God is Triune

Today we will cover the essential doctrine of the Trinity.  Just as God is all the many attributes we have seen so far in this sermon series, He is also triune (a trinity).  Augustine once said that if you denied the trinity you would lose your soul, but if you tried to explain the trinity you would lose your mind!  That is a pretty fitting statement concerning what is both a most essential doctrine and a most complicated one at the same time.  As with any doctrine, God’s people need to understand what God reveals and affirm that to be true, even when it is hard to understand.  Where I want to end up today is simply to have you leave with the mindset that we will affirm/believe what God has revealed about Himself and will trust Him with what we do not understand. 

I.              Understanding How to Approach the Doctrine of the Trinity

I find it helpful when approaching the doctrine of the trinity to keep the lesson of Deuteronomy 29:29 in mind: [29] “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.  According to the Bible, among all the things that can be known in our world, there are some things that are secret things and they belong to God and there are some things that God has revealed to us for our good (so we can know Him and obey Him, etc.).  And some things are revealed by the Bible to be true, but are not revealed exhaustively.  In such cases we want to affirm and believe what God reveals to be true and trust God with what we do not understand.  The fact that I believe something to be true does not mean that I fully understand why it’s true or how it all works.  That would be a most arrogant requirement for something to be true: “I don’t understand it, therefore it is not true!”

One reason that the doctrine of the trinity is so hard to understand is because there simply is no analogy that adequately illustrates it.  This should not surprise us, because there is nothing like God in all of creation!  And furthermore, we should recognize that it is healthy to realize that God is incomprehensible.  If we can fully wrap our minds around God, then He is no longer God. 

II.            Understanding the Doctrine of the Trinity (as best we can)

The doctrine of the Trinity is the teaching that there is only one true God, but that He eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each being fully and equally God, but separate persons at the same time.  Essentially, there is a distinction between being (essence) and personhood.  Keeping with this distinction, the doctrine of the Trinity makes seven basic affirmations: (triangle)

a.     There is One God

b.    The Father is God

c.     The Son is God

d.    The Holy Spirit is God

e.     The Father is not the Son, nor the Son the Father

f.      The Father is not the Holy Spirit, nor the Holy Spirit the Father

g.    The Son is not the Holy Spirit, nor the Holy Spirit the Son

     

III.         Understanding Where We See the Doctrine of the Trinity in Scripture

Now that we have made these seven affirmations, we want to see where they come from in the Bible.  Let’s being with the first affirmation that there is one God.  The Bible affirms that there is one and only one God: Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”  Contrary to the claims of Islam, the doctrine of the Trinity does not teach Polytheism (that there are multiple gods).  Trinitarianism is fundamentally monotheistic.

The second affirmation that the Father is God is found all over the Bible.  Consider just one example in 1 Corinthians 8:6: [6] yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

The third affirmation is that the Son is God.  Historically, this has been the most debated point and is fundamentally the most critical affirmation of the doctrine of the trinity.  The Bible declares Jesus Christ to be God and warns that those who deny this truth are heretics on their way to hell.  Historically, this truth was denied by Arianism, and is stilly denied by many heretical groups today, some of whom claim to be Christian.  While there are many different places we could observe this truth in the Bible, we will simply look at some of the most profound places. 

John 1:1-4,14-18: [1:1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men.   [14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. [15] (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) [16] For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18] No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. 

In John 8:58, Jesus Himself claims to be God: [58] Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”  Philippians 2:5-11: [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  The title, “Lord” affirms His deity because it is the Greek word that translates “YAHWEH” in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint).  Also, in the gospels the title “Son of God” was interpreted by the religious leaders as Jesus making Himself equal with God.

Colossians 1:15-20: [15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. [17] And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. [18] And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. [19] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Jesus is also explicitly called “God” in the New Testament in several places.  One example is Titus 2:11-13: [11] For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, [12] training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, [13] waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

The fourth affirmation is that the Holy Spirit is God.  We see this clearly in Acts 5:3-4: [3] 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? [4] While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”  Also, consider 2 Corinthians 3:17-18: [17] Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. [18] And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.        

As far as the remaining affirmations (which are denied by Modalism) go, we are noting simply that there is a clear distinction of persons in the trinity.  We see this in Creation (Gen. 1:2,26; Col. 1:16), at Jesus’ Baptism (Matt. 3:16-17), in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20), in the Work of Redemption (Ephesians 1:1-14), and in all the places where they are referencing one another or spoken of as one referencing, honoring, etc. the other (John 20:17).

IV.          Understanding the Implications of the Doctrine of the Trinity

There are two implications that we want to walk away with when meditating upon the truth of the trinity, and the first is that Christianity is deeply relational.  That God is a Trinity means that not only having the capacity for relationship but also actualizing that capacity is part of God’s very essence.  Understanding the trinity helps us to understand how God can be so personal.  And we as image bearers of this incredibly relational God are also incredibly relational: having the capacity to have relationships with God and other image bearers of God.  The more relational our Christianity is, the more it reflects God.  The church is to be one of the closest things to the analogy of the trinity that the world ever sees: one body full of loving, sacrificial, servant relationships for the glory of God. 

A second implication that springs from the truth of the trinity is that Christianity is exclusively Trinitarian; meaning that to not affirm this doctrine is stand outside of Christianity (to be lost).  There may be some confusion on this doctrine, and we will always have questions about it, but a continual denial of the truth of the Trinity is not only heretical, but is damnable.  Simply put, someone who ultimately denies the Trinity is not a Christian and any denomination/religion that ultimately denies the Trinity is not a Christian denomination/religion.  One scholar rightly said “Christianity stands or falls with the confession of the deity of Christ and of the Trinity.” 

If the trinity isn’t true, as the Bible puts if forth, then our atonement is affected.  How could a creature bear the wrath of God for our sins?  And if one could, then how could all glory go to God?  Also, if the trinity isn’t true, are we not committing idolatry when we worship Jesus, whom the Scriptures command us to worship? 

Do you affirm this truth?  Are you ready to defend it?  More importantly, have you been humbled by the vastness of this glorious truth?