What is the Trinity?
For starters, the word "trinity" is actually nowhere in the Bible. This does not mean the concept is invalid. Like the word "rapture" is not in the Bible, Christians have assigned the name to a theological concept described in the Bible. The trinity's " tri " refers to the number three. In this case, we have three distinct persons.
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God, "The Father"
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Jesus, "The Word"
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Holy Spirit, "The Counselor"
This is where the confusion may begin. At first glance, it may be confusing to think that Christians believe in three gods, making us polytheists. "Poly" means many, and "Theist" means believing in the existence of a god. This is not the case, though. Christians believe in one united God being made up of three distinct persons. At no stage is one of these persons, not God or less than one another. As stated above, this is where human understanding begins to fail us. It is incomprehensible to understand how one God, and three beings, all being the same, are distinct. That is where faith is required to fill the void. For us to have a relationship and experience the supernatural nature of God firsthand, it is enough to let faith fill the voids of what isn't integral to our walk with God. I understand that faith may not be enough for everyone. Our world is now accustomed to quickly having answers to all of our questions, thanks to the internet. By always having answers, it can be hard to adjust to accepting the fact that Faith is required to have a relationship with God. This does not mean Christians are superstitious or blind to the World's scientific secular viewpoints. The Bible teaches the concept of truth coming from the heart, not the mind. For more on faith, click here to read about what faith means to Christians.
The Roles Of The Trinity
God, The Father
The Father's distinct role is the administrator of the trinity. The Father sends the Son and the Spirit into the world. They submit to Him, yet are not any less than Him. There are times when Jesus allowed the Father to obscure information from Him. Such as in Matthew 24:36. This does not mean Jesus is less than the Father, but more so that Jesus willingly submitted to the Father's oversight. Just like when Jesus became incarnate, limiting His body to that of a mortal. The Holy Spirit allowed Himself to be sent from the Father into Jesus after His baptism in Matthew 3:13-17. While Jesus taught people how to pray during the Sermon on the mount, He asked the Father to "give us today our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11 NIV.) The most evident scripture of Jesus' submission to the Father is in Luke 22:39-44 when Jesus prayed for the crucifixion to be taken from Him but only if that is the Father's will.
Jesus, The Word
Jesus, also known as the "Word" or "Logos," is the Divine Son Of God. The Father used Jesus as the creational medium to create the world through. Jesus' more popular role is the Son of man, born from a virgin, to save humanity from sin. Jesus was embodied in human flesh, "incarnate." He had a human body susceptible to sin, yet His God nature empowered Him to be sinless. That is why He was tempted but never sinned. Jesus lived a perfect life to be the perfect sacrifice for humanity to redeem us all. He died on the cross shedding His blood, allowing whoever "trusts" in Him to be written in the Book of Life. Jesus didn't just die on the cross but defeated death and resurrected three days later. He spent 40 days after His resurrection, appearing to people and teaching His disciples. At the end of those 40 days, Jesus ascended to Heaven to acquire the deed to the entire creation from The Father. After He ascended to work at the Father's side, the Holy Spirit was sent down on the day of Pentecost to empower the disciples then and us today.
Holy Spirit, The Counselor
The Holy Spirit is the mediator and counselor between God and us. When the Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost, He entered the disciples to empower them. From that time till today and until the Rapture, the Spirit will reside in every believer who repents and Trusts in Jesus. The Spirit has two main functions for believers.
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The Spirit mediates our needs to God, asking God on our behalf for things we can't even know or say. During our times of groaning, crying, and speechlessness, the Spirit will mediate on our behalf and give the Father the words we can't utter.
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The Holy Spirit empowers believers. This function actually has two different benefits.
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As soon as you become saved, you will receive charismatic gifts to evangelize nonbelievers and spread the goodness of God's kingdom. The Spirit will grow you into a compelling witness. Theology studies what gifts you are given. It is accepted that the gifts are more than what is simply described in 1 Corinthians 12. The believer will be given whatever gift necessary to witness to each person or group's need properly.
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There are other gifts less common such as speaking in tongues. If you are not given this gift, for example, it does not mean you are less mature of a Christian than those who can speak in tongues. The Spirit distributes gifts on an as-needed basis at His discretion.
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While the Spirit works in your life, some questions you must constantly ask yourself are;
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Am I accepting and susceptible to hearing the Holy Spirit?
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Am I praying for the Holy Spirit to guide my walk in Christ?
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Am I using His gifts to edify the church, ultimately edifying God?
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