Systematic Theology: Lesson 10 - The Trinity
THE TRINITY
Theology Proper - Lesson 10
We have discussed how God is perfectly incomprehensible, far beyond our capability to fully know and understand. We are the creature, and He is the creator. How could the pot ever comprehend the potter? How can the finite understand the infinite?
A SCRIPTURAL MYSTERY
This mystery confronts us right at the
outset of Scripture. The opening verse says, In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth. In a previous lesson, we contemplated the
Hebrew word “Elohim” which is the generic name for God used in this verse. It
is a plural word, but it is used with a singular verb. Hebrew often puts a
singular noun into the plural to show the greatness or authority of the noun.[1] In this
chapter, then, the great, majestic, and sovereign God creates the heavens and
the earth. Each day, God, as a master-builder makes progress in giving form to
the formless earth and filling its emptiness. On the last day, we are suddenly
brought into a divine counsel: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our
image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule…” (Gen 1:26). Some
posit that He was speaking to the angels. However, we should reject such an
interpretation, since God was planning to make mankind as an image and
likeness. Certainly, He was not planning to make mankind into the image of
angels. Nor could He speak of that as “Our” likeness since God is not an angel.
The only good and exegetically solid solution is to understand Him as speaking
to the Spirit of God in verse 2. Later revelation will help us to understand
that He was also speaking to “His Word” (John 1:1; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2; cf. Jer
1:11, 13; 32:6; Ezek 24:20).[2]
Under the light of later revelation,
we recognize that Genesis 1 introduces us to the one God whose perfect being
exists in a plurality of persons who are distinct from one another. Yet the
persons share one decree and will, and they accomplish their work together as
one.
To add to the mystery, the inter-Godhead
dialogue appears yet again early in Genesis. When God exiles Adam and Eve from
the Garden of Eden after the Fall, God says, “Behold, the man has become
like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand,
and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever…” (Gen
3:22). In eating the fruit in a rebellious manner, the man and woman had
plunged themselves and their future descendants into utter depravity. Now, if
they ate of the fruit of the tree of life, they and their children would live
forever in that corrupt state. For this reason, God removed them from the
Garden.
In Genesis 11, God descends from
heaven to see the Tower of Babel. He again speaks to Himself, “Come, let
Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand
one another’s speech” (Gen 11:7). Then Yahweh scattered them
abroad…Yahweh confused the language of the whole earth (Gen
11:8, 9). Though He speaks to Himself in the plural, He acts in the singular.
There is another surprising passage in
Genesis. Because of their sin, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. The text says
that Yahweh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh
out of heaven (Gen 19:24). This text has a surprising
presentation of two Yahwehs. One in heaven raining down brimstone and fire, and
one on earth.[3]
Later, we find Israel commanded to
confess the oneness of God. Israel continuously recited The Shema found in
Deuteronomy 6:4 – Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
The word אחד (echad) often denotes a unity consisting of a plurality. For
example, a man and his wife become one אחד
(echad) flesh. There is another number for absolute oneness יחד (yachid). “Deuteronomy 6:4
is an affirmation of monotheism, not Unitarianism.”[4] In other
words, unlike all the other nations, Israel was to worship the one true God.
But this does not mean that there is no plurality of persons within God’s
essence.[5] This is a
central truth of Scripture (Matt 12:29; Rom 3:30; 1 Cor 8:4; 1 Tim 2:5; Jas
2:19).
Soon, the oneness of God AND the
plurality of persons within the Godhead starts jumping off the page at us:
1. There is only ONE Yahweh,
yet there are multiple persons called Yahweh.
Gen 19:24; Isa 6:1-3 (cf. John 12:41); 11:2
2. The “Us” passages
Gen 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa 6:3
3. There is only ONE God, yet
there are THREE persons called God.
