The saints of old fell into sin, but they did not remain there. David cries “Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”
Peter denies his Master, but he does not always remain a blaspheming, ungrateful coward. No, he comes back again to his Lord and Master, and makes the avowal, “Thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.”
You and I, I hope, can give a better proof still that we have tried it ourselves. We remember that dear hour when first we came to Christ. Oh, it was no fiction, no dream. We were weighed down with a thousand sins, but one look at Jesus took them all away; and since that time we have often been cast down.
There may be some of you who escape from doubts and fears, if you do, I greatly envy you, but I think that most of us get at times in such a position that we cry with David, “My soul lies cleaving unto the dust.”
You feel as if you dare not come into the Lord’s presence; you cannot hope that he will hear your prayer; you cannot grasp the promises, they seem too good for such as you; you cannot look up to Christ to call him brother; “Abba, Father,” falters on your tongue; but, have you not known what it is to look to your Redeemer again just as you did at first? And then your love and joy have come back to you again once more, as if it had been a new conversion, and you have gone on your way rejoicing.
Baptism is the mark of distinction between the Church and the world. It very beautifully sets forth the death of the baptized person to the world.
Professedly, he is no longer of the world; he is buried to it, and he rises again to a new life. No symbol could be more significant. In the immersion of believers there seems to me to be a wondrous setting forth of the burial of the believer to all the world in the burial of Christ Jesus.
It is the crossing of the Rubicon. If Caesar crossed the Rubicon, there would never be peace between him and the senate again. He draws his sword, and he throws away his scabbard.
Such is the act of baptism to the believer. It is the crossing of the Rubicon: it is as much as to say, “I cannot come back again to you; I am dead to you; and to prove I am, I am absolutely buried to you; I have nothing more to do with the world. I am Christ’s, and Christ’s for ever.”
The Christian is one who has been born all over again (John 3:3, 7), he has been created anew (2 Cor. 5:17). He does not see things as the earthling sees them, but, as a child of the heavenly Father, he goes rejoicing through his Father’s world. He is glad to live out the implications of his faith. His spiritual resources are so great that earthly things cannot disturb his composure, and he goes on his way with a song in his heart (Col. 3:16).
It is natural for men to rejoice when things go well with them. But it is not this natural joy, dependent on circumstances, that is characteristic of the Christian. It is the joy that comes from being “in Christ”. They thought more of their Lord than of their difficulties; more of their spiritual riches in Christ than of their poverty on earth; more of the glorious future when their Lord should come again than of their unhappy past. So the note of joy rings through the New Testament, “Rejoice always.”
The injunction to continual prayer springs out of the same great idea as that to continual rejoicing. Christianity is a religion which turns men’s thoughts away from themselves and their puny deeds to the great God who has wrought a stupendous salvation for them in Christ our Savior.
For living the dedicated life the power of the indwelling Spirit alone suffices. All along the way man is made to feel his own insufficiency. But alongside that is the power and the love of Almighty God. God will not leave man. He comes to him at Calvary and at Pentecost. He provides for the deepest needs of man’s soul.
If we live in this way, conscious of our dependence on God, conscious of His presence with us always, conscious of His will to bless, then our general spirit of prayerfulness will in the most natural way overflow into uttered prayer. Prayer was as natural to Paul as breathing. At any time he was likely to break off his argument or to sum it up by some prayer of greater or less length.
In the same way our lives can be lived in such an attitude of dependence on God that we will easily and naturally move into the words of prayer on all sorts of occasions, great and small, grave and happy. Prayer is to be constant.
When a man comes to see that God in Christ has saved him, everything is altered. He now realizes that God’s purpose is being worked out. He sees the evidence in his own life and in the lives of those about him. This leads to the thought that the same loving purpose is being worked out even in those events which he is inclined not to welcome at all. When he comes to see God’s hand in all things he learns to give thanks for all things.
The shepherd restore his sheep in several ways. If one wanders away, he goes out after it, and seeks it until he finds it, restoring it to the shelter of the fold. If one faints and grows sick by the way, in the hard journey or the burning heat the shepherd does not leave it to die, but takes it up in his arms, and carries it home, restoring it to the fold. If a sheep is hurt, torn by a wild beast or injured by accident, the shepherd tends its wounds until they are healed.
All this suggests how our Good Shepherd restores our souls. Sometimes we wander away. It is very easy to drift off from Christ. The drifting is often unconscious, we do not realize that we are losing our first love, and little by little, we are far off from Him. Perhaps it is a cherished sin which eats out our heart-life. Or perhaps it is a worldly companionship which draws us away, loosening the bonds which bound us to Christ.
