Questions to be answered:

1.      How can God be three persons, yet one God?

2.      What is the extent of God’s control over creation?

3.      If God controls all things, how can our actions have real meaning?

A.   The Trinity.

Definition:  God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God.

1.      The doctrine of the Trinity is
progressively revealed in Scripture.

·
The Trinity is partially revealed in the Old Testament.

God speaks of himself in the plural:

Genesis 1:26
– Then God said, "Let us make
man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea
and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all
the creatures that move along the ground."

Genesis 3:22 – And the LORD God said,
"The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not
be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat,
and live forever."

The tri-holiness of God hints
at a plurality of persons too:

Isaiah 6:3 – And they were calling to one another: "Holy,
holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."

·
There is more complete revelation of the Trinity in the New Testament.

The Great Commission:

Matthew 28:19
– 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.

At Jesus’ baptism:

Matthew 3:16-17 – As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out
of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said,
"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

In the distribution of
spiritual gifts:

1 Corinthians 12:3-6 – Therefore I tell you that no one who is
speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can
say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.  There are different kinds of gifts, but
the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There
are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

In the work of redemption:

1 Peter 1:2 – [To God’s elect] who have been chosen according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the
Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and
peace be yours in abundance.

2.      Three statements summarize
the Biblical teaching on the Trinity.

i.
God exists as three persons

ii.
Each person is fully God

iii.
There is only one God

·
All analogies used to explain the Trinity have
inherent shortcomings.

·
Simplistic solutions to the mystery of the Trinity must all deny one or
more of the Biblical teaching of the Trinity.

3.      Errors have come by denying
any of the three Biblical statements summarizing the doctrine of the Trinity.

·
Modalism:  This line of
thought claims that God is only one person who appears to us in three different
forms (denies Biblical statement #1).

·
Arianism:  This heresy
denies the full deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit (denies Biblical statement
#2).

·
Tritheism:  This heresy
basically denies that there is only one God (denies Biblical statement
#3).  This view never gained wide
acceptance in the history of the church.

·
Accepting the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity is extremely important,
and it is foundational to several important aspects of the Christian faith
(e.g., the atonement, salvation, prayer, etc.)

4.      What are the distinctions
between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

·
The persons of the Trinity have different primary functions in relating
to the world.

i.
In Creation.

God the Father spoke the creative words:

Genesis 1:1
– In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth.

The words “and God
said” appear in Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26 right before each
creative act.

God the Son was the creative agent in carrying out the
Father’s spoken words:

John 1:3 – Through him [Jesus, cf. v. 14] all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.

God the Holy Spirit sustains
and maintains the creation:

Genesis 1:2 – Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was
over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was
hovering over the waters.

ii.
In Redemption.

Redemption was planned by God the Father, carried
out by God the Son, and applied by God the Holy Spirit:

1 Peter 1:2 – [To God’s elect] who have been chosen according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the
Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and
peace be yours in abundance.

·
The persons of the Trinity have eternally existed as Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit (Equal in being, subordinate in role/function).

·
What is the relationship between the three persons and the being of
God?

·
The Trinity is a kind of existence far different from anything we have
ever experienced.

·
We will never be able to fully understand the doctrine of the
Trinity.  It is beyond full human
comprehension.

B.    God’s Providence.

Definition:  God is continually involved with all created things in
such a way that he (1) keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with
which he created them; (2) cooperates with created things in every action,
directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and (3)
directs them to fulfill his purposes.

1.      Preservation.

·
God keeps all created things existing and maintaining the properties
with which he created them.

2.      Concurrence.

·
God cooperates with created things in every action, directing their
distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do.

i.
Inanimate creation (Job 37:6-13; 38:22-30)

ii.
Animals (Psalm 104)

iii.
Seemingly “random” or “chance” events (Proverbs
16:33)

iv.
Events fully caused by God and fully caused by the creature as well.

v.
The affairs of nations (Job 12:23)

vi.
All aspects of our lives.

vii.
What about evil?

viii.
Analysis of verses relating to God and evil.

·
God uses all things to fulfill his purposes and even uses evil for his
glory and for our good.

Romans 8:28
– And we know that in all things God
works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his
purpose.

·
Nevertheless, God never does evil and is never to be blamed for evil.

James 1:13
– When tempted, no one should say,
"God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by
evil, nor does he tempt anyone.

·
God rightly blames and judges moral creatures for the evil they do.

Jude 14-15
– See, the Lord is coming with
thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all
the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of
all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

·
Evil is real, not an illusion, and we should never do evil, for it will
always harm us and others.

·
In spite of all the foregoing statements, we have to come to the point
where we confess that we do not understand how it is that God can ordain that
we carry evil deeds and yet hold us accountable for them and not be blamed
himself.

ix.
Are we “free”?
Do we have a “free will”?

3.      Government.

·
God has a purpose in all he does in the world and that he
providentially governs or directs all things in order that they accomplish his
purposes.

Ephesians 1:11
– In him we were also chosen, having been predestined
according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the
purpose of his will.

4.      The importance of our human
actions.

·
We are still responsible for our actions.

·
Our actions have real results and do change the course of events.

·
Prayer is one specific kind of action that has definite results and
that does change the course of events.

·
In conclusion, we must act!

5.      Another Evangelical
view:  The Arminian position.

[Named after Jacob Arminius (1560-1609), a Dutch
theologian]

Basic tenets of the Arminian
position.

·
Biblical verses cited as examples of God’s providential control
are exceptions and do not describe the way God ordinarily works in human
activity.

·
The Calvinistic view wrongly makes God responsible for sin.

·
Choices caused by God cannot be real choices.

·
The Arminian view encourages responsible Christian living, while the
Calvinistic view encourages a dangerous fatalism.

6.      Response to the Arminian
position.

·
Are these Scripture passages unusual examples, or do they describe the way
God ordinarily works?

·
Does the Calvinistic doctrine of God’s providence make God
responsible for sin?

·
Can choices ordained by God be real choices?

·
Does a Calvinistic view of providence encourage a dangerous fatalism?

·
Additional objections to the Arminian position:

i.
On an Arminian view, how can God know the future?

ii.
On an Arminian view, how can evil exist if God did not want it?

iii.
On an Arminian view, how can we know that God will triumph over evil?

iv.
The difference is between the unanswered
questions.