1. INTRODUCTION
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are different individual but equal in status. They are united or in unity and when joined in three, it is called tri-unity or trinity. Each individual is essence by itself so to speak of the essence of God or Trinity in this case is to speak about who trinity really is. By essence we mean "being." It derived from the Latin verb "to be" and is in turn a translation of the Greek word "ousia", which also means "being." It is more having being or existence. Therefore, talking of essence of trinity is about God is One in essence, three in person. Trinity as defined in Easton's Bible Dictionary, it is a word not found in Scripture, but used to express the doctrine of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct Persons. The inspired writer of the New Testament felt the existence of one God in the three distinct persons. Later the Apostolic Fathers defined the word to Trinity. This word is derived from the Greek trias, first used by Theophilus (A.D. 168-183), or from the Latin trinitas, first used by Tertullian (A.D. 220), to express this doctrine. The propositions involved in the doctrine are these (Easton’s Bible Dictionary quoted plus a little of bit of my own):
That God is one, and that there is but one God (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1King 8:60; Isaiah 44:6; Mark 12:29,32; John 10:30).
That the Father is a distinct divine Person (hypostasis, subsistentia, persona, suppositum intellectuale), distinct from the Son and the Holy Spirit.
That Jesus Christ was truly God, and yet was a Person distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit.
That the Holy Spirit is also a distinct divine Person.
Divine titles applied to the three persons in. Exodus 20:2; John 20:28; Acts 5:3, 4.
Each of the person is described as:
Eternal. Roman 16:26; Revelation 22:13; Hebrew 9:14.
Holy. Revelation 4:8; 15:4; Acts 3:14; 1 John 2:20.
True. John 7:28; Revelation 3:7.
Omnipresent. Jeremiah 23:24; Ephesians 1:23; Ps 139:7.
Omnipotent. Genesis 17:1; Revelation 1:8; Rom 15:19; Hebrew 1:3; Luke 1:35.
Omniscient. Acts 15:18; John 21:17; 1 Corinthian 2:10, 11.
Creator. Genesis 1:1; Colossian 1:16; Job 33:4; Psalm 148:5; John 1:3; Job 26:13.
Sanctifier. Jude 1:1; Hebrew 2:11; 1 Peter 1:2.
Author of all spiritual operations. Hebrew 13:21; Colossian 1:29; 1 Corinthian 12:11.
Source of eternal life. Roman 6:23; John 10:28; Galatians 6:8.
Teacher. Isaiah 54:13; Luke 21:15; John 14:26; Isaiah 48:17; Gal 1:12; 1 John 2:20.
Raising Christ from the dead. 1 Corinthian 6:14; John 2:19; 1 Peter 3:18.
Inspiring the prophets, etc. Hebrew 1:1; 2 Corinthian 13:3; Mark 13:11.
Supplying ministers to the Church. Jeremiah 3:15; Ephesians 4:11; Acts 20:28; Matthew 10:5
Work of Salvation as found in 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14; Titus 3:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2.
Baptism administered in name of. Matthew 28:19.
Benediction as found in. 2 Corinthians 13:14.
Therefore, what we gathered about Trinity is that they are
[1]:
Equally divine in person or essence.
Equally unique in person or essence.
Coequal and coeternal in person or essence.
Equal share the same in divine in person or essence.
The essence in the Trinitarian formulation is that persons are distinguished based on the intellects where, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct person because of their distinctive intellects. Each is able to reason, speak, and make decision as well as to relate to other minds. We can see that the Holy Spirit is a person because he speaks (Acts 21:11; Hebrews 3:7), grieve (Ephesians 4:30), make decision (1 Corinthians 12:11) and relate information between believer and God (1 Corinthians 2:9-11). As for the Son, he is subordinate to His Father (John 14:28) while Holy Spirit is subordinate to both the Father and the Son (John 15:20). Yet, we insist that each person within Godhead is equal to the others in terms of their divine attributes and all are equally divine. This difference in role is one of the functional subordinate where no one is superior to another in essence. We need to know that submission with Godhead is one based on mutual consent or agreement. It is a model like a mutual submission within a family and the church as well. Remember Ephesians 5:23 and Hebrews 13:17 where God commands us to obey the designated leader. The Apostle Paul also writes to Christians saying honor one another above ourselves (Romans 12:10 and Philippians 2:3). This one's willing submissions under divinely appointed authorities demonstrate our love and obedience towards God.
