What is the role of God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in salvation?

from the old testament

• The Old Testament anticipates the differing roles between the three Members of the Godhead. The Father’s sovereign purpose is seen in how He chose people based on nothing but His own will. For example, He chose Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3) as the father of believers (cf. Romans 4:16) and Jacob over Esau (Malachi 1:2–3).
• The Son being sent by the Father and coming for salvation is found in Isaiah 53’s account of the Servant, later known as Jesus (cf. 1 Peter 2:24).
• The Spirit’s role in conviction and regeneration is seen in passages such as Ezekiel 36:26–27: “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (cf. Joel 2:28–29).
• Note that while the three Members of the Trinity are present throughout the Old Testament, descriptions are not as precise as they are in the New Testament. However, by understanding the New Testament descriptions of each Member’s role, we can more easily understand which Member is performing what role in the Old Testament.

from the new testament

• When operating in the world, the Father, Son, and Spirit have differing roles. They are still unified in salvation and of one mind. However, each Member performs a specific set of roles to reach that unified end.
• The Father’s Role: Election. The Father elects who will believe. Paul said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:3–5).
• The Father’s Role: Calling and Drawing. God calls those who belong to Him (Romans 8:30), drawing them so that they will believe. Of this role, Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).
• The Father’s Role: Sending and Punishing Jesus. The Father sent Jesus: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16–17). He sent Him “as a propitiation by his blood” (Romans 3:25), meaning the Father sent Jesus to be a sin sacrifice.
• The Father’s Role: Sending the Spirit. When speaking of His return to Heaven, Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).
• Jesus’ Role: Being the Perfect Human. Saving humans required a perfect human to die in their place. Jesus added a human nature (Philippians 2:6–7) for that very purpose. He was “made like his brothers in every respect … to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). Thus He was like us, “yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
• Jesus’ Role: Dying, Defeating Death, and Being the Way of Salvation. As the Father’s sacrifice, Jesus willingly laid down His life (John 10:17–18), demonstrating God’s love by dying for us (Romans 5:8). Because His death satisfied God’s wrath, He rose three days later, defeating death (1 Corinthians 15:54–57). By defeating death and paying for sin, He became the one way of salvation (John 14:6) for all who believe in Him (John 3:16).
• Jesus’ Role: Sending the Spirit and Pointing to the Father. While Jesus said the Father sent the Spirit, He Himself also sent the Spirit. This demonstrates something of the unity within the Godhead: “when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26). Additionally, Jesus did not come to glorify Himself (John 8:50), but the Father (e.g. John 17:6). In the end, He will hand everything to the Father so that He would be all and in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).
• Spirit’s Role: Convicting of Sin. For the world, Jesus said of the Spirit: “when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). The Spirit has a general role in convicting everyone of sin. However, His role includes indwelling believers (Romans 8:9), protecting them (Ephesians 1:13–14), and training them in godliness (Galatians 5:22–23).
• Spirit’s Role: Glorifying Jesus. Jesus said, “[the Spirit] will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14–15).

implications for today

Sometimes people misunderstand salvation as Jesus stepping in and blocking the Father’s wrath. While salvation is, indeed, being saved from God’s wrath (Romans 5:9), every Member of the Trinity worked in unison from the beginning to provide the means of salvation that satisfies God’s perfect justice while also displaying His mercy.

In another misunderstanding of salvation, others argue that the Father is committing child abuse by forcing His Son to die for the sins of the world. However, because Jesus was in perfect agreement with the Father, He willingly came and laid down His life (John 10:17–18), entrusting Himself to His Father (1 Peter 2:23).

Finally, though of a lesser error than the previous two, some also see salvation as the gateway to special experiences of the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit was sent not to have us focus on Him, but to be in the background, pointing us to the work of Christ (John 16:13–14).

All three Members did everything as one but with different roles. They were unified both in accomplishing salvation and in carrying out their distinct roles while also humbly pointing to the work of the others. In that way, salvation could be both effective in saving and a display of true love and humility.