Trinity

The word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible. However, the doctrine is clear since we find the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit as distinct persons (Matt.3:16,17), and each of the persons is called deity without denying the affirmation that God is One (John 1:1; Acts 5:3-4). The word "Trinity" was chosen by Church theologians to distinguish the Christian concept of God from the non-biblical ones.

I. The Doctrine of Trinity
1.  God is One.
2.  There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
3.  These three don't make three Gods; they are the three persons of the one Godhead.
4.  These three are not different manifestations of one person. They are three persons of the one Godhead.
5.  The three are co-equal, co-eternal, and co-substantial.
6. The oneness of the Triune God is not self-contradictory.

II. Natural Illustrations 1x1x1=1 (Nathan Wood)
1. Length x Breadth x Height = Space
2. Energy x Motion x Phenomenon = Matter
3. Future x Present x Past = Time
4. Space x Matter x Time = Universe
5. Nature x Person x Personality = Man

III. Philosophical Rationality of Trinity
1. Provides the rational-eternal basis for moral categories – If God was a not a Trinity, then categories such as love, joy, and goodness couldn't be absolute.
2. Provides the rational-empirical basis for epistemic categories – if God was not a Trinity, then the knowledge as a subject-object relationship, as analytic-synthetic distinction, and Truth as such couldn’t find an original ground.
3. Provides the relational basis for interpersonal relationships. Therefore, Christ could pray regarding His disciples, “that they may be one, as We are” (Jn. 17:11).
4. Provides the metaphysical ground for a pluralist reality, and unity in diversity of the uni-verse.

IV. Scriptural Proofs
Deut. 6:4; Psa. 2:7; Heb. 1:13; Psa. 68:18; Isa. 6:1-3; Isa. 9:6; Gen. 1:2; 1Ti. 1:17; 1Co. 8:4-6; 1Pe. 1:2; 2Pe.1:1,2; Jn. 1:1,17; Phil. 2:11; Mt. 3:16-17; Acts 5:3-4; 1Jn.5:20

V. False Views of Trinity
1. Unitarianism – Father is creator, Son is creature, Spirit is impersonal.
2. Sabellianism – Modalism, i.e. God appeared historically in three separate modes, as Father in the Old Testament, as Son in the New Testament, and as Spirit now.
3. Tritheism – Father, Son, and H.S. are three distinct gods.

God

God is the creator of the universe (Gen. 1:1). As creator, He is unlike creation – in other words, He is uncreated, He is eternal, without beginning and without end. He is the eternal God (Ex. 15:18; Deut. 33:27). The Bible also teaches us that God is Spirit (Jn. 4:24). No one has ever seen or ever can see God as Spirit for He is invisible (Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17). God is everywhere (Ps. 139:7-10), is unlimited in power (Matt. 19:26), and is all-wise and all-discerning (Lk. 12:2).

God is One, which, firstly means that He is indivisible and, secondly, that there is no other being who can be called God other than Him. There is only one God (Deut. 4:35). God is the giver of life (Job 33:4). He is the Ruler and Judge of the world that belongs to Him (Ps. 10:16). He will bring all thoughts, words, and deeds of men to judgement in the last day, also called the Day of Judgement (2 Pet. 3:7).

The Bible commands all people everywhere to submit to God in reverential fear, repentance from sin, and obedient faith (Eccl. 12:13; Acts 17:30).

The Bible tells us that God is our Father (Matt. 6:9; Acts 17:29), that He loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3) and so doesn’t want us to perish in our sins (the evil thoughts and actions of which each one of us is guilty). Therefore, God prepared a way of salvation for us by Himself taking our place of punishment and suffering for us, when He was incarnated as man and paid our penalty through His eternal sacrifice on the cross. Therefore, also, God is our only Savior (Jude 1:25). Anyone who prays in His heart to this true God is immediately heard by Him because God is everywhere and closer than our very breath (Ps. 34:17; 130:1). Anyone who says “I’m sorry for my sin, please forgive me Lord” is forgiven by God and his sins are removed as far as the east is from the west (in other words, totally erased, Ps. 103:12). This forgiveness and a new start of life are provided to us because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Who is the very Image and Word of God that incarnated as human 2000 years ago) by which He put an end to the old world of sin and death and, by rising up from the death on the third day, brought to us newness of life.

The Nature of God
Westminster Catechism: “God is Spirit, Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”

Attributes of God
a. God’s Inner Nature (Unrelated Attributes)
(i) Spirit (Jn. 4:24) (ii) Infinite – Immense in relation to space (1Ki. 8:27), Eternal in relation to time (Exo. 15:18; Deut. 33:27) (iii) One (Exo. 20:3; Deut. 4:35,39; 1Sa. 2:2; 1Ti. 1:17)
b. God in Relation to the Universe (Active Attributes) –
(i) Omnipotent (Gen. 1:1; Gen. 17:1; Job. 40:2; Amos 4:13; Mt. 19:26) (ii) Omnipresent (Gen. 28:15-16; Psa. 139:7-10) (iii) Omniscient (Gen. 18:18-19); 2Ki. 8:10-13; Jer. 1:4-5; Rom. 8:27-29; 1Pe. 1:2) (iv) Wise (Psa. 104:24; Prov. 3:19; Jer. 10:12; Dan. 2:20-21; Col. 2:2-3) (v) Sovereign (Dan. 4:35; Mt. 20:15; Rom. 9:21)
c. God in Relation to Moral Creatures (Moral Attributes) (i) Holy (Exo. 15:11; Lev. 11:44-45; Rev. 4:8) (ii) Righteous (Ezr. 9:15; Psa. 116:5; Rev. 16:15) (iii) Faithful (Exo. 34:6; Mic. 7:20; 2Ti. 2:13; Rev. 15:3) (iv) Merciful (Tit. 3:5; Psa. 32:5) (v) Love (Deut. 7:8; Jn. 3:16; 1Jo. 4:9-10) (vi) Good (Psa. 25:8; Psa. 85:5; Acts 14:17)