TOPIC:“A Three In One God” (Trinity Sunday)
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:II Corinthians 13:11-14
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.” (II Corinthians 13:14)
Throughout the years of my ministry I have often been asked the question: Does the Bible teach a Trinity? The sermon is being preached to answer that question. As Christians we believe in the Trinitarian concept of God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each reaffirms its faith in a triune God and honors the Blessed Trinity.
Belief in the Trinity is at the heart of the Christian faith. It is an eternal and unchanging truth which is indispensable to a correct understanding of God and His Word - the Holy Bible. The Trinity is not some obscure concept of God innovated by man through human reason, but is a compelling theological truth unveiled only by God through divine revelation. Let us examine the truth concerning this three-in-one God.
I.
Consider first of all the MEANING of the Trinity. The word “trinity” itself is not found in the Bible. Tertullian, a Christian theologian of North Africa, was the first to use the term in its Latin form “trinitas” at the Synod of Alexandria in 317 A.D. when he developed his own view of the Godhead. Tertullian's doctrine of the Trinity was not totally Biblical as it placed Christ in subjection to God the Father, a little lower in rank.
The Christian Church finally stated its belief and formulated its doctrine of the Trinity at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. when Christ was declared to be co-equal, co-eternal, and co-existent with God the Father. The Nicene Creed presented to the world a Trinitarian concept of God in which the three Persons of the Godhead are divine and are of one substance. The word “trinity” means “threefoldness,” “three in one,” or “one which is three.” When we think of it theologically the words mean that there is One God but there are three distinct Persons in the Godhead. God is Three in One - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
A. God is a Divine Unity
The Bible clearly teaches that there is one Divine Being known as God. Moses declared this truth: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:4). God Himself declared through His prophet Isaiah: “I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6). The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “there is . . .