The Trinity

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THE TRINITY

1. The Trinity is the Mystery of Mysteries.
The doctrine of the Trinity is the greatest mystery in the Bible. It is revealed, but not fully revealed. Nor will it ever be fully comprehended by Man even in Heaven. It is vastly deep and high, and inspires holy awe in those who approach it rightly. It has been accepted by evangelical Protestants, historical Roman Catholics, and the Greek Orthodox. But it has been rejected by many cults, some liberals, and even some Pentecostals, such as the United Pentecostal Church, not to mention Jews and Moslems.

2. The Trinity is Taught in the Bible.
There is no perfect analogy to the Trinity in Creation, so the doctrine is taught by Special Revelation and not by mere Natural Revelation. Yet no one place in Scripture discusses it at length. It is learned by comparing text with text. Still, some places are of particular importance in setting forth the Trinity, such as the Baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3) and Christ's command to baptize “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matt.28:19). All three members of the Trinity are sometimes mentioned together, such as 2 Cor. 13:14, Eph. 2:18, 3:14-16, I Peter 1:2, 2 Thess. 2:13-14, 1 Cor. 6:11, Gal.4:6, etc.

3. There is Only One God.
The first truth of the doctrine of the Trinity is that there is only one God. Perhaps the most important truth of the Old Testament was the “Shema” (Hebrew for “Hear”) of Deut. 6:4, “Hear, 0 Israel. The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” This truth is repeated over and over in both testaments. There has always been only one God and will always be only one God. The doctrine of the Trinity does not teach that there are three gods. The unity of God disproves polytheism (that there are many gods, such as in Hinduism) and henotheism (one favorite god among many others).

4. All Members of the Trinity are Equal.
The Bible also teaches that there is something plural within God. We call them “persons”. They share the same one divine nature, the same substance of deity. Thus, all are equal, for one infinite being cannot be larger than another infinite being. There is no hierarchy or subordinate natures within the Trinity. Each one is fully God and has all the attributes of full deity. Each one is God and with God (John 1:1-2). The Son is equal with the Father (John 5:18, Phil. 2:6). Theologians speak of the Trinity in two ways. The “Ontological Trinity” is what God is in-and-of Himself from all eternity. The “Economical Trinity” is the Trinity in relation to time, history and Man. The latter reflects and reveals the first.

5. The Members of the Trinity are Not Identical.
The three divine members share the same nature, but have distinct persons. They are not three in the same sense that they are one, so there is no contradiction here. The Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Spirit; the Spirit is not the Father. There is only one Father, one Son, and one Spirit (Eph. 4:4-6). It was the Son, not the Father nor the Spirit, who became a man. It was the Spirit, not the Son nor the Father, who came at Pentecost. The atonement was presented to the Father, not to the Son or the Spirit. Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17, not to Himself. The Father spoke to Jesus at His Baptism; this was no ventriloquism. Jesus called the Spirit “another comforter”, therefore not Himself. Some groups reject the idea of the Trinity but accept the deity of Christ, saying there is no difference between the three at all. This is Oneness, Modalism, “Jesus only”, or Patripassionism. But it is not Biblical Trinitarianism.

6. The Father is God.
Matt. 28:19 specifies that the three members of the Trinity are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Scripture repeatedly speaks of God as the Father. This one is not just Father of Christians, but the Father of the Son. And He is eternally the Father of the Son, not just in the Virgin Birth. He was Father to the Son from all eternity. It was decided in the eternal Trinity that the Father would represent God in His dealings with Man, and so the name “God” by itself sometimes refers to the Father. “God” sent His Son into the world, meaning the Father sent His Son (John 3:18). The Father received the atonement from the Son, who represented Man.

7. The Son is God.
The Second Person of the Trinity is the Son, God the Son. Later we will discuss the deity of Christ more fully. Over 100 Bible verses prove the deity of Jesus Christ (e.g., John 1:1, 20:28). He is the great “I AM” (John 8:24, 58). He was worshipped as God. Many Old Testament verses that speak of Jehovah are applied to Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus is God, but is not the only person in the Godhead, as taught by the advocates of the “Jesus Only” heresy. There are three divine persons, but only one is Son.

8. The Son is Eternally Begotten by the Father.
The distinctive feature of the Second Person of the Trinity is that He alone is eternally begotten. He is God the Son within the Trinity. This eternal begetting is indicated in John 1:14, 18, 3:16-18. In theology, it is called Eternal Generation. It is eternal; there was never a time that He was not the Son. Some Evangelicals deny this. They say that the term “God the Son” is synonymous with “Son of God”, and that both refer to the incarnation. But Jesus was Son before the Incarnation. In fact, the Incarnation is the historical (or Economical) display of the eternal (or Ontological) nature of the Trinity. Just as a human father has the same nature as his son (e.g., John and Joe Smith are both Smith), so do the eternal Father and eternal Son share the same nature. The Father alone begets the Son. There is no divine mother, no, not even the Spirit.

9. The Holy Spirit is God.
The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. He is “the eternal Spirit” (Heb. 9:14). There is only one Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:4). He is personal, for He speaks, feels, thinks, is grieved, has joy, etc. He convicts of sin, regenerates sinners into saints, indwells believers, etc. But first of all, the Holy Spirit is God. To lie to the Spirit is to lie to God (Acts 5:3-4), and to blapheme the Spirit is unforgivable. The Spirit is God (Isa. 48:16, 63:10, Psa. 51:11, I Cor. 3:16, 6:11, 19, 12:4, 2 Cor. 3:17-18, etc.). He is every much eternally God as are the Father and the Son. All three are equal in power, glory and majesty.

10. The Spirit Eternally Proceeds from the Father and the Son.
The distinctive feature of the Holy Spirit within the Trinity is what is called “Eternal Procession.” It is found in John 14:16, 26, 15:26, 16:13-15. It is not the same as the eternal generation of the Son, which comes from the Father, not the Father and the Spirit. The Spirit eternally proceeds from both the Father and the Son. The Greek Orthodox Church says the Spirit proceeds only from the Father. It is difficult to ascertain just what this procession is. It is akin to eternal breathing, thus an eternal spiration. This was reflected in the Spirit coming in a special way on the Day of Pentecost. He reveals the Father and the Son, and stays in the background. Sent by Christ, He is the “Spirit of Christ” (Rom. 8:9, Phil. 1:19). He brings the elect to Christ, who brings them to the Father. All in all, the members of the Trinity work together for their mutual glory, which is a display of their perfect unity and diversity.