The Holy Trinity
I. ONE GOD
Christian faith holds unequivocally to belief in one God and one God alone.
This needs strong emphasis, for what- ever else may be said about God’s triunity or His existing in “three per- sons,” the oneness or unity cannot be affirmed too vigorously.
In the midst of a world that wor- shiped many gods, Israel proclaimed a radical monotheism. Moses said to the Israelites as they prepared to enter the Promised Land: “Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that the Loan is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other” (Deut.
4:39). Shortly thereafter, Moses again declared: “Hear, 0 Israel: The LO R D
our God is one LORD” (Deut. 6:4).1 This vigorous affirmation of God’s oneness, along with the words that follow, came to be called the Shema (“Hear”) and was recited twice a day. Thus, day-by- day Israel declared her strong mono- theistic faith. This continued through- out the Old Testament, especially standing out in some of the prophecies of Isaiah: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god” (Isa.
44:6); “I am the LORD, and there is no other” (455, 6). Over against a pagan world with its many gods, Israel- whatever the lapses of the people into idolatry and polytheism-proclaimed its radical monotheism.
The New Testament is no less em- phatic. Jesus Himself reaffirmed the oneness of God in the language of the Old Testament: “ ‘Hear, 0 Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one’ ” (Mark 12:29). We should also note the prayer of Jesus in which He addressed the Father as “the only true God” (John IOr “The LORD is our God, the LORD is one” (NASB, NIV, the NIV gives the RSV rendering as a first alternate). The literal Hebrew is YHWH ’ klbhCnli YHWH ’ c&icl, literally,
“Yahweh, our God, Yahweh, one.”
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17:3). Nor does this change in the rest of the New Testament, for example:
“For us there is one God, the Father”
(1 Cor. 8:6); “God is one” (Gal. 3:20);
“one God and Father of us all” (Eph.
4:6); “the King of ages, immortal, invis- ible, the only God” (1 Tim. 1:17).
Many other references could be cited.
Whatever else may and must be said about God’s triunity (His being “three persons”), it is important to underscore the biblical and Christian affirmation of the oneness of God. It is sometimes thought that Christian faith is a dilution of the radical monotheism of Israel, or that today Judaism singularly bears witness to the one God, the one Lord.
However, this is by no means the case.
With Judaism, Christianity stands firmly planted on the ground of a radical monotheism.
Indeed, it might be added that here also there is a basic similarity with the Muslim faith. The first and foremost belief of Islam is in the oneness of God,
“Allah.” The simple Confession of Faith, or Watchword, repeated daily by every faithful Muslim is: “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah.” Hence, for all their differences, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam stand together in affirming the oneness of God. That the three great religions of the Western world are united at this point over against all polytheism is a highly important fact for our time.
The oneness of God has great sig- nificance for the life of man. In terms of worship, this means that attention and devotion can be focused at one point. In the continuing words of the Shema:
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5). If worship is offered to various deities,
there can be no centering of devotion. It is as impossible to give “all” one’s heart, soul, or strength to more than one God as, on the human level, to more than one other person. Also, in terms of practical significance, the rec- ognition of one God, and one only, makes for a unity in both personal and community life. The person for whom the one God, the one Lord, is the central focus has within himself a force that can unify all of life in its multiplic- ity of relationships and activities. Like- wise, a nation that claims to exist
“under God” or that afflrms “In God we trust” has a dynamic principle of unity that helps to hold it together as one nation. In the Scriptures the state- ment that there is “one God and Father of us all” is completed with the words,
“who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:6). Hence, in relation to the people of God, the one God who is above, through, and in all things is the bond of their essential unity.2 The one- ness of God thus has much significance for the full range of human life.
II. IN THREE PERSONS As the witness in Scripture increas- ingly unfolds, it is apparent that God is revealed as existing in three persons- namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Calvin speaks of this as “a more inti- mate knowledge of his nature” for
“while he proclaims his unity, he dis- tinctly sets it before us as existing in three persons.”3 The full understanding of God is greatly enriched by under- standing His tripersonal reality.
