5-Minute Christianity

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.