Is God Three or One?
Several months back, I had a few conversations with a Jehovah's Witness. I noted three significant doctrinal differences between Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses during those conversations. First, they do not believe Jesus has a divine nature. Instead, they believe he was the first created being, Michael the archangel. Second, they deny the existence of the Holy Trinity, and finally, they believe salvation comes through faith in "their Jesus," plus good works.
I have attempted to faithfully document those conversations in this blog series. In the first post, I summarized our discussions, and I wrote some tips that could prove helpful in your subsequent encounter with a Jehovah's Witness. In my second and third posts, I dealt with the identity of Jesus, proving from Scripture that Jesus is both fully God and man, refuting the Jehovah's Witness claim that Jesus is a created being.
In this post, I will discuss The Holy Trinity. Before diving into The Holy Trinity, we need to begin by understanding what a Jehovah's Witness believes about the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, and compare that to what Scripture says. From there, we will define and examine what the Bible says about The Holy Trinity.
Who or What is The Holy Spirit?
Throughout our conversations about Jesus, my Jehovah's Witness friend continued to tell me, "Dan, there is only one God." Then he would read these verses:
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." (Deuteronomy 6:4)
And,
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: "I am the first, and I am the last; besides me, there is no god." (Isaiah 44:6)
So, with these two verses, not only do they deny the deity of Jesus, but they also deny the deity of the Holy Spirit. According to Jehovah's Witnesses, "The Holy Spirit is God's power in action, his active force." "In other words," my friend exclaimed, "The Holy Spirit is an impersonal force used by God to accomplish his will."
What Does The Bible Say About The Holy Spirit?
I countered my friend's erroneous claim by pointing him to the Bible. First, Scripture says the Holy Spirit is a person and has a person's physical characteristics. For example, he speaks (Acts 13:2), he can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), and he can be lied to (Acts 5:3-4). These are all physical characteristics of a real person.
Second, Scripture says the Holy Spirit is God. He is described as Creator (Job 33:4), eternal (Hebrews 9:14), holy (John 14:26), and in Acts 5:3-4, he is most clearly called God. Let's read,
But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God."
I pleaded with my friend, "You cannot lie to some impersonal force. You can only lie to a person, and the Holy Spirit is a person. Moreover, the text clearly says, 'You have not lied to man but to God.' The Holy Spirit is not some impersonal force; rather, He is a person, the third person of The Holy Trinity. He is God! This truth has great significance; please believe the Word of God."
Since my Jehovah's Witness friend denied the deity of both Jesus and The Holy Spirit, of course, he denied the existence of the Holy Trinity. He continued to point me back to Deuteronomy 6:4, and he exclaimed, "Nowhere in the Bible is the Word Trinity used. It's a manufactured doctrine."
What Is The Trinity?
While it is true the word Trinity is not used in the Bible, it is also true for many other theological terms, like Bible or theology. So, this is an invalid argument. The doctrine of the Trinity is held together by three biblical truths. First, there is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). Second, there are three persons who are called God. We saw this was true of Jesus in the last two blogs, and we have seen this is true of the Holy Spirit in this blog. Third, the Godhead comprises three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19 says,
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Notice the word "name" is singular, meaning one God who manifests himself as three distinct persons as indicated by the definite article "the."
In summary, the Christian doctrine of The Trinity is the belief that there is one God who has revealed himself in three distinct and co-equal persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
How did The Trinity become a Christian Doctrine?
My Jehovah's Witness friend argued the Bible was completed in the first century. The doctrine of the Trinity did not begin to be formulated until the year 325, more than two centuries later, at the Council of Nicea. Prior to that Council, Christians were divided over the relationship between God and Christ. He argued that because Emperor Constantine did not want to rule over an empire divided over religion, he called the Council to decide the matter. My friend argued Constantine was not interested in truth; instead, he was interested in a unified empire.
While I suspect my friend's claims about Constantine are correct, I countered that Constantine's motivation to call the Council had no bearing on how the early church developed the doctrine of The Trinity. For example, many first-century church fathers such as Polycarp (AD 69-155) and Ignatius (AD 50-117) strongly believed Jesus is God. All their teachings were documented well before the Council of Nicaea. Arguably, the most straightforward teaching on The Trinity came from the early church father, Tertullian, who lived from AD 150 to 225. In his writing "Against Praxeas," Tertullian contended for the Biblical truth of The Trinity. Again, his teachings occurred well before the Council of Nicaea.
Therefore, my friend's claim that the doctrine of the Trinity did not begin development until AD 325 at the hand of the wrongly motivated emperor is just not valid. On the contrary, the development of the doctrine of The Trinity began in the first-century church.
Why is belief in the Trinity Important?
The Trinity is important because the gospel is important. 1 John 4:8 says in part, "God is love." Love is one of God's essential and eternal attributes. It is who he was, is, and will always be. Without this attribute of love, he would not be God. If God created Jesus and the Holy Spirit is not a person, as my Jehovah's Witness friend claimed, how could God be love before he created anything to love? See, his eternal attribute of love only makes sense with the correct understanding of The Trinity. Before anything was created, God loved the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is love. It is this kind of Trinitarian love that invites us into a loving relationship with him.