A. Each Is a Person
In the Old Testament there is no distinct reference to God as existing in three persons. Hints of it, however, may be found, first, in the name of God
?It is obvious that there is much disunity in the church; however, this does not invalidate its csscntial God-given unitv.
‘lrr.Ylilrrtcs. I. 13.2 (Hever&c t r a n s l a t i o n ) . 84
as E l o h i m . “In the beginning God
[ E l o h i m ] c r e a t e d . . . ” (Gen. 1:l).
Elohim is a plural noun, and though no clear statement of a trinity is contained, a plurality of persons may well be implied.4 Also the wording of .Genesis 1:26, “Let US make man in our image, after our likeness,” even more strongly suggests a plurality within God. Note also the similar words of Genesis 3:22:
“Behold, the man has become like one of us”; and Genesis 11:7: “Come, let us go down.” No trinity of persons as such is declared, but the idea of plurality seems to be definitely suggested.
Clearer indications of a distinction of persons are found in accounts where
“the angel of the LORD” is both distin- guished from the LORD and identified with Him. The story of Hagar (Gen. 16) is noteworthy on this point. Also rele- vant is the story of Abraham’s visit from three men who turned out?0 be two angels and the LORD (Gen. 18-19).
Perhaps this latter account comes clos- est to hinting at a divine trinity. Other passages in the Old Testament suggest two divine personages, for example, Psalm 45:6-7: “Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever . . . therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows” (KJV).~
Also note in Psalm 110: 1: “The LORD says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your foot- stool.’ “6 There are also places in the Old Testament where the word of God or the wisdom of God is personified (e.g., see Ps. 33:4, 6 and Prov. 8:22- 31); hence there is the suggestion of a
THE HOLY TRINITY
second alongside God. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, two pas- sages in Isaiah clearly contain reference to three persons or entities: “And now the LORD God has sent me [the Messiah]
and his Spirit” (48:16); also “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me [the Messiah], because the LORD has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted”
(61:1).7 Although these passages do not specifically depict one God in three persons, they point in that direction.
In turning to the New Testament, we observe that the grouping of three is all the more pronounced, specifically in the names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that each is a Person. Let us note several passages. In preparation for ministry, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, and immediately thereaf- ter “he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove;
and a voice came from heaven, ‘Thou art my beloved Son’ ” (Mark 1: lo- 11).8 Three are involved: One who speaks from heaven, One who comes like a dove, and One upon whom the dove comes and who hears the voice speak.
Spirit and Son are both mentioned specifically, and the voice is unmistak- ably that of the Father. Father and Son are patently persons. However, the Spirit (or Holy Spirit) is not here said to be a person, though it can be inferred from the imagery of “descending like a dove.‘+ The personhood of the Holy Spirit is, however, clearly affirmed in the fourth Gospel where Jesus says,
“The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, helo will teach you all 4The name ‘e’f6hfm is sometimes viewed as a “plural of majesty” or an “intensive plural.” This could suggest that all the fullness of godhead is concentrated in Him.
51n the Book of Hebrews it is stated that the first of these references to God pertains to the Son: “But of the Son he says, ‘Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever’ ” (I 9).
6Jesus quoted these words as referring in part to Himself (Mark 12:35-37).
‘Jesus quoted these words at the beginning of His ministry (Luke 4:18).
8For parallels, see Matthew 3:16-17; Luke 3:21-22; and John 1:33-34.
9The next verse, beginning “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness”
(v. 12), strongly implies the personhood of the Spirit.
i0It is significant to observe that though “the Holy Spirit” is neuter in the Greek (ro pneuma to hagiou), the word translated “he” (ekeinos) is masculine.