2. PREPARATION IN OLD TESTAMENT LATER IMPLIED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
Trinity is purely a revealed doctrine in the Old Testament in the very first book of Genesis. All things owe their existence and persistence to the three-fold cause both have reference to the first creation, and the second creation. This could be seen in Psalm 33:6; Isaiah 61:1; 63:9-12; Haggai 2:5, 6 in which God and His word; His spirit are brought together to co-causes of effects. Old Testament developed an idea of God where suggested that deity is not a simple monad but a preparation of revelation of the Trinity yet to come. The mystery of the Trinity is not really revealed in the Old Testament but we need to know its underlies the Old Testament or making Old Testament revelation of God not corrected by fuller revelation but only perfected, extended and enlarge in the New Testament revelation. It is like saying that what becomes patent in the New Testament was latent in the Old Testament. Hence, as we go through the New Testament after Old Testament, we see the key to unlocking the mystery of the trinity is to observe how the persons of the triune family give themselves to one another. Trinity at work begins in the incarnation of Jesus, the Son who was conceived in the womb of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:30-35), At His baptism Jesus received approval from the Father in the presence of the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:21-22) fulfilling the two Old Testament prophetic passages in Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1. Trinity also presents in the temptation when Jesus led by the Holy Spirit for forty days, the devil than recognized Him as Son of God (Luke 4:3) when trying to destroy Jesus’ relationship with the divine family. In His preaching at the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus fulfilled Isaiah 61:1-2 when He claimed the spirit of the Lord was upon Him in Luke 4:18, which implied that the triune was working side by side. We see His transfiguration; the voice of the Father spoke of approval of Jesus the Son (Luke 9:25). We see also see Jesus’ teaching claiming the intervening of the Holy Spirit and the Father found in Luke 10:21-22. Jesus acting in God’s place through the power of the Holy Spirit found in Matthew 12:28 and Luke 11:20. Many instances in the book of John where He claimed I am what I am, seeing Him is seeing God, way to God, loving Him loves God etc. Jesus’ Trinitarian teaching stated in John 14-16 portrays the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Triune family cooperates as one is bring the lost person home again into a redeemed family of believers is all the Bible is all about.
3. THE NAMES OF TRINITY.
God speaks of Himself as plural - He is what we call a Triune or three-in-one God. Though out the Scripture God spoke repeatedly of Himself as more than one, as a plural being. In Genesis 1:26 He said, “Let us make man in Our image…” The “us” and the “our” show that there is a plurality in the Godhead. Again at the Tower of Babel, God came down and said, “Let Us go…” (Genesis 11:7). He referred to Himself as a “plural” God.
The Hebrew Word for God is plural - The Hebrew word for God is the word “Elohim.” The word is plural, literally meaning “Gods”. Deuteronomy 6:4 clearly states that God is one: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One!” Yet in Matthew 28:19, Jesus told the disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This indicates that there are three persons or individual presence in the Godhead that they were to be baptized unto. It is hard to find appropriate words to describe the separateness yet the union of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Godhead.
The Trinity is described in various other passages. For instance, when Paul wrote and blessed the Corinthian church, all three entities are named: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:14) The Trinity was also recognized in the ancient blessing that Aaron gave to the people of Israel, a blessing that has been given ever since to God’s people everywhere. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord life up His countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26). The first part describes the keeping work of the son; and the third shows the communing and peace-giving work of the Holy Spirit.
