Trinity in the Bible - Part III:New Testament Teachings in the Epistles

Quite frankly, teachings in the Gospel accounts should be more than sufficient to state the case for the existence of the Trinity. But I wanted to take one more post to describe what is in some of the New Testament Epistles:

⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;

⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism

⁶one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:4-6 (NASB)

¹⁴how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, ⁽cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 9:14 (NASB)

²according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

1 Peter 1:2 (NASB)

<sup>2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;

1 John 4:2 (NASB)

20But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,</sup>

^{21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.}

^{Jude 20-21 (NASB)}

^{Four authors of the epistles: Paul,Peter, John, Jude; 5 is you think Hebrews is other than Paul, make clear references to the members of the Trinity.}

^{There is no doubt in my mind, how about you?}

^{Do you find any nuances in the Epistles or in the Gospels that are different from each other?}

^{Are there other passages that you look to to reveal and define the Trinity for you?}

Trinity in the Bible - Part II: New Testament Teaching in the Gospels

Yesterday we discussed some Old Testament references to the Trinity, today we look at the New Testament. You would expect the references to be more obvious and plentiful. I believe you would be right:

¹⁹"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Matthew 28:19 (NASB)


²¹Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,

²²and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."

Luke 3:21-22 (NASB)

³⁴"For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.

³⁵"The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.

John 3:34-35 (NASB)

These are three pretty clear indications of the Trinity, in each passage you can see the three distinct persons in the essence of the Holy Trinity.

There are others you may wish to identify (I would love to see what you have come up with). I think it would be hard to deny that the Trinity is laid out clearly in the Gospel. It would also be hard to deny that it is much clearer in the Gospel accounts than Old Testament teachings. There are still the Epistles to look at next time.

What are your thoughts on this? Is the evidence persuasive to you? Can you see any way to deny it?