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things” (John 14:26), and thereafter adds that “the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me” (15:26). Thus with the personhood of the Spirit declared, all three persons now stand forth clearly:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Many other passages in the New Testament speak variously of three per- sons. For example, “Go therefore . . . baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). Also Paul writes that “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;” and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God . . . ” (1 Cor. 12:4-6). In his threefold benediction Paul says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor.
13: 14).
Let us give some further consider- ation to the personhood of the Holy Spirit. There are many other references in the New Testament that depict the Holy Spirit functioning as a person. A few may be mentioned: “The Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’ ” (Acts 13:2); “the Spirit himself intercedes for us . . . ” (Rom.
8:26); “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Eph. 4:30); and “the Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come’ ” (Rev. 22:17).
There are many other similar references that portray the Holy Spirit as a person.
Hence it is important not to think of the Holy Spirit as merely an attribute of God, such as power. There are passages that might suggest the Spirit to be God’s power in creation (e.g., Gen. 1:2), or in regeneration (e.g., John 3:5), or at Pen- tecost where the Holy Spirit is prom- ised and the disciples receive power for their witness and ministry (Acts l-2).
The fact that they were “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4; cf. 4:31) might sound more like being filled with energy than with a person. However, in all these instances the important thing to recognize is not that the Spirit equals power, but that where the Spirit of God is there is power. Moreover, we are to understand that to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” is not simply to be filled with a substance or force but to be fully possessed by the Holy Spirit, the per- sonal Spirit of God.
Finally, the personhood of the Holy Spirit is not only a matter of biblical record but is also confirmed in Christian experience. For one who has known the Holy Spirit’s crying within his heart,
“Abba! Father!” (Gal. 4:6), or interced- ing “with sighs too deep for words”
(Rom. 8:26), or being manifest in one of His gifts such as prophecy or tongues (1 Cor. 12, 14), there is no question about the Holy Spirit’s being a real person. In the spiritual (or “charis- matic”) renewal of our time, one of the most outstanding testimonies is that of how real and personal the Holy Spirit has become to many individuals. Thus, deepening Christian experience marve- lously confirms the biblical record.
B. Each Person Is God It is the Christian claim that all three of these persons are God. Let us look at each in turn.
There can be no question, first, about
“the Father” being God. In the Old Testament the prophet Isaiah cries: “0
LORD, thou art our Father” (Isa. 64:8).
The designation of Father, as such, is rare in the Old Testament; however, it is frequently implied in such statements as “Thus says the LOKD, Israel is my first-born son” ( E x o d . 4:22), a n d
“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
1’ “Lord” here unmistakably refers to Jesus, for Paul had just spoken of Jesus as Lord:
“No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (I Cor. 12:3).
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,md out of Egypt I called my son”
(Hosea 11:l).
However, it is with the advent of Jesus that the understanding of God as f:ather becomes primary. Jesus spoke of God as His Father, frequently used the phrase “your Father who is in heaven” (e.g., Matt. 5:45) in addressing the multitudes, told His disciples to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven”
(Matt. 6:9), and on and on. In many sayings and parables Jesus depicted God’s paternal care. But, more than this, the disciples came to experience God as Father through their sharing with Jesus His trust, assurance, and confidence in the Father’s will. It was increasingly a life caught up in the reality of God as Father.
Likewise, the rest of the New Testa- ment bears frequent witness to God as Father. There is no need to give scrip- tural indications, so many are they.
However, one verse may be particu- larly mentioned: “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba!
Father!’ ” (Gal. 4:6). The intimate knowledge of God as Father arises in the believer’s heart through the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, it is important to note that
“Father” is not just a name for God. It bespeaks a reality of relationship. To be a father means to be one who begets another; else there is no fatherhood.
God as Father consequently takes on much new meaning in the New Testa- ment in two ways. First, He is said to be in a unique sense the Father of Jesus Christ: “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 15:6; 2 Cor.
