‘Behold, the Lamb of God’s
ide o amnos tou
theou
College Study
17th teaching
11.26.2012
“Theology Proper – God’s Triunity”
Turn to Matthew 3:13-17.
In this passage we just read, we see quite clearly the
Three Persons which form the Holy Trinity. The Son of God was being baptized,
followed by the Spirit of God descending upon Him, followed by the voice of
Father God from heaven.
Tonight’s study is entitled: “God’s Tri-unity”.
Last week we learned that God is One, according to Deuteronomy 6:4, the great Sh’ma.
Tonight’s study goes hand in hand with the doctrine of God’s Unity. We’ve
already learned that God is One, but we’ve seen from Scripture that this is a
compound oneness, a singular plurality, if you will. Remember the word Echad, it means a compound unity, a
oneness with multiplicity within it.
Tonight we’ll take an in depth look at the doctrine of the
Holy Trinity. Our study is going to break down into three points (ONE study
with THREE points):
1. Defining the Trinity
2. Distinguishing the Trinity
3. Declaring the Trinity
1.
Defining the Trinity
As young children we knew what a square was. We didn’t necessarily know that
a square had to have four sides equal in length and four corners with equal
angles. But we could recognize a square apart from a rectangle or a triangle or
a trapezoid, even though we didn’t know all the technicalities about a square.
We knew what a square was not.
And so with the Trinity, we should know what the Trinity
both is and what it is not.
The doctrine of the Trinity does not mean that God is three gods. This is called tritheism, belief
in three gods, and it is heresy.
We already saw last week that God is One and that there is only One God. Isaiah 44:6, “…I am the First, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.”
Tritheism clings to the three Persons so much it excludes the teaching of God’s
Oneness.
Orthodox, normal Christians are not tritheists. We’re
monotheists. We have one God, not three.
Another idea revolving around the Trinity is one called
modalism. Modalism claims that there is one God but that He has three modes,
that He is at one time the Father, then at another time the Son, and at another
time the Spirit. Obviously, that’s heresy too. It’s kind of like portraying God as an actor,
performing three roles or modes at different times. This is also heretical
because God always has three Persons.
Modalism clings so much to God’s Oneness that it fails to see the distinction
of the three Persons in God.
So the doctrine of the Trinity is claiming both that God is One and that
God has three persons. We are not saying that there are three gods, the Bible
makes it clear that there is only one God; neither are we saying that God acts
as three different Persons at separate times. This is what the Trinity is not.
What the Biblical doctrine of the Holy Trinity is describes
three Persons who are each fully in God’s One nature. The Trinity is one of the
mysterious teachings about God and no human mind can fully grasp it, but it is
a teaching which God has made clear in Scripture. And what He has made clear, we must believe and
understand as best we can: One God, three Persons.
What the Trinity is can perhaps best be summarized with two
terms:
1. Essence
2. Persons
When we use the word essence, what do we
mean? We mean the nature of
something. What it fundamentally IS. The idea of essence is the object. God has One metaphysical essence, One
nature, He is One object. Remember God’s Actuality? God said of Himself “I AM WHO I AM”. That’s God’s existence,
His essence, His Oneness, His IS-ness. And this essence of God is ONE.
Now when we use the word
person, we’re
saying something else other than essence.
God has ONE essence. He is One
object, One God. But He is three Persons. Each Person is distinct. They are not
just one object, but three subjects.
IN God’s One essence are three Persons. There are three
“Who’s” in God but only One “What”. Three subjects in one object. Three Persons in one God.
Now this is not a contradiction as unbelievers often claim.
The Trinity is a mystery, not an absurdity. It may be a puzzle, but it is not a
joke.
God is not saying of Himself “I’m the color of round” or “I
weigh the same as yellow” or “I’m a triangular square”. God is not saying
anything ridiculous or impossible or absurd about Himself when He says He is
One God of three Persons, because essence
and persons are two separate terms.
God has One essence but Three Persons. We’re not saying God is A and
non-A at the same time.
These terms, essence and persons, refer to different
relationships within God. They do not contradict because they’re not saying God
is One and God is Three in the same way. They are saying God is One in essence
and God is Three in Persons. One in object, nature and is-ness, and at the same
time three in identities, personalities and persons.
God is only One in relation to His essence. God is Three
only in relation to His Persons. Therefore, the Trinity doctrine is not
contradictory.
Thomas
Aquinas had a few interesting remarks about the Trinity. He said “…in
God the persons are multiplied, and the essence is not multiplied, we speak of
one essence of the three persons, and three persons of the one essence…” “If
there were any inequality in the divine persons, they would not have the same
essence; and thus the three persons would not be one God; which is impossible.
We must therefore admit equality among the divine persons.”
To help us further define the Trinity, let’s consider some
analogies. Remember, the Bible uses analogies to make meaningful statements
about God. The Bible says God is like
a Rock or a Tower or a Shield. God possesses qualities like these things, but He is not literally a stone or a tower or a
shield.
With the Trinity, there are some poor analogies we should
avoid and some better analogies that may help us. But as with all analogies,
there’s going to be both similarities and differences. No one analogy is going
to be perfect:
Let me give you THREE poor analogies and THREE better
analogies:
Poor Analogies for the Trinity
1.
Three States of Water
This analogy says God is like
Water, which can be a solid, a liquid or a gas. The problem is that no ONE drop
of water can ever exist as a solid, a liquid or a gas simultaneously as God
exists as Three in One simultaneously. This analogy implies the heresy of
modalism, that God exists in three persons at different times.
