LESSON 7: THE TRIUNE GOD

1: SUMMARY LESSON 7: THE TRIUNE GOD What does it mean that God is a Trinity? In this lesson you will learn that there is only one true God, who has always existed in three persons: Father, Son and Spirit. Each person of the godhead is fully and equally God, distinguishable from the others, yet there remains only one God. This doctrine of the Trinity is one of the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith and is found throughout the Bible. While it is not easy to fully understand, it is certainly not incomprehensible or illogical. It is, in fact, what distinguishes the true God of Scripture, from the various false gods of other religions and cults. 2: BIBLE STUDY VARIOUS TEXTS Trinity means tri-unity or three-in-oneness. The doctrine of the Trinity is built on three major tennets: 1. There is only one true God 2. God has has always existed in three persons: Father, Son and Spirit. 3. All three persons of the godhead are fully and equally God. The biblical basis for the Trinity is therefore derived by demonstrating that the Bible affirms each of these three major tenets and permits no other interpretation of them. 2.1: There is One God The fact that there is only one God is a truth repeatedly affirmed in both Old and New Testaments in passages like: Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Jews refer to this verse as the Shema after the Hebrew word meaning hear/listen/pay attention. They were to take heed of the reality that their God was the only true God. Israel was called to a fierce monotheism (one God) amidst the sea of polytheistic religions (many gods) which surrounded them. A devout Jew will recite the Shema daily, and bind copies of it onto their clothing and the door frames of their houses because this teaching is so central to the theology of the Old Testament. Isaiah 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. Note the repetition of the personal, singular pronoun, I. The God of the Bible is not three God s but one, and He will admit no equals or rivals. The Lord alone is God, there is no other. 1

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus This text affirms that there is only one God, and that by becoming the God-man, Jesus became the one and only mediator between God and man. James 2:19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe- and shudder! James affirms that one does well to believe that there is only one true God, yet such faith is not enough to save, since even the demons know and acknowledge this fact. (Additional Scriptures: Is 45:21-22; Rom 3:30; 1 Cor 8:6) Given this clear foundation it should be obvious that belief in the Trinity is not belief in three God s but one God. Do you believe that there is only one true God? Yes No If there is only one true God, who or what are the gods of other religions? (Hint:Isaiah 40:18 26; Rom 1:18 25) 2.2: God is three persons Human beings are finite and can therefore only exist in one person, in one body, at one time and place. God, however, is infinite and does not exist in one body, in one place, at one time or in one person. God exists in all places, at all times, in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Spirit. Since God exists in three distinct persons 1) God must be personal 2) Each member of the Trinity must be a distinct person within the godhead. The Son is not the Father, neither is the Son the Spirit, neither is the Spirit the Father. These three distinct persons make up the one God. The Godhead is personal: The very names by which God has revealed Himself (Father/ Son) show that we ought to understand him as a personal being who relates not only to His creation, but to Himself in a personal way. The names Father and Son (Jn 3:16; Jn 17:1; Mk 1:11) describe, by way of analogy, the nature of the inter-personal relationship that exists between these two members of the godhead. As with any father-son relationship, the Son shares in the same divine nature as the Father and yet is a distinct person with a unique role within the Godhead. The Spirit is personal: We know that God is a personal being because the qualities of person-hood are ascribed to Him: thinking, speaking, deciding, teaching, acting, etc. Although these personal qualities are attributed to each member of the Trinity, it is the Spirit who is most often thought of as an impersonal force rather than a personal being. Yet the 2

Spirit is expressly described as teaching (Jn 14:26), bearing witness (Jn 15:26), speaking (Acts 8:29), forbidding certain activities (Acts 16:6-7), and being grieved by sin (Eph 4:30). He is therefore as much a person as the Father and the Son. Jesus and the Father are distinct: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God (Jn 1:1-2). In this passage the Word is clearly referring to Jesus Christ because later in the same passage it says, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn 1:14). Jesus is called the Word because He is the revelation of the glory of God. Here we see that He is God and yet is also with God and therefore distinct from the Father. Throughout His life Jesus spoke to, listened to, and obeyed His heavenly Father. While praying for believers, Jesus speaks to the Father of, my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world (Jn 17:24) pointing to the eternal love relationship that exists between the Father and the Son, the sharing of glory, and the distinction of their persons. The Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son: When Jesus is explaining the ministry of the Holy Spirit to His disciples He says, 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 (Jn 14:26). This passage pictures all three members of the Trinity: Father, Son and Spirit, working together while maintaining a clear distinction between the Father who sends, Spirit who teaches, and the Son in whose name the Spirit is sent. The one God has therefore existed eternally as three persons: Father, Son and Spirit. The Spirit and the Son are not merely manifestations of the Father, but relate to Him as personal beings. Do you believe that God exists as three distinct persons: Father, Son and Spirit Yes No Which member of the Trinity do you most struggle to think of as personal? Why? 2.3: All Three persons are fully and equally God The Father is God: This point hardly needs proving since the Father is equated with the one true God throughout the Scripture: Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you? (Deut 32:6) The Son is God: Hebrews 1:3 describes the Son as the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature. This means that the Son radiates God s own glory and is an exact duplicate 3

