03.1. The Triunity of God
The Triunity of God 1.The Basis for the Ontological Trinity The dividing line between true Christianity and all other world religions is the Trinitarian conception of God. No religion that denies the doctrine of one God eternally existing in three persons can rightfully claim to be Christian. Islam believes in one eternal God, the God who revealed himself to Abraham; but because it denies that this one God exists in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, it is no more Christian than Hinduism. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in one God who, they claim, is the God of the Bible. But they reject that Jesus Christ is an eternal person of the Godhead, and therefore, they are no more Christian than the Greek pagans. The doctrine of the Trinity cannot be denied without Christianity itself being rejected. Here is a good, simple explanation of the trinity, formulated by Athanasius, a man of God who opposed the heretical Arian teaching, which denied that Jesus is truly God:
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 God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three gods; there is but one God. This is the historic, orthodox teaching on the trinity. A careful examination of it will eliminate many possible misunderstands of its nature, such as these:
·We worship three gods ·Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three different names for God ·Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three different parts of God ·God shows up at different times as either Father, Son, or Holy Spirit ·Jesus is a lesser god than the Father or a created god ·Jesus is fully God, but he was not fully man ·The Holy Spirit is an impersonal force from God Following are some scripture passages which support the assertions of Athanasius’ creed.
A)There is one God Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Kings 8:60; Isaiah 42:8; John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:4; Galatians 3:20; 1 Timothy 2:5; James 2:19 B)The Father is God Romans 1:7; Romans 15:6; 1 Corinthians 1:3; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 Peter 1:3 C)The Son is God
Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6-7; John 1:1-3; John 8:58-59; John 20:28; Acts 20:28; Romans 9:5; Romans 10:9-13; Php 2:9-11; Colossians 1:15-16; Colossians 2:9; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 1:8; 2 Peter 1:1; 1 John 5:20 D)The Holy Spirit is God Acts 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 E)The Father is one with the Son John 10:30; John 17:22 F)The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son 1 Corinthians 2:11; Romans 8:9 G)The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are viewed as equally God, yet personally distinct
Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; Ephesians 1:3-14; Ephesians 4:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Jude 1:20-25. The Relationships within the Ontological Trinity As we have seen, God is a solitary being with three persons. Because of this, God is totally self-satisfying: any desire for love, fellowship, and interpersonal relationship he has is satisfied in himself alone, through the perfect, loving interaction of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Gospel of John, in particular John 17:1-26, provides us with our clearest understanding of how the persons of the trinity relate to each other in a glorious unity.
A)The Inter-Trinitarian Relationship of the Father and Son ·They are eternally united in a mutual indwelling John 10:38; John 14:10-11; John 17:21; John 17:22 ·They are eternally united in a mutual love John 5:20; John 17:24 ·In their eternal love and fellowship, they bring glory to one another John 13:31-32; John 17:1; John 17:4-5 ·The Son brings glory to the Father by accomplishing his will John 5:17-19; John 5:30; John 8:28-29; John 14:13; John 14:31; John 17:4 ·The Father brings glory to the Son by giving him the authority to accomplish his will John 5:21-23; John 10:17-18; John 17:1-2 B)The Inter-Trinitarian Relationship of the Father and The Holy Spirit ·The Father sends the Holy Spirit to reveal his true nature John 14:16-17; John 14:26 a ·The Holy Spirit searches and reveals the truths of God John 14:26 b; 1 Corinthians 2:10 C)The Inter-Trinitarian Relationship of the Son and the Spirit ·The Son sends the Holy Spirit to reveal his true nature John 16:7; John 15:26 a ·The Holy Spirit searches and reveals the truths of Christ John 15:26 b; John 16:13-33. The Basis for the Economical Trinity As glorious as the ontological trinity is, we would never have been able to understand it without the economical trinity. John 1:18 tells us that no one has seen God at any time, but that the only Son of God has revealed him. This is the basic story of the economical trinity: the all-glorious, triune God, undertook to reveal himself in time to a people that he had chosen. And the way he does this is through the work of redemption. If we would understand who God is, we must look to what he has done in redemptive history, an accomplishment climaxing in his ultimate self-revelation, the incarnation of the Son of God, and his subsequent life of perfect obedience to the Father, substitutionary death on the cross, and victorious resurrection from the dead. Before the world had ever come into existence, the triune God had determined to reveal himself in this way to a people of his choosing. Several passages speak of an eternal agreement (or perhaps one could say, “covenant”) between the members of the Godhead to accomplish redemption: the Son would redeem a people, and the Father would therefore glorify the Son by giving him authority to reign over this people, and to judge all mankind. This eternal covenant is the underlying basis for the work of redemption that the triune God would accomplish in human history.