Sometimes it is an absorbing business which leaves no room for God. Or it may be the cares of this world which choke the Word and quench the Spirit. We often need to have our soul restored, quickened, revived… or we would never get safely home, through this evil world.
Then, what soul is not sometimes hurt, wounded, torn by the wild beasts of temptation? Sin is a fearful thing. It wounds the soul and no hand but Christ’s can restore it. But if we put our hurt life into His hand, He will give healing. What millions of sin’s woundings has our Good Shepherd cured!
Then, when sorrow has left the heart broken, it is only the Good Shepherd who can restore it. He is a most skillful physician. We may put all sorrow’s wounds into His hand. He is most gentle, and His hand is infinitely skillful. He is a wonderful comforter. No human hand can heal a heart that is bruised but the hand of Jesus has infinite delicacy and skill.
“Trinity” is a term used to describe the idea of one God existing in three distinct Persons, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity is not a 4th Century invention, its roots are found in the Old Testament.
Plural Words Are Used To Describe God Throughout The Old Testament
The Bible begins with these words:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Gen. 1:1)The word ‘God’ is the Hebrew word ‘elohiym’. Elohiym is the plural form of the word God. It implies unity in plurality.
While modern scholars argue back and forth about this word usage the ancient rabbis understood that the plural usage was a legitimate point as this passage from Genesis Rabbah shows:
Rabbi Samuel ben Nahman said in Rabbi Jonathan’s name: “When Moses was engaged in writing the Torah, he had to write the work of each day. When he came to the verse, AND GOD SAID; LET US MAKE MAN, etc., he said: ‘Sovereign of the Universe! Why dost Thou furnish an excuse to heretics?’ [for maintaining a plurality of deity]. ‘Write,’ replied He; ‘whoever wishes to err may err.’”
And while we don’t endorse the theology found in the Zohar, their commentary on the Shema, the declaration that the Lord is one from Deuteronomy 6:4, is interesting:
“Hear, O Israel, Adonai Eloheinu Adonai is one. These three are one. How can the three Names be one? Only through the perception of faith; in the vision of the Holy Spirit, in the beholding of the hidden eye alone.…So it is with the mystery of the threefold Divine manifestations designated by Adonai Eloheinu Adonai—three modes which yet form one unity
Some Subtle Examples Of The Trinity
In the Old Testament we find that God has organized many biblical ideas in trinitarian ways.
The Old Testament itself is a “trinity” being made up of the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. The same is true for the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Israel is also a trinity, being made up of priests, Levites, and Israelites. The Jews pray three times a day in the morning, afternoon, and evenings.
In Numbers 6:24-26 the Lord gives a three-fold blessing and in Isaiah 6:3 the angels give God three-fold praise crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Does all this prove the Trinity? No, but it does open the door to the possibility, and should encourage us to continue our study. Ultimately the issue has to be decided by Scripture, which is where we’ll now turn our attention.
God Mentioned As Two Distinct Personalities
For example:
Psalm 110:1:
The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
God anoints God in Psalm 45:7:
You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.
God is speaking and says He’ll save Israel by the Lord, their God in Hosea 1:7:
“Yet I [God] will have mercy on the house of Judah, will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword or battle, by horses or horsemen.”
The Lord rains fire from the Lord in Genesis 19:24:
“Then he LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the LORD out of the heavens.”
God is sent by God in Zechariah 2:8-9:
“For thus says the LORD of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. For surely I will shake My hand against them, and they shall become spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me.”
God sends His messenger, the Lord, who will come to His temple in Malachi 3:1:
“Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts.”
We find God and His Son in Proverb 30:4:
Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know?
God gives the nations to His Son in Psalm 2:7-8:
The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.
From God will come a Ruler who is eternal, of old, from everlasting in Micah 5:2:
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
God Is Mentioned As Three Distinct Personalities
There are a couple of wonderful examples of the Trinity in Isaiah:
In this passage the speaker is God who has been sent by the Lord God and the Holy Spirit. This passage is very clearly shows the Trinity. Isaiah 48:12,16-17:
Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last. Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens. When I call to them, They stand up together.
Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord GOD and His Spirit Have sent Me.
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.”
The Lord became the Savior but it wasn’t the Father, but the Angel of His Presence (A term referring to the physical manifestation of God), and we also have the Holy Spirit who was grieved when the people rebelled. Isaiah 63:7-10:
I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD And the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.
For He said, “Surely they are My people, Children who will not lie.” So He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted,
And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them All the days of old.
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.
