Understanding the Trinity
As an atheist one of the many things I find confusing about Christianity is the concept of the Trinity;
God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To us, the Christian Church, there is only one God the Father (
1 Corinthians 8:6), but God's being includes
His Word and
His Spirit, both of whom are identified as
personages in the
NT, and who both
proceed forth from God's being
(John 8:42;
John 15:26) to manifest God and to make happen all things from the Father's command in creating, sustaining, saving, ruling over, and judging
all things
(1 Corinthians 8:6).
God would not be God, and nothing would exist, without His Word (the Spirit always working with the Word:
Genesis 1:1-27)
by/through whom
all things came to be (
Psalms 33:6) that are
from/of the Father's command (
Psalms 33:6;
Hebrews 1:2;
John 1:1-3; 1 Corinthians 8:6); so that,
all things are
from God and
through God and
for God (
Romans 11:35-36).
Part of the problem is understanding the concept of having three ‘God’ entities while at the same time describing them as a single entity.
There is one God the Father, and within God's being exists His Word and His Spirit who both are equal in essence with the Father, but are both subordinate to the Father positionally. The Word and Spirit belong to God the Father's nature of being God; and so, God cannot be less or greater than who He is, which must include His Word and Spirit. Therefore, the Word and Spirit are just as much God (by nature) as the Father -
they are one. . .
And so The Father, His Word, and His Spirit, cannot,
by any means, be separated from each other and still be "God" by nature, for God manifests himself as God, and does all things, by means of His Word and Spirit.
In like manner; the sun in the sky cannot be separated from its light and heat and still be a sun by nature - all three must exist together to be a sun. The light and heat exist within the sun and proceed forth from the sun to give life on earth, just as the Word and Spirit proceed forth from the Father to make all things happen that are from the Father's will.
As an outsider it also seems to me that each of the components of the Trinity would have a specific function or purpose. Is this the case? If not, why have three components?
From the Father (His command) are all things
by His Word and Spirit (
Psalms 33:6).
The function of the Word
The Word is
The Image of the invisible God and the
Brightness of God's glory (
Colossians 1:15;
Hebrews 1:3); manifesting
all of God bodily (
Colossians 1:19;
Colossians 2:9;
Philippians 2:6); therefore, when anyone saw the Son they were seeing the Father (
John 14:9). All the words Lord Jesus spoke are actually the words of the Father who sent him; for Lord Jesus (the incarnate Word) is God manifesting himself making
all things happen that are
from the Fathers command; yet, the Word is also a separate personage or consciousness from the Father.
The function of the Spirit
The Spirit is the "
indwelling" of God to give life with the Word, and to do all things with the Word, filling all things. The Spirit indwells believers (
John 7:37-39;
Ephesians 1:13) to
give them life (
Romans 8:10-11) as the believers
live and
walk by the leading of the Spirit who indwells them (
Romans 8:3-4;
Romans 8:12-14;
Galatians 5:16;
Galatians 6:7-9);
for not all Christians will continue to live by the Spirit indwelling them;
in that, many will
grieve (
Ephesians 4:17-32),
quench (
1 Thessalonians 5:19),
insult/
enrage (
Hebrews 10:24-31),
reject (
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8),
lie to (
Acts 5:3), and
test (
Acts 5:9) the indwelling Spirit.
Christians who reject, insult, and enrage the indwelling Spirit will suffer eternal punishment if not confessed and repented of (
Hebrews 10:24-31;
Revelation 3:1-6;
Romans 11:19-22).
The Christian
lives and
walks by the Spirit as the Christian remains faithful to
walk in the light, which is
to follow Lord Jesus (
John 8:12) into a sanctified life of righteousness and love (
Colossians 3:1-17;
1 John 1:5-9;
1 John 2:4-6;
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8).