~
Fred Sander (The Deep Things of God, p. 124)
Once it was the blessing, now it is the Lord;
Once it was the feeling, now it is His Word;
Once His gift I wanted, now the Giver own;
Once I sought for healing, now Himself alone.
Once ’twas painful trying, now ’tis perfect trust;
Once a half salvation, now the uttermost!
Once ’twas ceaseless holding, now He holds me fast;
Once ’twas constant drifting, now my anchor’s cast.
Yea, yea, yea I know I haven’t posted the sequel to the don’t go to church post yet, but things have ben especially busy for the Dill house this week so I haven’t had the chance to bust it out yet. However, until I finished that sequel post I give you this: free lectures from R.C. Sproul on the Trinity, the last days and pleasing God. Ligonier ministries has posted these lectures online to watch for free and can be accessed below.
The lecture on the Trinity is especially relevant for us in light of our current series, “This Is Our God” on the attributes of God.
This is the last post of our series on the Trinity. See the Introduction, Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four.
GLORY BE: When I was little I had a hard time in knowing who I should be thankful to; God or Jesus. Reflecting back on those days, I now see that my dilemma came from a bad understanding of God as the Triune One; apparently I was a little Adoptionist (see last post for an explanation of what that means. However, thinking rightly about the Trinity erases that dilemma. According to the Bible, to praise Jesus is to praise God. To praise the Father is to praise God. To praise the Holy Spirit is to praise God. To put it simply, God is glorified when God is glorified.
GOD IS BOTH INDEPENDENT AND LOVE: If God wasn’t Triune, then He could not be both loving and independent. If God is love (1 John 4:8), then he must have something to love. Being a lover requires that there is something to love. This would take away His independence because He would need something else to love in order to be a lover. Erik Thoennes observes that, “apart from the plurality in the Trinity, either God’s eternal independence of the created order or his eternally relational personal existence would have to be denied.” However, when we see God revealed as Trinity these problems are wiped away. God has always been a lover who is loved. He didn’t need to create something to love, but has eternally existed within a perfect, happy and blessed love relationship. In fact, this means that Man was created not because God needed anything, but so they may enter into the perfect love of the Triune God.
THIS IS WHO OUR GOD IS: Sometimes people shy away from speaking about God as Triune because they are ashamed of the mystery and think it may be unnecessary. This is wrong. At the end of the day, we have to understand that those who reject the Trinity reject God Himself. The Triune God is the only God there is; there is no other. We cannot deny, neglect or ignore this point and still call ourselves Christians. We must worship God as He is, not as we want Him to be.
COMPLEX AND YET UTTERLY CRUCIAL: The Trinity is well beyond human comprehension, but this does not diminish it’s absolute important in the Christian life and worship. Biblical Christianity stands or falls with the doctrine of the Trinity. Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck once said of the Trinity, “In the confession of the Trinity throbs the heart of the Christian religion: every error results from, or upon deeper reflection may be traced to, a wrong view of this doctrine.”
THE TRINITY FILLS US WITH JOY AND COMFORT: It wasn’t only Jesus who wanted to come and save us, but the Father sent Him to be our Savior. The Spirit has willingly come to convict us, make us new, fill us and sanctify us through our life. As Peter said, Christians, “have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood…” (1 Peter 1:2). We are loved by one who has been Eternally Loving. Selah.
THE TRINITY MAKES SENSE OF OUR INSANELY RELATIONAL NATURES: Why are sleep overs so fun for kids? Because they are able to extend their hang out time with friends they usually only see in the daytime. Ever wonder why that people use every step of technology to make greater connections with one another? Phones, cell phone, email, AIM chat, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Skype, Facetime and the list goes on and on. Why? Because people are insatiably relational. We crave deep, abiding relationships with others. We want to be connected. We want to be known. We want to be loved. Why do we want all these things? Because we bear the image of a Triune God. We relational creatures have been made in the image of the Relational Creator. Our cravings for connection have their roots in our creation. Every longing for love reveals who made us.
THE TRINITY BECOMES OUR MODEL FOR ALL PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS: God has forever existed in blessed relationship. John 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” I will say it simply, God is our model for relationships. He is the perfect lover we must strive to be like. As Jesus submits to the will of His Father, so should we willingly submit to those who are in authority over us. There are no power plays. There is no jealousy. No envy. No distrust. Just love. Our Triune God
beckons us, through the gospel of grace that has reconciled us to Himself, to walk as He does. He calls us to enjoy our new relationship found within His love and to reflect Him to others in how we relate and live.
