Why is the Trinity so important? Many Christians have an idea that the Trinity is true, but that it is not relevant or important to the Christian life. Many people believe that it is an esoteric doctrine that the Bible teaches, but that we shouldn’t bother trying to figure out. Perhaps it is good for academic theologians in ivory towers to ponder, but for the common Christian, it is not really important. But the reality is that the Trinity is true. And as it is true, it is the truth about God. And as it is the truth about God, it is therefore the most important doctrine of the Christian faith. The doctrine of the Trinity is important because it is about who God is. There are several reasons why we see that the doctrine of the Trinity is important.
First of all, the doctrine of the Trinity is important because it is taught in Scripture. The doctrine of the Trinity is clearly and plainly taught in the Bible. Scripture teaches that there is only one God: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.” (Deu 6:4 KJV) “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (1Ti 2:5 KJV) And Scripture also teaches that there are three persons. When Jesus gave the Great Commission at the end of Matthew, He said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 28:19 KJV) At Jesus’ baptism, we see a manifestation of each divine person of the Holy Trinity: “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” (Luk 3:22 KJV) Throughout the Gospels, we see the Lord Jesus speaking of His relationship with God the Father (Matthew 11:25-27; Luke 22:29; John 5:17-47 to name some examples), and the coming Helper whom the Father would send in His name, the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-15). The doctrine of the Trinity is clearly taught in the Bible.
Secondly, the doctrine of the Trinity is important because it teaches us about who God is. The doctrine of the Trinity teaches us that there is one glorious God, who exists in three divine Persons: The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father eternally begets the Son. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. The Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son. There are three persons, but only one divine essence. As the Athanasian Creed states, “The Father is Almighty, and the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.” This is the great truth of the mystery of the Trinity.
And this doctrine is about God Himself. It is not peripheral. It is not about men. It is not the invention of men. It is the direct revelation of God about who He is. This divine truth is about God the Creator. Do you want to know who God is? Look to His glorious Triune nature! He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And thus third, this doctrine is important because it is a beautiful and wonderful truth! How blessed is the fact that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are eternally one God in three persons? How unfathomably beautiful is the eternal generation of God the Son? How lovely is the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son? The Son is always the Son of the Father, and the Father is always the Father of the Son. The Spirit is always the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. How great and beautiful is this truth! This is so beautiful because it is so perfect and infinite. There is no imperfection in the eternal generation of the Son or the eternal procession of the Spirit. There is beauty in the person of the Father, and the person of the Son, and in the person of the Holy Spirit. And as we behold the glory of these three divine persons in the sacred Scripture, it leads us up to contemplate the glory of the one divine God. As Gregory of Nazianzus states, “No sooner do I conceive of the one than I am illumined by the splendor of the three; no sooner do I distinguish them than I am carried back to the one.” (Orations, 40.1)
And this expresses why the Trinity is such a glorious mystery. How can God be one and three? How can He have one essence, but be three Persons? Thus fourth, this doctrine is important because it lifts up our hearts to God. It lifts up our finite souls to the contemplation of the infinite Triune God. We as finite creatures will never fully exhaust this mystery. It is truly incomprehensible to us because God is so far above us. But what we can state is that the more that we contemplate this beautiful mystery, the more that we think about it and dwell upon it in our minds and in our hearts, the more that our hearts are lifted up in love to the Lord. In other words, the more that we prayerfully contemplate the mystery of the Trinity, the more that our hearts grow in love for our Lord God.
And that is the goal of the Christian faith: to grow in love for our Lord and our God. As our Lord Jesus has stated, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.” (Mat 22:37-38 KJV) And there is no way that we can more faithfully follow this great commandment than by looking to our Triune God in the sacred Scriptures, and growing in love for Him. Let us therefore turn our hearts unto Him today and every day!
