The Meaning and Significance of The Trinity

Hello all! So, I started speech and debate club a few days ago. I am really excited about it! I am going to be participating in apologetics which requires having an answer to each of 100 different questions and being able to create a 7 minute speech from that answer with 4 minutes of preparation. Therefore I am slowly working my way through the afore said 100 questions and organizing my thoughts on each one into a card file. The first question requires me to, "Explain the meaning and significance of the trinity." So, please bear with me as I create my opinion on this subject and please feel free to comment and offer your own opinion!

The concept of the Trinity is probably one of the most misunderstood Christian doctrines of all time. The main reason for this is that we, as finite human beings, cannot fully know God. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past finding out! Romans 11:33

There is substantial evidence in Scripture for the existence of the Trinity. In Genesis 1:26 God says, "let us make man in our own image." The Hebrew word for God most often used in the Old Testament is Elohim, the plural form of the word Eloah, which is rarely used. In the New Teastament three distinct persons of the Godhead are portrayed. God the Father has clearly sent Jesus to earth, Jesus Christ is placed on the level of God because he has the authority to forgive sins (Matt. 9:6), and the Holy Spirit is responsible for Christ's resurrection (Romans 8:11).

But why is the Trinity so important? What about Christianity would change if we had a God that was not Triune? These are some questions I had as I was looking for Scripture on this topic. Our entire faith would be undermined if our God was not a Triune God. Consider the doctrine of Salvation. I consider myself to be a born-again Christian through faith and belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God the Father sent Jesus Christ to earth to become a man so that we could be redeemed. Jesus Christ was fully human and fully God. The only way he had the strength to go to the cross willingly, in obedience to his Father, was through the power of the Holy Spirit. As Jesus suffered and died on the cross God the Father initiated redemption. He layed the sins of the entire human race upon his Son and then forsook him. Three days after Christ's death the Holy Spirit raised him from the dead.

Without God the Father there would have been no act of redemption. Without God the Son there would have been no perfect man to receive the wrath that was meant for us. Without God the Holy Spirit the Son would never have made it to the cross, and if He did He would still be dead today.

Clearly the doctrine of the Trinity is a necessary and vital foundation for our Christian faith, without it we would still be lost in sin.

"Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man, and then I will show you a man that can comprehend the Triune God." ~John Wesley

We will never be able to fully understand the diversity and unity of our Triune God, but that doesn't mean it does not exist. To be a born-again believer you don't have to understand the Trinity, but you must believe it!