Interrogating the Trinity: Why Does This Matter?
This brings us to the final article in this series, Interrogating the Trinity. So far, we’ve asked, What is God? Who is God? How is God God? When is God? Where is God? Now we’re up to the Why question. I feel like the most fruitful approach to this interrogative is to consider why this all matters. Why does it matter that God is Trinity?
Decades ago, Karl Rahner famously wrote:
Despite their orthodox confession of the Trinity, Christians are, in their practical life, almost mere "monotheists." We must be willing to admit that, should the doctrine of the Trinity have to be dropped as false, the major part of religious literature could well remain virtually unchanged.[1]
In other words, he’s saying that the doctrine of the Trinity had very little relevance to the Christians of his day. He felt that if Christians just stopped talking about the idea that God is Trinity one day, nothing would really change. More than half a century has passed since he penned these words. In some ways, things have changed. There are certainly many more books about the Trinity, several of them in response (or reaction) to the kinds of things he said about the Trinity. But this probably hasn’t trickled down to the average Christian in most cases.
I reckon that if you asked the average church member why it matters that God is Trinity, they’d say, “I dunno, he just is, I suppose.” And, to be honest, in many ways, that’s a really good way to respond: “He just is.”
The Trinity as our Social Program?
There are countless books trying to argue that the doctrine of the Trinity matters because God’s triunity sets a social agenda for us. One such example is Miroslav Volf’s famous article, The Trinity Is Our Social Program.
In his book Simply Trinity, Matthew Barrett chronicles how, in recent times, the doctrine of the Trinity has been used—manipulated even—to support causes as diverse as socialism, ecumenism, pluralism, environmentalism, egalitarianism, complementarianism, and homosexuality.[2] People have turned to the magnificent doctrine of the Trinity because they feel it might support their cause.
Once people (particularly pastors and theology students) find out that I’ve done a fair bit of research on the Trinity, they often start asking me questions about subordination in the Trinity. The reason? In my circles, there are lots of questions regarding how the doctrine of the Trinity, and in particular, subordination within the Trinity, ties in with debates over complementarianism and egalitarianism. It’s an interesting topic to explore. But the doctrine of the Trinity dwarves all other doctrines. Without the doctrine of the Trinity, there would be no other doctrine, not even the doctrine of creation or salvation.
So why does it matter?
This is Our God
Most fundamentally, this is who God is. God is One. God is Three. The One God exists as a Trinity. One Being, Three persons. This is why we should care.
This is Our God.
When you meet someone, it’s natural to care about who they are, what they are, when you can find them, where you can find them, things like that. You care about them for their sake, not because of what they can do for you.
The doctrine of the Trinity matters because it’s what God is. It’s who God is. It’s how God exists. It helps us understand when and where God is. This is why it matters. It’s the God who is. What better reason could there be for why this matters?
🌎 This is the God Who Created Us
The God who made us is a Trinity.
The Father is the ultimate source and initiator of creation (Genesis 1:1). Everything that exists was created and has its being according to his will (Revelation 4:11). He speaks the world into existence by his Word (Psalm 33:6, 9).
The Son is the agent of creation, the agent through whom all things were created (John 1:3, 1 Corinthians 8:6) and for whom they were created (Colossians 1:16). He is the eternal Word by whom the Father spoke creation into being (John 1:1-3). The Son also sustains all things by his powerful Word (Hebrews 1:3), ensuring that all things hold together (Colossians 1:17) for their ultimate purpose and goal.
The Spirit is the life-giver. Although the Spirit is only “hovering” in Genesis 1:2, he’s still present. Psalm 33:6, Psalm 104:30, Job 26:13 and Job 33:4 speak of God creating through his Spirit (sometimes translated as “breath”), giving life and bringing his creative act through to completion.
So, why does it matter that God is Trinity? Because the God who made us is Trinity. All three are involved in the act of creating: the Father initiating and willing creation into being, the Son executing the Father’s will as the agent of creation, and the Spirit infusing it with life, carrying things through to completion
🛟 This is the God Who Saves Us
Next up, the doctrine of the Trinity matters because the God who saves us is Trinity.
The Father initiates salvation, planning it before the world's creation (Ephesians 1:4-5). He sends the Son to accomplish redemption (Galatians 4:4-5). The Son accomplishes salvation through his life (1 Peter 2:22, Hebrews 4:15), death (Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 3:18), and resurrection (Romans 4:25, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 1 Peter 1:3), establishing himself as the mediator between God and humanity (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 8:6, 9:15, 12:24). The Spirit applies salvation to individuals, regenerating hearts (John 3:5-6), convicting of sin (John 16:8), washing and renewing (Titus 3:5), and sealing believers as a guarantee of their inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14). The God who saves us is a Trinitarian God.