The Memra, The Word Of The Lord
It’s interesting to see the way the ancient rabbis handled verses like the ones above. In the Targums, which are Aramaic translations of the Old Testament, the Aramaic word ‘Memra’, which means the ‘Word’ or ‘The Word of the Lord’, is used when physical manifestations of God appear or when God is mentioned more than once in the same verse. Here are a few examples from the Targums:
The Memra acts as a mediator between the Father and Creation:
And I will establish my covenant between My Word [Memra} and between you (Targum Onkelos Gen. 17:7)
And YHWH said to Noah, “This is the token of the covenant which I have established between My Word [Memra] and between all flesh that is upon the earth. (Targum Onkelos Gen. 9:17)
The Memra is God and is worshiped as such:
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If the Word [Memra] of YHWH will be my support, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Word [Memra] of Lord be my God. (Targum Onkelos on Gen. 28:20-21)
And Abraham worshipped and prayed in the name of the Word [Memra] of YHWH, and said, “You are Lord who does see, but You cannot be seen.” (Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14)
The Memra is God, yet is a separate personality from the Father and Holy Spirit:
And the Word [Memra] of the Lord caused to descend upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah, brimstone and fire from the Lord in heaven. (Targum Jonathan on Gen. 19:24)
And Israel saw the great strong hand of God, what He did to the Egyptians. They feared God and believed in His Word [Memra] and in His servant Moses. (Onkeles Targum on Exodus 14:31)
The Memra is Jesus:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)
The Greek word for Memra is Logos, which in English translates to “The Word”. So what John 1 is saying that Jesus is the Memra, the Word. He is fully God yet distinct from the Father and is the mediator between the Father and Creation. “No one comes to the Father except by Me.”
The concept of the Trinity has biblical support in the Old Testament. We see one God yet we also see clearly separate personalities. We see plurality in unity.
Some people want a God who is simpler than His creation. But that isn’t the God of the Bible. The Trinity is a concept we can’t truly understand, but can only get a faint idea of. C.S. Lewis summed it up well in Mere Christianity when he said:
“On the human level one person is one being, and any two persons are two separate beings - just as, in two dimensions (say on a flat sheet of paper) one square is one figure, and any two squares are two separate figures.
On the Divine level you still find personalities; but up there you find them combined in new ways which we who do not live on that level, cannot imagine. In God’s dimension, so to speak, you find a being who is three Persons while remaining one Being, just as a cube is six squares while remaining one cube.
Of course, we cannot fully conceive a Being like that: just as, if we were so made that we perceived only two dimensions in space we could never properly imagine a cube. But we can get a sort of faint notion of it. And when we do, we are then, for the first time in our lives, getting some positive idea, however faint of something super-personal - something more than a person.”
Are You On Facebook? Want To Be Friends?
The Bible Study Planet Facebook Page
Help spread the word about Bible Study Planet! Join our Facebook fan page
Though many speak of the Holy Spirit merely as a power or an influence of God, He clearly stands out on the pages of the Bible as a Person:
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, [even] the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you. … But the Comforter, [even] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you. (John 14:16-17,26)”
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me: (John 15:26)”
“And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for [us] with groanings which cannot be uttered; (Romans 8:26)”
He has intelligence:
“But the Comforter, [even] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you. (John 14:26)”
Feeling:
“But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, [and] himself fought against them. (Isaiah 63:10)”
“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)”
And will:
“And when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not; (Acts 16:7)”
“But all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will. (1 Corinthians 12:11)”
Scripture represents Him as speaking, searching, testifying, commanding, revealing, striving, and making intercession. Moreover, He is clearly distinguished from His own power in:
“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)”
“And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and a fame went out concerning him through all the region round about. (Luke 4:14)”
“[even] Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)”
“And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: (1 Corinthians 2:4)”
His special characteristic is that He proceeds from the Father and the Son by inspiration:
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me: (John 15:26)”
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you. (John 16:7)”
“But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)”
“And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6)”
In general it may be said that it is His task to bring things to completion both in creation and redemption:
“And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)”
“By his Spirit the heavens are garnished; His hand hath pierced the swift serpent. (Job 26:13)”
“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)”
“For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for he giveth not the Spirit by measure. (John 3:34)”
“In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)”
- Louis Berkhof
Tomorrow: The Trinity in the Old Testament
Are You On Facebook? Want To Be Friends?
You can find me, Paul from Bible Study Planet, on Facebook here.
