Thursday, February 25, 2021

A Biblical Defense of the Trinity

Part 1 - The Deity of Christ


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f you search for the word “trinity” in the Bible, you will not find it. However, throughout the Scriptures there is a multitude of evidence which plainly reveals a triune God. One God, in three persons. Namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each have a distinct role, but together they form a single unit, or Godhead. It is a mystery, but one which the Bible yields much light on. 

Essential to understanding the Trinity is recognizing the deity of Christ. Specifically, that during His time on earth, the Lord Jesus was equally God and man, having a dual nature. Likewise, that He was with the Father, as God, from before the foundations of the earth, and still is.  

In denying the Trinity, one must either deny the deity of Christ, or make Him a second “god”, subordinate to God the Father. To do either is heresy, and threatens not only the Trinity, but our very salvation. For, if the Lord Jesus walked on earth as merely a human being, His death on the cross would offer no more hope for sinners than my death, or yours. Why? Because the blood, human blood, is tainted, all the way from Adam (1 Cor. 15:22). 

Similarly, if Christ were only God, and not human, the sacrifice would be worthless, because He would not be like us, to offer Himself as our substitute. But since He was both God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ could and did fulfill both requirements. 

Considering how critical a doctrine it is, this post will focus primarily on the evidence surrounding the divine nature of Christ, and His relationship to the Father. The role of the Holy Spirit, and further evidence of the Trinity will be addressed in the next post

                                                                                              

Christ acknowledged Himself to be God 

One of the strongest proofs of His divinity is that the Lord Jesus, while stating “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matt. 4:20), allowed people to worship Him, thus indicating that He was God –

Luke 24:52 - And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:

John 20:28 - And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

If this were not clear enough, Christ plainly declares Himself to be one with the Father. And He had the authority to forgive sins – something reserved only to God. Even the Pharisees recognized this claim, though they denied the truth of it. In fact, they sought to kill Him for it –

Mark 2:7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

John 10:30, 33  – I and my Father are one. v. 33 – The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself  God.

If Christ was not God, the Jews would have been right to condemn and kill Him for blasphemy. 

Image of the invisible God 

In 1 Timothy 3:16, it is stated clearly that God was manifest in the flesh. In the book of John, the Lord Himself says to Philip, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). However, the Scriptures also tell us that “No man hath seen God at any time” (John 1:18). At first glance, this seems pretty contradictory. How can both be true?

John 14:9 - Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 

1 Timothy 3:16 - And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

 Colossians 1:15 -  Who [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

The answer can be found in the imperfect example of our bodies. As a born-again believer, I am made up of three parts – body, soul, and spirit. My body is visible, but my spirit and soul are not. Who I am is (thankfully) not limited to the physical body, what you see, but the sum of all three parts. In a similar fashion, the Godhead consists of a visible image, Christ, and two invisible parts - the Father, and the Holy Spirit. A trinity, or tri-part being.

If Christ were only human, "all the fulness of the Godhead" could not have dwelt in Him (Col. 2:9). 

Divine Titles given to Christ 

There are numerous different titles or names given to the Lord, which indicate His deity. Many titles which also belong to God the Father, in the Old Testament. The following sections below reveal several, with the cross references between Old and New Testaments. 

 I Am:

Exodus 3:14 - And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.)

John 8:58 - Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. 

No explanation needed here. Christ is echoing the words of the Father, who claims to be I AM. It is too grammatically incorrect to simply be unrelated or coincidental. 

The Mighty God:

Isaiah 9:6 - For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Matthew 1:23 -  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Hebrews 1:8 - But unto the Son he [God the Father] saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

Here, it is prophesied in Isaiah that a child would be born to man, who would be called “The mighty God.” And again, in Matthew, the name given to the child means “God with us”. And in Hebrews, the Father Himself confirms it by referring to His Son as God. Not only does this prove Christ to be God, but it shows equality to the Father, not subordination. 

The Rock:

Deuteronomy 32:3-4 -  Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.  He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

2 Samuel 23:3 - The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me...

Psalm 89:26 - ...Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. 

1 Corinthians 10:4 - And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ  

In the Old Testament reference, the "Rock" is clearly shown to be God. In the New Testament, it is shown to be Christ. It was upon this rock which the Lord would build His church (Matt. 16:18). 

The Lamb:

Genesis 22:8 - And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

John 1:29 - The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

The wording in Genesis 22:8 is important. Most new “bibles” obscure the significance of the reference by adding the word “for” before “himself”. But in the King James Bible (as quoted above), the wording offers a veiled promise that God Himself would be the lamb. That Lamb, as we know, was the Lord Jesus Christ. The only begotten Son of God.

The Word of God: 

Psalm 138:2 - I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name

John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Hebrews 11:3 - Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

John 1:14 - And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Revelation 19:13 - And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

This title, exclusive to Christ, is a mystery in of itself. When I first came across it, it felt as though I'd made a great discovery. All at once, several other things made sense, such as how the Lord Jesus Christ can be IN me, as a believer. I won’t go into the detail now, but I’ve written about it here, if you’d like to read it. As relates to this post, the verses present yet more proof that Jesus Christ was and is a divine being. They also show that He is eternal, that His life was not confined to His walk on earth. By God’s Word, the universe was created. By believing in God’s Word we are saved. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Because Jesus Christ, the Word, IS God.

The Sacrifice:

Before closing, let us consider this one last example, where the Scriptures show it God's own blood was shed for us, and that it was He who laid down our life for us, as the Lord Jesus Christ - 

Acts 20:28 - Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Revelation 1:5 - And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

1 John 3:16 - Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

From these verses, we see that it could not have been a mere human who purchased our redemption. The Lord Jesus Christ, as God Himself, shed His blood on the cross, that we might be saved. 

                                                                                              

After careful examination of these and other Scriptures, it should be clear to any honest Bible student that Jesus was and is God. There are no two ways around it - either Christ was God Himself, and equal to the Father, or else He was one of the greatest liars and sinners in all of history. And if the latter were true, all of our faith and hope in salvation would be in vain. We would be "Of all men, most miserable." 

(Link to Part 2 - One God, Three Persons)


Please note: this is by no means meant to be an exhaustive study – there are countless other verses and examples (such as the miracles and resurrection of Christ) which could have been used, but had to be omitted due to time and space. 

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