Trinitarian Belief Across The Testaments

 Trinitarian Belief Across The Testaments


I believe that all the regenerated saints--in both the Old Covenant and in the New--are endued by the Holy Spirit with at least an inchoate knowledge of the truth of the Holy Trinity; and that, to the level of the gospel light they are able to receive and understand, they wholeheartedly believe in the existence of the Holy Trinity.

 

Along with regenerated sinners, who are all redeemed by Jesus Christ and His blood atonement, elect angels also know the truth of the Holy Trinity.  For them, this is not a difficulty--in that they are ministers (to the church) of these Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Adam and Eve, also, before their Fall into sin, clearly comprehended that God was Trinity; and their subsequent redemption was understood to require "The Seed of the woman," Christ Himself, the Second Person of the Trinity, to "crush Satan's head," all as per Gen. 3:15.  It is also likely that Adam and Eve passed this Trinitarian knowledge down to their descendants, even via word of mouth.

 

The New Testament, of course, makes the doctrine of the Trinity manifestly obvious; and it is extremely interesting that none of the NT writers ever bother to expend any energy (or ink) in explaining the doctrine, or defending it.  Even the Pharisees themselves--whose theology was not entirely devoid of conceptual truth--did not contest the Messiah's many allusions to it (the Trinity).  When Jesus spoke of the Father, or the Holy Spirit, they did not raise a ruckus.

 

The really interesting cases are the saints of the Old Testament (Covenant).  Moses obviously knew that God was Triune--since God spoke to him (Moses) "face to face," as it were, (Ex. 33:11a).  David seems to have had a very clear grasp of the Trinity, as his Holy Spirit-inspired words of Ps. 110:1 make very lucid, (cf. also Mk. 12:36).  All the other OT prophets and inspired kings and scripture writers were endowed with this knowledge (of the Trinity) as well, though there may have been degrees of their full understanding.

 

All of this is to say, that we should not be surprised that the people (church) of God have always known and believed in the doctrine of the Trinity, (be they in the Old Covenant or the New).  This same Triune God created them all; and the Father redeemed all His elect children through the agency of the Second Person, who became a human being for us--so that He could bear our sins and perfectly represent us before the Father.  The application of the atonement is performed by the Holy Spirit at the very moment we are born again (regenerated).

 

Let us praise God that the doctrine of the Trinity, finally "hammered-out" in the post-apostolic New Covenant era, largely through the Councils of Nicea (325 AD) and Constantinople (381 AD), was not "new" at all.  It has been in existence from before the creation of the world--and its "light" has dawned on us through the One through whom the world was created, Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.

 

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all receive equal honor, glory, and praise from all the saints.  If you are in Christ, rejoice that you are in the churched "family" of this Blessed Trinity.

 

Rev. Mark J. Henninger

Treatise #42

24 November 2025

https://theologicaltreatisesinretirement.blogspot.com

https://henningerdevotions.blogspot.com/

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