Bible
Study
Chapter
1 On God and the Holy Trinity, section 3 (part IV) The Trinity fully revealed
By:
Moses Flores
In our previous studies we have already seen what Christians do not mean by their understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. By way of implication, Christian theism expressly rejects any understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity as “tri-theism” – the belief in three gods. The doctrine of the Trinity is neither to be understood in the Arian sense, either in that God the Father is the “one true God” while Christ is His first and highest creation, leading to a belief in henotheism, or the belief in multiple deities with a supreme deity. Lastly, we have seen that the doctrine of the Trinity is not to be understood as the same person assuming three different roles in history.
Our studies so far have given us several facts that we must acknowledge and it is only proper, now, that we put them all together to see the doctrine of the Trinity come together.
First, though not explicitly dealt with in this study, we know that there exists only one true God. This is belief is called Monotheism. This is seen in such passages as Deuteronomy 6:4 which is known as the Sh’ema in the Jewish religion:
“Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one!”
The understanding that was to be taken from this is that the LORD of Israel alone is the only LORD, or that there was only one LORD. Deuteronomy 4:35 reveals that the revelation of Monotheism was a privilege given to the Jews while in the midst of surrounding cultures immersed in polytheism. “To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.” Likewise, Deuteronomy 32:39 makes it clear that only one God exists, and the LORD is the one:
“Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand…”
Monotheism
would prove to be a difficult concept for the Jewish people to grasp, as they
continued to follow the ways of the polytheistic cultures and peoples around
them. Of course, God sent His prophets,
like Isaiah, to proclaim judgment upon them and a call to repentance.
“Remember this, and show yourselves men;
Recall to mind, O you transgressors.
Remember the former things of old,
For I am God and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure.’
Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country,
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.” (cf. 43:10-13; 44:6-7; 45:5-7)
These Scriptures make it very clear that there is only one true God that exists. All other things that are called “gods” are not really gods at all but are merely idols (cf. I Cor. 8:5-6). This is the first premise of the doctrine of the Trinity, indeed of true Biblical religion. That there is ever and only one God who has and will always exist.
Secondly, in the New Testament, we learn that the one true God of Israel comes to be known as “Father”. The Father is the LORD that was revealed in the Old Testament. But a “Father” is not known apart from a son. Hence, in the person of Jesus Christ, we find the revelation of the Son of God. He is the “only begotten” of the Father. (cf. John 3:16; 1:18). We have also seen that the Son of God is equally God with the Father (cf. John 1:1-3) taking note that the Father is not the Son, nor is the Son the Father. They are two distinct persons who share in the same nature for both are called God.
Thirdly, we learn of the person of the Holy Spirit. He, too, is God equally and eternally with the Father and the Son. He possesses the same attributes that can only be attributed to God alone. We have also learned of his distinct personage from the Father and the Son.
So how are we to understand the doctrine of God? Certainly no one can read the Bible from cover to cover and not avoid this high and holy doctrine of God. Putting all the propositions together this is what we have.
1) There is only one true God that exists (monotheism)
2) The Father is understood to be identified as the LORD, the one true God
3) The Son is understood to be identified as the LORD, the one true God
4) The Spirit is understood to be identified as the LORD, the one true God.
5) These are distinct persons
6) These cannot be distinct beings because then premise 1 would be untrue
7) These three and distinct persons must share in the one substance that is God
Hence the doctrine of the Trinity: Within the one substance that is God, there eternally exist three co-equal and co-eternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The greatest Trinitarian passage is found in Matthew 28:18-19 which says,
“And Jesus cam and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus here is ready to ascend to heaven and he leaves his final instructions with His disciples. Benjamin B. Warfield had much to say about this passage of Scripture.
