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God is Triune (Three-in-One)

I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it. . . . see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.  1 John 2:21-24

God is Triune. This is a uniquely Christian claim, that God is three-in-one: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Not only is this claim unique to Christians, but it is the very essence of the Christian vision of God. Why do we Christians claim this?

We say this because, in the words of theologian Alister McGrath, the understanding God as Trinity is “…the outcome of a process of sustained and critical reflection on the pattern of divine activity revealed in Scripture, and continued in Christian experience.” Our Scripture bears witness to a God who, when you put the pieces together, demands to be understood in a Trinitarian manner. In other words, if we pay careful attention to our whole Bible and to our Christian experience, we must only conclude that God is three-in-one.  

We proclaim the truth of the Trinity because we see how God has saved us, and the shape of the Gospel is Trinitarian. Because God is Father, Son, and Spirit, everything that God does is from the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. That includes his work in redeeming both us and the whole creation: the Father sends the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit, but it’s not just the gospel. In fact, everything that is truly Christian is, deep down, Trinitarian.

From the very beginning, Christians were Trinitarian, even before the relevant terms were developed and the concepts refined in church history. By worshipping Jesus, the first Christians were Trinitarians. Here’s what I mean: God and God alone is to be worshiped and worshipping not-God is idolatry. And yet they openly worshiped Jesus, who they recognized as God the Son made human. Also, by experiencing the saving presence of the Holy Spirit, the first Christians were Trinitarians, because only God can save us. This is not just true for them, but for you and me, too. We don’t need to be professional theologians to worship Jesus and experience the Holy Spirit at work in us, but when we do, we are Trinitarians.

What do we mean when we say that God is triune?

Let’s dig in just a bit deeper. The church has given us a helpful formulation: God is one ‘divine nature’ (Greek: ousia) in three ‘persons’ (Greek: hypostases). God self-exists as three persons who each fully possess the divine nature. Put very crudely, if you’re asking “what?” the answer is “God”, and if you’re asking “who?” the answer is “Father, Son, and Spirit.”

Of course, God’s nature and God’s existence are not like anything else. God is the absolutely greatest there ever could be—perhaps you could say that when it comes to beings, he’s the G.O.A.T. (the Greatest Of All Time). And if that’s true, it means God can have no equals or peers. There cannot be two beings who are both God. In that sense, God is one.

So God is one being, but this one being exists three times over (I know this seems weird, but speaking about God reveals the limitations of human understanding and of human language!). Perhaps it might help to state it this way: God’s life is made up of three interdependent persons. There are three divine persons that are instantiations of the divine nature: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three are not different beings, but different divine persons, each with the divine essence. Each is fully God. They are different persons only because of the relationship between them.

Why does it matter?

Well, the Trinity is not actually “useful.” Things that are useful are means to some other ends. Useful, practical things lead us to something better than themselves. Jesus teaches us that money is like this: it is useful to bring about other good things, but it is not valuable in itself. However, some things are not “useful” in that way.

My daughter is not “useful” to me—I should not use her merely as a way to make myself happy or make sure I’m cared for in my old age. She does in fact make me immensely happy, but that’s not where her worth lies—it lies in her being made in the image of God. Or consider beauty. We should not reduce beauty and art to be mere instruments that bring other things—say, social cohesion or entertainment. Beauty in itself is good.

The same is true with the truth that God is three-in-one. It should strike us with awe and wonder, and it should bring us delight to think about our triune God. But the God who is Father, Son, and Spirit is not merely a means for us to get something else—not peace or patience or good parenting tips or anything else. The triune God is the highest good and the highest beauty there is, and we do well to simply respond with wonder and with worship. 

Prayer:

“Almighty God, you have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us the grace to continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for you live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.” (From the Book of Common Prayer)

By Dr. Shawn Bawulski