence of God's character, for 'God is love,' and this love flows eternally between the persons of the Trinity and overflows to creation.

One of the supreme privileges of salvation is adoption into God's family, whereby believers receive the right to call the Almighty 'Father.' This is no natural relationship—by nature all are children of wrath—but a gracious adoption accomplished through union with Christ, the natural Son. Through the Son's redemptive work and the Spirit's regenerating power, believers are brought into the Father's household, made heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirits that we are children of God, enabling us to cry 'Abba, Father' with the same intimacy Jesus displayed.

The Son of God is not a created being but eternally begotten of the Father—a distinction the Nicene Creed articulates as 'begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father.' This eternal generation means the Son has always existed as Son; there was never a time when He was not. He is the 'only begotten' (monogenes) in the unique sense of sharing the Father's very nature. As the Logos (Word), He is the Father's perfect self-expression from all eternity. The Son is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God—fully sharing the divine essence while remaining a distinct person within the Trinity.

Jesus Christ is not merely a great teacher, prophet, or even the highest created being—He is God incarnate, the second person of the Trinity clothed in human flesh. Scripture ascribes to Him every divine attribute: eternality, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, immutability. He receives worship, forgives sins, and claims equality with the Father. Thomas's confession 'My Lord and my God' represents the proper response to the risen Christ. The deity of Christ is not an optional doctrine but the foundation upon which Christianity stands—if Christ is not God, His sacrifice cannot atone for sins, and Christianity collapses.

As the God-man, Jesus Christ uniquely qualifies to mediate between holy God and sinful humanity. He must be God to satisfy divine justice and represent the infinite value required for atonement. He must be man to represent humanity, bear human guilt, and die in humanity's place. In His one person, two complete natures—divine and human—are united without confusion, change, division, or separation (as Chalcedon declared). This hypostatic union enables Christ to bridge the infinite chasm between Creator and creature, bringing God to man and man to God. He is the ladder Jacob saw, connecting heaven and earth.

The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force, influence, or energy but a divine person possessing intellect, will, and emotions. He can be lied to, grieved, blasphemed, and resisted—responses impossible toward a mere power. He speaks, teaches, guides, intercedes, and makes decisions ('it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us'). Christ referred to Him with personal pronouns ('He,' 'Him') even when the grammatical gender of 'Spirit' (pneuma) is neuter. The Spirit's personhood is essential to understanding His work—He does not merely empower believers mechanically but personally indwells, teaches, comforts, and sanctifies them.

The Holy Spirit is not a lesser deity or created being but fully God, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and Son. Scripture directly identifies Him as God (Acts 5:3-4), attributes divine perfections to Him (omnipresence, omniscience, eternality), credits Him with divine works (creation, inspiration, regeneration), and places Him alongside the Father and Son in the Trinitarian formula. Blaspheming the Spirit is the unforgivable sin—not because the Spirit is greater than the Father or Son, but because rejecting His testimony to Christ leaves no avenue for forgiveness. The Spirit is the Lord, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

As the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, so the Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father (and, according to Western theology, from the Son as well—the filioque). This procession is not a temporal event but an eternal relation, defining the Spirit's personal mode of subsistence within the Trinity. The Spirit is sent by both Father and Son in the economy of redemption, reflecting this eternal procession. He is called both 'the Spirit of God' and 'the Spirit of Christ,' belonging equally to both. The Spirit does not speak of Himself but glorifies Christ, even as Christ glorifies the Father—a beautiful mutual glorification within the Trinity.

The triune God works harmoniously in redemption, with each person playing a distinct role. The Father is the architect of salvation, planning redemption before the foundation of the world. He chose a people for Himself, predestined them to adoption, and sent His Son as the appointed Redeemer. The Father's eternal decree set in motion the entire drama of redemption. He gave the Son a people to save, promising that none of them would be lost. This sovereign purpose originates in the Father's love and wisdom, ensuring that salvation is not a divine afterthought but the unfolding of an eternal plan.

The Son executes the Father's redemptive plan through His incarnation, life, death, and resurrection. He accomplished what no creature could—perfect obedience to God's law and substitutionary satisfaction of God's justice. The Son did not merely make salvation possible; He actually saved His people from their sins. His cry 'It is finished' declared the completion of redemption's work. All that the Father required, the Son provided; all that justice demanded, the Son paid. The atonement is not merely an offer extended but a purchase accomplished, securing every blessing for those the Father gave to the Son.

The Holy Spirit applies to individuals what the Son accomplished for them. He convicts of sin, regenerates dead hearts, grants faith and repentance, unites believers to Christ, sanctifies them progressively, and seals them for the day of redemption. Without the Spirit's work, Christ's objective atonement would benefit no one—the Spirit makes it subjectively effective. He takes what is Christ's and declares it to believers, opening blind eyes to see gospel glory. The same Spirit who hovered over creation's waters now hovers over spiritually dead souls, bringing forth new creation in Christ.