The Trinity and John 3:16

The Baptism of Christ where all three members of the Trinity worked together

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

– John 3:16

This is probably the most famous verse in the Bible.  It actually has some inter-Trinitarian significance. The Father gives the Son.  In 1 John 4:14 we read:

And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

So the Father gives the Son in one verse and sends Him in another.  This makes sense.  The Son is the gift from the Father to humanity.  Keep in mind that these verses are from the Gospel of John and the First Epistle of John.  They are certainly from the same author or at least from the same community.  The former is the traditional theory and the latter is the liberal theory.

This is also the same author that starts the Gospel as such:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

– John 1:1

It’s harder to find a better testimony to the deity of Christ in the Bible than this.  There might be one or two but that’s it.  Again, this is from the same author as the other two statements.  What do we see from these verses?  We see that these two persons of the Trinity have differing roles and at the same time equal in essence.

St. Paul writes:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-even death on a cross!

– Philippians 2:6-8

We see from John that the Father sends the Son, however upon sending Him the Son makes decisions of his own.  This is to do with the fact that Christ has two wills, one human and one divine.  This was declared by Pope Agatho at the Third Council of Constantinople in the 7th century.

A Muslim or even a Christian who is not informed regarding Christology could see these differences in roles and see “subordinationism”.  The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all equal but they just have different roles in the same way a guard, forward, and a centre have different roles on a basketball team.

The portion of the Bible where the relationship is worked out the best is in John 14-16.

Here are some important verses:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—

– John 14:16

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.

– John 15:26

about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;

– John 16:10

These aren’t the only verses where inter-Trinitarian relations are talked about.  They’re talked about in the synoptic Gospels, the other epistles of St. Paul and even parts of the Old Testament.  Even in Genesis 1:2 we see the Holy Spirit in action.  The first and second persons of the Trinity can been seen in Genesis 19:24.

From what we see in Scripture, the Father seems to take a monarchical role most of the time.  There are a few exceptions such as John 17:5 and Genesis 19:24.  Either way, it’s interesting to learn how the Trinity works in the economy of our salvation.  Feel free to share your thoughts below.