1:3; and elsewhere). This is understood not simply in a temporal sense, but as
THE FIOLY TRINI’I’Y an eternal relationship (e.g., see John 17:1-4). Second, He is also “God our Father” (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; and elsewhere), a designation signifying that by virtue of our being “born anew” we are His sons and adopted into His family. To repeat, “God the Father” is not just one possible name among many: it is uniquely the designation that declares His relationship both to Jesus Christ and to all who have come to life in Him.
Next we note the biblical witness to the Son’s being God. In the Old Testa- ment the most direct reference to the Son is found in Psalm 2:7: “I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (KJV). This is quoted several times in the New Testa- ment as referring to Christ. Against the background of the Son’s superiority to angels are these words: “For to what angel did God ever say, ‘Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee’?”
(Heb. 1:5).1* These verses do not as such affirm that the Son is God; how- ever in verses 1 l- 12 of the same psalm we read: “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way” (KJV). This unquestionably im- plies divinity for the Son.13 This is even more emphatically the case in Hebrews where the text reads, “But of the Son he says, ‘Thy throne, 0 God14 is for ever and ever . . . God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness beyond thy comrades’ ” (vv. 8-9). The Son indisputably is called “God.” The last quotation is taken from Psalm 45, which, though the address is to “the king” (v. 1) and the Son is not as such mentioned, is a messianic psalm point- lzAlso note Acts 13:33 and Hebrews 55.
“To “kiss the Son” is to “do homage to the Son” (as NASB translates). implying the same veneration as to “the LORD."
IdThe RSV has as a marginal reading “God is thy throne.” F. F. Bruce calls such a reading
“quite unconvincing” (Hebrews, NICNT, in loco).
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ing likewise to the Son (again, cf. Ps. 2).
This the New Testament makes abun- dantly clear. Outside the Psalms, in the Book of Isaiah the most prominent Old Testament reference to the Son as God is found in the familiar words “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and his name will be called ‘Won- he&l Counselor, Mighty God’ ” (9:6).
The Son will be “Mighty God.”
In the New Testament Jesus Christ is frequently designated “the Son of God.” From the introduction of Mark l:l, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” on through the Gospels and the Epistles, this is a recurring phrase. In addition to His designation as “the Son of God,”
many verses speak of Him directly as God. The prologue of John’s Gospel opens with these words: ‘In the begin- ning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”
(1: I).15 The Word thus identified with God is further on spoken of as the Son:
“And the Word became flesh . . . we
have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father” (v. 14).
Hence, the Son, the incarnate Word, is God. This comes out again a few verses later: “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten God16 who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known” (v. 18). The “only begotten,”
here called God, is the Son, as specified in John 3:16: “For God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Son” (KJV). The Son is God. This, as we have earlier noted, is also affirmed in Hebrews 1:8: “But of the Son he says,
‘Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever.’ ”
There are many other texts that with- out directly using the terminology of
“the Son” speak of Jesus Christ as God. For example, “Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever” (Rom.
95 KJV);’ 7 “the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2; 13);‘s
“the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1).19 Jesus Christ as “God over all” and as
“God and Savior” points clearly to His being God. To these texts can be added John 20:28, where Thomas said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” and Philippians 2:6, where it is said of the preincarnate Christ that “he was in the form of God.” There can be little question that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is recognized as God in the New Testament.
But what now needs to be added is that this biblical fact was egsentially a matter of revelation and personal expe- rience. What is stated in the opening verse of Mark’s Gospel and in the prologue of John grew out of the en- counter of the first disciples with Jesus.
We must remember that the early disci- ples were all Jews with a radically monotheistic faith (as earlier de-
IsNot “a god” as found in the New World Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The
Greek word is simply theos without an article, hence superficially could be translated “a God.” However, theos, meaning simply “God,” is found without the article in many verses therafter-e.g., v. 6: “There was a man sent from God [para theou]“; v. 12: “children of
God” [teknu theou]“; v. 18: “No one has ever seen God” [simply theon]. “A god” totally misses the meaning of John 1: I.
