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What are the roles of the Trinity? What do the various members of the Trinity do? Well, there are some places in the Bible that give is a glimpse of the different roles. One of the places we can look to see this is in the creation account. All three members of the Trinity played a different part. In Genesis 1:9-10, we learn that God spoke the earth into existence. Later on in John 1:3, the Bible tells us that God the Son, or Jesus, carried out those words. It says that “All things were made through him.” And, Genesis 1:2 teaches us that during creation, the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. They were each involved but in different ways.

Does the doctrine of the Trinity mean that there are really three Gods, and not just one? Let me begin by noting that we need to be comfortable with the reality that there are things about God we can’t fully understand. The Trinity is one of those things. The Bible is clear that God exists as three distinct persons. But the Bible is also clear that there is only one God. There are not three God. There’s one God. One of the clearest places we can turn in the Bile to know this is Deuteronomy 6:4 which makes the definitive statement: “The LORD is one.” The Bible often repeats that truth in other places. One example that you can look up and read is Isaiah 45:5.

Are the three members of the Trinity the same? No they’re not. The Bible teaches that God exists as three distinct persons. What that means is that the Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit. The Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. In the last couple of episodes, I mentioned some Bible passages that teach this. Each of the three persons of the Trinity is fully God. God the Father is fully God. Jesus us fully God. The Holy Spirit is fully God. So while they are distinct from one another, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God. THIS DIAGRAM might help you.

Did Jesus believe in the Trinity? Last time, I mentioned how the Bible begins by presenting God as a Trinity, even though the word Trinity is not in the Bible. Jesus also taught that he was part of a Trinity. Toward the end of his time on earth, he commissioned his disciples to carry on the mission. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus said this: “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Jesus believes that there are three distinct members of the Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three distinct persons. You’ll also find this in Jude 20–21 if you want to read another passage. 

Where in the Bible should we look to find the Trinity? Well, the word Trinity is never found in the Bible. However, the word Trinity is used to describe a truth that's found in many places in the Bible. In fact, the Bible starts out, right at the beginning, with the concept of God existing as a Trinity. For instance, in Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” The Bible’s use of the words "us" and "our" tells us that more than one person was involved in the creation of the world. It’s as if the Father, Son, and Spirit are having a conversation with each other as they plan the creation. I’ll give you another example next time.

With this episode, I begin a series on what we call the Trinity. When you hear Christians talk about God, you’ll hear them use different names. For example, we might say simply God or the Father. There’s Jesus Christ and there’s the Holy Spirit. But those names are not just different names for one person. They are actually the names of three different persons. Here’s the part that's difficult to understand. God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit always existed, and they’ve existed as three distinct persons. But, there is only one God. That’s what we mean when we talk about the Trinity. One God, in three persons. We’ll talk about that more, over several podcasts. 

With all of God’s different attributes, how do they work together? The best way to think about that is the word unity. Sometimes one of God’s attributes might be emphasized more than the others. Some of his attributes even seem to be in conflict. For example, God’s love and God’s wrath seem to be opposites. However, the truth is that all of God’s attributes are in perfect harmony and God is unified in his attributes. It would be wrong to think that God is more of one of his attributes and less of another. It would also be wrong to think that at some points in history God was one thing and at other points, he was another. God is every attribute, completely and always.

Jesus said this in Matthew 5:48: “Your heavenly Father is perfect.” So what does it mean to be perfect? For something to be perfect requires two things. It must possess every quality that is desirable and excellent, and it must lack everything that would be considered a flaw or undesirable. For example, a perfect diamond would have every single quality that makes a diamond great, and it couldn’t have any flaws or any undesirable qualities. To say that God is perfect means that he possesses only excellent qualities and there’s no desirable quality that God doesn’t have. You and I can’t be perfect in this lifetime but we can strive to be more like God each day.

What things are impossible for God? The last couple episodes have explored God’s omnipotence and I said that God can do whatever he pleases. What, if any, are the things that God cannot do? Well, the only limits on what God can do are internal limits based on God’s own character. God can’t do things that violate other aspects of his nature or character. Here’s some examples. Titus 1:2 includes this phrase: “God, who never lies.” God cannot lie. Or James 1:13 which includes the phrase "God cannot be tempted with evil.” But again, the reason God can't do these things is because they violate his own character. Nothing outside of God can keep him from doing anything.

How does the Bible define and describe God’s omnipotence? The Bible teaches that God is omnipotent. This means that God can do anything he wants to do as long as it's consistent with his attributes and nature. The best way to think about this is that there is nothing that limits or hinders God.  He can do whatever he decides to do. The Apostle Paul told us in Ephesians 3 that God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.” Whatever you think you need God to do for you, he can do that, and he can do more than what you can even think up. Jesus said it like this: “With God all things are possible” God’s power is infinite.