4. UNDERSTANDING OF TRINITY.
In the scene where John the Baptist baptized Jesus, we see the Godhead appearing as three separate beings, but each as God. The Father was in heaven speaking, and the Son stood by the river while the Spirit descended in the form of a dove.
The distinct personality and roles of the Trinity can be seen in the baptism of Jesus "When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. - Matthew 3:16-17" can be referred in 2 Corinthians 13:14 "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." The baptism of Christ had a different symbolism than any other baptism John had undertaken for others. John’s baptism is a visible act of repentance and a symbolic washing away of sin. Crucial reason why John reluctant to baptize Jesus who was sinless (as mentioned in Matthew 3:14). Christ’s symbolist of baptism was His entrance into water i.e. His willingness to submerge represents His willingness to die for man sin. His rising up from the water represents His resurrection. This symbolic baptism is a role of trinity whereby Jesus undertook the mission to save us back to life; the Holy spirit quicken Him; the Father pronounces His work and His satisfactory sacrificial self.
To better understand what trinity is by just considering what is not in terms of the definition I have given above i.e. "one in essence, three in person." God is one in essence because (own summary from
[2]):
a. It does not mean that only one person is deity. God is three in person, and all three persons are divine. The Bible teaches that all these three persons are deity where the Father is God e.g. Matthew 6:9; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 3:14-15, the Son is God e.g. John 5:18; 10:30 & 33; Roman 9:5; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossian 2:9; Hebrews 1:3, and lastly the Holy Spirit is God e.g. Genesis 1:2; Psalm 139:7; Acts 5:3-4 and 1 Corinthians 2:11.
b. It does not mean trinity is only a person or displaying three modes or aspects of Himself. All these three essences are distinct person and not indicated singleness or multifaceted person. For example, the Father is a unique person in His own way but is distinct from the Son, the Son is unique person in His own way as distinct from the Father (see Hebrew 10:7) and the Holy Spirit is a unique person in His own way and he acts a distinct person (see Roman 8:26).
c. It does not mean that there is any inferiority or disparity of status, activity or substance. They all possess a full and equal rank or status of deity e.g. in Matthew 28:19-20, equal in eternal function of deity seen in their creation e.g. Genesis 1:26 and equal share of deity seen in the attribution of goodness in 2 Corinthians 13:13.
d. It does not mean composed of three or more different "gods" because the Father is revealed to the uniquely God in Deuteronomy 4:35, the Son and the Father are revealed to be uniquely God in John 10:30 and the Holy Spirit and the Son and the Father are revealed to be uniquely God in John 14:10-17.
5. EQUALITY IN TRINITY.
We need to realize that all three persons of the Godhead are equal, since all are Jehovah God, John 5:23 commands men to “honor the Son just as they honor the Father..” This indicates their equality. Other passages indicate supremacy of one or the other of the Trinity, such as Matthew 12:31-32, where Jesus talked about blasphemy. He said blasphemy against the Father and the Son would be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Ghost would never be forgiven. In a sense, He was putting the Holy Ghost ahead of the Father and the Son, and seen to say that the Spirit takes some kind of pre-eminence. In other passages the Father appears to be pre-eminence over the other persons of the Godhead (Daniel 7:13, Revelation 5:1-7; Hebrews 1:9). Then other Scriptures seem to give equal or more honor to Jesus (Revelation 1:11; Isaiah 9:6; Acts 9:5).
There is only one God, all we can see from this is that each one of the individual divine presences is God in His own right and is to be held in equal honor with the others, and yet there is only one God, as Deuteronomy 6:4 clearly says. It is interesting to note that even the devils know there is one God, and they tremble (James 2:19). A close look at the Hebrew language used in Deuteronomy 6:4 helps to clarify our understanding of the “oneness” of God. The Hebrew language has two expressions for the word “one”. “Iahid” means “absolute, indivisible unity”. “Echad” means “composite unity”, that is, “one thing that has several parts or facets”, as the book of Genesis 1:5 where it literally says, “and it was evening, and it was morning, the first day, ONE (echad) day.” The one-day was made up of two parts, morning and evening, or light and dark. In the Bible, God is called “Echad”, a composite unit (Deuteronomy 6:4). It is the same way that one indivisible person is called “iahid” or “iysh”. But when he takes a wife, together they are called “one”, “ecahd” a composite one (Genesis 2:24).
