THE TRINITY is the core belief of Christianity. It defines our understanding of who God is. As such, it is the basis for our comprehension of all other teachings, but we often misunderstand it.
Below I provide what I hope is a clear explanation of our limited understanding of God and His nature.
What the Trinity means
Let’s begin our understanding by defining what the word “Trinity” means:
The word Trinity joins the words Tri (Three) + Unity = Trinity.
By doing this, it expresses the Christian understanding of God:
God is three persons but one single essence.
To understand this essence, I will refer back to my article “What is God Anyway?”. There I established that for Christians, the word “God” refers to:
“The divine essence from which all things exist. Composed of the eternal exchange of love between three divine persons.”
Who the Trinity is
The above defines what the Trinity means. Now we need to understand WHO the Trinity is:
The three persons of the Trinity are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
I clarify that they are not three gods, or three parts of a god, or three qualities of one god — all common misunderstandings. The three persons of the Trinity are one God because they all have one will, one purpose, one nature, one essence, are of equal importance and honor, equally infinite and eternal. However, at the same time, they are still three distinct persons.
Because they are distinct, each of these three persons has different attributes:
The Father begets, the Son is begotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeds.
and
The Father loves, the Son receives the Father’s love and returns it, and the Holy Spirit is their shared love.
They also carry out different roles in God’s actions within creation:
All things proceed from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.
The Role and Nature of the Son within the Trinity
It is important to note that the Son, Jesus, is also the Word of God, which became flesh (incarnate) in human form. Which helps clarify their roles, such as in creation. For example, in Genesis 1:1-4, we see the Three’s presence and how they work together to carry out God’s work within Creation.
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
Here, we can see that the text expressly talks about the existence of God’s Spirit and how God made Creation. He SPOKE. So all creation proceeded from the Father, through His Word (the Son), via the action of His Spirit (The Holy Spirit).
Jesus Christ, The Divine Word Incarnate
The fact that Christians believe that Jesus is God’s Word incarnate, and how He invites us to partake of His nature, is also clearly stated in John 1:
1 In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him, all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Why is this important?
God wants us to become part of their communion, to become part of the Trinity. So understanding the Trinity and God’s nature allows us to understand that:
The only reason God created the universe and us is that HE LOVES US!
He still loves us!
And God wants us to partake of His Love completely for all eternity!
The Trinity shows the type of union that God wants us to have with Him:
We are to join with Him by becoming Love, God’s essence, and thus enter into full union with the Trinity.
Our Communion With God
Once we have repented our sins and made Christ our Lord, the Holy Spirit comes upon us and joins with our spirit. This act of union is usually referred to as our Baptism, where:
We become one with the Father via our union with the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ.
It is also essential to understand that in our Baptism:
When we join with the Holy Spirit, we receive ALL of God, the full Trinity:
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We don’t just receive part of God or a god. The three persons of the Trinity are inseparable, each person being fully God, the whole Trinity at once. So if we join with one, we become one with all three.
Additionally, once we enter into union with the Holy Spirit, we can communicate directly with God through our prayers. So when we pray as Christians:
We speak to the Father by being in the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
And
The Father talks to us through Jesus Christ via the Holy Spirit.
My Testimony of this Truth
God blessed me by allowing me to experience personal encounters with the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, which I include in the Testimonials section. These experiences give me the confidence to confirm the truth of this understanding of God’s nature, which Christianity brings to the world.
Additionally, God provides us with miracles to prove to us the Truth about the Gospel. I have also personally experienced several miracles during my walk with God on my Road to Righteousness. An example of these that clearly shows God’s actions is Divine Healing, which I have had the honor to experience while praying for people.
While praying for sick people and laying hands on them, I have felt the Holy Spirit in me awaken and begin to give what I can only describe as a spiritual blood transfusion. Here I felt the Holy Spirit putting God’s life into a person via one hand and removing the sickness from them via the other. I could perceive life pouring out into the person down one arm and a slight echo of pain coming up my other arm and disappearing.
What was happening?
Following God, the Father’s will, the Holy Spirit in me was pouring forth God’s divine life essence into a person and taking their sickness and absorbing it into Jesus. So God the Father healed a person, through Jesus, via the Holy Spirit, allowing His unworthy servant (myself) to participate in His work and nature (love expressed via charity) thanks to His Grace.
Having seen these miracles, I can confirm that despite what others and the world may say:
God is very much real; what the Bible and Church say is Truth, and God is alive and working openly in the world today.
As you go forward along your Roads, please remember and be comforted by the following Truth:
God is three persons but one single essence, Love. He loves you, and He wants YOU to become one with Him, to join His Love for all eternity.
