THEOLOGY LESSONS
Statement No. 2
There is one true God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
This is the doctrine of the Trinity.
Only 55% of respondents strongly agreed with this statement. Evangelicals almost all strongly agreed.
The word “trinity is not found in the Bible. It is just a word to describe a concept. The word means “tri-unity” or “three-in-oneness”. The word is used to summarize the doctrine that God is three persons in one God.
God has eternally existed in three persons. Being three persons means the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, and that likewise the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son. (Belgic Confession, Article 8)
God the Father is eternal, God the Son is eternal, and God the Holy Spirit is eternal.
What does the Bible say?
Although the doctrine is most fully revealed in the New Testament, there are indications of it in the Old Testament even though it is not explicitly stated. It does indicate there is more than one person in the Godhead. We could say the doctrine is “progressively revealed”.
It begins at the beginning.
Although we often think of the Old Testament in terms of the acts of God the Father, the Old Testament refers to the Spirit of God over 100 times.
Genesis 1:2 refers to the “Spirit of God”. ““The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
It also refers to the savior who is to come many times.
Although the members of the Trinity are defined explicitly, not spelled out, the Old Testament has several statements indicating a plural number of persons in the Godhead. In Genesis 1:16, God said “let us make man in our image, after our likeness”. The word “us” is also used by God is also used in Genesis 3:22, Genesis 11:7, and Isaiah 6:8. The use of the word “us” does not specify the existence of three persons in the Godhead, but does imply more than one person.
Psalm 45:6-7 does this also:
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions…”
God the Father speaks to another person and calls him God, saying his throne is eternal and that he has anointed him. The author of Hebrews cites this verse as the Father saying this to the Son. (Hebrews 1:8-9) So, we see two of the three persons of the Trinity in this Old Testament passage.
Psalm 110:1 does this also. David said “the LORD (Yahweh) says to my lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” David refers to two separate persons.
Jesus quoted these verses to the Pharisees to point out that he, the Christ\Messiah, is greater than just David’s son since David, in the Spirit, calls him “lord”. (Matthew 22:41-45)
Psalm 110:1 is the Old Testament verse most frequently cited in the New Testament and applied to Christ. We see many verses that refer to Jesus being exalted to sit at the right hand of the Father.
The Holy Spirit is also mentioned in Isaiah 63:10 and Isaiah 48:16.
The three persons of the Godhead are mentioned several times in the New Testament.
The first mention is of the Trinity is at the baptism of Jesus, the Son of God. Matthew 3:16-17 says”
“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming t rest on him, and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
When God the Son came up from the water, God the Holy Spirit descended on him. Then, God the Father spoke from heaven and said “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
After Jesus’ resurrection, and immediately before his ascension, where Jesus commanded his disciples: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)
The gospel of John contains two such references. As Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure, he promised that he would not leave them alone and helpless.
In John 14:16-17, 26, Jesus said:
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
So, God the Son promised to ask God the Father to send God the Spirit. Notice that Jesus does not refer to the Spirit as it, but he, a person.
Jesus reiterated his promise later in the same teaching, recorded in John 15:26, saying: “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”
The epistles also mention the Trinity.
2 Corinthians 13:14 - "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Ephesians 1:3-14 (especially verses 3-14) - Paul describes the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in Salvation and Blessings.
1 Peter 1:2 - "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.”
The confessions and creeds of the church have made statements about the Trinity the orthodox belief.
The Apostles’ Creed confesses belief in Father, Son and Holy Sprit. The Nicene Creed (325 A. D.) does also, adding that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and that the Son and the Spirit are to be worshipped and glorified.
The Chalcedonian Definition Of The Faith (451 A.D.) does likewise.
The Belgic Confession (1561) Article 8: The Trinity, says:
In keeping with this truth and Word of God, we believe in one God,
who is one single essence, in whom there are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct according to their incommunicable properties—namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) requires belief in the Trinity in Question 23, basically quoting the Apostles’ Creed.
The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) affirms the doctrine of the Trinity in chapter 2.
The 1689 London Confession of Faith mirrors the Westminster also in chapter 2.
We see that the doctrine of the Trinity is Biblical. We also see from the creeds and confessions that this doctrine has historically been the doctrine of the church.
Why is this doctrine important?
It helps us to know God and to distinguish him from the gods of other religions. It is common, for example, for people on television to say we worship the same God as Islam. We do not. Islam does not recognize the triune God as their god.
We do not worship many gods as in Hinduism.
It helps us understand the Old Testament references to persons who are not God the Father.
It helps us understand who Jesus is and who the Holy Spirit is, in addition to the Father.
It helps us to know God, which helps us to worship him fully.
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