There is separateness between them. We note that, though there is one God, the three divine presences of the Godhead are separate and have somewhat different functions. The Father does not judge anyone, but has committed all judgment unto the Son (John 5:22)/ Concerning the difference between the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we note in John 14:16 that Jesus said, “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper..” Here, the Holy Spirit has the role of the Comforter. Jesus does the sending, whereas the Holy Spirit is the person being sent. But John 14:26 says that it is the Father who will send the Holy Spirit. So here, the Father is the sender, and the Holy Spirit is the one being sent. John 16:13-15 tells us the Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus and bring us His truths. The text is describing Jesus as being present with the disciples and that the Holy Spirit was coming later. Again, we see the separateness.
The Father is Jehovah God, even though there are three entities, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each individually Jehovah God. The Father is spoken of in Isaiah 63:16 as Jehovah, “You, O Lord, are our Father…” Here the Hebrew word for “Lord” is “Jehovah”. The heavenly Father is called by His name “Jah” (short for “Jehovah”) in Psalm 68:4,5.
The Son is Jehovah God! Elsewhere, Scripture says the same thing concerning Jesus, the Son. He is also described as Jehovah God. In Isaiah 41:14, Jehovah is called, “the Redeemer of His people.” In the New Testament, we see that Jesus is the Redeemer. This is Jesus’ role in Galatians 3:13; 4:5. Another example is when Jehovah is seen as the great Shepherd in Psalm 23:1, while John 10:11 shows Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Deuteronomy 10:17 and Psalm 136:3 both name “Jehovah” as the Lord of Lords. Yet in the New Testament, it is Jesus who comes riding on the horse in Revelation 19:11-16 with the words written on his thigh, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” The key is that many times in the Old Testament the word translated as “Lord” or “God” is really the word Jehovah. By comparing the Old and New Testament, it can clearly be seen that Jesus is Jehovah, incarnate in the flesh.
The Holy Spirit is Jehovah God, not only are the Father and the Son called Jehovah, but the Scripture calls the Holy Spirit Jehovah as well. Note Isaiah 6:5-10 where Isaiah saw the great vision of God and heard God speak. Compare that with Acts 28:25-27, where Paul revealed that Isaiah was actually seeing and listening to the Holy Ghost speak when he heard Jehovah speaking. In other words, the Holy Ghost is also Jehovah God. In the account of Ananias, Peter first made the accusation that Ananias had lied to the Holy Ghost. Yet a little later on, Peter further explained, “.. You have not lied to men but to God..” (Acts 5:3,4) There again is the equating of the Lord Jehovah. Even though a Deuteronomy 6:4 state clearly there is only one Jehovah God, it is seen that He is three persons or individual presence in the one God. There is a great mystery to us; something our finite minds cannot comprehend. 1 Corinthians 2:11 say, “For what man knows the things of a man except the Spirit of God.” 1 Timothy 6:16 acknowledges that God “alone has immorality, dwelling in unapproachable light..” This suggests that the Holy Trinity is far beyond our understanding. But it would be foolish to reject the idea of the Trinity simply because we cannot understand it. Instead, we must accept it by faith, giving glory to God, whose very nature is a mystery to us. Perhaps it will become clear when we are in heaven, for then we will know Him as He knows us.