of His nature or being. The text goes on to say that the Son upholds the universe by the Word of His power something that certainly only God could accomplish. Titus 2:13 refers to our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ and 2 Pet 1:1 likewise refers to the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ. In both these passages the underlying Greek grammar indicates that God and Saviour are two descriptions of the same person, Jesus Christ (this is referred to as the Granville Sharp rule for those who may be interested). After Jesus resurrection Thomas calls him both Lord and God and worships Him (Jn 20:28). Jesus accepts his confession and the worship that belongs to God alone, affirming what He himself said, I and the Father are one (Jn 10:30). The Spirit is God: While rebuking Ananias, Peter equates lying to the Holy Spirit with lying to God (Acts 5:3-4). God s temple is the place where God himself dwells and is referred to the temple of the Holy Spirit in passages such as 1 Cor 3:16. In Psalm 139:7-8 David asks, Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! He clearly equates God s Spirit with God s presence and attributes to Him the divine attribute of omnipresence, or being present everywhere at the same time. Do you believe that Father, Son and Spirit are all fully and equally God? Yes No Which member of the Trinity do you most struggle to think of as God? Why? 2.4 Some Trinitarian Distortions The biblical basis for the Trinity has therefore been demonstrated by showing that the Bible affirms each of its three major tenets and permits no other interpretation of them. All other explanations of the biblical data which have historically been rejected by the Christian church, have been rejected because they deny one of these three major tenets: 1) There is one God 2) God exists as three persons 3) All three persons are fully and equally God See if you can identify which of the above 3 tenets the following historical heresies denies: Modalism/ Sabellisanism: God is one person who appears to us in three different forms or modes. Denies tenet: Arianism Denies the full deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit. This was first proposed by Arias in 336AD but is popularly continued in the teaching of Jehovah s Witnesses. Denies tenet: Adoptionism: This is the view that Jesus lived as an ordinary man until his baptism, but 4

then God adopted Jesus as his son and conferred supernatural powers on him. Denies tenet: Subordinationism: This distortion held that the Son was eternal and divine, but still not equal to the Father in being or attributes. The Son was seen to be inferior or subordinate to the Father in being. Although this doctrine is not true, it is true that there is a functional subordination in the Trinity where the Son submits to the Father and the Spirit is directed by the Son, even though they are equally God (Jn 3:16-17; Eph 1:3-14) Denies tenet: 2.4 The Trinity is clearly seen working together throughout Scripture In some ways the Trinity is more easily seen in practice than systematically analysed. As might be expected, the Scripture is full of such examples of the persons of the godhead working together: Gen 1:26: In the very first chapter of the Bible we learn that the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters (1:2) even as God was speaking creation into existence. Then, on the sixth day, at the pinnacle of creation God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (Gen 1:26). We might rightly ask who God was speaking to since if God was not a Trinitarian being He could hardly have been speaking to Himself using plural pronouns such as us and our. He could not have been speaking to the heavenly host or the angels as some have suggested because the text speaks of humankind being made in our image which is clearly the image of God as vs 27 goes on to assert So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him. Surely, without explanation, the very first chapter of the Bible is giving us insight into the profound mystery of God as a Trinitarian being. Lk 3:21-22:...When Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." Jesus baptism provides a wonderful, lost visible picture of Father, Son and Spirit working together in unity and love. 1 Cor 12:4-6: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. As this text clarifies, all gifts are given by one and the same Spirit in the service of the one Lord (Jesus Christ) in the power of the one God. Father, Son and Spirit are therefore at work in building up the church in and through believers (see also Eph 4:4-6). 1 Pet 1:2: according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for 5

obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood... As Peter reminds us, our salvation is comprehensive because God is comprehensively involved: the Father in choosing, the Spirit in sanctifying and the Son in cleansing from sin. Again we see the three persons of the godhead working side by side in distinct roles, as distinct persons, yet comprising one God. (see also 2 Cor 13:14) Matt 28:18-20: And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." All Christians, throughout the ages, are to be reckoned as such by being baptized into the one name, of the one God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Commit yourself today, to looking out for the glorious Trinity as you read the Scriptures and worshipping God for the majesty and mystery of His divine nature! 3: APPLICATION How should the reality of God being both infinite and personal effect the way you relate to Him? The fact that God is relational in His very being should tell us something of the value of personal relationships. List some ways you can begin to invest more in personal, God-centered relationships. The Trinity is a unity in diversity which God desires to be expressed in the family and in the church which are also a unity in diversity. In what ways can your marriage, family, and church better express unity amidst diversity? What can you do to improve this unity? 6

4: FURTHER DISCUSSION These questions are intended to help you think more deeply about the subject matter at hand and provide the basis for further discussion with another mature believer. How should the fact that God exists as three persons effect how we pray and who we pray to? (Hint: Matt 6:9; Jn 14:13-14; Jn 15:16) Discuss the following statement: The Trinity is the only explanation which satisfied the Biblical data, and upholds the independence of God (the fact that God does not need His creation and is not improved by it or changed by it in any way). If God were not a Trinity, then it would not be have been possible for Him to experience fellowship and express love before creation. God would therefore in some way be dependent upon His own creation to express His being. It might be that since God is a unity in diversity, that He has created us to take delight in expressions of unity in diversity e.g. an orchestra. What other manifestations of this reality can you think of? What aspects of this doctrine are the most difficult for you to understand, accept, or explain? Why? Although the persons of the Trinity are equal in nature, being and glory, there is a functional subordination in which the Son willingly carries out the will of the Father and the Spirit is directed toward the glorification of the Son. How do you see this subordination expressed in other human relationships? 5: MEMORIZATION The following Scriptures would be good to memorize and meditate upon as they summarize the truths contained in this lesson: Matt 28:18-20 2 Cor 13:14 6: FUTHER STUDY Read through Eph 1:3-14 and list how each member of the Trinity has done or is doing in regard to your salvation. Read the free ebook What is the Trinity? (Crucial Questions Series Book 10 by R.C Sproul; obtainable from http://www.ligonier.org/blog/rc-sprouls-crucial-questions-ebooksnow-free/free) 7