The Bible reveals that God is triune. This is a revelation of great importance. God is uniquely one, and His name is Jehovah; yet this God is also triune—He is the Father, Son, and Spirit. This is a mystery; in fact, it is a mystery of mysteries. Small and finite as we are, we human beings cannot understand it thoroughly; even less can we define it in a full way. Many things relating to the matter of life are not within the comprehension of men; men can only have a general idea of them. For instance, though we have life in our physical body, no one can explain it thoroughly, for life is a mystery. Furthermore, there is a spirit within us—this is even more of a mystery. No one can give a full explanation of what the life of man and the spirit of man are. We are not able to comprehend such a comparatively small mystery as man, to say nothing of the great mystery of the Triune God—the Father, Son, and Spirit. If we cannot fully understand man, how much less the Triune God!
Nevertheless, we can receive and enjoy this mysterious God. We cannot understand, but we can enjoy! In former days men had no knowledge of vitamins, though they greatly enjoyed their benefit. The Triune God is not for us to understand, but to enjoy. All that He is for us to enjoy is revealed in the Scriptures; we cannot fully understand it, yet we may, according to all that is declared in the Scriptures, accept whatever is said.
Although we cannot find the term “triune” in the Scriptures, we can see the fact concerning the Trinity of the Godhead. Let us now examine the verses in the Bible that are more evidently related to this matter.
The Scriptures in many instances and in many ways tell us that God is uniquely one. Both in the Old Testament and in the New, there are many passages which clearly and definitely tell us that God is only one. First Corinthians 8:4 says, “There is no God but one,” and Isaiah 45:5 says, “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me.” Similar words also can be found in Isaiah 45:6, 21, 22; and 44:6, 9.
In these passages God repeatedly says, “There is no God besides me.” He does not say, “There is no God besides us,” but, “There is no God besides me.” Me is singular, only one. These repeated declarations of God strongly prove that God is uniquely one.
Psalm 86:10 says, “Thou art God alone.” Here it does not say, “Ye are God alone,” but, “Thou art God alone.” This also proves that God is only one.
That God is one is a clear and definite revelation of the Scriptures; it is also a fundamental and consummate principle.
Perhaps some will ask, “Since God is only one, why did God speak of Himself as Us in Genesis 1:26? And why did He say Our image? Is there just one God, or is there more than one?” The answer is: He is the Triune God; He is one, yet three—the Father, Son, and Spirit.
In Isaiah 6:8 God says, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” God speaks of Himself on one hand as I and on the other hand as Us. This proves that I is Us and Us is I; I and Us are identical. Then, is God singular or plural? If you say He is plural, He says I. If you say He is singular, He says Us. This is rather mysterious and difficult to understand; so we simply take the scriptural revelation as it is.
Furthermore, Genesis 1:26 says, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” That the only God, in His divine word, speaks of Himself a number of times as Us is truly a mystery which is hard for us to understand. Nevertheless, we must believe that it is because of God being the Father, Son, and Spirit.
The Lord says in Matthew 28:19, “Baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Lord here clearly speaks of Three—the Father, Son, and Spirit. But when He speaks here of the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, the name which is used is in the singular number in the original text. This means that though the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three, yet the name is one. It is really mysterious—one name for Three. This, of course, is what is meant by the expression three-one, or triune.
Is the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, as spoken by the Lord here, the name Father, or Son, or Holy Spirit? It is difficult to answer. All we can say is that the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” This name includes the Three—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and tells us that God is triune. Although God is only one, yet there is the matter of the Three—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.