6. FUNCTIONS OF TRINITY.
The functions of Trinity in the Bible are God’s plan for man to know His will. For example, God's plan is authorized by the Will of the Father (see Ephesians 1:11; Revelation 4:11) is carried out by the Word that is the Son (Hebrew 1:2-3; John 1:1-3), later put forth through the wisdom and the power of the Spirit (Isaiah 11:2; Zechariah 4:6). This is God's plan for man and we can response to God through our supplication or prayer where the roles of trinity still involve or assist us. How can it be? When we pray to God, we offer to our Father (Matthew 6:6) in the name of the Son (as instruction to pray under His name for whatever in ask from our Father) for our behalf (John 15:16; 16:23) and it is accomplished in the power of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18). This is also inclusive of our spiritual gifts given from God to all believers. We know spiritual gift is given by the spirit design specifically by the Son for man and that specific gift is decreed by our Father to take effect (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). That is how trinity does play an important role in God's plan for man since creation where He directed it (see Genesis 1:1 & 3; Revelation 4:11, administer by the Son (Hebrew 1:2) and empowered by the Spirit (Psalm 33:6). All these roles from creation until today are initiated by the three essences of one in three. We can nature are models of Trinity. Let us discuss this section a little bit further to see the reality of existence in Trinity, which is not coincident but has a designer of this world (own summary from
[3] ).
Scientists have proven the three astronomical bodies that made up our system. There are the Star, a planet and a moon, which are necessary for the life on earth. Earth revolves around the stars or Sun and the Moon revolve around our earth. If any changes to these three entities, it will be disaster.
Water is vital for our life. Without it we have no chance for survival. Water is made up of H2O molecules, which consists of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. There looks something like H-O-H in an angle of 104 degrees at the centre. It is in a way remind us of the Trinity. We take Oxygen represented by the two hydrogen atom, indicating Holy Spirit between the Father and the Son who each representing two hydrogen atoms. We take oxygen to be the Holy Spirit because the word "spirit" comes from the Latin word "spiritus" which is meant to be "breath" and we know that oxygen is actually "atmosphere."
Last example is the Light. Without light, we are totally in darkness. Jesus is the light of the world. Therefore, do we know that light is made up of three colors i.e. red, green, and blue! In Science, it is the primary colors of light. Human eyes could see the colors because of these colors. These colors are the basic building "blocks" to make up the rainbow in the sky. Do you know that a printer can print color picture without this three colors.
7. ILLUSTRATION OF TRINITY.
We need to be cautious when illustrating trinity because God is divine and as human being we are imperfect and sometimes our illustrating can be inaccurate because our mind are always toward earthly things. The integrity of trinity is based on God’s revelation and through our faith of Jesus Christ and His comforter, we can focus on the three folds sovereign personally and His deity in three persons in One according to His wisdom and His teaching in the Bible. The entire remaining New Testament contains some sort of trinity teaching except the Book of James and 3 John. Let us beginning our illustration:
The Church – The Bible always teaches the unity of the church where there is diversified believers. God wants unity in the church because He is the originator of family-in-unity. Jesus urged the Christians to imitate vividly through example when He washed His disciples’ feet (John 13:14-15) in which triune family is about seeking the truth in love, encourages a spirit of generosity among fellow brethrens. He teaches us not to allow difference in opinion or diversity of thought or theology to asunder us from our fellow brethren, or to be the causes of misunderstanding, hatred, and strife in our life or relationship rather to seek diligently the truth among our creator and fellow men; and make all men our foremost friends.
In family/home – Husband and wife are to defer to each other in pleasing each other’s preferences, desires, and aspirations. Spouse is not to dominate the other but to act as servant in humility as better than oneself. Spouse is not to impose unreasonable authority or decision to one another but to love and protect their wife and children as his own self or body. This is signified in the biblical interpretation of Christ laid down His life for man or His church. The Bible teaches that husbands and wives are heirs together in grace for life and bound together in a relationship of mutual submission and responsibility as found in 1 Corinthian 7:3,5; Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:1-7; Genesis 21:12. The function of the husband is as “head” (kephale), which is understood as self-giving love and service. It also teaches that both fathers and mothers are to exercise leadership in nurturing, training, disciplining and teaching of their children (Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossian 3:20; 2 Timothy 1:15; Luke 2; 51). Therefore, the father, the mother, and son are an expression of trinity in Christian family or home.
