Day 22: The Trinity, One God in Three Persons

Scripture
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19 ESV

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV

Confessional Summary
Westminster confesses that “in the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost” (Westminster Confession of Faith 2.3). The Belgic Confession guards the same faith, confessing one God in essence, truly distinguished as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; not divided into parts, but personally distinct while sharing the one divine being (Belgic Confession, Articles 8–9). The Nicene Creed confesses the Son as true God from true God, and the Spirit as the Lord and giver of life.

The Reformers did not treat the Trinity as advanced doctrine for specialists. They treated it as the name of the God who saves.

Reflection
The Trinity is not a footnote to Christianity. It is the identity of the God Christians worship. If you lose the Trinity, you do not get a simpler faith. You get a different god.

Notice what Jesus gives in Matthew 28. The word “name” is singular, and yet that one divine name is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Scripture gives real unity and real distinction. This is not three gods, and it is not one person wearing three masks.

Paul’s benediction in 2 Corinthians is not a formality. It teaches us how to live before God. Grace comes to us in the Son. The love of God meets us as Father. Fellowship is the Spirit’s gift, not a vague religious feeling, but communion with God and life with His people. When the Trinity is clear, worship stops becoming thin and uncertain. It becomes Christian worship, shaped by the gospel itself.

This also keeps you from imagining salvation as a split within God, as if the Father must be persuaded to be kind. The Father is not reluctant while the Son is willing. The Son is not gentle while the Father is harsh. The Spirit is not an add-on. The one God acts with one will. What the Father purposes, the Son accomplishes, and the Spirit applies.

The Trinity matters because it means salvation is held together by God Himself. The Father does not change His mind toward His people. The Son does not fail to finish what He came to do. The Spirit does not abandon what He has begun. Your faith rests on the Triune God’s united work, not on your ability to stay strong, stay clear, or stay consistent.

Application
Pray in line with the gospel today. Speak to the Father as your Father, trusting His love. Come through the Son, not through your performance. Ask the Spirit for help that is specific, the kind that puts sin to death and makes obedience possible.

Pay attention to your own God talk. If your prayers could be offered unchanged by someone who does not know Christ, they may have become too thin. Bring Father, Son, and Holy Spirit back into your prayers and praise.

Prayer

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, receive my worship. Keep me from vague faith and a god made in my own image. Root my confidence in who You truly are, and teach me to live before You with reverence and joy. Amen.