Why This Paradox Is Not a Contradiction—and Why It Matters
Christians confess something utterly unique:
There is one God
in three distinct Persons—
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
At first hearing, that can sound like nonsense. How can God be one and three at the same time? Isn’t that a logical contradiction?
In this post we’ll explore:
- The nature of the paradox and why it’s not a true contradiction
- The biblical foundations: one God, three Persons
- The plural language for God in Scripture
- The distinct roles of Father, Son, and Spirit (creation, revelation, salvation, prayer)
- Jesus’ command to baptize in one Name, three Persons
- False ideas about God (especially modalism)
- Why the Trinity matters deeply for your faith and life today
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1. Is the Trinity a Contradiction?
A contradiction would be saying:
- God is one Person and three Persons in the same sense, at the same time,
or - God is one Being and three Beings in the same sense.
Christian orthodoxy does not say that.
Instead, the classic, biblical formulation is:
- God is one in essence/being.
- God is three in Person (Father, Son, Spirit).
Or in simpler terms:
- What God is: one God.
- Who God is: three Persons.
Augustine put it this way:
“We are speaking of one God, the Trinity;
and when we say ‘Trinity,’ we mean Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
—On the Trinity (paraphrased)
This is a paradox (beyond full comprehension), but not an illogical claim. It does not violate the law of non‑contradiction; it distinguishes between different senses:
- God is one in one way (essence),
- and three in another way (personhood).
2. The Biblical Foundations: One God
Scripture is fiercely monotheistic:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”
—Deuteronomy 6:4
“I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God.”
—Isaiah 45:5
In the New Testament:
“…there is no God but one.”
—1 Corinthians 8:4
Christians do not believe in three gods. There is only one true and living God.
At the same time, Scripture speaks of Father, Son, and Spirit in ways that reveal:
- Each is truly God,
- Each is personally distinct,
- Yet they are not three Gods.
3. The Plural Language for God
From the opening pages of Scripture, we see intriguing hints.
A. “Elohim” – A Plural Term
The most common Old Testament word for God is Elohim, which is grammatically plural but often takes singular verbs when referring to the one true God.
- Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God (Elohim) created (singular verb) the heavens and the earth.”
This combination—plural noun with singular verb—is unusual and suggestive. While it doesn’t by itself prove the Trinity, it prepares us for a richer plurality within the unity of God.
B. “Let Us Make Man in Our Image”
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’”
—Genesis 1:26
Again, God (Elohim) speaks in the plural:
- “Let us make…”
- “in our image, after our likeness.”
Some argue this is a “plural of majesty” or God addressing the heavenly court, but in light of the full biblical witness, Christian theology has long seen this as an early hint of plurality within the one God.
4. Three Distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
A. The Father Is God
- Jesus prays to the Father as a distinct “You”: “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son…” (John 17:1)
- Paul calls Him “God the Father” (Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:3).
B. The Son Is God and Yet Distinct from the Father
- “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
- “With God” (distinct from the Father)
- “Was God” (sharing the divine nature)
- Thomas says to the risen Jesus: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)
- The Son shares in God’s unique prerogatives (forgiving sins, receiving worship, creating and sustaining all things; see Mark 2:5–7; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16–17; Hebrews 1:3).
C. The Holy Spirit Is God and Yet Distinct
- In Acts 5:3–4, lying to the Holy Spirit is equated with lying to God.
- The Spirit has personal attributes—He speaks (Acts 13:2), teaches (John 14:26), can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30).
Jesus speaks of the Spirit as “another Helper”:
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth…”
—John 14:16–17
Here we see all three:
- The Son asking the Father to send another Helper, the Spirit.
Gregory of Nazianzus summarized:
“The Old Testament proclaimed the Father openly, the Son more obscurely.
The New Testament revealed the Son and hinted at the divinity of the Spirit.
Now the Spirit dwells among us and makes Himself more clearly known.”
—Oration 31 (paraphrased)
5. One Name, Three Persons: The Baptismal Formula
Jesus’ Great Commission provides a clear, explicit Trinitarian pattern:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”
—Matthew 28:19
Notice:
- “name” is singular—one Name, one God.
- Yet that one Name is “of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”—three distinct Persons.
Early Christians took this very seriously:
- Baptism is into the triune God.
- Christian identity is fundamentally Trinitarian.
6. Distinct Roles Within the Trinity
The three Persons always act together, yet often with distinct roles (or “personal properties”) in God’s works.
A. In Creation
- Father: Source and initiator. “Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist…” (1 Corinthians 8:6)
- Son: Agent and mediator. “…and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” (1 Corinthians 8:6)
“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3) - Spirit: Life‑giver and sustainer. “…the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2)
“You send forth your Spirit, they are created…” (Psalm 104:30)
B. In Revelation
- Father: Speaks and sends. “Long ago… God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” (Hebrews 1:1–2)
- Son: The Word made flesh, the visible image of the invisible God (John 1:14; Colossians 1:15).
- Spirit: Inspires Scripture and opens hearts (2 Peter 1:21; John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:10–12).