Our human mind – Unity interprets the religion terms of Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit metaphysically in three aspect of mind action: intellect, emotion, and conscience. The process which all manifestation takes place is composed of distinct, divine personalities to which it can dialogue or cross-purpose into itself.
Environment of nature- Distinguishment of a plant where branches, roots, and trunk are different parts but constitute one complete whole. Another best illustration is the egg, which has three distinct part i.e. yolk, white, and shell; without any of this thing, a little chick cannot be born.
These are the few examples to illustrate the awesome wisdom and power of God about the concept or doctrine of Trinity. It is so complex that our mind can understand the nature its truth and reality. Understand trinity through what we see around us is enough to explain or convince the doctrine of “one in essence, three in person.” Even Hinduism triad of Braham, Vishnu and Shiva symbolize the three stages of being. Egyptian triad of Osiris, Iris and Horus is the analogy of human family with its father, mother and son. Let us worship God with awesome wonder because He is omnipresent and omniscience. Let us not be taken by an odd human tendency to think of the “three” as a sacred number or mythology.
8. IMPLICATION OF TRINITY.
Implication of this doctrine is not important if it is based only on theology but also for our Christian experience and life. It is in a way formulated a teaching of Jesus Christ that bears testimony to the real or true personality of each of the distinction within the Godhead and at the meantime shed light upon the relation exited between these three essences or persons. What actually I see from this formulated doctrine in today’s world or churches is that it left behind a recognizable distinction that can be implicated into our life as fellow believers that unity is or in diversity. When we say that God is a unity, we mean that though God is Himself a threefold centre of life. His life is not split into three. He is really one in essence, personality and in will. It is also a perfect equality in nature, status, honor and dignity between the person. All these formulate four implications that mean:
God is revealable - a God first concern is for the love of His creation. He wants us to know Him as a intimate being. The Father revealing to the Son, the Father and the Son revealing to the Spirit, and eventually the Spirit communicates that revelation within the being of God. He is showing Himself to us because He wants us to be in Him. His concerns and cares for human being is forever revolving around.
God is communicable - The sun shines its light upon the earth and we know it is daytime. It heat and energy indicate it strength to provide us the something beneficial to plants and creatures that live on this planet so God communicates so that He has fellowship with His fellow man. God is trinity and He has something to shine, His life and His kingdom in communion to us.
Trinity is the basis of true fellowship - God is within Himself a fellowship of three essences or persons. We are created in His image so we are also find fullness of life within this fellowship. It is reflected in church, home or family and society. This is Christian fellowship all about and it is the divinest thing on earth. We build one another up with love. That is why Jesus told us to love one another more then his or her own self “"that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:21-23).
Diversity in the life of the universe and God - All the wonders of creation, all the form of lie, all the movement in the universe are just a reflection, a mirror, and a manifold of life of God. You might be a white, black, brown and I, yellow in complexion on the surface of my skin but in all we are just the same. Man kills one another because have different in opinion, race, creed, tradition and many more but it is just an indication that we are just one person equal in God’s sight. It is just that we cannot run away from the fact that the many sidedness of nature and character of the living God are nothing more than the Creator of this universe is.
