Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20010513.htm
SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY (ORGANIZED BIBLE KNOWLEDGE)
Part II: Theology Proper (Doctrines About God Himelf)
C. The Trinity (God As Three-In-One)
- Introduction
- When a Christian faces one who denies belief in the Trinity, he may find it hard not only to explain, but even to fathom himself! Often believers tend toward errant Sabellian views (the Father becoming the Son Who in turn becomes the Spirit) or toward polytheistic views (three gods).
- We need to examine Scripture closely to discern the correct doctrine on the Trinity (as follows):
- The Trinity (God As Three-In-One)
- God is One with regards to His Essence, the "ingredients" (so to speak) by which He consists:
- God testified in Deuteronomy 6:4 that He is One in regards to His essence, making us monotheists.
- John 10:30 and Ephesians 4:5 tells us God is One in regards to His essence as well.
- Yet, Scripture shows God is Three in a different way from being One, and that in regards to Person hood:
- Both the Old and New Testaments report God as Three in Persons as we perceive of personality:
- The Father is a Person having His own intellect (Ps. 110:1a; Mtt. 3:16-17), His own will (Ps. 110:1b; Mtt. 17:5) and His own emotions (Ps. 2:1-4 in light of Acts 4:24-28; Mtt. 3:17).
- The Son is a Person having His own intellect (Isa. 49:1-4; Mtt. 22:41-46), His own will (Ps. 110:1, 2; John 17:24) and His own emotions (Isaiah 50:6-7; John 11:35).
- The Holy Spirit is a Person having His own intellect (Isa. 11:2a; 1 Cor. 2:10-11), His own will (Isa. 11:2b; Acts 16:6-11) and His own emotions (Isa. 63:10; Eph. 4:30).
- Both the Old and New Testaments present these Three Persons as each being Jehovah God!
- Psalm 110:1a with Romans 1:7 show the Father is Jehovah God.
- Zechariah 12:10 in context with Revelation 1:7 present the Son as Jehovah God.
- According to Acts 28:25, the God who speaks as Jehovah in Isaiah 6:1-13 is the Holy Spirit.
- Both the Old and New Testaments describe divine attributes or descriptions of nature to these Persons:
- The Father is presented as the sovereign Lord God in Psalm 2:1-7 with Acts 4:24-28 and 1 Corinthians 15:24, and as being full of perfect goodness in James 1:17.
- The Son is omniscient in Isaiah 9:6 ("Supernatural Counselor"), eternal in Micah 5:2, omnipotent in Hebrews 1:3b and the Creator of all things created in John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2c.
- The Holy Spirit is omnipresent in Ps. 139:7, omnipotent in Job 33:4, omniscient in Isa. 40:13 and Creator in Genesis 1:2; in the New Testament, He is eternal in Hebrews 9:14 and the Creator of Christ's humanity in Luke 1:35.
- Scripture presents these Three divine Persons of the Godhead As Being distinct from one another:
- At Christ's baptism in Mtt. 3:16-17, at the same time, the Son was in the water, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove was in the air, and the Father spoke from heaven above the air and the Spirit!
- Paul names all three Persons of the Godhead as distinct being in 2 Corinthians 13:14.
- John mentions all three Persons of the Godhead in his opening remarks in Revelation 1:4-5!
- Jesus called the Apostles to baptize converts in the name of the Triune Godhead in Matthew 28:19.
- The Bible presents these Three Persons as being always distinctly separate Persons: the Son is eternal (Mic. 5:2; Isa. 9:6) as is the Holy Spirit (Heb. 9:14) as is the Father (Jn. 17:24b; Rom. 1:20). Since all three Persons of the Godhead are each eternal, the Godhead eternally consists of Three Persons!
Lesson: There is One God with Three Persons of the Godhead residing in the single divine essence. Though this doctrine may be humanly unfathomable to picture, it is nonetheless logical as God's essence is different by way of definition from the Personalities residing within that divine Essence.
Application: (1) In facing an unbeliever who denies the Trinity, we must not become entangled in trying to prove the Trinity: spiritual truths like this are only acceptable to spiritual minds according to 1 Corinthians 2:14-15. We must give him the Gospel instead, Rom. 1:16-17. (2) Yet, we must not believe or teach that Three EQUALS One in speaking of God, for that is illogical and hence FALSE: God is One in a DIFFERENT way from being THREE: He is One in Essence, but Three in Persons!