(Written March 8, 2001)

Here is a "brief" explanation of what the Holy Trinity is
all about in the Christian faith.  

The Trinity:
1.  God (Jehovah) - the Creator of all things.  Omniscient, omnipotent,
all-wise, unconditionally loving, unchanging, faithful, holy, in complete
control of *every* circumstance of life.  Has a plan and a purpose for
each and every one of our lives.  Created us so that we may fellowship
with Him and bring glory to His name.  His ultimate goal is to mold us
into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ (meaning in our thoughts,
actions, motivations, words, deeds, and focus).

2.  Jesus - The Son of God; the Messiah.  He is the Alpha and Omega
(meaning He always has and always will be the Son of God from everlasting
to everlasting).  He not only is the Son of God, he is God Incarnate,
because He is perfectly one with God.  He came to earth as God in human
flesh so that he may a) reveal to us what God is really all about, and b)
pay the penalty for all of our sins.  He continually fortold of this
during his life on earth, saying "I have come to give my life a ransom for
many" (Mark 10:45), and "I have not come to condemn the world, but so that
the world through Me might be saved" (John 3:17).  Jesus paid for our sins
by His death on the Cross.

In that instant on the Cross, for the only time in eternity, He was
separated from His Father in order that He may pay the full penalty for
all of our sins: past, present, and future.  Only He could pay this
penalty, because he lived a completely sinless life.  He is the only being
who has ever walked this world to live a sinless life.  Every other person
has sinned, because ever since the Original Sin of Adam and Eve, we all
have a sinful nature that wants to do things our way rather than God's
way.  Additionally, we live in a sinful world that does not want to know
God, and our other enemy is Satan, which literally translated means
"opponent".  Because of the sacrificial death of Jesus, we were and are
able to have the opportunity to have an eternal relationship with God,
because through Jesus, God can see us as being holy.  He loves us, but He
cannot tolerate anything which is unholy, because it is not his character
to be anything but holy.  

Because Jesus was risen from the dead by His Father on the third day (this
is what we celebrate at Easter), it validated Who He said He was, and
verified that what He had done was complete.  

3.  The Holy Spirit (often referred to as the Holy Ghost) - This Spirit
of the living God (Jesus Christ) indwells on the inside of every person
who has accepted Jesus' death at Calvary (that's where He was crucified)
as payment for their sin debt, and that His being risen again showed that
He is the Son of God.  

When the Holy Spirit indwells us, He transforms us so that we no longer have a
nature predispositioned for sin, but rather one that desires to love, obey, and
serve our Heavenly Father.  Although we still do sin [because A) we live in these
fleshly, imperfect bodies, and B) we live in a fallen world where sin is rampant
everywhere you turn], as a person indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we have the power 
of the living God within us to turn away from sin and its crippling influence on 
our lives. 

The Holy Spirit is important, because it enables us to do the supernatural
work that God has called us to do by relying on Him, rather than trying to
do it in our own fleshly, limited, shortsighted ways.  It is only by
relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to do what God has called us to do
that we can truly become the persons that God wants us to be, thereby
living our life to the fullest, achieving maximum happiness, fulfilling
the purpose for which we were created, and bring maximum glory and honor
to God.  

The Christian faith can be summed up by one phrase in the New Testament.
It is from the book of John, Chapter 3, verse 16, which is why often at
sports events you see people holding up signs saying "John 3:16".

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal
life." (John 3:16)



Addendum regarding the Biblical veracity of the Trinity (written November 7, 2005):

Here are a few Biblical verses (there are many more) that clearly
 indicate the deity of Jesus and His oneness with God the Father, 
which is therefore why I believe in the Trinity.

John 1;1,14 "In the beginning, the Word was with God, and the Word 
WAS God...The Word BECAME FLESH and made his dwelling among us"

John 10:27-30: "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they 
follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one
 can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to 
Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand. 
I and the Father are one."
- note verse 30, especially -- "I and the Father are ONE"

John 14:9 "Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father."

So not only is Jesus the Son of God, he IS God...either these verses 
are true, or they are not.

Regarding the Holy Spirit, Jesus Himself clearly indicated that it was
 not just a force, but a Person.  In John 14, Jesus describes the Holy
 Spirit as a "He", not an "it". (John 14:17-18).  The Holy Spirit is indeed
 a helper, just as God the Father intended for him to be.  The oneness
 between the God the Holy Spirit, God the Father and God the Son is
 also referred to in Jesus' description of the relationship of the Holy Spirit
 to Himself and His Father.

The Trinity is not my opinion, nor is it simply a teaching by a certain
 denomination -- it is clearly referred to in Scripture.  Because I believe
 Scripture is completely true, infallible, inerrant, eternal, and the mind
 of God conveyed on paper, I believe in the Trinity.  Any theology which
 attempts to deny the Trinity must grapple with what is clearly written in 
Scripture by God Himself.