S2E2 - God is Triune

Molly Flinkman
3-Minute Theologian
God is Triune | S2:E2
8 / 26 / 2024
Welcome to the 3-Minute Theologian. A theology podcast about what we believe, written by the pastors at Waukee Community Church. I’m your host, Molly Flinkman, and in today’s episode, we’re talking about the Trinity.
When you think of God, what comes to mind? Do you picture a loving Father, an earthly Jesus, or do you merely see a glaring light? Our denomination’s statement of faith says this about God:
We believe in one God, [who] eternally [exists] in a loving unity of three equally divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (EFCA, Article 1)
What does this mean? Many of us probably think of God only as Father, only as Son, or only as Holy Spirit. But it matters that we also understand God as one being. So before we can understand the Trinity, we must first acknowledge that,
We worship One God.
Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “The LORD our God… is one.” In the Old Testament, while other nations had multiple gods --different ones in different places for different things. Israel had only one God, and they were to have no other gods before him!
And today’s world is not much different than the ancient world: Hinduism and Mormonism are examples of polytheism--religions with multiple gods. While Christianity, Judaism, & Islam are examples of monotheism--religions with only one god. However, even though many people believe in just one god, that does not mean that they are worshiping the God of the Bible.
The God of the Bible is unique. He is the only God, and God is more complex and personable than any other ‘so-called’ god. Which leads to our second point:
God is Triune.
Maybe you’ve heard the Trinity explained one of these ways: That the Trinity is like an egg with its shell, yoke, and white. Or the Trinity is like H2O in its different states: ice, water, and steam. Or that the Trinity is like the sun, which emits energy, light, and heat.
Unfortunately, all of these are bad analogies! The Trinity is not three parts of God like three parts of an egg. The Trinity is not three forms of God like three states of water, and the Trinity is not three expressions of God, like byproducts of our star. Instead, the classic definition of the Trinity is this:
“God is one being, in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father. Yet each is fully and truly God. Though the word, “Trinity” itself isn’t in our Bibles, it’s clearly there! We see it in passages like Matthew 28:19, “Go… make disciples of all nations… in the name of the Father… the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Nearly every heresy from the past 2,000 years has denied the Trinity, and if we misunderstand the Trinity, then we will not know the God of the Bible.
The Trinity can be hard to understand, but it is true. You can know that the three persons of the Trinity love each other perfectly, and that God’s abundant love has overflowed to you! Out of this love, the Father has given us his Son. the Son has given us salvation, and the Spirit gives us life! Through the Trinity, we know and experience God!