9. CONCLUSION.
If one person wishes to know God, it is a lifelong journey. He is an eternal adventure, mysterious experience, and relationship. Let us not shy away from the word "Trinity." There is nothing mysterious about the word but just how man put it to define a unity in three i.e. Tri-unity. Since the dawn of the second century to our present time, many Christians find the biblical doctrine of Trinity hard to understand just because the word was not found in the Bible. Let us not throw on the bonfire everything that sound strange. Let us not be afraid to set our mind on what God wishes to teach us because His intention only wants us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. To understand trinity more fully is like a way of honoring God. Trinity also signifies our application to prayer. The general pattern of prayer is to pray to the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:18). Our fellowship or communion with Him enhanced us consciously and knowing that we are relating to a tri-personal God. Awareness of this trinity is our salvation especially serves to grant us greater comfort or appreciation for our wonderful God in our prayer life, as well as helping to be specific in directing our prayers. Finally, Let open our heart to know God and whatever languages or terms that man uses, as long as it proven in the Bible it is the message from Him as 1 John 5:7 states " For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."
FOTONOTES:
[1] Dr. Robert D. Luginbill, Theology: The Study of God, http://www.ichthys.com/1Theo.htm#B.%20The%20Trinity%20in%20the%20Bible
[2] Dr. Robert D. Luginbill, Theology: The Study of God, http://www.ichthys.com/1Theo.htm#B.%20The%20Trinity%20in%20the%20Bible
[3] Reflection of the Trinity in Nature, www.threeinonegod.com/trinityinnature.htm,©2000-2003,The Evolution of Truth™
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOK BY ONE AUTHOR:
Bray,Gerald , The doctrine of God, Intervarsity Press, Leicester - 1993
Grudem, Wayne, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical
Doctrine, InterVarsity Press and Zondervan Publishing House, 1994.
Ryrie, Charles C. A Survey of Bible Doctrine, Moody Press – Chicago – 1972
CORPORATE AUTHOR:
The Illustrated Dictonary Bible, Part 3, Intervarsity Press, Leicester
1980.
INTERNET:
Bowman, Jr.Robert M.- The Biblical Basis of the Doctrine of the Trinity , http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/robert_bowman/trinity.html, © 2004 The Center for Biblical Apologetics
Can you explain the Trinity? http://everystudent.com/forum/trinity.html, @Everystudent.com
Dulle,Jason, The Development of the Doctrine of the Trinity, http://www.apostolic.net/biblicalstudies/trinhistory.htm, Apostolic Network @ Mac 23, 2000
Is the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity obsolete? http://www.abcog.org/trinity.htm, ABCOG Website
Luginbill, Dr. Robert D. Bible Study for Spiritual Growth, at http://www.ichthys.com/#Theology,ICHTHYS.COM
Jones, Joe r, God:Triune in Essence and Actuality, http://www.grammaroffaith.com/Essays/trinity.html, Encounter, vol. 59, nos. 1-2 (Winter/Spring, 1988), pp. 274-291.
Passantino,Bob ,Is The Creedal Doctrine Of The Trinity Biblical? http://www.answers.org/theology/trinity_biblical.html, Answers In Action © 1992
Reflections of the Trinity in Nature, http://www.threeinonegod.com/trinityinnature.htm#humanperson
Snapshots of God,http://snapshotsofgod.com/trinity.htm,©2000-2003, The Evolution of Truth™
Trinity From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity, 24 November 2005.
The Doctrine of the Trinity,http://www.bible-knowledge.com/Trinity-God-Jesus-Holy-Spirit.html, Michael, and Christopher Bradley of Bible-knowledge.com
Trinity Doctrine-God-sized Reality, http://www.allaboutgod.com/trinity-doctrine.htm, Copyright © 2002 - 2005 AllAboutGOD.com
Warfield, Benjamin B. The Biblical Doctrine of the Trinity, http://www.mbrem.com/god/trinity.htm, @2005 PCANEWS.COM, Presbyterian Churches in America.
THE POWERBIBLE CD (AND CD ROM LIBRARIES):
Gilbertson, John. Power BibleCD [CD-Rom]V3.0. Bronson: Online Publishing, 1999-2000.
QuickVerse 2005, Copyright(c) Findex Inc.2004,2005 Version 9.1.0 Build Feb 28,2005
Gibertson, Jim. PC Study Bible Version 4, Biblesoft Copyright(c)1988-2003 .
