The Doctrine of God: The Trinity
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To believe and love the Trinity is to possess the key of theology.1
Charles Spurgeon Nothing we do as evangelicals makes sense if it is divorced from a strong experiential and doctrinal grasp of the coordinated love of Jesus and the Spirit, worked out against the horizon of the Father’s love. Personal evangelism, conversational prayer, devotional
Bible study, authoritative preaching, world missions, and assurance of salvation all presuppose that life in the gospel is life in communion with the Trinity. Forget the Trinity
and you forget why we do what we do; you forget who we are as gospel Christians; you forget how we got to be like we are.2
Fred Sanders
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Group Work: What are the theological implications of these verses in regard to the doctrine of the Trinity? (Mark 12:28-30; Mark 1:9-11; John 16:7-15; John 17:1-5; John 17:6-10; John 17:11-19; John 17:20-26; Ephesians 1:3-14; Hebrews 1:1-12)
WHAT IS MEANT BY THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY?
The word trinity means “triunity” or “three-in-oneness”
God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God.3 (Wayne Grudem)
1Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 17 (London:
Passmore & Alabaster, 1872), 389.
2Fred Sanders, The Deep Things of God: How The Trinity Changes Everything (Wheaton, IL:
Crossway, 2010), 9.
3Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids:
There are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and each is God, and at the same time all are one God; and each of them is a full substance, and at the same time all are one substance. The Father is neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit; the Son is neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son. But the Father is the Father uniquely; the Son is the Son uniquely; and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit uniquely. All three have the same eternity, the same immutability, the same majesty, and the same power.4 (Augustine)
The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Stated differently, God is one in essence and three in person.5 (Matt Perman)
The one, eternal, and living God of the Bible, the only real God there is, is the God who has forever known himself, and who in the history of salvation has revealed himself to us, as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. To deny this truth is to lapse into heresy.6 (Timothy George)
FOUNDATIONS OF TRINITARIAN THOUGHT The Old Testament
-‐ Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void…and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
-‐ Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
-‐ Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies yourfootstool."
-‐ Isaiah 48:16 Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there." And now the Lord GOD [the Father] has sent me [the Son], and his Spirit [the Spirit].
-‐ Isaiah 63:9-10 In all their affliction he [the Father] was afflicted,and the angel of his presence [the Son] saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit [the Spirit]; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.
4Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, trans. D. W. Robertson, Jr. (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1958), 10.
5Matt Perman, “What Is the Doctrine of the Trinity?” January 23, 2006, accessed July 3, 2015, http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-doctrine-of-the-trinity.
6Timothy George, “The Nature of God: Being, Attributes, and Acts,” in A Theology for the Church, ed. Daniel L. Akin (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2007), 182.
The New Testament
-‐ Luke 1:35 And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”
-‐ Matthew 3:16-17 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold,a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son,with whom I am well pleased."
-‐ Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
-‐ 2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
-‐ 1 Peter 1:2 according tothe foreknowledge of God the Father,in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood
-‐ Jude 20-21 But you, beloved,building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
In sum, while the word ‘trinitas’ is not found anywhere in the Bible, the Scriptures from first to last are thoroughly Trinitarian. What was foreshadowed in the Old Testament became explicit in the New with the historical reality of God ‘manifested in the flesh’ (1 Tim 3:16).7 (Timothy George)
HERESIES REGARDING THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY Monarchianism
Monarchianism (also known as Sabellianism after one of their leaders, Sabellius [early 3rd century] was a heresy that was developed by Christian individuals who were trying to formulate an understanding of the doctrine of God. Monarchians, in nature, were those who desired to stress the absolute Oneness of God as the supreme ruler over all creation.
As Harold O. J. Brown explains, “The name ‘monarchian’ is applied to groups that sought to stress a fundamental biblical and Christian truth, namely, the conviction that God is one, the sole monarch of the universe.”8 These individuals, in an attempt to be faithful to God would make a severe mistake in their understanding of God and his existence as three distinct persons who are equally God.
Monarchianism refers to two different schools of thought within the umbrella of the heresy, adoptionism and modalism. Though these two strains of modalism are in sharp contrast in their view of the Trinity, and more particularly the person of Jesus, they are unified in an attempt to falsely explain a mystery of the Christian faith that even the most
7George, “The Nature of God,” 187.