A) The Father has given a specific people to the Son Isaiah 53:11-12; John 6:37-40 John 10:29; John 17:6; John 17:10 B) The Father has given the Son authority to Judge all mankind Psalms 2:7-9; John 5:22-23; Acts 17:30-31; Php 2:9-11 C) The Son reveals the Father to the people given to him, and gives them eternal life John 6:39-40 John 6:44-46; John 8:19; John 10:27-28; John 14:6-9; John 17:6 4. The Functions within the Economical Trinity
Within the economical trinity, the three persons of the Godhead have different roles. In the great work of redemption, which reveals the glory of the trinity to mankind, the Father plans, the Son accomplishes, and the Holy Spirit applies the eternal salvation to the men of his favor. The Father chooses a people, the Son redeems them, and the Spirit seals them with his own indwelling presence. One of the great chapters in the bible for illustrating these truths is Ephesians 1:1-23.
A) The Father chooses a people Ephesians 1:3-6; Romans 8:28-30; 1 Peter 1:1-2 B) The Son redeems that people Ephesians 1:7-12; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 1:18-19 C) The Spirit applies redemption to that people, and seals them
Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:15-17; Romans 8:23; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; 2 Corinthians 5:5; Ephesians 4:30 5. Our Ontological Relationship with the Triune God The most glorious truth of the triune God’s work of redemption is that, through it, we are brought in to experience the joy of fellowship with the blessed Trinity! This fellowship is what we were created to enjoy, and the loss of that fellowship is what constituted the sentence of death which came upon Adam and all his seed, when he rebelled in the garden. In fact, when Jesus defined the eternal life that he had come to win for his people, he spoke of it as nothing less than restoring to them a true knowledge of God. On the cross, the inter-trinitarian fellowship was broken, so that we might be brought in to experience all of its delights! What amazing love!
A) We were made to enjoy fellowship with the Triune God
John 17:3 B)In Adam, we lost our fellowship with God Genesis 2:16-17; Genesis 3:22-24; Romans 5:12 C)In Christ, we enter into the Inter-Trinitarian fellowship John 10:14-16; John 17:11; John 17:20-21; John 17:22-23; 1 John 2:24; 1 John 3:24; 1 John 4:15-16 ·In this fellowship we see the glory of God John 17:24; John 17:25-26 ·In this fellowship we experience the inter-trinitarian love of God John 17:23; John 17:26
·Seeing God’s glory and experiencing his inter-trinitarian love is the foundation of our joy John 16:20-22; John 17:13; 1 Peter 1:8 6. Our Economical Mission on the Basis of our Relationship to the Triune God The doctrine of the Trinity teaches us that God is, by his very nature, a covenant God. God is involved in an eternal, inter-trinitarian covenant of love. In the overflow of joy in this covenant relationship, God created a world which was also in covenant relationship with himself. He then created man, who was especially to show forth his image and enjoy his covenant of love. Man sinned, and broke the covenant of love; in this fall, even the earth was impacted, so that the covenant was marred. But in his grace, God renewed the covenant, so that, through Christ, the covenant with all of creation might be redeemed, and the covenant with man might be restored. God initially commanded man to subdue the earth in expression of his image. In the New Covenant, God commands man to conquer the corrupted earth through the preaching of the gospel, and thereby to restore the whole world to fellowship with God. This is done on the basis of Christ’s absolute authority. It is accomplished according to the decree of the Father, and by the power of the Spirit as he applies the work of Christ to those who belong to Christ all over the world. This is our task as Christians while we remain on this earth (Matthew 28:18-20). And one day this task will be accomplished, and the whole world will rejoice in a blood-bought and unshakeable covenant with the triune God. And all the redeemed will glorify God as they see his glory, rejoice in it, and share the love of the persons of the Trinity, as they are one in Christ - one with God just as the Father is one with the Son. How is all this to come about?
A) Christ was sent into the world to accomplish a restored fellowship with God; we are sent into the world to proclaim a restored fellowship with God
B) The world will believe in Christ when they see the reality of the covenant fellowship we have with him
C)The world will see the reality of our covenant fellowship when they see the reality of our love John 17:23; John 13:35
D)The reality of our covenant love is seen when we live in obedience to the covenant obligations John 14:15; John 14:23; John 14:20-21