Foundation Topic

What Is the Trinity?

The Trinity is a name that we give to God, meaning tri (three) + unity (one), because of the Bible’s revelation that God is one being, but three persons. The Triune nature of God is a bedrock truth of the Bible, and what sets the God of the Bible apart from any other god. God being triune is what makes him personal, and what makes the story of the Bible so glorious.

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The Trinity: How the Biblical God Is Different from All Others

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39 NKJV) 

God is relational, not a force, not a power. God unfolds the truth throughout the Bible and redemptive history that he is three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

This is the most significant way the God of the Bible differs from all other supposed gods. God’s nature is a unified relationship between three Persons. They are distinct but inseparable Persons united in one being, having different roles, but one will. We call him a “Trinity,” a three-person unity. One pastor put it this way: God is three “Who’s” and one “What.”

Though the word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, it’s the term we use to summarize the truth about God’s nature based on what he says about himself.

This truth about God explains our favorite concept: love. God is by nature a community— relational (1 John 4:8). He created us and the world not out of need, nor to exercise pure power, but in demonstration of his love. And, the greatest overflow of his love was his plan to save us from our own rebellion against him, which he could not have accomplished for us apart from being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God’s triune nature also provides the explanation for his greatest command. For, God himself is love. And his greatest desire for us is that we would love him and love one another.

by Bibles.net 

OPEN YOUR BIBLE

Theme Verse

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

EPHESIANS 4:4-6 ESV

What is The Trinity?
Article: 3 Min

What Does It Mean That God Is Triune?

by Nancy Taylor and Phil Ryken, adapted by Bibles.net
Infographic

The Athanasian Creed

The Athanasian Creed summarizes what the Bible teaches about Jesus being both fully God and fully man. We have made a graphic so you can keep a portion of the Athanasian Creed on your phone as your wallpaper or screensaver!

Quote

Should We Expect to Comprehend the Trinity?

Explain the Trinity? We can't even begin. We can only accept it—a mystery, disclosed in Scripture. It should be no surprise that the triune Being of God baffles our finite minds. We should be surprised, rather, if we could understand the nature of our Creator.

by Vernon Grounds | Source
Infographic

Seven False Views of the Trinity

We've made this graphic for you to help you develop a right understanding of the Trinity. We do not take credit for the design of the Trinity illustration, as it is a popularly used illustration. Feel free to save the graphic to your device and share it with others! 

Article: 15 Min

Is the Trinity Three Different Gods?

by Jobe Martin at Answers in Genesis

Verse
Matthew 3:16-17 NKJV

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Article: 25 Min

What Is the Doctrine of the Trinity?

by Matt Perman at Desiring God

Why Does The Trinity Matter?
Verse
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NIV

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Quote

The Trinity Means God Is Love

The words “God is love” have no real meaning unless God contains at least two persons. Love is something that one person has for another person. If God was a single person, then before the world was made, he was not love.

by C.S. Lewis
Quote

Without the Son,
God cannot truly
be a Father;
thus alone,
he is not truly love.
Thus he can have
no fellowship to
share with us,
no Son to bring us
close, no Spirit
through whom we
might know him.

Michael Reeves
Article: 20 Min

The Trinity

The Bible clearly affirms the existence of three distinct Persons that are all identified as the one God of the universe.

by Mark Bird at Answers in Genesis

Image

He who does
not love does
not know God,
for God is love.

1 John 4:8 NKJV
Verse
Galatians 4:4-7 NIV

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Praise & Worship

King of Kings

by The Worship Initiative, Shane & Shane feat. Davy Flowers
Verse
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.

Quote

It was the whole Trinity,
which at the
beginning of
creation said,
"Let us make man"
(Genesis 1:26).
It was the whole Trinity
again, which at the
beginning of the
Gospel seemed to say,
"Let us save man"
(Matthew 3:16-17).

Verse
Titus 3:3-7 NIV

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

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