Understanding the Holy Trinity

UNDERSTANDING THE HOLY TRINITY

By Ezekiel Kimosop

The Trinitarian revelation of God as taught in the Bible is a complex theological mystery which may not be fully comprehensible to our limited human faculties. This is the reason that the Bible speaks of "the mystery of God" in Colossians 2:2 with regard to the relationship between Jesus Christ and God the Father.

There are several other passages of Scripture where the relationship between the Godhead is revealed as a mystery. Colossians 1:26 speaks of the Gospel as a "mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints."

This is not to suggest that God is completely incomprehensible! We can sufficiently understand the revelation of God through the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit helps us to discern all things that our heavenly Father has liberally given to His children in Scripture.

Some have associated the Trinity to the analogy of body, soul, and spirit in an attempt to demystify it. However, unlike the human elements of body, soul, and spirit which are united at birth and are separated on death, the trinitarian existence of God in three self existing Divine Persons, who share full and equal divinity with one another, is an eternal relationship, without beginning or end (see Hebrews 13:8; Revelation 1:8).

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST

The eternal sonship of Christ has been the subject of theological debates over the ages. Some Bible scholars insist that Christ received the sonship upon His incarnate coming. However, this would imply that there was a mystical vacuum in the trinitarian essence of the Godhead at some point and that this was remedied only by the incarnation! If Christ was at one time deficient in His Sonship, then His divinity as God the Son would be doubtful.

Jesus revealed His pre-incarnate divine essence when answering the stubborn Jews on on occasion. He says "Before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:48, NKJV). By this statement, Jesus implied that He is and was God even before His incarnation. 

Some have construed Christ's redemption works as the exclusive evidence of His humanity. However, when scripture speaks of Christ as the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8), this affirms His eternal relationship with God the Father. My view is that Christ Sonship was and is eternally established in divinity. There was not one time in Godhead that Jesus was not God! 

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1 Timothy 3:16, speaking of the divinity and humanity of Christ declares: "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:

God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory."

This statement has clear implications on Christ's divinity. He was God revealed or manifested in the flesh. During Jesus' incarnation, God the Father remained on His throne in heaven. The Holy Spirit affirmed Jesus' deity, divinity, and His divine works. God proclaims in Luke 3:22 "You are My beloved son; in You I am well pleased.” If the Trinity was false as Modalism claims, how could God speak of Himself in this context?

In Evangelical theology we subscribe to the view that neither member of the Holy Trinity is divinely inferior or superior to the other. The Three Divine Persons eternally coexist as the Godhead and are eternal united as One. This unity is an important biblical truth. The Godhead is full of all divine essence and is possessed of infinite holiness and perfection.

However, for the purposes of accomplishing the works of the cross, Jesus Christ being God the Son, voluntarily submitted His will to God the Father and took upon Himself human flesh and came in the form of a man so that He was fully man and fully God at the same time (Philippians 2:1-10). This is the foundation of the Hypostatic Union doctrine that recognises the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ in His incarnation. He was 100% God and 100% man in His incarnation but without sin. How the two natures could inextricably intertwine in divine synchrony remains a divine mystery.

This is a fundamental truth of the doctrine of the incarnation of Jesus Christ as taught in several passages of the New Testament Scriptures. The incarnate Christ was revealed in human flesh, yet He was and is eternally full of all divine essence as God.

Most Christian heresies centre on the misrepresentation of this trinitarian relationship. For instance, the Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and the Jehovah's Witnesses deny the divinity of Jesus Christ. This heresy classifies the two religious groups as Christian cults. 

It is instructive that Jesus suffered and died on the cross to take away our sins. However, Jesus never lost His divinity, not even at the cross! We believe in the eternal Sonship of Christ; that He eternally pre-existed as God the Son even before the incarnation and that His full divine glory which He left in heaven, was restored to Him by God the Father upon His Ascension to heaven. He is coming again to take the church to be with Him and in the presence of God the Father in heaven.

THE DIVINITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit on His part is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. He is full of all divine essence as God. He voluntarily subordinated Himself to God the Son and God the Father in order to fulfill God's purposes for us. He is the Superintendent of the Church. He is God's representative who took the place of Christ when Christ returned to heaven. The Holy Spirit is our Helper, our Comforter, our Teacher (John 14:16-31, 16:7).

Jesus affirmed the divinity of the Holy Spirit in Matthew 12:32, saying, "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." (NKJV). 

The Holy Spirit is also revealed as the divine spokesperson of Christ and of God the Father (see the address to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor in Revelation 2-3).

CONCLUSION 

Let me conclude by stating that whereas we may never fully comprehend the relationship between members of the Godhead in its divine fullness, perhaps until we appear before Christ in glory, we can at least appreciate the truths revealed in the Bible concerning the Holy Trinity. These truths are sufficient for our understanding of God's revelation of Himself. This is sufficient for our Christian obedience. 

Meanwhile, and in conclusion, we can affirm from our study of Scripture as follows:

A) THE FATHER IS NOT THE SON

B) THE SON IS NOT THE SPIRIT

C) THE SPIRIT IS NOT THE FATHER

HOWEVER:

A) THE FATHER IS GOD

B) THE SON IS GOD

C) THE SPIRIT IS GOD

THEREFORE: 

THE THREE MEMBERS OF THE HOLY ARE ETERNALLY UNITED IN ALL DIVINE ESSENCE AS ONE SOVEREIGN GOD.

NB: For more biblical articles please visit my teaching website blog at ezekielkimosop.blogspot.com. 

Shalom

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2019