Well there you go! I hope both of you learned a lot through this series. To cap it off I thought I would post a picture of my friend Steve Shaw’s tattoo which is a diagram of good Trinitarian theology.
Here is an english version:
Continuing our series on the Trinity. See the Introduction, Part One, Part Two, Part Three.
So now that we have looked into the three biblical tenets of sound Trinitarian theology, let’s address where people often make mistakes in their thinking or teaching about the Glorious Trinity.
ONE GOD WITH THREE MASKS (MODALISM)
The technical term is modalism (also known as (modalistic monarchiansim; Sabellianism). The word modalism is used for this view of God because it proposes that there is one God who reveals Himself to us in three different modes. Sometimes he reveals himself to us as the Father. At others time he may put on the Son mask or show up as the Spirit, but at the end of the day this view of God isn’t Three in One but it is One who shows up in one of three ways; there is one God with three masks (modes).
So do we know this view isn’t what the Bible teaches? Well, before you read the next sentence, ask yourself which of the three biblical tenets does this view break? This view is wrong because it denies the second tenet we addressed. This view denies that God eternally exists as three distinct persons. The view of one God with three masks denies the view of one God who is three distinct persons. Jesus is not the Father, the Father is not the Spirit and the Spirit is not the Son. Modalism makes God into an actor who only plays different roles making it impossible for us to know Him truly. Also this view makes God dishonest because Jesus makes a distinction between Himself and the Father and the Spirit. If all these are really one God then I can’t help but think Jesus was laughing under his breath every time he “prayed” to the Father knowing the Father was only a role he plays.That’s sneaky. I don’t think Jesus is sneaky.
JESUS IS JR. VARSITY (ARIANISM)
Where does Arianism get off track? What biblical tenet of Trinitarian theology does this view neglect? Arianism denies the third tenet of biblical Trinitarianism which teaches that the Father, the Son and the Spirit are all fully God.
There are many reasons why this view is disastrous for people to believe. One, if this view is true then Jesus cannot be trusted fully because He is not the Trustworthy God. Another reason is that Jesus cannot save us if he is not God. Only God can bridge the infinite gap our sin has created between us and Him in His Infinite Holiness. To paraphrase one early Christian, “Man should pay for sin, only God can.” Lastly, Arianism makes anyone who worships Jesus into an idolator. Only God is to be worshiped (Exodus 20:3). If Jesus is not God, then all the Christians who worship him are nothing but pagan idolators.
JESUS GOT PROMOTED TO GOD (ADOPTIONISM)
This view denies the second and third tenet of good Trinity thinking by denying God has existed as three distinct persons and by denying that Jesus is the eternal God. Jesus is not a man who became God, He is God who became man. His path wasn’t one of exaltation to a high place. His path was leaving His exalted state by coming to this fallen world to live a human life characterized by suffering. After the suffering of His soul He then was exalted to His position as our new King, Priest and Savior (Philippians 2:5-11).
THREE GODS (TRI-THEISM)
So what do we do? We hold to what the Bible teaches about the Trinity and maintain the three tenets we see God teaching us in his word. Don’t give shallow analogie, give solid truth. One way I attempt to do this with my middle school students is to teach them the three truths of the Trinity. I usually assure them that it isn’t something they’ll ever fully comprehend, but that they should see these three truths as good fences that keep them from believing wrongly about their God. I encourage them to hold these fences up in their minds and let God help them to grow in their understanding of His Glorious Triune Nature. I am not anxious that they fully comprehend the Trinitarian nature of God right now, but I am passionate about building them good fences they can safely grow in.
Continuing our series on the Trinity. See the Introduction, Part One, Part Two.
Today we will address the last of three tenets that make up biblical Trinitarianism. You like that word don’t you. Trinitarianism. It’s even fun to write.
What are the three tenets of biblical trinitarianism? Well, to list it simply:
2) God Has Eternally Existed in Three Distinct Persons
3) Each Person is Fully God
So the third tenet is ours today! Today we will look into the Bible and study the different passages which teach us that each member of the Trinity is fully, completely and entirely God.