'h~~~~ translation. The Greek in both the Nestle and UBS texts is monogent% fheos, literally “only begotten God.” The KJV and RSV read “only begotten” and “only Son.” The
NIV. similar to NASB, reads, “God the only Son.” The manuscript evidence favors NASB and
NIV renderings of the text.
I i Similarly, NASB and NIV. The NIV. I believe, misses the best rendering of the Greek text.
‘“llere the KJV may mislead, translating “the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.‘*
NASH. NIV. and NtiH ali read essentially the same as RSV.
“‘Again the KJV follows the previous pattern reading “the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” The NAM, NIV and NEB correspond to RSV.
scribed), and therefore almost rigidly set against any idea that God is other than the exalted Lord. But as they fellowshiped with Jesus, they began to realize that however human Jesus was (of that they had no doubt), there was something mysterious about Him, something that human categories could not contain. Jesus did things only God could do or had any right to do. He forgave sins; He stilled the waves of the seas; He raised the dead. The disciples found themselves (the shock of this is hard for us to imagine), orthodox Jews, addressing Jesus as Lord,*0 falling down before Him in worship,* 1 and becoming convinced of His resurrection after He had been put to death.22 They came to know Him as Savior as well, for they received His gracious forgive- ness after a terrible night of betrayal and denial and found new life in His name. How could they doubt it? Here truly was God in one who called Him- self “the Son of man”; was He not also verily the Son of God-even God?
it” (Ps. 51: 11 N A S B) and “His Holy Spirit” (Isa. 63: 10, 11 NASB). However, such terminology as “the Spirit of God,” “the Spirit of the LO R D,” o r
simply “the Spirit” is commonplace.
Genesis declares that “the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the wa- ters” (1:2). The Spirit of the LORD came often upon God-appointed leaders (judges, prophets, kings, and others). It was prophesied that the Spirit would rest upon the coming Messiah (Isa. 11:2 and elsewhere). It is the same Holy Spirit, whatever these varied designa- tions.
That Jesus Christ the Son is God continues to this day to be the affirmation of genuine Christian faith.
The Bible, to be sure, bears witness to this fact, but what countless people have found through personal experi- ence is that Jesus proves Himself to be all the Scriptures claim. They know He has wrought salvation in their hearts, and none but God can do that. Thus He is both Savior and God. They have also turned over their total lives to Him, and He continues to lead them in victory.
Thus He is both Lord and God. That the Son is God is an ultimate truth.
In the New Testament, the Old Tes- tament variations-“Spirit,” “Spirit of God,” “ Spirit of the Lord”-continue.
However, in addition, there is the
“Spirit of your Father” (Matt. 10:20),
“Spirit of Jesus” (Acts 16:7), “Spirit of Christ” (Rom. 8:9), “Spirit of his Son”
(Gal. 4:6), and “Spirit of Jesus Christ”
(Phil. 1: 19). All of these are gathered up in the expression, “the Holy Spirit,”
which occurs throughout the New Tes- tament. And in all of these instances He is “the Holy Spirit of God” (Eph. 4:30).
The Holy Spirit also is God. In the Old Testament the expression “the Holy Spirit” is never found. The closest to it is the expression “Thy Holy Spir-
But do these Old and New Testament references clearly demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is God? We have noted that the Holy Spirit is personal. Could the Spirit then not be simply a personal manifestation of God? No, for, as the biblical revelation unfolds, it becomes increasingly apparent that the Holy Spirit is God. The “Spirit of your Father” is the “Spirit of truth” pro- ceeding from the Father (John 15:26) and is God; the “Spirit of Christ” is the Spirit “poured out” (Acts 2:33) through Christ and is God. When in the early church Ananias was said to have lied
“to the Holy Spirit,” Peter pro- nounced: “You have not lied to men
*OSee Luke 5:8.
*‘E.g., Matthew 14:33.
**Actually it was not until after Jesus’ resurrection that the full conviction of His deity broke through (cf. John 20:28).
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