Lessons 4 & 5 God’s Three-in-Oneness: The Trinity
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Mat 28:19)
God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God.
A. The Oneness of God
(Ex 3:13-15) There is one God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
(Deut 6:4-5) There is only one God.
(Ex 15:11) God is clearly one God. There is no one like him.
(James 2:19) James commends belief in one God.
(1 Tim 2:5-6) Paul affirms that there is only one God.
(Rom 3:30) Paul affirms that God is one.
There is one God.
B. The Deity of Three
1. God is Three Persons
(John 1:1-2) The fact that the “Word” (Christ) is with God shows that he is distinct from God the Father.
(John 17:24) Jesus speaks to God the Father about the sharing of glory and a relationship of love between the Father and the Son before the world was created. Jesus is distinct from God the Father.
(Heb 7:25) Christ intercedes for us before God the Father. Jesus is distinct from God the Father.
(John 14:26) Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit sent by the Father. The Father is not the Holy Spirit. The Son is not the Holy Spirit.
(John 16:7) Christ went back to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to the church. Jesus is distinct from the Holy Spirit.
2. Each Person is Fully God
God the Father is clearly God
This is evident from the first verse of the Bible, where God created the heaven and the earth. It is evident through the Old and New Testaments , where God the Father is clearly viewed as sovereign Lord over all and where Jesus prays to his Father in heaven.
The Son is fully God
(John 1:1-4) John affirms the full deity of Christ. Christ is referred to as the “Word” and John says both that he was “with God” and that he “was God”.
(John 20:28) Here Thomas calls Jesus “my God.” The narrative shows that both John in writing his gospel and Jesus himself approve of what Thomas has said and encourages everyone who hears about Thomas to believe the same things that Thomas did.
(Heb 1:3) The author says that Christ is the exact representation of the nature or being of God.
(Heb 1:10) The creation of the heavens is attributed to Christ.
(Titus 2:13) Paul affirms “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
(2 Pet 1:1) Peter speaks of “the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
(Rom 9:5) Paul writes of Christ as the “God over all.”
The Holy Spirit is fully God
(Acts 5:3-4) According to Peter’s words, to lie to the Holy Spirit is to lie to God.
(1 Cor 3:16) God’s temple is the place where God himself dwells, which Paul explains by the fact that “God’s Spirit” dwells in it, thus equating God’s Spirit with God Himself.
(Ps 139:7-8) This passage attributes the divine characteristic of omnipresence to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God.
(1 Cor 2:10-11) Paul attributes the divine characteristic of omniscience to the Holy Spirit.
(John 3:5-7) The work of giving new spiritual life is attributed to the Holy Spirit. This work is the work of God. The Holy Spirit is God.
C. New Testament passages mentioning all three persons of the Trinity
(Mat 3:16-17) (Mat 28:19) (1 Cor 12:4-6) (2 Cor 13:14)
(Eph 4:4-6) (1 Pet 1:2) (Jude 20-21)
D. Old Testament passages partially revealing the Trinity
(Gen 1:26-27) The plural verb “let us’ in v.26 suggests a plurality of persons in God himself. The singular form used in v.27 suggests there is one God.
(Ps 33:6) Here we have the involvement of all three persons of the Trinity in the work of creation: the Father decrees, the Son as the Word brings the Father’s decree into operation, and the Spirit imparts His life-giving dynamic to the whole process.
(Is 48:16) Here we have the Son speaking. He says that He has been sent by the Lord Yahweh(God the Father) and also by His Spirit.
Several Old Testament passages about the “angel of the Lord’ suggest a plurality of persons in God.
(Gen 22:11) (Gen 31:11,13) (Ex 3:2) (Judg 13:20)
E. Summary of the biblical teaching on the Trinity
In one sense the doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery that we will never be able to understand fully. However, we can understand something of its truth by these three statements.
1. God is three persons
2. Each person is fully God
3. There is one God
We can say that God is one undivided being, yet that in this one being there are three persons.
F. Doctrinal errors about the Trinity
1. Modalism
Modalism claims that there is one person who appears to us in three different forms(or modes). God is not really three distinct persons, but only one person who appears to people in different modes at different times. For example, in the Old Testament God appeared as “Father”. Throughout the gospels, this same person appeared as the “Son “ as seen in the human life and ministry of Jesus. After Pentecost, this same person then revealed himself as the “Spirit” active in the church.
Errors in Modalism
- It is not faithful to Scripture
- It must deny the personal relationships within the Trinity that appear in so many places in Scripture. Thus, it must deny three separate persons at the baptism of Jesus, where the Father speaks from heaven and the Spirit descends on Jesus like a dove.
- It must say that all those instances where Jesus is praying to the Father are an illusion or a charade.
- The idea of the Son or the Holy Spirit interceding for us before God the Father is lost.
- The idea that God sent his Son as a substitutionary sacrifice, and that the Son bore the wrath of God in our place, and that the Father , representing the interests of the Trinity, saw the suffering of Christ and was satisfied is the heart of the doctrine of atonement. This idea is lost.
- If there is no Trinity, then there were no interpersonal relationships within the being of God before creation. If God is only one person, then he has no ability to love before creation.
2. Arianism
Arianism denies the full deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit. It teaches that God the Son was at one point created by God the Father , and that before that time the Son did not exist, nor did the Holy Spirit, but the Father only. The Son is thus a created heavenly being and not God.
Errors in Arianism
- It is not faithful to Scripture.
- If Jesus is merely a created being and not fully God then he cannot atone for our sins. The heart of the doctrine of atonement is lost.
- If Jesus is not fully God, we would rightly doubt whether we can really trust him to save us completely. We cannot depend on any creature fully for our salvation. Justification by faith alone is threatened if we deny the full deity of the Son.
- If Jesus is not infinite God, then it would be idolatry to worship him since only God is worthy of worship.
- If there is no Trinity, then there were no interpersonal relationships within the being of God before creation. God therefore has no ability to love before creation.
G. Distinctions between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
The only distinctions between the members of the Trinity are in the ways they relate to each other and to the rest of creation(the work of creation, the redemption of man……). For example, in the work of creation, we see different functions of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God the Father spoke the creative words to bring the universe into being. God the Son, the eternal Word of God carried out the creative decrees. The Holy Spirit was moving over the face of the waters, apparently manifesting God’s immediate presence in his creation. Thus while the persons of the Trinity are equal in all their attributes, they nonetheless differ in their relationships to creation. The Son and the Holy Spirit are equal in deity to God the Father, but they are subordinate in their roles. It must be noted that the persons of the Trinity eternally existed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
The doctrine of the Trinity is divinely revealed and not constructed by man. It is the teaching of Scripture. Even though we cannot fully comprehend its mystery, we hold it because God has revealed that this is what he is like. As someone has said of this doctrine:
“Try to explain it, and you’ll lose your mind;
But try to deny it, and you’ll lose your soul.”
Review questions
- Why is the doctrine of the Trinity so unique among the various religions of the world?
- What are the implications of denying the doctrine of the Trinity?
- What analogies can we find to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity?
- Historically, how long do you think the early church took to formulate the doctrine of the Trinity from Scripture?
- Do you think the Jehovah witnesses and the “Oneness” believers who deny the doctrine of the Trinity are saved?
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