The Divine Trinity – Essential Bible Verses for a Deeper Study

Do you realize that the Bible is “constructed” with the Divine Trinity?  It’s the “structural steel” that supports the entire divine revelation in the Scriptures.

If we take away or miss this divine structure, the Bible will become an empty book to us. Sure we may enjoy the interesting stories, moral lessons and more. But those are just like the “feathers on the chicken”—necessary, but superficial.

We need to go deeper. The essence of the Bible is the most wonderful Person—the Triune God Himself. The Divine Trinity refers to God’s being triune—the Father, Son and Spirit. This is the primary attribute of the Godhead (Matt. 28:19; Rev. 1:4-5).

You may ask, “Isn’t the Bible about Jesus?”  And the answer is, Yes.

But we need to see who Jesus is in a fuller way. He’s not just one-third of God. He is the embodiment of the complete Triune God, the entire Godhead. Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”

Christ’s living was fully a matter of the Divine Trinity. And we should have a living that is the reproduction of His.

Since the Bible is constructed of this  Divine Trinity—the Father, the Son and the Spirit—it is worth our time and energy to thoroughly study the Trinity in a spirit of prayer.

But to do an in-depth study of the Divine Trinity, we need to consider what are the best Bible verses to study. In this post I will consider eight groups of Bible verses—four in the Old Testament and another four in the New Testament that are worthy of our study.

8 Groups of Bible Verses Essential to a Deeper Study of the Divine Trinity 

The revelation of the Divine Trinity begins from the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1. It then progresses through both the Old and New Testaments. Finally, it consummates in the last chapter of the entire Bible, Revelation 22.

In the following sections of this post, we’ll begin with Genesis 1,  pass through three stations in the Old Testament, three stations in the New Testament, and conclude with the consummation of Divine Trinity in the New Jerusalem in Revelation 22.

4 Crucial Old Testament Scriptures on the Divine Trinity 

First, Genesis 1 reveals the council of the Divine Trinity in eternity past for God’s creation of man in His image

Genesis 1:26 says,

“And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over …all the earth…” Then verse 27 says, “And God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him…”

Footnote 1 on Genesis 1:26 in the Holy Bible Recovery Version points out:

Let Us… reveals that a council was held among the three of the Godhead regarding the creation of man. The decision to create man had been made by the Triune God in eternity past, indicating that the creation of man was for the eternal purpose of the Triune God (Eph. 3:9-11). God’s intention in creating man was to carry out His divine economy for the dispensing of Himself into man (1 Tim. 1:4 and note 3, par. 1). This is fully unveiled in the following books of the Bible.

So the Divine Trinity is related to God’s purpose in creating man to be a vessel to receive Him. We can say this because creating man  in “His image” is like making a glove in the likeness of hand. This points to God’s intention to dispense Himself into us, to make Himself our content.

Second, Exodus 3 reveals God’s name as the God of three persons—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—implying His Divine Trinity for God’s calling a savior to deliver His people

Exodus 3:6 says,

“And He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Footnote 1 on Exodus 3:6 says,

The revelation of God’s name in this chapter (vv. 6, 14-16, 18) was actually the revelation of God Himself….That God is the God of three persons (cf. v. 15) implies that He is the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Matt. 28:19).

That God is “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” points to the Divine Trinity.  Abraham being called by God, points to the Father. Isaac being offered up on Mount Moriah and receiving the bride points to the Son.  Jacob, the one whose name was changed to Israel, points to Spirit who transforms man (2 Cor. 3:18).

Moses was sent by such a Triune God.

Third, Numbers 6 reveals the blessing of the Divine Trinity on God’s people for His forming of Israel into an army to fight for His kingdom on earth

Numbers 6:22-27 says,

Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the children of Israel; you shall say to them, Jehovah bless you and keep you; Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; Jehovah lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel, that I Myself may bless them.

In these verses we can see the three-fold blessing of the Divine Trinity.

First, Jehovah bless you and keep you can be ascribed to the Father who blesses us with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3) and keeps us in His name (John 17:11).

Second, make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you can be ascribed to the Son whose incarnation was God’s presence shining on us and whose coming was the coming of grace (Luke 1:78; John 1:17).

Finally, lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace can be ascribed to the Spirit (Eph. 4:30).

This is for our experience of the Divine Trinity

Footnote 1 on Numbers 6:23 says,

The blessing in vv. 23-27 ….is the eternal blessing of the Triune God, which is the Triune God dispensing Himself in His Divine Trinity into us for our enjoyment. In the entire universe the unique blessing is the Triune God, and this blessing comes to us through the dispensing of the divine Being into us in His Divine Trinity—in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Fourth, Isaiah 6 reveals Christ’s commission of Isaiah, the prophet, being the sending of the Divine Trinity

In his disappointment over Israel, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on His high and lofty throne with the train of His robe filling the temple. Isaiah saw the One with divine glory and human virtue. Then he heard the voice of the Lord.

