About Jesus    Steve Sweetman

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The Trinity

Two fundamental aspects of the nature of God are the
Unity of God, and the Trinity of God. Before we can
talk about the Trinity of God we need to understand
what the Unity of God means. Therefore this study will be
divided into two major sections; Unity, and Trinity.

I would like to suggest as you read this article that
you not skim over the scripture verses. I have purposely
written them into this article instead of simply giving
you the references for you to look up. God's Word is
powerful and is extremely valuable when read and
contemplated. Take your time as you read these verses,
and think about them carefully. Let them speak to you
more than my words of explanation.

Unity

What does the Unity of God mean. It means that God is undivided and indivisible. God is one complete Person (person being a human term to describe an unhuman God) with one will.  The words undivided and indivisible basically mean the same thing. In part, Webster's Electronic Dictionary says this about the word "divisible"; "to become or cause to become disunited or disjointed...". Therefore it is clear that God Himself cannot be separated into parts that are alien to each other. He cannot be separated, divided, or disjointed in any aspect of His being, whether in thought, emotion or action. We as humans have divided hearts. We have divided thoughts. We tend to drift back and forth from feeling to feeling, from one thought to another.

This is not possible with God. He is one. He has but one "will". In these things He never changes. He is eternally the same. He is eternally focussed and united in every aspect of His Divine nature. "will". In these things He never changes. He is eternally the same. He is eternally focussed and united in every aspect of His Divine nature.

God is not merely one, but He also is the "Only One".This thought is prevalent throughout the Old Testament. Maybe one reason why it was stressed so much was Israel's constant tendency to wander away into idolatry, or polytheism. That is also a problem in the modern day church. Idolatry is whatever we give our hearts' affections over to in such a way that it controls us. Maybe one reason why it was stressed so much was Israel's constant tendency to wander away into idolatry, or polytheism. That is also a problem in the modern day church. Idolatry is whatever we give our hearts' affections over to in such a way that it controls us.

God is one, and the Only One

Deut. 4:35+39

"You were shown these things that you might know that
the Lord is God; besides Him there is no other.
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is
God in heaven above and on the earth below . There is no
other."

I Kings 8:60-61

"...so that all peoples of the earth may know that the
Lord is God and that there is none other. But your hearts
must be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by
His decrees and obey His commands, as at this time."

Isa. 45:5-6

"I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me
there is no God, I will strengthen you though you have not
acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to
the place of its setting men may know that there is none
besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other."

The words, "I am the Lord, there is none other" are
repeated in the above verses and in various other
scriptures. Again it was one of the major points, major
truths, of the Old Testament. There is but one God and He
is Lord. He has no rivals. There is no one else on His
level of existence. No Satanic power, no angel, nor any
spiritual identity exists on the same level of existence
as He. This truth really does put things in an eternal
perspective.

The New Testament also speaks of God being one, and
the Only One.

Mark 12:29

"The most important one" (commandment), answered Jesus,
"is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is
one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart..."
Jesus' statement here is a direct quote from Deut.
6:4. The next verse, where Jesus speaks about loving your
neighbour is a quote from Lev. 19:18.

The two commands that Jesus gives us in these verses
are in response to a specific question concerning the Law.
To me the interesting part here is the opening clause,
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one". I
would think that God was trying to get the attention of
Israel by saying these words due to their tendency to
drift from Him. Whatever the case, the point is made
that God is One.

It is interesting to note that the words "our God" are
used. Before the Law came, God was the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. The Lord was the God of Israel's
Fathers, but now in Deut. we see that "the Lord is our
God". There is a new sense of personalization. This is
also clearly seen in the first verse of Deut. 6 which
says, "these are the commands, decrees, and laws the Lord
your God directed me to teach you..." No longer was He
the God of Abraham. No longer were the Israelites God's
grandchildren. The Lord was their own God, and the Lord
was one. He was not divided, nor could He be divided.
This distinguished Israel from their neighbours with many
gods.

1 Cor. 8:4-6

"... about eating food sacrificed to idols. We know
that an idol is nothing at all in this world and that
there is no God but one... but for us there is but one
God, the Father..."

Here we see Paul confirm the idea that there is only
one God. He admits that there are many gods and lords,
but in actuality they are merely idols, not gods at all.
He plainly states that for the Christian there is "one
God", the Father.

The idea that God is one was deeply rooted into the
consciousness of Israel. Thus it made it difficult, if
not impossible for them to believe in the deity of Christ.
Some sects of Jews did believe that Jesus was
supernaturally endowed at His baptism, but to believe He
was God was not consistent with what they understood the
Old Testament writings to say. Thus Jesus became that
"stumbling stone", and that "rock of offense". It is the
same truth that separates Christians today from all other
religions and peoples. Jesus, who is the Lord and Christ,
is still the stone that causes the world to stumble. His
deity and the belief in that makes us or breaks us before
the Lord when it comes to salvation. The world and its
religions seem incapable of accepting this fact as truth.

Therefore they reject Jesus for who He really is. They
stumble and fall at the truth and are lost in the presence
of their own gods.

So once we start thinking of the deity of Christ we
come to the idea of the Trinity, which is the next point
of discussion.

Trinity

Before defining what we mean by Trinity we need to
make the point clear once again, that God is one. His
essence, or that which comprises Him as an identity cannot
be divided. If we don't properly understand and believe
this to be fact then we will tend to believe that the
Trinity is actually three gods. Three gods is not the
traditional thinking, although in church history some
groups have believed the idea that there are three
separate gods, somehow united in one, or at least one in
purpose. We will examine the traditional view of Trinity.

This is what Henry Thiessen says about Trinity in his
book entitled, "Introductory Lectures In Systematic
Theology", page 135. "By the Trinity we mean that there
are three eternal distinctions in the one divine essence,
known respectively as, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit". He
also says, "...there are not three distinctions in the
essence, but three qualities in one and the same person".

To me the point that Thiessen makes is essential. We
too often view the Trinity as three separate and distinct
persons. each having their own "will", with the same
purpose, and varying responsibilities. This is not the
traditional thinking either. There is but one "divine
will", one "divine essence". If you say that there are
three divine wills then what you have is three separate
gods. There were certain groups in the second century and
beyond, even unto today that do believe the "three will"
theory.

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