1 Theology Proper: The Triune God The Essential Doctrine of the Holy Trinity Why is this doctrine essential to the Christian faith? Because God cannot be worshipped rightly where He is not known truly (John 4:22-24). In other words, if God is Trinity and we do not worship Him as thus, who are we worshipping? Certainly not the God of the Scriptures. The doctrine of the Trinity is the most perfect example of systematic theology. The doctrine of the Trinity answers the question: What does the whole Bible say about who God is? I. Brief Definition A. Safeguarding Divine Mystery and Paradox The doctrine of the Trinity is filled with mystery. It is not our job to remove the mystery but instead to safeguard and uphold it. Any attempt to make logical sense of, or to remove divine paradox from the Trinity will ultimately end in heresy and an incorrect/errant view of God. Therefore all analogies are doomed to articulate heresy. Indeed analogies are more helpful in explaining the various heresies concerning the Trinity that they are helpful in explaining the Trinity. 1. God is one being there is no other God. 2. God is three persons. 3. Each person is fully God God is not divisible. (Grudem 231; Erickson 347; Geisler 537). All analogies and images will fail to articulate the above three statements. B. Grudem, God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God (226). C. Trinity refers to a tri-unity or three-in-oneness. D. The Athanasian Creed (A.D. 400-500) is the most complete and exhaustive statement of belief on the Trinity, followed by the Nicene Creed and Apostles Creed. The doctrine of the Trinity is exceedingly theological and systematic because even though the word Trinity is nowhere in Scripture, the theological truth is undeniable when one considers the full breadth of Scripture.
2 II. Tri-Unity in Scripture A. Old Testament. Though there is no explicit mention of Father, Son, and Spirit in one place, there certainly are statements which point toward a divine nature which is more complex than a single-person deity could bear. 1. The Divine Plural (Gen. 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isaiah 6:8) 2. The Lord is distinguished from the Lord (Thiessen 91). Genesis 19:24, Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. Hosea 1:7, But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and deliver them by the Lord their God, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen. 3. Isaiah 48:16, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit. 4. Psalm 2:7, You are My Son, today I have begotten You. This does not mean Christ was created by/after the father. a) Isaiah 9:2, For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. b) Micah 5:2, But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. B. The New Testament. Revelation being progressive, much more concerning the nature of God is revealed in the New Testament and the Trinity becomes more clearly visible. 1. Matthew 3:16, After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him 2. John 14:16, I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever. 3. Matthew 28:19, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 4. 2 Corinthians 13:14, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. III. The Unity and Oneness of God God is One The Unity of God means that there is but one God and that the divine nature is undivided and indivisible God does not consist of parts nor can he be divided into parts. His being is simple, numerically one, free from composition (Thiessen 89).
3 The three different persons of the Trinity are one not only in purpose and in agreement on what they think, but they are one in essence, one in their essential nature (Grudem 238). A. Oneness of God in the Old Testament 1. The religion of the ancient Hebrews was a rigorously monotheistic faith, as indeed the Jewish religion is to this day (Erickson 348). 2. Genesis 1:1, In the beginning God not in the beginning gods. 3. Deuteronomy 4:35, 39, To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other (NASB; emphasis added). 4. Deuteronomy 6:4, Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5. 1 Kings 8:60, the Lord is God; there is no one else. Isaiah 44:6, Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. 6. Isaiah 45:5, I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. 7. Isaiah 45:18, I am the Lord, and there is none else. IV. B. Oneness of God in the New Testament 1. Mark 12:29-32 2. John 17:3, This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 3. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. 4. 1 Timothy 2:5, For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 5. James 2:19, You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. God is Three Persons Each is Distinct from the Other A. Each is Person Each individual member of the Trinity is a person, since each is referred to as a person (I, Who). Each has all of the basic elements or powers of personhood: mind, will, and feeling (Geisler 546).
4 1. The Father is a Person a) The power of intellect to know, your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things (Matt. 6:32). b) The emotional faculty to feel, The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart (Gen. 6:6). c) The power of will to choose, Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:9-10). d) The father is also referred to by the pronoun He in addition to having the personal ability to communicate. 2. The Son is a Person a) Intellect, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man (John 2:25). b) Feeling, Jesus wept (John 11:35). c) Will, For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me (John 6:38). d) The Son is also referred to by personal pronouns in addition to the ability to teach and communicate. 3. The Holy Spirit is a Person B. Each is Distinct a) Intellect and teaching ability, 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 said to you (John 14:26). b) Will, But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11). c) Emotion, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, [a]by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). d) Personal pronouns are used for the Holy Spirit. e) Finally, the activities of a person are ascribed to the Holy Spirit: He searches, knows, speaks, testifies, reveals, convinces, commands, strives, movies, helps, guides, creates, recreates, sanctifies, inspires, intercedes, orders the affairs of the church, and performs miracles (Geisler 547). 1. The Father is not the Son a) John 1:1-2, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. b) John 14:6, Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
5 c) John 17:24, Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. d) Hebrews 7:25, Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 2. The Father is not the Spirit a) John 14:26 b) John 15:26, When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me. c) Romans 8:16, 27, The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the [j]saints according to the will of God. 3. The Son is not the Spirit a) Matthew 3:16, After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him. b) John 7:37-39, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. c) John 14:16-17, I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. d) John 16:5-7, But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, Where are You going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. V. Each Person is Fully God Each is the Same God Each of these three persons is fully God. That is, each partakes equally and eternally in the divine essence the substance, or stuff, of deity, the Godness of God (Clark).
6 A. The Father is God 1. Romans 1:7, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2. Galatians 1:1, Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead). 3. There simply is no debate about the deity of God the Father. B. The Son is God 1. John 1:1 2. John 20:28, Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and my God! 3. Colossians 2:9, For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form. 4. Romans 9:5, Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen (NIV). 5. Titus 2:13, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of [a]our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (NASB). 6. Hebrews 1:1-3, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. C. The Holy Spirit is God 1. Acts 5:3-4, But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. 2. 1 Corinthians 2:10-11, For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 3. Divine attributes are affirmed of Him: a) He is eternal, How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God (Heb. 9:14; emphasis added). b) He is omniscient, For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God (1 Cor. 2:10).
7 c) He is omnipotent, The angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). d) He is omnipresent, Psalm 139:7-10 e) Divine works are ascribed to the Spirit (1) Creation - Genesis 1:2; Job 33:4; Psalm 104:30 (2) Regeneration John 3:5 (3) Inspiration of the Scriptures - 2 Peter 1:21 (4) Raising of the Dead Romans 8:11 Bibliography Enns, Paul P. The Moody Handbook of Theology. Chicago: Moody, 2008. Print. Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1998. Print. Geisler, Norman L. Systematic Theology: In One Volume. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2011. Print. Grudem, Wayne A. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008. Print. Thiessen, Henry Clarence, and Vernon D. Doerksen. Lectures in Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979. Print. Wainwright, Geoffrey. "Trinity." Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible. By Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Craig G. Bartholomew, Daniel J. Treier, and N. T. Wright. London: SPCK, 2005. 815-18. Print. Saucy, R. L. "God, Doctrine of." Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. By Walter A. Elwell. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1984. 500-04. Print.