Psa 45:6-7 (cf. Heb
1:8-9); 110:1 (cf. Matt 22:41-45; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44); 9:6; John
1:29-34; 14:9-10, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15; 1 Cor 12:4-6; 2 Cor 1:21-22; 13:14; Eph
1:3-14; 2:13-18; 3:14-16; 4:4-6; Col 1:3-8; Gal 3:11-14; 1 Pet 1:2; 4:14
4. Yahweh has a Son
Psa 2:6-7; Matt 26:63-64;
Mark 14:61-62; Luke 22:67-71; John 1:34
5. Isa 48:11 – My glory I
will not give to another. Yet THREE persons receive worship.
John 4:23; Heb 1:6; Eph
4:30
6. THREE divine persons
Isa 48:16; Isa 61:1; 63:7-10; Hag 2:4, 5, 7; Matt 3:16-17; 28:18-20; 1 Pet
1:1-3
7. Jesus claims to have the
same authority as God
John 5:17-18; 10:30
8. Jesus has the same divine
perfections as the Father
Matt 18:20; 28:20; Luke
1:35; John 1:1, 47-48; 2:24-25; 16:15; 17:5, 10; 1 Cor 8:6; 1 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:2;
5:2; Heb 1:3; 13:8; 1 John 1:2; Rev 1:8; 21:6; 22:13
9. The Holy Spirit has the
same divine perfections as the Father and Son
Luke 1:35, 37; John 14:17;
15:26; 16:13; 1 John 4:6; Rom 8:2; 1 Cor 2:11; 12:11; Eph 4:30; Heb 9:14;
10:29; 1 Pet 4:14
For this reason, the church has spent
centuries discussing and articulating what has become known as the doctrine of
the Trinity. Consider this definition of the Trinity: “The doctrine of the Trinity,
simply put, is that God is absolutely and eternally one essence subsisting in
three distinct and ordered persons without division and without replication of
the essence.”[6]
An even simpler way of speaking about this profound reality is, “we are talking
about one what and three who’s.”[7] This
definition tells us nothing more than what we have already observed in the
text. As always, when we speak of the being of God, we must stay with what has
been revealed. Though it is difficult to grasp, we find that there is much
revealed about the Trinitarian nature of God.
The biblical presentation of God
pushes us to recognize two truths:
1. WE WORSHIP GOD’S UNITY IN TRINITY
1. Each person of the Trinity
possesses the entire simple essence of God. The three persons are distinct from
one another. However, each person is entirely the essence.
a. To speak of the fullness
of God is the same as the fullness of Christ and is the same as the fullness of
the Holy Spirit.
b. Each person is co-equal
with the others.
2. The persons are
distinguished by their names and properties. (1) The Father, (2) The Son
eternally begotten by the Father (Psa 2:7), and (3) The Holy Spirit eternally
spirated by the Father and Son (John 15:26; 20:22).[8]
a. Eternal generation seems
oxymoronic. This helps us understand that we are speaking of divine existence,
and we cannot fully understand what we are speaking of. “To pair the idea with
the adjective eternal is to change it in the most radical way. And it is
absolutely vital to understand and affirm the difference between the begetting
of a human child and the eternal generation of the Son of God.”[9] Eternal
generation describes the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son.
b. Eternal procession or
spiration is used in the same way of the Spirit’s relationship to the Father or
Son. We are not describing some act that happened once a long time ago, because
God never came into being. Rather, God has always existed, and His essence has
always consisted of the Father and Son continuously spirating the Spirit. [10]
3. “These distinct modes of
relationship establish a definite order within the Trinity, so that it is
proper to say (with respect to their relationship only, not with respect to
their essence, glory, or majesty) that the Father is first, the Son is second,
and the Spirit is third.”[11]
4. There is a technical term:
opera ad intra, meaning “internal operations,” which refers to the inner
life of the Trinity in eternity. This is in distinction to the opera ad
extra, meaning “external operations,” which refers to the outer life and
operation of the Trinity in creation.
2. WE WORSHIP GOD’S TRINITY IN UNITY
1. INSEPARABLE OPERATIONS
There is a very important concept referred to as “Inseparable Operations.” All
three persons of the Trinity always work together as One to accomplish every
act of God. One person may be emphasized in the text as accomplishing a certain
work, however the other two are always involved. Remember: “the external works
of the Trinity are undivided.”