📣 This is the God Who Speaks To Us
Similarly, the God who speaks to us is a Trinitarian God.
The Father is the source of all revelation (Hebrews 1:1-2), including the authoritative, “God-breathed” Words of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21), given to reveal his character and purposes. The Son is the ultimate revelation of God (John 1:14, Hebrews 1:2) and is the one to whom all of the Scriptures testify (Luke 24:27; John 5:39). The Holy Spirit enables the Son to take on human flesh (Matthew 1:18, Luke 1:35) so that God’s people can receive God’s revelation. He then enables the human writers of Scripture to record what we read in the Scriptures (2 Peter 1:21). Finally, he illumines the minds of those reading Scripture so that we can understand the message of God’s Son (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14). So, the God who speaks to us is a Trinitarian God.
🙏 This is the God Who We Pray To
Similarly, the God who we pray to is a Trinitarian God. Though we can pray to the Son or Spirit, the New Testament usually guides us to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9) who answers according to his will (1 John 5:14). The Son intercedes for us (Hebrews 7:25), giving us access to the Father when we pray in his name (John 14:13). The Spirit helps us pray, interceding on our behalf and aligning our prayers with God’s will (Romans 8:26-27, Ephesians 6:18; John 16:13).
😇 This is the God Who Sanctifies Us
Likewise, the God who sanctifies us, transforming us and shaping us, is a Trinitarian God. The Father disciplines and shapes us to grow in holiness (Hebrews 12:10; 1 Peter 1:15-16). The Son makes us holy, setting us apart by his sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10, 10:14); he’s our model of holiness (Ephesians 5:25-26). The Holy Spirit is big on holiness, too (it’s in his name). He produces holiness by transforming and bearing fruit in believers (2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22-23).
🫱 This is the God Who We Worship
The God we worship is a Trinitarian God. We worship God the Father, who seeks worshippers who worship him in the Spirit and the Truth (John 4:23-24; Romans 12:1 cf. John 14:6). The Son grants access to the Father (John 4:23-24; Hebrews 10:19-22), and directs our worship toward the Father (Matthew 4:10; Ephesians 5:20). The Spirit enables and empowers true worship and service of God the Father (Philippians 3; John 4:23-24). If we are on about worshipping God, we are on about a God who is Trinity.
➡️ This is the God Who Sends Us
The Father sends the Son on his mission (John 3:17, 5:36, 6:44,7:16, 8:42). The Father and Son send the Spirit on the Spirit’s mission (John 14:26, John 15:26, John 16:7, Acts 2:33, Galatians 4:6). The Son sends us on a mission, a mission that is grounded in his mission (John 20:21), a mission that involves making disciples in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). And, on this mission, we are empowered by the Spirit, whose mission it is to assist us on our mission (John 20:22, Acts 1:8). Our very mission as Christians in God’s world is shaped by the Trinitarian life, and leads to new life in the name of the Trinitarian persons.
SIDEBAR: Inseparability and Appropriations
As a little sidebar, the points that we’ve just covered also help us understand the ideas of Inseparability and Appropriations.
Inseparability
Inseparability refers to the reality that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are inseparable in their Being (that is, they are inseparable persons) and works (that is, in their inseparable operations). They share the same Being or Essence, meaning they are not three gods but one God. We’ve just been given a glimpse of how all three work together—inseparably even—in various different areas of Christian doctrine. All three play a role in creation, salvation, revelation, prayer, sanctification, worship, and missions. This inseparability makes sense of what Jesus says in John 5:19:
Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
Just as the divine persons are inseparable through the doctrine of Perichoresis (the “in-ness” of the three), so their works are inseparable.