What does it mean that God is omnipotent? The word can be rendered all-powerful. God himself provided the biblical definition of his omnipotence when he appeared to Abraham and asked this rhetorical question in Genesis 18: “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” In other words, there is nothing that God cannot do that he wants to do. God has internal limits on his own actions that are based on his character. For example, God can’t lie. In fact, God can’t commit any sin. But we need to understand that anything God can’t do is based on his own character. There is nothing outside of God that can thwart his will, or prevent him from doing anything he wants. He has the power to do whatever he pleases.

How should we understand the wrath of God? God provides a means of salvation from his judgment, but he still hates sin and his wrath burns toward all sin. Wrath can be thought of as intense hatred. When we talk about God’s wrath, we’re referring to his intense hatred toward sin. At some point, in God’s timeline of history, his wrath will be unleashed against sinners. John said this in John 3:36: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” In that one verse, we have the certainty of God’s wrath toward all who reject him, but we also have the offer of deliverance for those who believe.

In the last two episodes, I talked about righteousness and justice. The fact that God is both righteous and just has huge implications. One thing it means for us is that God always treats people as they deserve. Without partiality, he punishes all sin and everything that is against his will and nature. While that is true, God also offers forgiveness, and those whom God has forgiven will not be punished. How can that be? Well, God established a system of justice whereby someone who didn’t deserve punishment could step in and take someone else’s punishment. That’s what Jesus did when he died. God’s righteousness and justice were satisfied by Jesus, and in turn, God can forgive those who respond in faith.

What is justice? When we perceive injustice, we’re outraged by it. Humans are born with a need for justice, but we don’t always know what it means. I’ve always defined justice as equal treatment under the law. That fit’s closely with what the Bible says. Leviticus 19:15 says: “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” So, justice has at is core a lack of partiality. By way of example, racism is a form of injustice because it reveals partiality based on skin color. Biblical justice demands that we’re not lenient to some groups and harsh to others, but that we remove partiality in our judgments.

What does it mean that God is righteous? The easiest way to understand God’s righteousness is to know that everything he does is the right thing to do. Moses said it like this in Deuteronomy 32:4. Speaking of God, he said: “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” Simply put, it means that God always does what is right. By the way, this is part of what it means to be God. That’s because God is the standard of what is right. As humans, if we want to do what is right and good, we don’t define what that means for ourselves. The way for us to do what is right is to follow God’s commands and his moral character.

How does God's holiness relate to us? Well, for the Christian, the implications are significant. The Bible tells us that the holiness of God provides Christians with an example that we are supposed to follow. We certainly can’t do it perfectly as God can, but we are supposed to live lives of holiness and seek to remove sin from our lives. God declared to his people in Leviticus 19:2 that “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” Now remember, this is what we strive for, even though we often fail. Hebrews 12:14 says “Strive for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” So, Because God is holy, those who seek to follow him pursue holiness as well.

Is God selfish? God is holy in that he can’t sin. God is also the one who determines what is or is not sin. So for God to be holy means that he is devoted to his own will, and devoted to continually pursuing his own honor and glory. I used to be a children’s pastor and children struggled with this because it seems selfish. It’s not. If I live my life in pursuit of my own glory, that would be sinful. It’s idolatry to honor anything above God. But we need to remember that the same is true for God himself. If God were to pursue the honor and glory of something other than himself, he would be committing idolatry, which he can’t do. Because he is holy, he must pursue his own glory.

The Bible declares that God is holy. One very clear example of that is Psalm 99:9 where David gives us this command: “Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy!” To be holy means to set apart from what is worldly or common, and to be completely separated from sin. So there is nothing about God that is impure or sinful. Everything that he does is right and good. In 1 John 1:5, John didn’t use the word holy but he described what holiness is when he said this: “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” Nothing about God is or ever could be sinful. God is holy.

A few episodes back, I read a verse from 1 John where Jesus is said to be the propitiation for our sin. That’s a word that most people don’t use often, but it’s important to know what it means. Webster dictionary defines it as “the act of gaining or regaining the favor or goodwill of someone.” That accurately represents how the word is used in the Bible. Because of our sin, we are out of favor with God. Jesus accomplished propitiation for us. His sacrifice appeased God’s wrath and made it possible for us to have God’s favor. Not because of what we’ve done, but because of what Jesus did for us when he died on the cross for our sins. We simply respond in faith.

Why is racism a blasphemy against God? It is, and here’s why. The Bible tells us that God created the first human couple and that all humans since then are descendants from that one family. Any belief that one person is inherently better than another, violates God’s created order. He created one human race, and we are all part of it. In Genesis chapter 12, God called Abraham to be the father of the faith and declared that in Abraham, all the nations of the world would be blessed. Then in Revelation 7, John sees a vision of people from every nation and language worshiping together before the throne. From beginning to end, the gospel unites us in Christ, and God’s Word teaches that racism in any form is sin. Thanks for listening.