In the following brief, Dr. Walter Martin explains Biblically the doctrine
of the Trinity.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
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The Doctrine Of The Trinity
by Dr. Walter Martin
The Doctrine of the Trinity teaches that within the unity of the one
Godhead there are three separate persons who are coequal in power, nature,
and eternity. This doctrine is derived from the clear teaching of
Scripture,
and is not a man-made doctrine as some (such as the Jehovah's Witnesses)
have claimed. Let us briefly examine some of the New Testament evidences
for
this im****tant doctrine.
1. The Incarnation. The birth of the Lord Jesus Christ as described
in
the accounts in Matthew and Luke show that the doctrine of the Trinity was
not a later invention of theologians. Luke records what an angel said to
Mary: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High
will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of
God" (Luke 1:35).
Since other passages of Scripture reveal that the term "Most High"
refers to God the Father, we have in Luke a concrete instance of the Holy
Spirit, the Father, and the Son all being mentioned together in the
supernatural event of the Incarnation.
2. The Baptism of Our Lord. When Jesus Christ was baptized, the
heavens
opened and the Holy Spirit "descended on him in bodily form like a dove.
And
a voice came from heaven: 'You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well
pleased'" (Luke 3:21-22). In these verses we see the Son being baptized,
the
Spirit descending upon Him, and the Father bearing testimony.
3. Discourses of Christ. In John 14--16 Christ speaks of the persons
of
the Trinity in His Upper Room Discourse. Jesus declared to the disciples,
"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be
with you forever -- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him,
because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives
with you and will be in you" (John 14:16-17). Our Lord here prays to the
Father for the Spirit, and His emphasis on triunity is quite apparent. In
John 14:26 and 15:26 Christ uses the same formula, mentioning the three
persons of the Deity and indicating their unity, not only of purpose and
will but of basic nature.
4. Paul's Letters. The apostle Paul definitely taught the triune
nature
of God. He wrote: "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of
God, and the fellow****p of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Cor.
13:14).
It would have been difficult for Paul to give this benediction if the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were not equal persons within the Godhead.
5. The Great Commission. In Matthew 28:18-20 the Lord Jesus
commissions
the disciples to go out and preach the gospel and to make disciples of all
nations. He commands them also to baptize "in the name of the Father, and
of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Taken with the other passages bearing on
the subject, this becomes an extremely powerful argument for the Christian
doctrine of the trinity.
6. Creation. Although the Bible does not explain to us how the three
persons are the one God, it tells us most emphatically that the Spirit of
God created the world (Gen. 1:2), the Father created the world (Heb. 1:2),
and the Son created the world (Col. 1:16). If you check the creation
references in the New Testament, you will see that these particular
references are bolstered by several others teaching the same things.
The apostle Paul declared in Acts 17:24, "the God who made the world
and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in
temples built by hands." This forces us to an irresistible conclusion. As
creation has been attributed to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
singly and collectively, they are the one God. There cannot be three gods.
The Scripture declares: "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the
earth;
for I am God, and there is no other" (Isa. 45:22). Hence there is unity in
trinity and trinity in unity.
7. The Resurrection of Christ. A final instance of Trinitarian
emphasis
is that of the resurrection of our Lord. In John 2 Christ declared to the
Jews, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days" (v.
19). John hastens to tell us that Jesus was speaking of the resurrection
of
His earthly body (v. 21). Other Scriptures, however, state that Christ was
raised by the agency of the Holy Spirit (e.g., Rom. 8:11). And Peter
explicitly states that the Father raised the Son (Acts 3:26). So, again,
God's Word affirms the triune nature of God. We may not fully understand
the
great truth of the Trinity. However, we can see the rays of light which
emanate from God's Word and which teach us that, in a mysterious sense
beyond the comprehension of man's finite mind, God is one in nature but
three in person.
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