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Matthew 28:18–20

“Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

The essence of salvation is to know the one true God (John 17:3). Consequently, the doctrine of the Trinity is essential to biblical Christianity and to our redemption itself. After all, the doctrine of the Trinity tells us who God is. Put succinctly, the church confesses that God is one in essence and three in person.

As we look at that formulation, we should recognize that many people both inside and outside the Christian faith think that the Trinity is a logical contradiction that we should either just believe without any use of our reason or that we should reject it entirely. As confessed by the church, however, the doctrine of the Trinity is not a contradiction and therefore not irrational even if it is above our finite reason. A true logical contradiction says that A is both B and not B at the same time and in the same sense. Thus, it would be a contradiction to say that Josh is at the same time the husband of Renae and not the husband of Renae. Josh, however, can be at the same time the husband of Renae and not the husband of Abby, his daughter. That is because the way that he is related to Renae is not the same as the way that he is related to Abby. In the doctrine of the Trinity, we are saying that God is both one and three at the same time but not in the same sense. God is one in essence and three in person. A contradiction would say that He is one in essence and three in essence or three in person and one in person.

The doctrine of the Trinity is not, therefore, contrary to reason. Nevertheless, the doctrine of the Trinity is above unaided human reason. In other words, applying human reason to the world around us will never get us to the understanding that God is one in essence and three in person—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our Creator’s general revelation in the created order and in our consciences tells us a great deal of truth about God, but not that He is triune. As Thomas Aquinas notes in his Summa Theologica, “It is impossible to attain to the knowledge of the Trinity by natural reason.”

We need special revelation to know God as the Holy Trinity, and in particular the revelation that occurred in the Father’s sending of the Son and the Father and Son’s sending of the Holy Spirit. Old covenant believers knew God in a saving way, and there are even hints in the Old Testament regarding His triune existence. Still, it is only in light of the coming of Christ and His Holy Spirit that we can now see our Creator in fullness as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Coram Deo Living before the face of God

The doctrine of the Trinity is not contrary to reason, but that does not mean that our minds can fully grasp what it means for God to be one in essence and three in person. We can be grateful for God’s new covenant revelation that enables us to know much about His triune being, but we still must acknowledge mystery here. Moreover, we should not be surprised that our understanding of God goes only so far, since He is infinite and we are finite.


For further study
  • 2 Corinthians 13:14
  • Galatians 4:6
  • 1 Peter 1:1–2
  • 1 John 3:23–24
The bible in a year
  • Exodus 37–38
  • Matthew 23:23–39

Saying All That Scripture Says About God

Shadows of the Trinity

Keep Reading Explaining Well-Known Bible Stories

From the February 2025 Issue
Feb 2025 Issue