Doctrine of the Trinity-Part 5

A reminder of where we are going:
I) That there are 3 persons
II) They are all called God
III) There is One God (Monotheism)
IV) Thus they must all be God (Trinity)

I) Proof of Three Persons Existing

The Father
The fact there is a person called the Father in scripture is little disputed. But never the less seeing that there is a person called the Father in scripture is important. Also I might add this is where we as believers often may create our own problems as we often conflate the person of The Father and The Godhead he is part of. By this I mean we often speak of the Father and God such as to in effect create 4 persons. This is why it is important to attempt to when speaking of the Person of the Father refer to Him as God the Father, Father or some such was so as to differentiate the person from the essence that all three persons are part of

Here are just a few versus to look at:

1) Matt 3:16-17 - The baptism of Jesus shows us the Father and even the Father-Son relationship
“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; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."”

2) Matt 28:19-20 - Mentions all three but here we want to see the Father
“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,”

3) John 17:1-3 - Shows the distinctness of the Father and Son as well as the Father being referred to as God
“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

4) In John 17:24 - Jesus speaks to the father thus showing the person of the Father and also the distinctness of the two
“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

5) 2 Peter 1:17 - Shows a person called the Father and the Father as God
“For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,"”

6) 1 John 2:1 - Speaks of Christ being the advocate before the Father
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”


The Son (Jesus)
It is also little disputed that Jesus existed as most groups denying the Trinity will agree to this as they will agree to the Father existing. By the way there are still a few that will deny Christ existed. Many that deny Christ existence speak to his name not being in extra-biblical literature. First that is not true as in the writings of Josephus, Tacitus and Suetonius we see the existence of Jesus. Second this denial of Jesus being mentioned in historical writings shows that the person speaking does not view the bible as evidence, which it is.

Here are verses speaking of Christ:

1) Mat 1:1 - Speaks of His genealogy
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

2) Luke 3:23 - Speaks of the beginning of His ministry
“Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,”

3) Acts 1:1 – Luke speaks of his first book (Luke) dealing with all Christ had done and taught
“In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,”

4) Gal 3:1 – Paul speaks of the Galatians being eye witnesses to Christ
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified”

5) Rev 22:20 – Speaks to Christ and His return
“He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”

6) A search of the Name Jesus in the NT in the ESV returns 927 verses


The Holy Spirit
When it comes to the Holy Spirit it is not whether all agree to His existence but more to the nature of the Holy Spirit. It is often hard to conceive of the Holy Spirit as a person thus, even unknowingly we often refer to the Holy Spirit as “It” rather than “He.” Most will agree that the Bible speaks of the existence of the Holy Spirit, again His nature is what is the sticking point for many.
We see the Holy Spirit in:

1) Psalm 51:11
“Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.”

2) Isa 63:10-11 – Speaks of grieving the Holy Spirit and relates it to God
“But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit,”

3) Matt 1:18-20 – Relates the Holy Spirit to the birth of Christ thus separating them as 2 distinct persons
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

4) Matt 28:19 – As we saw before the HS is mentioned in the Great Commission
“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,”

5) John 14:26 - Speaks of the Holy Spirit in a relationship position
“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.”

6) Romans 8:27 - the Holy Spirit is pictured praying for us
“And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

So we see the Holy Spirit does exist but again what is most often the issue is not the Holy Spirits existence but what is the nature of the Holy Spirit and we will look at this in Part 6

Doctrine of the Trinity Series:

Sermon Series on The Doctrine of the Trinity:  Part 1   and   Part 2

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10

(all verses used are from the ESV unless stated otherwise)