I gave my first apologetic speech on Thursday evening. I was supposed to "explain the meaning and significance of the Trinity." Here is the text of my speech (which was written out on 3 X 5 cards.) 

Growing up, I asked a lot of questions. There many things I wanted to know about. But the most important questions I asked were the ones about God. Most of them were relatively simple and easy to understand. But one of the hardest questions for me to understand the answer to was What is the Trinity? How can God be three in one? How can something go beyond reason but not against reason? After all, human reason cannot fully comprehend the doctrine of the Trinity. We know it only because God has revealed it to us through His Word, the Bible. This does not mean it is irrational or contradictory and there are still things we can learn about the Trinity.

Today, I am going to be explaining the meaning and significance of the Trinity. Wayne Grudem, in Systematic Theology, defines the word "trinity" as "tri-unity" or "three-in-oneness". Three statements help summarize the doctrine of the Trinity.

1. God is three persons.

2. Each person is fully God.

3. There is one God.

First, God is three persons. This means that God the Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit. They are distinct persons. It is not as if God is an actor playing three parts in a play. In other words, the persons of the Trinity are not just 3 different ways of looking at God. This is evident in Matt. 3:16-17, "As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descend like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, Whom I love; with Him I am well pleased."" Here all three persons of the Trinity are present at the same time.

Second, each person is fully God. The Father is fully God. John 4:23, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." The Son is fully God. Col. 2:9, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form." John 20:28-29, "Thomas said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God’. Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’" Jesus Himself is affirming that He is fully God. The Holy Spirit is fully God. In Acts 5:3, we read, "Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit...?" In verse 4, it says, "You have not lied to men but to God." In addition, we are told to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Third, there is one God. Though the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons, they are one in essence and nature. They are all omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, infinitely holy, etc. One way to say it is that God is one "What" and three "Whos". Scripture is adamant that there is only one God. Deut. 6:4, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." In Isaiah 45:5, we read, "I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from Me there is no God."

Now, let’s talk about the significance of the Trinity. Why should it matter to us whether someone believes in the Trinity or not? I believe one of the reasons is that if a person denies any aspect of the Trinity, they are denying an essential doctrine of the Christian faith. To deny the Trinity is to call the Bible and God a liar. Though the word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible, the doctrine is clearly taught throughout Scripture. If you deny that there is one God, you are going against all the Scriptures that state there is only one God. If you deny that God is 3 persons, what is the explanation for Jesus praying to the Father or promising to send the Holy Spirit to the disciples? You would be forced to conclude that Jesus is either crazy or a liar. Again, this is heresy. If you deny that each person is fully God, you contradict all the verses in the Bible affirming the deity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

In conclusion, the meaning of the Trinity is that God is three persons, each person is fully God, and there is one God. The significance of a proper belief in the doctrine of the Trinity is that without it, the historic Christian faith shatters and the Bible is made out to be a contradictory book of lies.