How Can We Understand the Trinity?
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The Trinity is one of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. While defining it and knowing what it means is straightforward, it is one of the most difficult aspects of God for people to comprehend fully. One of the things that trip up both believers and unbelievers is trying to conceptualize how this is even possible. Many wrestle with trying to make sense of how it all works which leads to a question that is both common and fair, how can we understand the Trinity? I want to give you an answer that you may find a little surprising and maybe not too satisfying…you can’t, at least not in its totality.
What I mean by this is the doctrine of the Trinity is something you may be able to grasp conceptually. You can believe it and know it to be true. However, when you attempt to perceive it logically, it may not totally compute. This aspect of God is one of those things that can easily move beyond our ability to figure out completely. For today, my job is to give you some perspective and help you recognize how we can understand the Trinity. Pray for me.
What is the doctrine of the Trinity?
Before we can answer a question like “how can we understand the Trinity?” let’s first make sure we are all on the same page with what we are talking about. The word trinity stands for tri-unity and speaks to the triune nature of God. Even though the word trinity does not appear in the Bible, this teaching is a clear reflection of what we see in the pages of Scripture. I know there are some who would challenge that statement, but if you study the Scriptures, this is the way God has chosen to reveal himself.
The Trinity, also known as the Godhead, is the doctrinal belief there is one God who is eternally existent in three persons. Those persons are identified as God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. Sometimes they may be referred to as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are co-equal, co-eternal, and co-existent. This means they are equal in essence and nature, they are eternal, and they are distinct from each other. So far, that doesn’t sound so confusing, but here is where it becomes challenging. Even though they are three distinct persons, they make up one Godhead, meaning there is only one God. (Are you confused yet?) The Bible is clear in declaring there is only one God, and apart from him, there is no other. What makes this difficult for people to grasp is the Bible identifies and gives this title of divinity to three separate persons while at the same time declaring there is only one God. This is clearly where the challenge is for many people.
How can we understand the Trinity?
People have made various attempts to describe the Trinity using things we see in everyday life. One analogy some have used is water because water can exist in three stages, as a liquid (water), as a solid (ice), and as a gas (steam), and yet each one is still H2O which is the molecular formula for water. On the surface, that seems like a good way of attempting to understand the Trinity. While there are some aspects of that which make sense, the best I can say is the analogy falls short. It does not capture the complete essence of the triune nature of who God is. While water can exist in those three forms, it can only exist in one of those forms at a time. Water sitting in a glass cannot be ice and steam at the same time. Water is more modular. If it is ice (solid), it is still H2O, but it can’t be water (liquid). This is not true with God. God is not Father at one time and then switches and becomes the Son; that is not who he is. God is co-existent and co-eternal, which means he exists as God in three persons all the time and for all eternity, and yet there is still only one God. (I told you this is much easier to define than it is to grasp fully.)
Do you have to fully understand the Trinity to believe it?
Toggling between believing and understanding the Trinity causes me to ask do you have to fully understand the Trinity to believe it? The short answer to this question is no. One of the arguments people attempt to use against the Trinity is since it goes beyond their reason and they can’t understand it; therefore it cannot be true. After all, we should be able to understand God. While I can appreciate the notion, unfortunately, that is not how we define truth. Truth is either true, or it’s not. Truth exists independent of our ability to grasp it. There are many things we know to be true about God that we cannot explain or understand, yet we still believe. For example, we all believe in God’s love, but can you really explain God’s love? Take a moment and try to fully fathom God’s love for you. I believe you will discover his love for you goes beyond your ability to fully grasp it logically, even though you may understand it conceptually. The same can be true of his mercy or his grace. There are certain aspects of God’s nature and character that simply go beyond our comprehension, and yet we still believe them because we know they are true. The Trinity falls into that category. In other words, you don’t have to understand it fully, and at the same time, you can be convinced it is true. (You can breathe a sigh of relief now.)
Here are two things to recognize as you attempt to understand the Trinity.
1. Recognize the doctrine of the Trinity is what the Scriptures teach.
If you are going to understand the Trinity, what you must do is know for yourself this is what is taught in the Bible. This means you will need to take time to study the Bible and see for yourself this truth in the pages of Scripture. You should note you may encounter people who will attempt to convince you otherwise that’s why, but you must be convinced and know what the Bible teaches. Convinced does not mean you can reason it all out; convinced means you can see it clearly in scripture. While I don’t have space to do it in this article, as you study the Scriptures in their entirety, I believe this is the clear conclusion you will come to. Remember, there will be those who do not agree with you, but you must be certain of what you believe.
2. Recognize God is not limited to our thinking or reasoning
I believe it would be a travesty to have a God who we have all figured out. Anyone who tells you they have God figured out and they know exactly what he is going to do is lying to you. Here is how the Bible compares God’s thoughts and ways to ours.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:8-9
If we are going to be honest, everything about who God is goes beyond our human ability to fully conceive. This makes sense because we are finite beings, while he is eternal. The triune nature of God is just one aspect of who he is, and look at how we struggle with figuring out how that all works together. It is okay to humbly recognize God is way bigger than our minds or imaginations, and we will never fully grasp in this lifetime the essence of all he is.
One last point about the Trinity.
You don’t have to grasp the concept completely to believe it. Remember my example about the love of God. You may not fully understand his love, but you can still know and believe he loves you. The same thing is true of the Trinity. Having a full and complete understanding of how God is one God revealed in three persons is not a prerequisite for you believing it. It is okay to say I know it is true, but I still can’t figure out how it all works. What you will discover the longer you walk with God is you will be saying that about many different aspects of his character and nature. I know they are true, I just can’t figure them all out. At the end of the day, that is part of what makes him God.
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