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Psalm 24:1
Yes these are only two verses, but no one is about to deny that the Father is God
This psalm begins by seeming to speak to a king about to wed, but then, in speaking to the very same person who is obviously a man, the psalmist calls him God. “You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever…Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. Psalm 45:2, 6
When Jesus uses the title “Son of Man” he is not referring to His humanity, but He is alluding to this passage in Daniel. In this passage, Daniel sees a man who is like a son of man, yet who is given authority over all things, glory, power and whom the nations worship. This vision is of someone who is both God and Man. “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14
Jesus and the Apostles Plainly Claim that He (Jesus) is God:
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” John 8:58
“I and the Father are one.” Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
John 10:31-33
Thomas said to him (Jesus), “My Lord and my God!” John 20:28
Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. Romans 9:5
…while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ… Titus 2:13
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God… Philippians 2:5-7
(Christians) have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood… 1 Peter 1:2
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6
The Holy Spirit is Implicitly Referred to as God: In the passage below, believers are referred to as the God’s Temple. If believers are God’s Temple, then God lives in us. Paul continues at the end of the verse to tell us God’s Spirit (the Holy Spirit) lives in us. This implicitly teaches that the Spirit is God.
The Holy Spirit is Plainly Called God:The passage below shows that Peter rebukes Ananias for lying to the Holy Spirit and then helps Ananias understand that in lying to the Spirit he has lied to no one less than God Himself.
The Holy Spirit Possesses Divine attributes: The Holy Spirit is said to be absolutely everywhere (omnipresence) and to know God comprehensively (omniscience)
These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10-11
2) Jesus + Nothing = Everything: In Christ we lack nothing, for He is the fullness of Deity and therefore we have, in Him, the fullness of Deity (Colossians 2:9-10). Everything important and praiseworthy is found in Jesus so we need not look further. As the old hymn says, “All I need in Jesus dwells and there it dwells for me.”
3) We Rightly Worship Jesus: Jesus is no Jr. Varsity God, only to be honored and not worshiped. God the Father and God the Spirit are glorified when we glorify Jesus and call us to do so because the fullness of Deity dwells in Him (Col. 2:9). To be Christ centered is to be God centered.
4) All Religions that Dethrone Jesus From Being God Are Wrong No Matter How Much They May Look Christian: Christianity is not about morals, social action, race, denomination, politics or any other minor issue: Christianity is about Jesus and Him Crucified. Therefore, to reject Jesus as God is to diminish His worth from the Infinite God to a mere creature is to denounce Him from His throne. One’s salvation depends on their trust in Christ, but the only trust that will bring one to salvation is the kind that trusts Jesus as God.
5) Confidence and Awe to Know that God Has Chosen to Live in Us: As Christians we should not have confidence in ourselves, our gifts, our talents, our financial situation or anything of the like. No, we have confidence because we know that God dwells within us because we have been cleansed in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Our power for ministry and our hope is God in us. Depend on Him and be in awe that He chose to grace you with His permanent residence.
6) We Have an Unchanging Hope: Everything Jesus has promised us is trustworthy because God cannot lie.
So there you have it. The Bible plainly teaches that the Father is God, the Son is God and the Spirit is God.
Below is a cool/helpful picture/diagram that helps us keep a biblical understanding of the Trinity. The Father is not the Son who is not the Spirit. However, the Father is God, the Son is God and the Spirit is God.
Join us tomorrow as we address people’s common misconceptions or popular heresies (wrong teaching) about the Trinity!
To be continued…
See introduction and part one.
So now for part two. Today I want to tackle the Biblical truth that our one God has eternally existed in three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is a crucial truth to make sure we articulate clearly.
First we look to the Old Testament to help shape our understanding of this truth about the Trinity. It is helpful to note that although teaching about the Trinity is not as fully disclosed in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament it still is very much present throughout. In other words, the the truth about the Trinity is not only in the New Testament.
A word used of God in Hebrew is Elohim, is itself plural.
Then God (Elohim) said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis 1:26
In the Old Testament there are references to God using first person plural personal pronouns.
And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever. Genesis 3:22
Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. Genesis 11:7
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Isaiah 6:8
The Angel of the Lord – A heavenly being who is both identified as God and distinguished from Him (Gen 16:7-18; Exodus 3; Judges 2:1-2; 6:11-18; Numbers 22:35, 38)
There are references that speak to someone who is both the true God and a real man.