EXAMPLES:
a. Creation –
i. The Father (1 Pet 4:19)
ii. The Son (John 1:3, 10; Col
1:16-17; 1 Cor 8:6)
iii. The Spirit (Gen 1:2; Job
26:13; 32:8; 33:4; 34:14-15; Psa 104:30)
b. Redemption –
i. The Father ( 1 Chron
17:21; Isa 63:16; Gal 4:4-5)
ii. The Son (Rom 3:24; Eph
1:7; 1 Tim 2:5)
iii. The Spirit (Heb 9:14; Rom
8:11)
c. Sanctification –
i. The Father (John 17:17; 1
Thess 5:23)
ii. The Son (1 Cor 1:30; Eph
5:25-27)
iii. The Spirit (2 Thess 2:13;
1 Pet 1:2)
2. Heretical Positions to
Avoid
a. Tritheism – Rejects the
Unity of God
b. Unitarianism – Rejects the
Trinitarian God
c. Modalism – “The Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the forms into which the one God is
metamorphosed as the need of the moment requires. So, God is spoken of now as
the Father, now as the Son, now as the Holy Spirit.”[12]
d. Arianism – “Jesus was just
a man, who was indwelt by an impersonal divine force either at his birth, his
baptism or at his resurrection. He had a delegated divinity by virtue of this
indwelling of divine power. Jesus was exalted as Lord, but was preexistent, and
did not possess the Divine essence.”[13]
3. Illustrations – See Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQLfgaUoQCw
No sooner do I conceive of
the one
than I am illumined by the
splendor of the three;
no sooner do I distinguish them than I am carried back to the one.
When I think of anyone of
the three
I think of him as the
whole,
and my eyes are filled,
and the greater part of
what I am thinking escapes me.
I cannot grasp the greatness of that one
so as to attribute a
greater greatness to the rest.
When I contemplate the
three together,
I see but one torch, and
cannot divide or measure out the undivided light.
Gregory of Nazianzus
(329-390)
The
Athanasian Creed[14]
Whoever desires to be saved should
above all hold to the catholic faith.[15]
Anyone who does not keep it whole and
unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.
Now this is the catholic faith:
That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
neither blending their persons
nor dividing their essence.
For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
the person of the Son is another,
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.
What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated,
the Son is uncreated,
the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is immeasurable,
the Son is immeasurable,
the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.
The Father is eternal,
the Son is eternal,
the Holy Spirit is eternal.
And yet there are not three eternal
beings;
there is but one eternal being.
So too there are not three
uncreated or immeasurable beings;
there is but one uncreated and
immeasurable being.
Similarly, the Father is almighty,
the Son is almighty,
the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty
beings;
there is but one almighty being.
Thus the Father is God,
the Son is God,
the Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there are not three gods;
there is but one God.
Thus the Father is Lord,
the Son is Lord,
the Holy Spirit is Lord.
Yet there are not three lords;
there is but one Lord.
Just as Christian truth compels us
to confess each person individually
as both God and Lord,
so catholic religion forbids us
to say that there are three gods or lords.
The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone.
The Son was neither made nor created;
he was begotten from the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten;
he proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
there is one Son, not three sons;
there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.
Nothing in this trinity is before or after,
nothing is greater or smaller;
in their entirety the three persons
are coeternal and coequal with each other.
So in everything, as was said earlier,
we must worship their trinity in their unity
and their unity in their trinity.
Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the trinity.
But it is necessary for eternal
salvation
that one also believe in the
incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.
Now this is the true faith:
That we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,
is both God and human, equally.
He is God from the essence of the Father,
begotten before time;
and he is human from the essence of his mother,
born in time;
completely God, completely human,
with a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father as regards divinity,
less than the Father as regards humanity.
Although he is God and human,
yet Christ is not two, but one.
He is one, however,
not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
but by God's taking humanity to himself.
He is one,
certainly not by the blending of his essence,
but by the unity of his person.
