One of the main points to note regarding the doctrine
of the Trinity is the teaching that God is present. His presence in the sending of the Son and giving
of the Spirit is the climax in history of His presence in creation and
redemption throughout the Biblical witness and the experiences of God's people. It was revealed in and for
God’s covenant people, Israel, and is now revealed to, experienced in, and
declared by the Church to throughout the world.
The early Church’s understanding of God as ‘One God in Three Persons’
(later language of the Church) began with the events and experiences of the
first followers of Jesus. The doctrine
of the Trinity is not speculative theology but theology borne out of actual events
in history, experienced by God’s people, and articulated through faithful
interpretation of the Old Testament witness.
The disciples of Jesus came to understand that Jesus was not only
the man standing before them but also the One participating from eternity in
God’s very identity, sent by His Father to the world and received back after
His resurrection from the dead and ascension to the Father’s right hand. After Jesus’ ascension, the Holy Spirit was
sent as promised to continue God’s presence among His people. The Day of Pentecost, cleansing from sin, empowerment
for mission, remembrance of Jesus’ teaching, and spiritual gifts (particularly
speaking in tongues and prophecy) were evidence of the presence of the Holy
Spirit in the Church. These events in
the early Church in regard to Jesus and the Holy Spirit led the early Church to
reflect on Old Testament texts. These
texts promised God’s presence and salvation through a Redeemer from God, Jesus
Christ, and a provision of cleansing and empowering by His Holy Spirit to His
redeemed people.
Even as God’s mighty arm of salvation had been known by the people, Israel,
many times in the past, the full revelation of His salvation was given in His
eternal Son, who became a man, suffered, died, and was raised again for us and
for our salvation. Even as God’s revelation
was made known in the past by His Spirit’s presence in the Temple’s most holy
place and in the Spirit’s inspiring the prophets and the Scriptures, so from
the Day of Pentecost the Church has known God’s Personal Presence in the
Spirit.
The doctrine of the Trinity is a declaration that God our Father is present
in the divine Persons of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in the world and for
the Church. Jesus was present in the
flesh and is now present as Lord of His Church.
The Spirit, given by the Father and the Son, is the Divine Presence
among us.
Consider the following passages from the Gospels and Acts as part of
the Church’s teaching regarding the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; One
God in Three Persons. A full study of
these passages would also include allusions to Old Testament passages—only direct
quotations have been provided. Translations
are taken from the English Standard Version.
Matthew 3.11-17
11 “I baptize
you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than
I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will
clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he
will burn with unquenchable fire.”
13 Then
Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John
would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you
come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for
thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he
consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up
from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and
behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well
pleased.”
Matthew 28.16-20
16 Now the
eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed
them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some
doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that
I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
John 1.1-4
1 In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He
was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him,
and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was
life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in
the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1.14-18
14 And the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of
the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John
bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who
comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For
from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the
law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No
one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he
has made him known.
John 3.13-18
13 No one
has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that
he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have
eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 14.8-17
8 Philip
said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus
said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me,
Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the
Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father
is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but
the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am
in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works
themselves.
12 “Truly,
truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do;
and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever
you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
15 “If you
love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him
nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
John 14.26
But the Helper,
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all
things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
John 15.26
“But when the
Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who
proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
John 16.7-15
7 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 go, I will send him to you. 8 And
when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and
judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning
righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning
judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still
have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When
the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will
not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he
will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify
me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that
the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and
declare it to you.
Acts 1.4-8
4 And while
staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to
wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for
John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit
not many days from now.” 6 So when
they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore
the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to
know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end
of the earth.”
Acts 2.1-4
1 When the day
of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And
suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it
filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided
tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues
as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2.17-21, quoting Joel 2.28-32
17 “‘And in the last days
it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall
prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and
magnificent day.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Acts 2.32-33
32 This
Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being
therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father
the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are
seeing and hearing.
Acts 2.38-39
38 And Peter
said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and
for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
Acts
7.55-56
55 But he
[Stephen], full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold,
I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of
God.”
Acts
8.14-17
14 Now when
the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they
sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them
that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen
on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy
Spirit.
Acts
9.17
So Ananias
departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother
Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent
me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 10.44-48
44 While
Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the
word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come
with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even
on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues
and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water
for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we
have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
Acts 11.15-17
15 As I [Peter]
began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the
beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he
said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us
when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in
God’s way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And
they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted
repentance that leads to life.”
Acts
16.7
And when they
had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of
Jesus did not allow them.
Acts 19.1-7
1 And it
happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country
and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to
them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No,
we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said,
“Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And
Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to
believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On
hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And
when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they
began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve
men in all.
Acts 20.28 [Paul speaking to the Ephesian elders]
Pay careful
attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made
you overseers, to care for the church of God [some manuscripts, of the Lord], which he obtained
with his own blood [or with the blood of
his Own].
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