Isaiah 6:8 says,

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us? And I said, Here am I; send me.

Although it was the Lord speaking, the words I and Us  are used. This indicates that the One speaking to Isaiah is triune.  The speaker is not merely Christ but Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God (v. 8, footnote 1)

When the Lord speaks to us today it is the speaking of the Triune God. His commission to us is also a matter of His divine trinity (Matt. 28:19).

4 Crucial New Testament Scriptures on the Divine Trinity

Now we come to the New Testament.  From beginning to end, God’s revelation is a matter of His divine trinity.

Fifth, Matthew 28 reveals Christ’s commission to disciple the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Divine Trinity

Matthew 28:19 says,

Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

When a person believes into the Lord Jesus, we need to baptize them into the name, the person, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We immerse them into the Triune God bringing them into a spiritual and mystical union with Him.

Footnote 6 on this verse in the Recovery Version is an in depth resource, a study of the Divine Trinity that I could never cover in this introductory post. So I’ll provide the link here so those of you with a greater interest can enter into a deeper appreciation.

Sixth, 2 Corinthians 13 presents Paul’s concluding blessing of the believers with the enjoyment of the Divine Trinity

2 Corinthians 13:14 says,

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

This marvelous verse shows us how the Divine Trinity is for our experience and enjoyment in the grace of the Lord, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

Footnote 1 on verse  14 in the Recovery Version is even more extensive than the one in Matthew 28. It covers the revelation of the Divine Trinity throughout the entire Bible.  I can only commend it to you for your further study.

To stimulate your interest, here is the first sentence of this note:

The grace of the Lord is the Lord Himself as life to us for our enjoyment, the love of God is God Himself as the source of the grace of the Lord, and the fellowship of the Spirit is the Spirit Himself as the transmission of the grace of the Lord with the love of God for our participation.

The conclusion of this note tells us that the revelation of the Divine Trinity through the Scriptures is:

…not for theological study but for the apprehending of how God in His mysterious and marvelous Trinity dispenses Himself into His chosen people, that we as His chosen and redeemed people may, as indicated in the apostle’s blessing to the Corinthian believers, participate in, experience, enjoy, and possess the processed Triune God now and for eternity.

Seventh, Ephesians 3 shows us how to experience the Divine Trinity for the building up of the church, Christ’s Body

Ephesians 3:14-17 says,

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, …that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith…

In Ephesians, a book on the church according to the eternal plan of God, Paul shows us how the church can be God’s fullness to express Him.

Paul prayed to the Father that He would strengthen the believers into their inner man, their spirit. The Father’s strengthening is with His resurrection power through His Spirit. Then Christ makes home in the believers’ hearts through faith.

We need to make this our daily prayer,

“Father, strengthen me with power through Your Spirit into my inner man so that Christ can make home in my heart more today. Do this for Your glory in the church and in Christ.”

Eighth, Revelation 1 reveals the Divine Trinity for the consummation of God’s eternal purpose

Revelation 1:4-5 says,

John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is coming, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood.

In his introduction to concluding book of the Bible, John greets the churches in Asia with grace and peace from the Divine Trinity

Footnote 3 on verse 4 says,

He who is and who was and who is coming is God the eternal Father. The seven Spirits who are before God’s throne are the operating Spirit of God, God the Spirit. Jesus Christ, to God the faithful Witness, to the church the Firstborn of the dead, and to the world the Ruler of the kings of the earth (v. 5), is God the Son. This is the Triune God…From such a Triune God, grace and peace are imparted to the churches.

In the final chapter of the entire Bible, Revelation 22, we can see a river of water of life flowing out of the throne of God and of the Lamb (vv. 1-2).  God and the Lamb from which flows the river, the Spirit (cf. John 7:37-39) will be the eternal supply to God’s redeemed for eternity. What a consummation!

A Few Points of  Application in Studying the Divine Trinity:

First,  whenever we study a portion of the Word regarding the Divine Trinity, we should not be content to look for doctrinal teaching but should realize that this portion is for us to know how to participate in, enjoy, and experience the Triune God.

Second, we need to realize from our study that the Divine Trinity is for God’s dispensing—2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 3:14-17.

Third,  we need to see that Divine Trinity is the model for our Christian life—Matt. 28:19; 1 Thes. 5:23.

Finally, since the Divine Trinity is for dispensing, we need to daily come to Him—the Father as the fountain, the Son as the spring and the Spirit as the flowing river in our innermost being. We should simply drink this flowing Triune God for our every need by calling on the Lord moment by moment,

“Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus, I love You!”

In this way God’s purpose will be fulfilled in us.

References and Further Reading:

Points of application 1-3 were my take away from the Crystallization-Study of Numbers, msg, 6 outline points IV-VI.

Here is some hymns that speak of the Triune God, the Divine Trinity for our enjoyment:

• What mystery the Father, Son and Spirit and for tune
• The Triune God, a mystery