C. In Salvation
Ephesians 1 presents a beautiful Trinitarian pattern:
- Father: Plans and elects. “He chose us in him before the foundation of the world…” (Ephesians 1:4)
- Son: Redeems by His blood. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses…” (Ephesians 1:7)
- Spirit: Applies salvation and seals us. “…you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance…” (Ephesians 1:13–14)
John Calvin said:
“We must look to the Father as the first cause,
to the Son as wisdom, counsel, and the ordered disposition of all things,
but to the Spirit as the power and efficacy of that activity.”
—Institutes 1.13 (paraphrased)
D. In Prayer
Christian prayer is Trinitarian:
- We pray to the Father,
- through the Son,
- by the Spirit.
“For through him (Christ) we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”
—Ephesians 2:18
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness… the Spirit himself intercedes for us…”
—Romans 8:26
7. False Ideas About the Trinity: Especially Modalism
Whenever the church tries to simplify the Trinity, it tends to fall into error. One of the most common is modalism.
A. What Is Modalism?
Modalism (also called Sabellianism) teaches:
- God is one Person who simply appears in different modes or roles:
- Sometimes as Father,
- Sometimes as Son,
- Sometimes as Spirit.
Like one actor wearing three masks.
This denies that the Father, Son, and Spirit are eternally distinct Persons.
But Scripture shows them:
- Acting simultaneously,
- Relating to one another,
- Loving, sending, glorifying each other.
For example, at Jesus’ baptism:
“When Jesus also had been baptized and was praying,
the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove;
and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’”
—Luke 3:21–22
All three are present at the same time:
- Son in the water,
- Spirit descending,
- Father’s voice from heaven.
Modalism cannot make sense of this without twisting the text.
The early church rejected modalism because it contradicts Scripture and undermines the gospel:
- If the Father and Son are the same Person,
- the Son cannot genuinely pray to the Father,
- the Father cannot send the Son,
- the Son’s obedience and love to the Father become a kind of play‑acting.
Tertullian (2nd–3rd century), opposing modalism, affirmed:
“The Father is one, the Son another, and the Spirit another;
yet they are not different in nature, but one substance and three Persons.”
—Against Praxeas (paraphrased)
Other errors include:
- Tritheism – treating the three Persons as three independent gods.
- Subordinationism – making the Son or Spirit lesser in deity (rather than distinct in role).
Orthodox Trinitarianism avoids both extremes:
- One God,
- Three distinct, co‑equal, co‑eternal Persons.
8. Why the Trinity Matters Today
This isn’t just abstract doctrine; it is the beating heart of Christian faith.
A. The Trinity Is the God of the Gospel
The gospel is Trinitarian:
- The Father sends the Son (John 3:16–17; Galatians 4:4–5).
- The Son accomplishes redemption in His life, death, and resurrection.
- The Spirit applies that redemption to our hearts, uniting us to Christ (John 16:7–15; Titus 3:5–6).
If you distort the Trinity, you distort the gospel itself.
J.I. Packer wrote:
“The gospel is not a formula for abstract salvation,
but a description of how the triune God brings us to Himself.”
—paraphrased from Knowing God
B. The Trinity Shows God Is Love—From Eternity
“God is love.”
—1 John 4:8
If God were a solitary person, He could start loving after creating, but not from all eternity.
In the Trinity:
- The Father has eternally loved the Son in the joy of the Spirit (John 17:24).
- Love is not an add‑on; it is at the heart of who God is.
Michael Reeves says:
“The triune God is not a God who is lonely;
He is a God who is love, a God who is life, a God who is joy.”
—paraphrased from Delighting in the Trinity
C. The Trinity Shapes Our Worship and Prayer
We are called to:
- Worship the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit.
- Sing and pray in line with how God has revealed Himself.
If we reduce God to a vague “higher power” or treat Jesus as less than fully God, our worship drifts into idolatry.
The Nicene Creed (325/381) captures the church’s doxological heart:
“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty…
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only‑begotten Son of God…
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life…”
—Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (paraphrased)
D. The Trinity Grounds Christian Community
We are made in the image of a relational God:
- The Father, Son, and Spirit exist in eternal fellowship and mutual glorification (John 17:1–5).
- Christian community is called to reflect that unity in diversity, mutual love, and self‑giving.
Jesus prays:
“That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you…”
—John 17:21
9. A Closing Word of Worship
The sixth paradox—one God in three Persons—is not a puzzle to solve so much as a reality to adore.
- It humbles our intellect: God is greater than our categories.
- It secures our salvation: the triune God Himself has acted for us.
- It shapes our worship: we bow before Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God forever blessed.
The Athanasian Creed closes with a fitting summary:
“So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;
and yet they are not three Gods, but one God…
And in this Trinity none is before or after another;
none is greater or less than another;
but the whole three Persons are coeternal, and coequal.”
—Athanasian Creed (paraphrased)
To know the true God is to know Him as Trinity.
To trust the gospel is to trust the Father who loved, the Son who bled, and the Spirit who indwells.
And to truly worship is to say with the church through the ages:
“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.”
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