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The concept of the Trinity enlarges the concept of God found in the Old Testament and makes certain Old Testament passages more understandable. For example, some 2,500 times the word for God is Elohim, plural, instead of El, singular. There are plural pronouns used to describe the one God: “Let us make man” (Genesis 1:26); “Man is become as one of us” (Genesis 3:22); “Remember Thy Creators” (Ecclesiastes 12:1, literal); “Rejoice in His Makers” (Psalm 149:2, literal).

And, in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (NKJV), the word for “name” is singular, representing three persons.

The plural pronouns are an indicator of the trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — the Three in One.

Ken Horn

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Receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit

1. The seeker should be spiritually prepared.

Acts 2:38,39 says: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call” (NIV). We are spiritually prepared for the Baptism if we are born again. This promise from God was not just for the Day of Pentecost, but for everyone thereafter who would believe. The spiritual birthright of every Christian is to seek, expect and experience the same baptism in the Holy Spirit that was promised and given to the New Testament Christians.

2. The seeker should realize that the Holy Spirit has already been given.

The disciples were initially commanded to wait in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4) before beginning their ministry. This was the beginning of the Holy Spirit’s new relationship with believers. Once the Holy Spirit had been poured out in the Upper Room, believers no longer needed to wait in the same way for this fullness. The Book of Acts records after the Upper Room narrative four times when people were filled immediately by the Spirit of the Lord, with the evidence of speaking in other tongues either explicitly stated or implied by the context (Acts 8:14-19; 9:17; 10:44-48; 19:1-7).

3. The seeker should be aware that the Holy Spirit is received by faith.

Several instances in the New Testament remind us that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a gift. All of us have received gifts from loved ones, parents or individuals who wanted to show us kindness. Gifts are something we don’t earn; we simply accept them and acknowledge the kindness of the giver. Galatians 3:14 says, “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” Faith is the means through which we receive the gift.

4. Seekers should know that the Holy Spirit enables, but the believer does the speaking.

In every instance in the New Testament where people received the gift of the Holy Spirit, they were the ones who spoke in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. The Holy Spirit does not control a person like a puppet. We find this clearly in Acts 2:4: “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” He “enabled.” He did not coerce.

5. Seekers should not fear that they will fall prey to a counterfeit experience.

The Word of God teaches that God gives only good gifts to His children. “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13). God will not allow another spirit to interfere with His sincerely seeking child.

Not everyone receives the Baptism immediately. Even the disciples waited in the Upper Room for 10 days before being baptized in the Spirit. Waiting is not cause to give up. Remember, the Baptism is promised to every believer. Many believers are baptized soon after leaving an altar where they had sought the Baptism. They may be at home or going about their business the next day. The important thing to receiving the Baptism is to continue to seek the Lord in faith. God’s desire and promise is to baptize each believer with the Holy Spirit.

Scott R. Erickson
Originally published in Today’s Pentecostal Evangel, issue #4648.

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I am having a difficult time explaining to my children how Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are one person. Can you help?

The Trinity is first-rate mystery.

Augustine said that anyone who denies the Trinity is in danger of losing his salvation, and anyone who tries to understand it is in danger of losing his mind. It is not fully explained in Scripture.

In fact, the word Trinity is not found in the Bible. But, by the late second century it was being used by the church to describe a biblical concept—literally, tri-unity, or “three in one.”

This does not mean three Gods … though Christians have been accused of being polytheists by other world religions. Instead Christians have a unique view of God, one that comes about because they believe both the Old and New Testaments.

There are six basic biblical steps to understanding the Trinity:

1. There is one God. (Deuteronomy 6:4)

Deuteronomy 6:4 is one of the most important verses to the Jews, who believe in one God. It is known as the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!”

Here is the Hebrew: Shema Yisrael: Yahweh Elochenu Yahweh Echad. The Hebrew language has two words that are translated “one”—Yachid and Echad. Yachid means an absolute one. Echad refers to a united one. Echad is the word used of God in the Old Testament—God is a united one.

2. The Father is God. (2 Peter 1:17)

3. The Son is God. (John 8:58)

4. The Holy Spirit is God. (Acts 5:3-4)

5. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct individuals. (John 14:26)

6. Therefore, there are three Persons in the one Godhead.

A typical, accurate doctrinal statement is this, Assemblies of God Fundamental Truth no. 2: “WE BELIEVE … There is only One True God—revealed in three persons … Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (commonly known as the Trinity).” (See ag.org for all 16 Assemblies of God Fundamental Truths.)

Since the Trinity is completely unique, no analogy really fits. The Trinity is not really “like” anything.

But attempts have been made. The best analogies do not look at the Trinity as three parts that make up a whole, like these examples:

• Shamrock: Saint Patrick, who spread the Gospel in Ireland, used a three-leafed clover.
• Egg: Another common one—eggshell, egg white and yolk.
• H2O: The three phases of H2O—water, ice, steam—are better as an analogy but also fall short since any given temperature produces only one of these at a time. That picture leads to a false doctrine that says the Trinity is really only one person who takes on one of three modes at any given time. This belief is problematic for those who hold it: Just what was going on in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was praying to the Father? Was He talking to himself?

The best illustration I have seen comes from C.S. Lewis:

• The three dimensions of space: Length, width and height. All coincide in the same place, yet are distinct.

Ken Horn

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What does it mean to be “drunk in the Spirit” and is it biblical? Also, what scriptures support the idea of being “slain in the Spirit” and what is the purpose of it?

First answer: Acts 2:11-16 is the account of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit can be mocked as drunkenness by observers. Some Pentecostal Christians have adopted the terminology of being drunk in the Spirit for those who are demonstrably experiencing an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Second answer: I wrote the following in a historical review of revival, but there is no exact technical instance in the scripture, except for people falling before the Lord or in His presence:

This is perhaps the most criticized of today’s manifestations. But virtually all historical revivals record this phenomenon.

Methodist minister John McGee relates the outbreak of the second Great Awakening in Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in 1800: “I … was near falling, the power of God was strong upon me …. Losing sight of fear of man, I went through the house shouting and exhorting with all possible ecstasy and energy, and the floor was soon covered with the slain.”

James Finley “saw at least 500 swept down in a moment.”

High emotions, falling, crying out, tears, even shaking, all occurred in revivals before a modern Pentecostal ever appeared. People who “fell under the power of God” included Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Anglicans, and others. In the early days of the Salvation Army (mid-1800s), in the meetings of General William Booth, “persons were frequently stricken down…overwhelmed with a sense of the presence and power of God.”1

Jonathan Edwards’ own acceptance of such physical demonstrations was no doubt influenced by the fact his wife Sarah “did, indeed, hop when under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and she would swoon away for hours together, enjoying, she claimed, the presence of God.”2

1 James Gilchrist Lawson, Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians: Warner Press, 1911, p. 257.
2 Jonathan Edwards, Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New England, cited by Harold Fickett.

In 1910, William F.P. Burton attended a meeting at which he first witnessed speaking in other tongues; and although he was convinced it was from God, he was disturbed by people “falling to the ground, laughing, groaning, trembling, and seeing visions.” He said, “A little study of the Scripture removed my misgivings about such manifestations.”

An older saint gave him advice that resonates today: “We don’t encourage such manifestations, but we are not at all surprised when they do occasionally occur. We have learned the lesson which Michal learned so dearly, that it does not do to belittle those who are carried away with the joy of the Lord.” (See 2 Samuel 6:16-23.)3

3 Colin C. Whittaker, Seven Pentecostal Pioneers: Gospel Publishing House, 1983, p.156.

Ken Horn

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