One+One+One=One
Do you understand?
The Athanasian Creed says, in part, “So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.”
Three Persons, each separate and distinct from the other two, each in and of Himself entirely God, and yet not three Gods, but one. Do you understand how that can be? Neither do I. I don’t understand it, but I believe it. I believe it because God has clearly revealed this truth about Himself.
Moreover, this truth is not merely a theological abstraction. The Trinity is active in our everyday life. Consider our prayers as just one example. The Father hears and answers the prayers of His children. The Son has cleansed us of our sins, so that we may confidently approach the holy God as a dear child approaches his beloved father. The Holy Spirit makes intercession
for us (Romans 8:26).
We praise and thank the one true God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—for revealing His Triune nature to us, and for being our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.
Craig Owings is assistant editor of the Lutheran Spokesman, retired from teaching at Immanuel Lutheran School in Mankato, and presently living in Cape Coral, Florida.