Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20040926.htm

APPLYING OUR CHURCH'S STATEMENT OF BIBLICAL FAITH
Article III, Part II Of The Nepaug Bible Church Bylaws: The Trinity
(Ephesians 4:5; Deuteronomy 6:4; Genesis 1:1-2; Micah 5:2; John 1:1-3; Psalm 110:1, 5; Matthew 28:19)
  1. Introduction
    1. Our Church's Statement of Faith asserts: "We believe that God is one God with respect to Essence, yet consisting of three co-eternal and coequal Persons, same in substance but distinct in Being." (Art. III, 2)
    2. Different parties deny this belief for various reasons: (1) some hold that since the word, "Trinity" does not appear in Scripture, the doctrine is feeble at best; (2) others claim the doctrine begs human logic, that we say "three equals one" so that the doctrine is false; (3) finally, as the orthodox Hebrews who gave us the Old Testament claim God is One Person, some would conclude that belief in the Trinity is in error.
    3. Yet, to deny Jesus is God is to undermine our faith as 1 Corinthians 12:3 shows; indeed, all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus in bodily form according to Colossians 2:9. Besides, Matthew 28:19 calls us to baptize all converts to Christ in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!
    4. Thus, we demonstrate from Scripture what the doctrine of the Trinity is, and why we hold to it as follows:
  2. The Trinity, Eph. 4:5; Deut. 6:4; Gen. 1:1-2; Mic. 5:2; John 1:1-3; Psa. 110:1, 5; Matt. 28:19.
    1. Both the New Testament at Ephesians 4:5 and the Old Testament at Deuteronomy 6:4 claim God is One.
    2. Yet, both the Old and New Testaments reveal Three Persons exist as that One God (as follows):
      1. The Old Testament refers to Three Persons of the Godhead (as follows):
        1. God the Father is distinguished from God the Holy Spirit, Creator of life, in Psalm 104:30.
        2. God the Son and God the Father are distinguished from one another and both are called "God" in Psalm 110:1: (a) David who wrote this psalm, began it by writing, "The Lord said to my Lord . . ." (b) Now, the first word, "Lord" is translated from the Hebrew word, Jahweh while the second word for "Lord" is translated from the Hebrew word, Adonai, cf. Kittel, ed., Biblia Hebraica, p. 1074. (c) Well, Jahweh is the name for God used in reference to His role as Israel's covenant keeping God (Psalm 1:2, 6 et al.) while Adonai, meaning "lord," is used only of God in a context like this where David, Israel's highest human ruler who was subject to no other man, uses the term, cf. Bib. Know. Com., O. T., p. 73; B. D. B., Heb. and Engl. Lex., p. 10-11. (d) Jesus Himself stumped the Hebrew religious leaders of His day when He cornered them into considering that David, the human father of the Messiah, yet called Him his Adonai as God, implying the Messiah was both David's human son as well as his God! (Mtt. 22:41-46; Bib. Know. Com., N. T., p. 73. (e) Thus, we conclude that God the Father spoke to God the Son in Psalm 110:1 [as is also explained in Hebrews 10:12-13].
        3. The Person who was to be born in Bethlehem of Judah is referred to as One Who existed and had been active since ancient times in Micah 5:2, One who is thus deity. (We know this is Jesus Christ Who was born of the virgin, Mary as God Incarnate, cf. Luke 1:26-35; 2:1-7!)
      2. The New Testament refers to Three Persons of the Godhead (as follows):
        1. God the Son and God the Father are presented in John 1:1-3, 14: there, God the Son, Jesus Christ, Creator of all things, became flesh and dwelt among us as One who proceeded from God the Father.
        2. God the Holy Spirit is revealed to be God in Acts 5:3-4: in lying to the Holy Spirit in Acts 5:3, Ananias in Acts 5:4 was said to have lied to God, meaning the Holy Spirit is God!
        3. God the Father is presented as the God of Christ and Father of glory in Ephesians 1:17.
        4. Indeed, all Three Persons are presented spatially distinct from Each Other at Jesus' baptism in Matthew 3:16-17: The Son was coming up out of the water in His Incarnate form as the God-man, the Spirit descended in the form of a dove while the Father's voice came from heaven above!
    3. We thus hold God is One in regards to His Essence, the "stuff" of which God consists, but Three with regard to His identity as Persons so that God is One in substance but distinct in Being as Three Persons. Since person hood is by definition distinct from essence, we do not say "three equals one"!
Lesson: Scripture presents the doctrine of the Trinity. Since holding to it is also essential for our Christian faith (1 Corinthians 12:3 with Ephesians 4:5), we hold to the doctrine of the Trinity.

Application: May we believe this doctrine and assert it in accord with the will and Word of God.