Can anybody help make The Doctrine of The Trinity clear to those who are new to the Faith using scripture alone?
There are only 2 known verses in all of scripture that even hint at the concept of a '3-person God' who is actually 'One'.
Matthew 28:19 lists the 3 persons of the Trinity, but does not describe their relationship in any way or teach the "concept" of the Trinity at all.
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
(Mt. 28:19)
It is very significant to note that after this verse, the only baptisms that are related in detail describe baptizing in the name of Jesus or Jesus Christ. These are found in Acts 2:38 & 8:12
The other verse that comes close to describing the Trinity is Ephesians 4:4-6.
"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
(Eph. 4:4-6)
This verse, as well, fails to teach the actual "concept" of the Trinity.
There are many pagan religions with 3-person gods which go into great detail about the 3-person relationship of their gods and the history of how they came about, but in Christianity, there is no teaching anywhere in scripture about the Trinity. The word Trinity is found nowhere from Genesis to Revelation.
There is not a single book in the 66 books of the Bible, much less even a paragraph, that teaches the actual concept of the Trinity.
So how do we teach this concept to a new inquisitive Christian who is interested in learning about it in their Bible?
If you can teach this concept using the Bible alone, please supply those books, chapters and verses for the edification of those who are eager to learn.
hello Friend , I would study the Old Testament closely Looking for things like this consodering this scripture first
“And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”
Galatians 3:8
so Abrahams encounter with God when he promised isaacs birth
“And
the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo,
three men stood by him:
and when
he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And
said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye
your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And
they said, So do, as thou hast said.
And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and
he stood by them under the tree, and
they did eat.
And
they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife?
And he said, Behold, in the tent.
And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.”
Genesis 18:1-3, 5, 8-10 KJV
you can finish the chapter and see the same principle of three men appearing as God speaking as one yet also operating independently but in unison of will like this part
“And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. And
the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom:
but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.
And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.”
Genesis 18:20-22, 33
those two men then appear in sodom as the lord said he would go down and look upon the City . And the city is destroyed by thier word and when they speak God sends destruction
I think if we look for the hidden things in the ot now that we understand things like “ there are three that bear record the father , word and Holy Ghost and the three are one “ if we accept the revelation of doctrine then we can see that it was always so but was hidden beforehand in berses even from the beginning
“And God said, Let us make man
in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion...
Genesis 1:26 KJV
God is one but in order to express himself to us there are three distinct aspects he has shown us each necassary for salvation.