This psalm begins by seeming to speak to a king about to wed, but then, in speaking to the very same person who is obviously a man, the psalmist calls him God. “You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever…Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. Psalm 45:2, 6
When Jesus uses the title “Son of Man” he is not referring to His humanity, but He is alluding to this passage in Daniel. In this passage, Daniel sees a man who is like a son of man, yet who is given authority over all things, glory, power and whom the nations worship. This vision is of someone who is both God and Man. “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14
The Father, Son and Spirit show up as distinct from one another. This is vividly seen at Jesus’ baptism.
John tells us that Jesus (the Word) existed from the beginning (borrowing the phrase from Genesis 1:1 meaning from eternity) and that He is God and that He dwelled with God (the Father).
The New Testament writers held the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with the same reverence. This is often seen in their practice of grouping them together when blessing or speaking about salvation. Notice in the passages below that the Father, Son and Spirit are spoken of as distinct from one another yet equals in essence.
Notice the Trinitarian salvation Peter unfolds for us, “To God’s elect, strangers in the world…who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of GOD THE FATHER, through the sanctifying work of the SPIRIT, for obedience to JESUS CHRIST and sprinkling by his blood…” 1 Peter 1:1-2 (see also Ephesians 1:3-14)
But when the time had fully come, GOD sent his SON, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, GOD sent the SPIRIT of his SON into our hearts, the SPIRIT who calls out, “Abba, Father.” Galatians 4:4-6
Notice too that this is how God has eternally existed. God has forever been the Triune God. We will explore the importance of this truth later.
How are the persons of the Trinity distinct? Each person of the Trinity is distinct from the other according to how they relate to one another (the Father sends Jesus, Jesus obeys the Father’s will) and how they relate to creation (the Father sent the Son to be our sacrifice, the Son dies on the cross, the Spirit applies the finished work of the cross to the heart of believers.)
Join me tomorrow to hit our last of the three biblical teachings about the Trinity: each person is fully God. After that we will explore the common errors people have regarding the Trinity and the implications of this truth in the lives of Christians.
So we continue our look at how God is Triune. If you missed the last post you can click here to check it out.
The Bible in both the New and Old Testaments clearly proclaims that there is one God who is to be forever praised. There isn’t two gods, or three gods or one millon gods (as our Hindu friends would propose). No, in the Old and New Testaments, the Bible unashamedly testifies to the existence of One True God.
You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other. Deuteronomy 4:35
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Deuteronomy 4:39
So that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other. 1 Kings 8:60
I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me. Isaiah 45:5
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3
So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus… 1 Timothy 2:5
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. James 2:19
This first point is crucial to our understanding of God. He has revealed Himself to us as the One True Eternal God. Christians are not polytheistic; that is, they do not worship multiple gods. Every Christian confesses that there is only One True God. This truth keeps us from letting our eyes being fixed on any other being in the stead of God Himself. To worship any other God than the God revealed in the Bible is idolatry because there is only One God.
Tomorrow we will briefly look over some scriptures that teach us that God has eternally existed in three persons: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Hello my dearest readers! I hope this post finds you both in good spirits!
Recently I have been reminded that sound theology doesn’t come naturally to the hearts of sinners and often times Christians walk around with unclear thoughts about extremely important things. One such example is teaching that God is Trinity. Although the doctrine of the Trinity is about the nature of who our God is, is seems in conversation and observation that many Christians have foggy ideas about its biblical teachings and implications for life. Though crucially important and foundational to Christian faith, it seems like many people are have fuzzy thoughts about the nature of our Triune God and sadly are ok with that.
This fuzziness comes in different forms. Many see this doctrine as something for the armchair theologians to speak of because it is too complex for common folk like us. Others see the Trinity as unimportant and irrelevant to our life on earth. Some deny it outright as an invention of man. Then there are the ones I have started this post series for: those who, although confessing the Trinity to be true and important to believe, simply have wrong thoughts that need some correction. All in all, whether one sees the Trinity as irrelevant, unimportant or if they see it unclearly, I see a great need to let God speak to us about who He is.
So, let’s begin today. I’ll start with letting you know where we will be going for the next couple of days. I am planning on breaking these posts up as follows:
2) God has eternally existed in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
3) Each Person is fully God and possesses the same nature.
4) Common misconceptions and heresies regarding the Trinity
5) Why is the doctrine of the Trinity important?
6) What are the practical implications of the Trinity?
My hopes for you is by the end of this series God would use His Word to make you unashamedly Trinitarian. I pray that all of us may be in awe of who our Triune God is and marvel at His great love for the church. I hope we may see how this truth should play out in our lives as Sojourners and I pray that we love the truth of God as Trinity.
