What is the Holy Trinity?

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2Co 13:14

The Trinity is a topic of extreme importance. It is not however easily understood. Not that I claim to know how God works within himself, but I felt inspired to attempt to explain so here it goes. My apologies in advance to those of you who are theology majors. (I'm not)

Perhaps the best place to start is:

"And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."" Mat 3:16-17

A clear distinction is made here. Jesus is being baptized, the Holy Spirit is descending, the Father is expressing joy in Jesus.

I want to attempt to explain this from the perspective of Jesus' relationship with the Father and Holy Spirit.

"In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God." Joh 1:1-2

"I and the Father are one."" Joh 10:30

"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation," Col 1:15

"For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ," Col 1:19

Now Jesus is God. He was the visible manifestation of all the Father was and still is. I believe this is because Jesus obeyed the Father perfectly in every matter.

"In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him," Heb 5:7-9

"But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise." Joh 5:17-19

"So Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me." Joh 7:16

"So Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me." Joh 8:28

"Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The wordsher that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves." Joh 14:10-11

We can see that Jesus' relationship with the Father was based off His obedience to the Father's will. He obeyed completely in every matter presented before him. This was the basis of Jesus saying the Father was in him and he in the Father. This was made possible by the Holy Spirit.

So what about the Holy Spirit?

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV)

trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. (1 Peter 1:11 NIV)

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:9 NIV)

Now the Apostles knew that the Lord and the Spirit were so closely knit together they were

"For He is sent by God. He speaks God's words, for God gives Him the Spirit without limit." Joh 3:34
virtually inseparable. Just as Peter said of the Holy Spirit and the Father in Acts 5. The Lord also had a working relationship with the Spirit:

"One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus Himself was baptized. As He was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on Him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, "You are My dearly loved Son, and You bring Me great joy. "" Luk 3:21-22

"Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness," Luk 4:1

"Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit's power. Reports about Him spread quickly through the whole region." Luk 4:14

Jesus was limitless in the Holy Spirit. God gave his Son the never ending flow of the Spirit. By this relationship with the Spirit, Jesus was able to carry out perfect obedience to the Father and perform completely every task set before him.

This I believe is the basis for Paul's teaching that Jesus was the exact representation of the Father on earth. The Father worked his works through Jesus as he willed. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were working together in perfect unison; the Father leading Jesus, the Spirit empowering Jesus, Jesus glorifying the Father through the Spirit. It was as if there were just one of them walking and talking on earth, even though there were three distinct personalities.

Now I'm sure I don't do this doctrine justice. I probably missed some scripture references, but I feel this short synapsis captures the essence of the Holy trinity. That three different and distinct persons can be so perfectly united in thought, deed, and will that it is as if there were only one person.

I also believe this model is meant for us too as believers, that Jesus gives us the Spirit to empower us to serve and grant us adoption into the family of God and we in turn take our marching orders from Jesus as revealed by the Spirit