A Holy Trinity Sermon in Plain, Understandable Language
Summary: Scholarly theological definitions and attempted explanations of the “Holy Trinity” (or “Blessed Trinity”) sometimes leave Christians more bewildered than enlightened. In this sermon on the trinity, Pastor Jim Feeney's aim is to demystify the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in simple bible language.
Right at the outset let's ask the question: "What does 'the trinity' mean?" One brief, time-tested definition of the Trinity reads like this: There is one God, eternally existent in three Persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This short statement summarizes the biblical concept of the triunity, or three-in-oneness, of God.
- •• The mind alone cannot fathom the deep mystery of the Trinity. It must be “spiritually discerned”.
- •• “Three are one.” Three divine Persons — the Father, the Word [Jesus], and the Holy Ghost. Yet they are said to be “one”.
- • Note: “Holy Ghost” in the King James Version and “Holy Spirit” in most modern translations mean one and the same thing, being translated from the same Greek words.
- •• Admittedly, some manuscripts and translations do not agree that the full verse 7 as contained in the King James Version is in the original. We cannot definitively resolve that divided opinion, but we will see that many other verses in the bible clearly indicate that God is indeed a Trinity — one God, eternally existent in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. To those Scriptures revealing the trinity in the bible we will now turn.
1. IS THERE ONE GOD? YES.
2. CAN GOD BE PLURAL, EVEN THOUGH HE IS ONE? AGAIN, YES.
- •• The very word for “God” is plural in the Hebrew of these and many other verses.
•• Note the easy interaction of the plural (“us...our”, vs. 26) and the singular (“his”, vs. 27) in speaking of the same “God”.
- •• Plurality (“us”) again in God's self-revelation.
- •• In this great theophany, the Lord God appeared to Abraham in the visible form of “three men”.
•• In the rest of this chapter and its dialogue, the “three men” were frequently identified by the divine names “Jehovah” and “Adonay”. Deity was revealed on earth in a theophany of three men.
3. IS THE FATHER GOD? YES.
4. IS JESUS GOD? YES.
- •• God the Father calls the Son Jesus “God”.
- •• This refers unmistakably to Jesus, who is called “God ... manifest in the flesh”.
- •• Jesus was and is “in very nature God”!
- •• The virgin-born Son “Jesus” (vs. 21) would be known as “God with us”.
A more extensive biblical proof of the Deity of Jesus can be found elsewhere on this website at The Deity of Jesus Christ.
5. IS THE HOLY SPIRIT GOD? YES.
- •• To lie to the Holy Spirit is to lie to God.
- •• The Holy Spirit was exercising the divine prerogative to call and set apart ministries.
- •• The Holy Spirit was the Divine Co-Creator.
- •• The Holy Spirit is "the eternal Spirit." Angels, even the fallen Satan (Ezekiel 28:14f), are created beings (Colossians 1:16). Humans are clearly created beings (Genesis chapters 1-2). Only absolute Deity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — are said in Scripture to be eternal, without beginning or end.
- •• We human beings "know in part" (1 Corinthians 13:9). We do not have full knowledge of the ways and thoughts of God — "For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9, NLT). By contrast, unlike us humans, "no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God" (1 Cor. 2:11, NKJV). As Deity Himself, the Holy Spirit knows fully the ways and thoughts of God.
- •• The Spirit of God is omnipresent, an attribute possessed only by Deity.
6. THE ONENESS OF THE HOLY TRINITY.
- •• Here two (that is, plural Persons) of the Holy Trinity — Jesus and the Father — are said to be one.
- •• Three and yet one. Tri-unity!
•• Some skeptics have said, “How can 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 ?” To them I reply, “1 X 1 X 1 = 1” There we have three ones equaling one! If God can make three ones equal one in His created realm (here, the realm of mathematics), then certainly the Creator God Himself can exist as one triune God in three Divine Persons!
7. MANY SCRIPTURES REVEAL THE FULL TRINITY.
(From the King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
- Summary: The bible clearly teaches us that there is one God. The Bible also reveals that there are three divine Persons (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) and that “these three are one”. Not three Gods, but one triune God, eternally existent in three Persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This, in sum, is the Holy Trinity explained in a concise biblical statement of trinitarian theology.
-------------------------
An interesting related truth can be seen at our sermon: 'The Triune God's TRIUNE Name is 'Lord Jesus Christ'"
-------------------------
Subscribe (always free)
-------------------------
Shortcuts to Major Topics:
Christian Living
Doctrine & Theology
Evangelism
Faith
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Healing
Hearing from God
Holy Spirit | Pentecostal Topics
Jesus Christ
Ministry
Power of God
Prayer
Salvation
The Church
Various Topics Not Listed Elsewhere
Victory over the Devil
Word of God
Sharing is great!
If you've been blessed by our
sermon on the Holy Trinity,
please share it with your friends.
Email them the browser link. Or
you can post the link on your social
media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
Thank you for sharing God's Word!
©2007, 2015, James H. Feeney.
Copyright statement.
Pentecostal Sermons and Bible Studies
by Pastor Jim Feeney, Ph.D.