The matter of the Divine Trinity has been taught and debated throughout the past nineteen centuries since the early church fathers. This controversy continues even today. I studied all the traditional teachings when I was young, but I eventually began to see certain points concerning the Divine Trinity that are directly according to the revelation of the pure Word of God. Because some of these points differ from the traditional teachings concerning the Trinity, my ministry related to these points has faced opposition. Some condemn us for teaching what we have seen plainly revealed in the Bible and even say that our teachings are heretical. Although we have published some booklets to refute such accusations, we have not completed a thorough study of the Divine Trinity in the holy Word. Our burden in this study is mainly positive—not to debate but to minister what the Lord has shown us.
We need to complete a thorough, exhaustive study of the Divine Trinity throughout the entire Bible. The best way is not to argue or fight concerning particular points but to come back to the Bible to study the matter. We need to study every verse in the Bible in which the Trinity is either directly indicated or indirectly implied. Because this kind of study of the Word is for our proper apprehension, there will not be many illustrations. Instead, in a precise and brief way we will see what the Bible actually says about the Trinity. For this kind of study we need to concentrate our entire being, exercising both our mind and our spirit. The conclusion of such a thorough and exhaustive study should be the standard by which we measure all other teachings, including those of the church fathers, councils, and creeds. In order to see where there are shortages, excesses, or errors, we should examine these teachings not by human thought nor by our understanding or our view but by a thorough and exhaustive study of the Bible.
Studying the creeds, councils, and teachings from the first six centuries of church history reveals that many of the great teachers became tritheistic. Tritheism is the wrong teaching that there are three Gods. Most of the early teachings concerning the Trinity may be classified into three main categories: conscious tritheism, implied tritheism, and subconscious tritheism. Conscious tritheism is clear tritheism. Included in this category is the great teacher Origen. Many of his teachings were good, but he made a great mistake by teaching that Christ was inferior to God the Father. Many others erred in a similar fashion. Nearly all the creeds, beginning with the Nicene Creed, come under the category of implied tritheism. The creeds do not directly say anything tritheistic, but they contain an implication of tritheism. The third category is subconscious tritheism. Subconsciously, or unconsciously, many teachings have the thought of God as three persons and therefore three Gods. These matters require much consideration, and the most fair and accurate way is by a thorough study of the Bible.
I believe that this study will be a great help not only to the Lord’s recovery but also to all the believers. The Lord’s recovery is a recovery of the truth. With Martin Luther the Lord recovered the truth concerning justification by faith. The crucial truth of the Divine Trinity has been debated for nineteen centuries. It is altogether worthwhile for us to spend our time and energy with a spirit of prayer to conduct a thorough and exhaustive study of the Divine Trinity as revealed in the holy Word. We intentionally use the phrase as revealed in the holy Word in a polemical spirit to imply that we care only for what the Bible says, and we recognize that what the Bible says may be different from traditional teachings. Nevertheless, our spirit is not to fight but to minister the truth to inoculate the saints against wrong teachings.
The Bible contains many explicit teachings, such as the apostle Paul’s teaching concerning justification in Romans 3 through 5. However, the Scriptures do not contain any direct teaching or doctrine concerning the Divine Trinity. Instead, the Trinity is only indicated throughout the Scriptures in many narrations of the divine and spiritual facts. For instance, Genesis 1:1, which says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” indicates the Trinity. Although this verse does not contain any teaching or doctrine of the Trinity, we will see that the narration of God’s creation definitely indicates that God is triune.
Through the past nineteen centuries many great scholars have primarily considered the Trinity as a teaching for us to know about God’s person, His Godhead. However, the fact that the Bible contains no doctrines concerning the Trinity indicates strongly that the Trinity does not exist for teaching but for God to work Himself into us so that we may partake of, experience, and enjoy Him. This is fully proven by Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14, which are the best verses concerning the Trinity in the Bible.
In Matthew 28:19 the Lord charged His disciples, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Although there is no teaching or doctrine concerning the Trinity here, there is a spiritual fact that those who preach the gospel should baptize the believing ones into the name of the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are baptized into the Triune God so that we may participate in and enjoy Him. In Word Studies in the New Testament M. R. Vincent says, “Baptizing into the name of the Holy Trinity implies a spiritual and mystical union with him.” This shows that the Trinity is not for teaching.
Second Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” This verse mentions the Trinity—Jesus Christ the Son, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit—but it does not teach us a doctrine concerning the Trinity. Instead, the way the Triune God is mentioned indicates that we need to enjoy the Triune God as love, grace, and fellowship. Love as the source corresponds to God the Father. Grace as the expression and the course corresponds to God the Son. Grace and love are transmitted into us through the reaching, the fellowship, of God the Spirit. This is the enjoyment of the Triune God as love, grace, and fellowship. This indicates that the Triune God is for our enjoyment.
Every direct or indirect mention, indication, or implication of the Trinity in the Bible is not for teaching but for our participation in the Triune God. God is triune not for teaching but for dispensing Himself into us that we may enjoy Him. This needs to be deeply impressed into us. Whenever we study a verse in the Bible concerning the Trinity, we should not be content to look for doctrinal teaching but must realize that this verse is for us to know how to participate in, enjoy, and experience the Triune God.