The second person in the Trinity is called ‘Son’ or ‘Son of God.’ He bears this name as the only begotten of the Father:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. … He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16,18)”
“But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, (Galatians 4:4)”
And also as the Messiah chosen of God:
“And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? (Matthew 8:29)”
“But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God. (Matthew 26:63)”
“Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art King of Israel. (John 1:49)”
“She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I have believed that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, [even] he that cometh into the world. (John 11:27)”
And in virtue of His special birth through the operation of the Holy Spirit:
“He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: … And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:32,35)”
His special characteristic as the Second Person of the Trinity is that He is eternally begotten of the Father:
“I will tell of the decree: Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my son; This day have I begotten thee. (Psalms 2:7)”
“That God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. (Acts 13:33)”
“And straightway in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus, that he is the Son of God. (Acts 9:20)”
“For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, This day have I begotten thee? and again, I will be to him a Father, And he shall be to me a Son? (Hebrews 1:5)”
By means of eternal generation the Father is the cause of the personal existence of the Son within the Divine Being. The works more particularly ascribed to Him are works of mediation. He mediated the work of creation:
“All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made. …He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world knew him not. (John 1:3,10)”
“Hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in [his] Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds; who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:2-3)
And mediates the work of redemption, Eph. 1:3-14.
- Louis Berkhof
Tomorrow: The Spirit
Are You On Facebook? Want To Be Friends?
You can find me, Paul from Bible Study Planet, on Facebook here.
The name ‘Father’ is frequently applied in Scripture to the triune God, as the creator of all things:
“Yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him. (1 Corinthians 8:6)”
“Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? (Hebrews 12:9)”
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning. (James 1:17)”
As the Father of Israel:
“Do ye thus requite Jehovah, O foolish people and unwise? Is not he thy father that hath bought thee? He hath made thee, and established thee. (Deuteronomy 32:6)”
“For thou art our Father, though Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us: thou, O Jehovah, art our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is thy name. (Isaiah 63:16)”
And as the Father of believers:
“That ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. (Matthew 5:45)”
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee. … After this manner therefore pray ye. Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. … For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (Matthew 6:6,9,14)”
“For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Romans 8:15)”
In a deeper sense, however, it is applied to the First Person of the Trinity, to express His relation to the Second Person:
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. … No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared [him]. (John 1:14,18)”
“Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: it is my Father that glorifieth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God; (John 8:54)”
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:12-13)”
This is the original Fatherhood, of which all earthly fatherhood is but a faint reflection. The distinctive characteristic of the Father is that He generates the Son from all eternity. The works particularly ascribed to Him are those of planning the work of redemption, creation and providence, and representing the Trinity in the Counsel of Redemption.
The Bible teaches that, while God exists in three Persons, called Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These are not three persons in the ordinary sense of the word; they are not three individuals, but rather three modes or forms in which the Divine Being exists.
At the same time they are of such a nature that they can enter into personal relations. The Father can speak to the Son and vice versa, and both can send forth the Spirit. The real mystery of the Trinity consists in this that each one of the Persons possesses the whole of the divine essence, and that this has no existence outside of and apart from the Persons.
The three are not subordinate in being the one to the other, though it may be said that in order of existence the Father is first, the Son second, and the Holy Spirit third, an order which is also reflected in their work.
Scripture Proof for the Trinity
The Old Testament contains some indications of more than one Person in God. God speaks of Himself in the plural:
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26)”
“Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. (Genesis 11:7)”
The Angel of Jehovah is represented as a divine Person:
“And the angel of Jehovah found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s handmaid, whence camest thou? and whither goest thou? And she said, I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son; and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because Jehovah hath heard thy affliction. And he shall be [as] a wild ass among men; his hand [shall be] against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell over against all his brethren. And she called the name of Jehovah that spake unto her, Thou art a God that seeth: for she said, Have I even here looked after him that seeth me? (Genesis 16:7-13)”
The Spirit is spoken of as a distinct Person:
“Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and his Spirit. (Isaiah 48:16)”
“But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, [and] himself fought against them. (Isaiah 63:10)”
Moreover, there are some passages in which the Messiah is speaking and mentions two other Persons:
“Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and his Spirit. (Isaiah 48:16)”
“The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening [of the prison] to them that are bound; (Isaiah 61:1)”
“In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, [and] himself fought against them. (Isaiah 63:9-10)”
Due to the progress of revelation, the New Testament contains clearer proofs. The strongest proof is found in the facts of redemption. The Father sends the Son into the world, and the Son sends the Holy Spirit.
Moreover, there are several passages in which the three Persons are expressly mentioned, such as the great commission:
“Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: (Matthew 28:19)”
And the apostolic blessing:
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)”
“Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that, Jesus also having been baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon him, and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. (Luke 3:21-22)
“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)”
“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who worketh all things in all. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)”
“…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. (1 Peter 1:2)”
This doctrine was denied by the Socinians in the days of the Reformation, and is rejected also by the Unitarians and the Modernists of our own day. If they speak of the Trinity at all, they represent it as consisting of the Father, the man Jesus, and a divine influence which is called the Spirit of God.
