What is The Trinity in Christianity?
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The Trinity in Christianity
In Christianity, there is a belief that God is a tripartite being. That is, He consists of three parts. Christians also believe that there is a fusion of three different Persons into one God which is also called the Godhead. This belief is referred to as the doctrine of the Trinity in Christianity. The three persons are believed to be God – the Father, God – the Son, and God – the Holy Spirit which is further explained as:
God the Father - the creator and overseer of the universe
God the Son - the incarnation of God as a human being in the person of Jesus Christ on the Earth
God the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of God at work in the world, convicting men unto God
What is Trinity?
The English word ‘Trinity’ finds its etymology in the Classic Latin word "Trinitas" meaning "three are one" or “the number three”. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Trinity as “the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead according to Christian dogma” or “a group of three closely related persons or things.” It can also be referred to as the Three-in-One, Triunity, or the Triune God.
Is the Trinity Really Biblical?
Throughout the Bible, the exact word Trinity never appeared; neither does the doctrine explicitly gain expression till after the coming of Jesus. In fact, the Hebrew Scriptures which we now know to be the Old Testament says in Deuteronomy 6:4: emphasizes that “The Lord our God is one Lord”; Where then came this sacred doctrine?
After the coming of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, this doctrine began to gain expression through the following instances.
First, we see that Jesus gives a mandate of the Great Commission to the apostles in Matthew 28:19 requesting that they baptize people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This Great Commission has been translated to all believers also. We see this also in the benediction of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:14. Jesus also talks in John 15:26 about the arrival of a Comforter which will proceed from the Father and testify of Him.
These highlighted scenarios from the New Testament have thus established the basis for the doctrine of the Trinity.
How the Trinity Coexists
In 1 John 5:7-8, John writes that “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”
In the Scripture above, John describes the makeup of God in heaven and Man on earth as created by God and in His image.
In Christendom, God (the Word- John1:1) is known as The Father. This is because He birthed the universe by creating the world and everything within it. He is the first person in the Trinity. Jesus Christ (the Word made flesh- John 1:14) is the Son replicated as the exact representation of God’s image, being, and nature. He is the second person in the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God in action, reaching people by guiding, infilling, regenerating, and influencing them. This is the third person in the Trinity.
These three inhabit one another and work together to accomplish the divine mandate of the universe.
Do you believe in the doctrine of the Trinity in Christianity? Why?