For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
so too the one Christ is both God and human.
He suffered for our salvation;
he descended to hell;
he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven;
he is seated at the Father's right hand;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
At his coming all people will arise bodily
and give an accounting of their own deeds.
Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing
it firmly and faithfully.
[1] Some argue that the plural of
Elohim is a proof of the Trinity. Most linguists disagree. “The linguistic
absurdity of such a view [proving the Trinity from the plural of Elohim] can be
illustrated by an example involving another plural of respect. In Judges
19:26-27 the concubine’s master is referred to by the plural אדנים
(lord[s]). It is clear from the context, where the referent of the plural noun
is an individual, that the plural is one of respect; it emphasizes the Levite’s
absolute authority over the woman. If one were to argue that the plural hints
at the man having multiple personalities, such an interpretation would be
rightly discarded as farfetched.” Chisolm, From Exegesis to Exposition: A
Practical Guide to Using Biblical Hebrew, 59. Besides this, Elohim is used
of false gods like Dagon (1 Sam 5:7); Baal-Zebub (2 Kings 1:2); Chemosh (1
Kings 11:33); Milcom (1 Kings 1:33); Baal (1 Kings 18:21, 24). As for being a
proof of the Trinity, I believe the plural form of Elohim should be near the
bottom of the much longer list of evidence.
[2] Warfield likened the Trinity in
the Old Testament to furniture in a poorly lit room. You can sort of make it
out, but the details are too dim to make out. Then the New Testament turns on
the lights and it suddenly becomes clear. Turning on the light did not move the
furniture into the room. The light illuminated what was already there. See
Zaspel, “Warfield on the Trinity (part 3/4)” https://credomag.com/2012/03/warfield-on-the-trinity-part-34/
[3] MacArthur and Mayhue, Biblical
Doctrine, 252. Dr. Bill
Barrick writes, “Such a verse as Genesis 19:24 would hit at the heart of the
aberrant theology of cultic groups like the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This text
speaks of two persons with the title of Yahweh/Jehovah: one in heaven above and
one with a presence nearer to or upon the earth. This is the opinion of a
number of theologians. Augustus Hopkins Strong places this text alongside Hosea
1:7 and 2 Timothy 1:18 as examples of passages in which ‘Jehovah distinguishes
himself from Jehovah.’” Barrick, Hebrew Exegesis I Study Notes,
Unpublished Class Notes, 75.
[4] MacArthur and Mayhue, Biblical
Doctrine, 195.
[5] We must always keep in mind that
God is not like us (Psa 50:21). We build our theology from above. Not from
below. We must remember that we are made in the image of God and not the other
way around.
[6] MacArthur and Mayhue, Biblical
Doctrine, 189.
[7] White, The Forgotten Trinity,
27.
[8] The Eastern Church clings to
an older version of the Nicene Creed, denying the West’s 6th century
addition of what is known as the filioque clause that adds that the Holy
Spirit proceeds from the Son as well as the Father. The filioque clause
was part of the tensions that eventually split the church in two (1054 AD).
[9] MacArthur and Mayhue, 206.
[10] “Scripture does not
explicitly define the difference between generation and procession, but the
terminology befits the names Son and Spirit.” MacArthur and Mayhue, 207. The
way that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit interact with creation reveals these
relationships.
[11] MacArthur and Mayhue, 191.
[12] Mook, Unpublished Class
Notes, 270.
[13] Mook, Unpublished Class
Notes, 264.
[14] https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/athanasian-creed. “This creed is named after
Athanasius (A.D. 293-373), the champion of orthodoxy against Arian attacks on
the doctrine of the trinity. Although Athanasius did not write this creed and
it is improperly named after him, the name persists because until the seventeenth
century it was commonly ascribed to him. It is not from Greek (Eastern), but
from Latin (Western) origin, and is not recognized by the Eastern Orthodox
Church today.”
[15] REMINDER: This
is NOT Roman Catholic. This is catholic (note the small ‘c’) which means
‘universal.’ This Creed predates the Roman Catholic Church.
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