“When, therefore, Our Lord commanded His disciples to baptize those whom they brought to His obedience ‘into the name of…,’ He was using language charged to them with high meaning. He could not have been understood otherwise than as substituting for the Name of Jehovah this other Name ‘of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost’; and this could not possibly have meant to His disciples anything else than that Jehovah was now to be known to them by the new Name, of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Ghost. The only alternative would have been that, for the community which He was founding, Jesus was supplanting Jehovah by a new God; and this alternative is no less than monstrous. There is no alternative, therefore, to understanding Jesus here to be giving for His community a new Name to Jehovah and that new Name to be the threefold Name of ‘the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.’…This is a direct ascription to Jehovah the God of Israel, of a threefold personality, and is therewith the direct enunciation of the doctrine of the Trinity….what we are witnessing here is the authorative announcement of the Trinity as the God of Christianity by its Founder, in one of the most solemn of His recorded declarations…This is the distinguishing characteristic of Christians; and that is as much as to say that the doctrine of the Trinity is, according to our Lord’s own apprehension of it, the distinctive mark of the religion which He founded.[1]”
For Warfield, this is the highest revelation of the fullness of God that the people of God receive. IN the Old Testament, God revealed Himself through several names like first, “God” and then “LORD” and then names like “the LORD our Healer”, the “Lord our shield”, etc…Here, in the New Testament, the fullest name of God comes out and it reveals the fullness of the being of God as tri-personal: “the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Ontological vs. Economic Trinity
Thus far we have been talking about what we theologians refer to as the “ontological” Trinity. The word “ontological” is a fancy word from philosophy that simply means “the study of being”. It answers the question “what is it?” – to be rather simplistic. Hence, the “ontological Trinity” is the description of the being of God as it is in itself – one substance with three co-equal and co-eternal persons subsisting in it.
However, within the Ontological Trinity, each person has a sort of operation or workings that each one does respectively, or is attributed more with. This is especially true in the outworking of salvation. For instance, ordaining and the plan of salvation are works of the Father, while the Son’s function was to accomplish salvation and the role of the Spirit is to apply what the Father decreed and the Son accomplished. Hence, there are things in the Scriptures that we see one person doing but not the other, for instance, we see the Son making atonement for sins, not the Father nor the Spirit. It is the Spirit that regenerates, etc…
All this is not to imply that one of the natures is superior to another for they each share and partake of the same nature. Rather, it is simply to say that in loving fellowship, each person has taken a role in creation and redemption. This order is one of relationship, not of being.
Summary
The doctrine of the Trinity is the fullest revelation of God to mankind. It is a doctrine that certainly could not have would not have entered into the mind of man. No philosophy could have attained to this peak. It is a completely revealed doctrine. Yet the revelation of the doctrine was not in word, but as B. B. Warfield said, it was “in deed.[2]” That is to say, we don’t see this doctrine in the Old Testament because the second person of the Trinity had not yet been incarnated, neither had the third person of the Godhead been given to the Church. Neither was this doctrine formulated in the writings of the New Testament either; rather, we see it presupposed and we get the sense that we are eavesdropping on the doctrine rather than see it formed before our eyes.
The doctrine of the Trinity proves that God’s love is eternal as well for within God, there has ever been a perfect bond of love between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Were the doctrine not true, and God were merely one person, then the love of God would not have been eternal. It has been pointed out by theologians of the past that if God were not a Trinity, then there would be no way God could reveal love to His creatures. For how could God now come to love when He has not known how to love anything else? How would God related to creation if He has not had to relate to anything prior were He just one person?
The Trinity, despite all its mysteriousness in understanding how three persons can exist in one substance, has many implications for the Christian. It shows us that just as God has perfect fellowship within Himself, we too must recognize that we are not “islands” unto ourselves and that we too must strive to have fellowship with others and especially within the body of Christ.
This doctrine is precious to the Church. Without it, the Church does not exist. This doctrine distinguishes true religion and true Christianity from Antichrist. It is a doctrine that all Christians should know intimately and thoroughly; a doctrine that every Christian should come to love with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.