Who can explain the mystery of The Trinity? Praise God, I believe in The Trinity, but can I really comprehend it? It is way beyond our human comprehension. Some go as far as saying, the mere fact that the word Trinity is not recorded in Holy Scripture is evidence enough for us to discredit it.
A few Christian Denominations strongly teach that The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit are but manifestations of God. By and large, the majority of The Body of Christ accepts the belief in The Trinity, although no one can fully explain The Doctrine of The Trinity.
To my amazement, I discovered the opening statement of The Old Testament coupled with Genesis 1:26 is a clear-cut revelation of The TRIUNE GODHEAD. In the original language (Hebrew) of The old Testament, the word “Elohim” is used. To my surprise I discovered this was the plural form of God and no doubt there is a confirmation to this fact as we consider Genesis 1:26: “LET US CREATE MAN IN OUR IMAGE AND LIKENESS.” The plural form is evidently clear, which no doubt sets forth The Doctrine of The Trinity.
Perhaps the one Scriptural verse that creates doubt of the validity of The Trinity is recorded in Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is ONE LORD.” However doing a Word study of “ONE” and that using The Strong’s Hebrew Concordance Number 259 much light is shed on the true meaning of “ONE” in the context of Deuteronomy 6:4.
The Hebrew word for ONE is ‘echad and it is very interesting and even exciting to note the explanation in The Strong’s: “a numeral from 258; properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first:–a, alike, alone, altogether, and, any(-thing), apiece, a certain, (dai-)ly, each (one), + eleven, every, few, first, + highway, a man, once, one, only, other, some, together.”
Words that stand out are: united, alike, altogether, each (one). Furthermore considering 258 much more light is shed on ONE: 0258. dxa ‘achad, aw-khad’ perhaps a primitive root; to unify, i.e. (figuratively) collect (one’s thoughts):–go one way or other.
No doubt, we can conclude that in the context of Deuteronomy 6:4 and the study of the Hebrew words it is evidently clear that “ONE” speaks of UNITY AND NOT SINGLENESS. Sometimes just being simple-minded helps us to see the truth of the matter. Being simple-minded let me ask the question can a person be united with himself or herself. A simple minded answer is absolutely NO. WE ARE UNITED WITH ANOTHER PERSON OR PERSONS. Let me cite the classic example of UNITY, THE TRUE ESSENCE OF ONENESS. God personally says in HIs unadulterated Word that TWO are ONE: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh (Ge 2:24; see also Mt 19:5; Mr 10:6-8; 1Co 6:16; Eph 5:31).
It is dogmatically clear from the above-mentioned Scriptures that a man and a wife in the sight of The MOST HIGH GOD ARE ONE. To my thinking, this is the ultimate analogy of The Triune Godhead. I must concede husband and wife are only two persons whist in The Doctrine of The Trinity there are three persons. My point is this, be it that two can be One and that human beings and how so much more can THREE BE ONE AND THAT BEING GOD. ARE NOT ALL THINGS POSSIBLE WITH GOD?
There are also those scholars (of various religious persuasions) who strongly advocate the fact the only Apostle that promoted The Doctrine of the Trinity was the Apostle Paul. I totally disagree with this. The Apostle John in his third epistle gives a clear cut teaching on The Trinity though the term Trinity is not mentioned: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one (1 John 5:7).” It is interesting to note though the term TRINITY is not mentioned in the above Scripture however, we have to note the word “THREE.” What I am about to say and write may probably not mean much to those who deny THE TRINITY, however those who believe and advocate The Doctrine see much in the word “THREE.” For the simple fact, the number three is PLURAL AND NOT SINGULAR.
One of the many principles of Hermeneutics, which governs interpretation, is THE LINGUISTIC PRINCIPLE. This simply teaches if one wants to discover the genuine meaning of certain words in Scripture, we have to consider the original language in which The Scriptures were written. We are well aware The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, whereas The New Testament was written in Greek. The Linguistic Principle goes to the original words and discovers the genuine meaning of the original word. It is often said that much is lost in translation and therefore it is essential that we constantly practice The Linguistic Principle when unsure.
We all agree that the word TRINITY does not appear in The Holy Scriptures, however using the science of Etymology the word “THREE” is derived from The Latin word “TRINITAS” from whence we derive the English word ‘THREE and TRINITY. Furthermore when we do a word study on the word “THREE” of 1 John 5:7, the Greek denotes the original word “TREIS.”, which when translated is “THREE” and TRINITY. This beyond doubt gives us the definite understanding that we do concede to the fact that the word TRINITY does not appear in our ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE HOLY BIBLE. However, with great delight it is from the original Latin word TRINITAS and The Greek Bible Word TREIS that we derive the word THREE and TRINITY and therefore without hesitation we most definitely conclude The Doctrine of The TRINITY IS AUTHENTICALLY SCRIPTURAL AND IS NOT THE PRODUCT OF MAN’S PERSONAL INTERPRETATION.
Words to me are very powerful, in fact, God created the heavens and the earth by the power of HIs Word. And I am of the persuasion that TRUTH IS ESTABLISHED BY NO OTHER MEANS BUT BY THE CREATIVE WORD OF GOD. Throughout The Holy Scriptures The Doctrine of Trinity is highlighted whether directly or indirectly. I must admit it is not my purpose to prove the validity of The Doctrine of The Trinity for the simple fact TRUTH DOES NOT NEED DEFENCE IT ONLY REQUIRES DECLARATION (famous words of my Pastor – Apostle Edwin Gray). It is with that profound truth taught to me by my Pastor that I present this thesis on THE VALIDITY OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.
Before I close this chapter, one more important thought. Once again A Word Study and to my thinking really seals the validity of The Doctrine of The Trinity. The abstract noun of TRINITAS IS TRINUS WHICH SIMPLY MEANS THREE EACH AND THREEFOLD.