2.
Three Candles, One Light
John Wesley said “Tell me how
it is that in this room there are three candles and but one light, and I will
explain to you the mode of the divine existence.” The problem with this analogy
is that it makes God out to have parts. But as we saw last week, God is simple,
meaning, God is One, indivisible, God has no parts. The three Persons are not
each parts of God. In order for this analogy to work, the three candles would
have to be one candle and three at the same time, because God has no parts.
3.
St. Patrick’s Shamrock
According to legend, when St.
Patrick preached to pagans in Ireland, he held up a Shamrock and asked “One
leaf or three?” to which the pagans replied “it is both one leaf and three” and
he would say “so it is with God”. Again, the problem is these analogies still
make God out to have parts. God is indivisible and simple, without parts. The
Persons are not parts or percentages of the total God. They are each totally
God.
Given that there are worse analogies. I read about someone
comparing God to a three-tier cake! But there are better analogies:
1.
A triangle
A triangle is one shape with
three sides, each side is essential to the nature of the triangle and define
the triangle. This illustrates a threeness and a oneness at the same time,
keeping in mind that no analogy is perfect (since the Persons of the Trinity
are not corners in a triangle, they are each the triangle itself).
2.
One to the Third Power
God is not 1+1+1=3. That would
be tritheism, three separate gods. Rather, God is like 1x1x1=1. One to the
third power shows three units in one sum: three Persons in One essence.
3.
Mind, Ideas and Words
My mind, my ideas and my words
are all separate but totally united. Ideas are the expression of my mind and
words are the expression of my ideas. Neither could you separate my words from
my ideas or any of them from my mind. Not a perfect analogy, but a pretty good
one.
2.
Distinguishing the Trinity
Next we’ll examine some Scriptures that identify each
Person of the Trinity by name.
God is called triune because He has Three Persons, not Two,
not Four or more, but Three. And that’s it. There’s no God the mother, no God
the grandpa, no God the second-cousin or uncle or nephew. Just Three and only
Three.
Only Three Persons are ever identified in Scripture as
being God. They are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Over
the next few weeks, we’ll take a closer look at each of these distinct Persons
and their function and personalities. For now, we’re just identifying them from
Scripture.
I.
God the Father
This painting depicts the
father of the prodigal son, a great representation of God the Father since the
Father is invisible and no man has seen Him. God is called Father in numerous
passages of Scripture. Let me give you three: Psalm 89:26 “He shall cry to
Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.” John 20:17 Jesus said “I am ascending to My Father and your Father,
and to My God and your God.” Romans
1:7 “Grace to you and peace from God
our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” In the Bible, God the Father is
described as being invisible, having all the attributes of God, protector,
authoritative, Almighty. In Scripture, He is known as YHWH, translated LORD all
capitals, AKA Yahweh or Jehovah.
II.
God the Son
God the Son is identified as
Jesus Christ, Immanuel, the Messiah, the Savior and the Logos. He is equal with
God. The deity of Christ is a contested doctrine, but the Bible is clear on the
matter: Jesus is God. Let me give you three verses: Titus 2:13 “…looking for the
blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…”
John 5:18 “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only
broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal
with God.” Philippians 2:5-7 “Let this mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be
equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a
servant, and coming in the likeness of men.”
III.
God the Holy Spirit
God the Holy Ghost or the Holy
Spirit is also called the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of
grace and the Comforter and Counselor. The Holy Spirit is not a force but also
a Person like the other members of the Trinitiy, though He has unique
functions. Here are three verses which illustrate that the Holy Spirit, too, is
God: Acts 5:3-4 “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to
lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for
yourself? …You have not lied to men but to God.” Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Ephesians
4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
So we see that all Three and only
Three Persons are ever associated as God in Scripture.
*Further proof that these are three distinct
Persons comes from passages of Scripture wherein we see one Person acting
separate from another Person, such as the passage of Jesus’ Baptism which we
read at the beginning of the study, in which all Three Persons were present.
Again, that was Matthew 3:13-17.
In a similar passage in Luke 9, we read the story of the Mount of Transfiguration. There,
God the Son was transfigured in glory and separately a heavenly voice said “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”
Or in John 14:16,
we have God the Son saying He will pray that God the Father send God the Holy
Spirit to be our Helper. There’s three distinct persons right there.
Also consider Psalm
110, which records a conversation between the members of the Trinity: “The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right
hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool’.”
3.
Declaring the Trinity
The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most
hotly challenged teachings of biblical Christianity. It has come under fire
from atheists and unbelievers. It has been misconstrued by heresies and cults.
It has even been disbelieved by men and women who call themselves Christians.
It has been doubted whether the Trinity is even actually taught in Scripture.
I hope that after tonight and the following weeks that you
and I gain two things:
a. Full assurance that the doctrine of the Holy
Trinity is the true biblical teaching.
b. The
ability to share
this doctrine with others who doubt it or are confused by it.
One of the greatest needs of humanity isn’t more technology
or more entertainment or more money, it isn’t even more education or more
morality or more life. The greatest need of humanity is to know who God the
Savior is!
We who have been entrusted with the Words of the Almighty
have the duty laid upon us to share it, to tell of the God who is Three in One,
how the Father sent the Son to die for us and now His Spirit dwells within us.
People are literally dying for the lack of knowledge which we have been
entrusted to give to them.
The revelation of God is like a cup of cold water in a land
dying of thirst.
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