This is how Christian Research Institute defines trinity: "In the nature of one eternal God, there are three eternally distinct Persons, the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. All three are the same God, all fully God, yet the Father is neither the Son nor the Spirit, the Son is neither the Father nor the Spirit, and the Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son." I already discussed the God and the person aspect of the Holy Spirit in the previous pamphlet.
When I was a struggling Christian, a pastor almost flunked me in my Baptismal quiz because I defined trinity as three personalities in one God, which implies one person in one God, three 1/3 persons in one God or three 1/3 Gods in one person. The Funk and Wagnells Standard Dictionary defines the word "person" as an individual with a distinct entity or personality, which is the distinctive qualities or characteristics of a person. When we speak of "one God in three persons," we use the word "person" to describe a living entity that has three characteristics: intellect, will and emotions. Each of these three components is essential to any "personal being." The Three are equal in power and glory but distinct from one another.
So, is the Father God? You can see that the Father is God in the following verses:
"Do you thus repay the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is not He Your Father who has bought you? He has made you and established you." Deuteronomy 32:6 NASB
"Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the Lord speaks, `Sons I have reared you and brought up, But they have revolted against Me.'" Isaiah 1:2 NASB
"When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son." Hosea 11:1 NASB
"Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?" Malachi 2:10 NASB
"But He answered them, `My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.' For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God." John 5:17-18 NASB
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father...Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;" 2 Corinthians 1:2-3 NASB
What verses support trinity?
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19 NASB
Note that the word "name" is singular. This shows the idea of one God in three persons.
"When the Helper comes, whom I will send you from the Father, that is the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will witness of Me." John 15:26 NASB
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14 NASB
"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At the moment heaven was opened up, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lightning on Him. And a voice in heaven said, `This is my Son, who I love; with him I am well pleased.'" Matthew 3:16-17
You may ask me, "Joseph, why do we have to understand trinity?" If we do not know who God is, then we do not know whom we should worship. Thus, if we worship the wrong god, then we worship an idol. Deuteronomy 5:7-9 says:
"You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generation of those how hate Me."
Suggested References by Joseph Yosuk Lee:
Jehovah's Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse by David A. Reed
Do Christians Believe in Three Gods?, which is a pamphlet sponsored by RBC (Resources for Biblical Communication).
If you want to buy these books at reduced prices from CBD (Christian
Book Distributors), call (800) CHRISTIAN. Also call the Chapel Store at
(714) 540-2941.
