The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Romans 8:16–17; NKJV)
In my last post, I briefly explained the doctrine of the Trinity and answered some common questions about it. There is another very important question about the Trinity that I saved for a separate post. Is the doctrine of the Trinity biblical? Does it accurately reflect the teaching of Scripture? Let’s test it according to the Scriptures.
First, how do we test if a doctrine is biblical? The goal of doctrine is to represent a set of ideas appearing in the Scriptures. Just because the name of a doctrine appears in the Bible does not make that doctrine biblical. Similarly, just because the name of a doctrine is absent from the Bible does not make the doctrine unbiblical. A doctrine is biblical or not based on how well it summarizes what the Bible says on that subject.
Some have rightly said that the word ‘Trinity’ is not in the Bible. But, as mentioned, the name of the doctrine does not make it biblical or not. How well does the Trinity summarize biblical teaching about the God?
The Trinity teaches there is only one God who exists eternally in three persons—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All Christianity confesses the singularity of God. This is also true for Trinitarians. While there is some additional disagreement about the particular terms substance and person (which will not be addressed here), it is a misunderstanding to say that the Trinity teaches worship of multiple gods.
If there is only one God, how can He exist in three persons? How one God can exist in a trifold-unity seems illogical. Of course, it is fair to ask whether God is always bound by human logic, and the answer is surely no! But that sidesteps the question. Since the Trinity upholds the oneness of God, testing it biblically is fourfold: 1) is the Son God? 2) Is the Son distinct from the Father? 3) Is the Holy Spirit God? 4) Is the Holy Spirit distinct from the Father and Son?
1) The Son is God. The Bible teaches the deity of the Son in at least four ways. First, the Son exists from eternity past and has agency in creation. All things were created through the Son and He has preeminence over creation. Second, the Son has the same nature as God. He is the very image of God and the fullness of God dwells in the Son. Third, He is called by the same names as God. For example, Alpha and Omega—names for God—are given to the Son. Fourth, He receives worship, which the Bible teaches is for God alone. The Son, then, is either a blasphemer or God. (John 1:1–3, 14, 18; 3:16; Col 1:1–17; Isa 41:4, c.f. Rev 1:17–8; Matt 2:11; 14:33; 28:9)
2) The Son is distinct from the Father. The Bible teaches this in at least six ways. First, the Son departed from heaven and became human, while the Father continued residing in heaven. Second, when the Son was baptized, the Father spoke from heaven. Third, the Son, dwelling on earth, prayed to the Father in heaven. Fourth, the Son obeyed the Father’s will by dying on the cross and, with His last breath, committed his spirit to the Father in heaven. Fifth, the Son ascended to heaven and was seated at the right hand of the Father. Sixth, the Son will one day hand the Kingdom over to the Father (Phil 2:5–11; Matt 3:17; Luke 23:46; 11:41; 17:1; Acts 2:33; 1 Cor 15:23–28)
3) The Holy Spirit is God. The Bible teaches this in at least three ways. First, the Holy Spirit is equated with God, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira as well as regarding the Spirit’s indwelling presence. Second, the Holy Spirit has attributes of God, such as being all-powerful and ever-present. Third, the Holy Spirit participates in divine works of God, including creation, sanctification, and glorification. (Acts 5:1–4; 1 Cor 3:16, c.f. 6:19; Gen 1:2; Gal 5:16–25; Rom 8:11)
4) The Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father. The Bible teaches this in at least four ways. First, when the Son was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him at the same time the Father spoke from heaven. Second, Jesus promised His disciples that the Father would send another helper, the Holy Spirit. Third, the Holy Spirit, specifically, indwells believers, giving us new spiritual life and sealing our adoption as children of the Father. Fourth, the Holy Spirit, specifically, empowers believers to turn from sin and walk in newness of life. (Matt 3:16–17; John 14:15–17; Rom 8:9–17; Gal 5:16–26)
So, is the doctrine of the Trinity biblical? Yes. It upholds the oneness of God. And it also rightly distinguishes between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When the doctrine of the Trinity is tested by Scripture, it ably reflects both the oneness of God and the distinctions within the Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—as God has revealed Himself to be.
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Tim Northup 
Clearly one can not understand how so many people keep believing that the Trinity would be Biblical. There is no such thing confirming the human teaching what the Trinity teaches there being only one God who exists eternally in three persons—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because those three entities are so different from each other and make of Jesus a schizophrenic being praying to himself and even asking himself not to leave himself.
In the Bible God Himself says clearly that Jesus is His beloved son and His send and authorised one. Jesus never claimed to be God and tells us that God is mightier and greater than him. Jesus says even that he can not do anything without his heavenly Father, whom he considers the Only One True God.
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Hello Marcus, thank you for your comments. I would not presume to try and change your mind, but I might hope to offer some additional thoughts for consideration. Please see my response below and and may God bless you and your household in faith and life.
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I looked at your article and as you thought still keeps my understanding of how God declared Jesus to be his son.
As you mention, Jesus alss often called God “my Father” but aat the same time used also “our Father”. Although the Jews usually referred to God as “our Father,” and sometimes as “my Father” with qualifications (like “in heaven”), Jesus broke with these cultural norms and called God “my Father” without qualification. That one scholar explains that the Jewish leaders understood Jesus to be equating himself with God, does not at all mean that Jesus did that or even said that he was God.
Several tittles that can be contributed to God can also contributed to Jesus but also to many other people, not making them to be God.
You also seem to forget that “god” in itself is a title, meaning important person. In the bible we find many people being called “god” though I do hope you are not taking them as your god?
Strange that you ask me to make up my mind and that you say “. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.” Though it is me, and not you, who is saying and believing that Jesus is a man who really put his will aside to do the will of God, and who gave his body as a ransom for our sins. It looks to me that it is you who does not believe Jesus is a man of flesh and blood who could die, and that you believe Jesus is the eternal (not dying) God.
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