Appropriation
While the persons of the Trinity are inseparable in their Being and actions, appropriations refers to the way the Bible highlights specific actions as being more characteristic of one person than the others. As we consider the role of each person of the Trinity with respect to key doctrines, we see that there are commonalities. This perhaps becomes more obvious when we view it in a table.
| Doctrine | Father | Son | Spirit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creation | Ultimate source and initiator of creation, speaking creation into being. | Agent of creation; all things made through him and for him. Sustains creation. | Life-giver, hovering over creation; brings life and completion. |
| Salvation | Initiates salvation, planning it before creation; sends the Son to accomplish redemption. | Accomplishes salvation through his life, death, and resurrection. Mediator between God and humanity. | Applies salvation to individuals: regenerates hearts, convicts of sin, seals believers. |
| Revelation | Source of all revelation; inspires Scripture to reveal his purposes. | Ultimate revelation of God; the one to whom all Scripture testifies. | Enables human authors to write Scripture; illumines readers to understand it. |
| Prayer | The one we pray to, answering according to his will. | Intercedes for us, giving access to the Father when we pray in his name. | Helps us pray and intercedes for us, aligning our prayers with God's will. |
| Sanctification | Disciplines and shapes us to grow in holiness. | Sets us apart by his sacrifice; serves as our model of holiness. | Produces holiness by transforming and bearing fruit in believers. |
| Worship | Seeks worshipers who worship him in spirit and truth. | Grants access to the Father and directs worship toward him. | Empowers and enables true worship. |
| Mission | Sends the Son on his mission; shapes our mission as disciples. | Sends the Spirit on his mission; sends us to make disciples in the Trinity's name. | Empowers and assists us in mission. |
The persons are united in these various areas but also appropriate distinct aspects of each. As we look at this table, we see various overall commonalities. The Father is the ultimate source and initiator—he plans, sends, and shapes. The Son is the agent of action—he accomplishes God’s plans and mediates between God and humanity. The Spirit applies, enables and empowers—he brings life, convicts, transforms, and enables believers to live out God’s purposes. All three are united, but each has distinct appropriated roles within this unity.
❤️ This is the God Who is Love
Finally, the God who loves us is a God of love in himself. The Christian God is Love. No other religion can say that about its God. They can claim that their God loves, but they can’t say that their God is love. Their gods are not intrinsically love. They have to learn love.
For the gods of other religions, there is a point at which they have nothing to love. For example, Islam teaches that Allah created the universe. He is "the Originator of the heavens and the earth” (Qur'an 2:117). But what was there before he originated the heavens and the earth? Just Allah. So, who or what did he love? He’s got nobody and nothing to love.
When Allah creates the world and humanity, he can start loving something or someone, but until he creates, he’s got nobody and nothing to love.
This is a real problem for Allah because of what we read in the very first verse of the Quran. The first verse of the Qu’ran states:
In the Name of Allah—the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.
Qur’an 1:1
But how can he be compassionate or merciful before creation? Upon whom does he have compassion or mercy? There’s nobody to have compassion or mercy on.
The God of the Bible is different. Trinitarian love is flowing all the time. The “Father loves the Son,” as demonstrated by the fact that the Father places “everything in his hands” (John 3:35) and “shows him all he does (John 5:20).” The Son loves the Father, and this is demonstrated in the Son’s obedience to the Father:
I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
John 14:31
Significantly, not only is the mutual love between the Father and Son flowing all the time—it’s also flowing beyond the realm of time. In John 17:24, Jesus prays:
Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
The Father gave the Son glory. Why? Because he loved the Son. When? Before the creation of the world.
This makes the Christian God radically different to any other God. The Father and Son (and Spirit) exist as one God for all eternity, before time, outside of the created realm. There is love going on intrinsically within God outside of time. This is why we can say that our God is love in himself, eternally.
Theoretically, the “gods” of other religions can become loving, but they’re not intrinsically “love.” Only an uncreated God, with simultaneous plurality and unity, can be “love” in himself.
More To Say
More could be said about why it matters that God is a Trinity. As I read passages like Philippians 2:5-11, 1 Peter 2 and 1 Corinthians 11:3, the relationship between the Father and Son seems, at some level, paradigmatic for some human relationships. However, I need to make two critical qualifications as I say this.
First, it is the relationship between the Father and Son in the economy, in time, and in the course of the gospel which sets this model. Really, the gospel is the paradigm for human relationships as we seek to imitate our Lord and Saviour. We shouldn’t just draw a straight line from the doctrine of the Trinity in eternity to human relationships. This doesn’t mean a line can’t be drawn. We imitate the Son of the Father, who came to earth to show us the best way to live (and, of course, to save us). We imitate the Son who appeared in time and space. His appearance in time and space is a manifestation of the true Son of the Father.
Second, while connections can be made, they belong in an appendix, footnote, or final appendix/footnote-like section of a blog article explaining why it matters that God is Trinity. What really matters is what we read about in the previous sections!
Notes
[1] Karl Rahner, The Trinity, trans. Joseph Donceel (New York: Herder and Herder, 1970), 10–11. The original German edition was released in 1967.
[2] Matthew Barrett, Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2021), page 37.