8Harold O. J. Brown, Heresies: Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church (Peabody,
devout followers are prone to fall into. Again, Harold O. J. Brown explains, “Thus two dramatically different convictions are embraced by . . . ‘monarchianism.’ What they have in common is their conviction that the fundamental unity and oneness of God does not permit a second Person to share the titles of deity.”9
→ Adoptionism (dynamic monarchianism)
-‐ Believed that Jesus was a man who was endowed with a special power from God
-‐ Used the accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke where Jesus is baptized and the Spirit of God descends upon him as foundational in their assertion that Jesus was not God
-‐ Viewed the event of Jesus’ baptism as the moment when God adopted Jesus as his son
Adoptionism is the view that Jesus lived as an ordinary man until his baptism, but then God ‘adopted’ Jesus as his ‘Son’ and conferred on him supernatural powers . . . . Even after Jesus’ ‘adoption’ as the ‘Son’ of God, they would not think of him as divine in nature, but only as an exalted man whom God called his ‘Son’ in a unique sense.10
→ Modalism (modalistic monarchianism)
The word ‘modalism’ is unfamiliar to most Christians, yet it is the most common
theological error among people who think themselves orthodox. It is the simplest way to explain the Trinity while preserving the oneness of God; unfortunately, it is incorrect.11
-‐ The three facets of the trinity – God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit – exist as three different modes of God
-‐ God reveals himself under different aspects or modes in different ages—as the Father in Creation and in the giving of the Law, as the Son in Jesus Christ,, and as the Holy Spirit after Christ’s ascension
-‐ Whereas adoptionism denies the deity of Jesus, modalism upholds the deity of Jesus but sacrifices his distinctness and his humanity
-‐ Modalists use the Gospel of John as the foundation of belief as Jesus repeatedly refers to the oneness between he and the Father
Arianism
-‐ Attributed to Arius, a 4th century Alexandrian Bishop
-‐ God the Father was eternal and too pure and infinite to appear on the
earth. Therefore, God produced Christ the Son out of nothing as the first and greatest creation.
-‐ God the Father alone is self existent
-‐ The Son, who is not self-existent, cannot be God
9Brown, Heresies, 96.
10Grudem, Systematic Theology, 245.
11Brown, Heresies, 99.
-‐ Used John 14:28 as proof text: You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
-‐ Arianism was deemed heretical at the First Council of Nicea in 325 as was its chief proponent, Arius
Modern Heresies
-‐ Universalism: a liberal perspective that denies the deity of Jesus and the Spirit
-‐ Oneness Pentecostalism: a conservative perspective that argues for the deity of Jesus. Indeed, Jesus “only” is God. There is only one person in the
Godhead and his name is Jesus. The “Father” and “Spirit” are only different names for different manifestations of the one God, Jesus.
-‐ Tritheism (polytheism): The only link between the three is that they share a common purpose or will. Stress is placed on the personhood of each, the essence of which is autonomy and independence.
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY The Nicene Creed 325
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us
under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the
Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and
glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
1. God is Three Persons
The personhood of each member of the Trinity means that each person has a distinct center of consciousness. Thus, they relate to each other personally—the Father regards the Son and Holy Spirit as “You.” Likewise the Son regards Himself as “I,” but the Father and the Holy Spirit as “You.”12 (Matt Perman)
-‐ John 1:1-2 In the beginning wasthe Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
-‐ John 17:24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
-‐ 1 John 2:1 . . . But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
-‐ Hebrews 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
-‐ John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
-‐ Romans 8:27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
-‐ Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
-‐ 2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
How can a right understanding of the 3 Persons of the Trinity strengthen our intimacy with God?
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How can a right understanding of the 3 Persons of the Trinity strengthen our missional activity?
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2. Each Person is Fully God (The Deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit)
→ The Deity of the Father
-‐ Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit -‐ Matthew 6:9 Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven,hallowed beyour
name.”
-‐ Luke 23:34 And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
-‐ John 6:27 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, whichthe Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father hasset his seal."
-‐ John 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
-‐ John 17:1-3 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come . . . this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
-‐ Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . -‐ 1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be
called children of God; and so we are.
→ The Deity of the Son
The belief in the deity of Christ is derived directly from statements concerning Him in the Bible. The references are so many and their meaning so plain, that Christians of every shade of opinion have always regarded its affirmation as an absolute and indispensable requisite of their faith.13 (F. F. Bruce)
-‐ Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
-‐ John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
-‐ John 20:27-28 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." Thomas answered him,"My Lord and my God!"
-‐ Philippians 2:5-7 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of aservant, being born in the likeness of men.
-‐ Colossians 2:9-10 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
-‐ Hebrews 1:2-3 …but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
-‐ Hebrews 1:8 But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.”
→ The Deity of the Spirit
He is not a lesser or different kind of Being than God the Father or God the Son. The Spirit is God . . . This is vital to remember. When we forget about the Spirit, we really are forgetting God.14 (Francis Chan)
13F. F. Bruce and W. J. Martin, The Deity of Christ (Manchester: North of England Trust, 1964), 24.
14Francis Chan and Danae Yankoski, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the
-‐ Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
-‐ Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void . . . and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
-‐ Acts 5:3-4 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
…You have not lied to men but to God."
-‐ 1 Corinthians 2:10-11 . . . For the Spirit searches everything, eventhe depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
-‐ 1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
How can a right understanding of the full deity of each Person of the Trinity strengthen our intimacy with God?
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How can a right understanding of the full deity of each Person of the Trinity strengthen our missional activity?
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3. There is One God (Monotheism)
Scripture is abundantly clear that there is one and only one God. The three different persons of the Trinity are one not only in person and in agreement on what they think, but they are one in essence, one in their essential nature. In other words, God is only one being. There are not three Gods. There is only one God.15 (Wayne Grudem)
-‐ Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
-‐ Isaiah 45:5-6 I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.
-‐ Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.
-‐ John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
-‐ 1 Corinthians 8:4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one.”
15Grudem, Systematic Theology, 238.