CHRIS LEE | Contributor
In Parts I and II of this study on the Trinity, we covered two important truths and started on a third: 1. There is only one God; there are no others. 2. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. 3. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are personally distinct. We reviewed the evidence that the Holy Spirit is a person, not an impersonal force, and we demonstrated that He is personally distinct from the Father and the Son.
The Trinity
Let’s now turn to look at a sampling of texts that show that the Father and Son are two persons. First, we will examine some salutations from New Testament epistles which indicate that there is a personal distinction between the Father and Son.
to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.— Romans 1:7 (NASB)
Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.—1 Thessalonians 1:1 (NASB)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.— 1 Timothy 1:1-2 (NASB)
To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.—Titus 1:4 (NASB)
Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.—2 John 1:3 (NASB)
Next, we can see that the Father and Son are two distinct witnesses. In the following passages, Jesus is appealing to the Old Testament mandate that there be two or three witnesses to make a testimony valid. If there is no personal distinction between the Father and Son, then Jesus’ argument falls apart. I will list one of the three Old Testament passages Jesus is appealing to first, followed by the reasoned argument that Jesus makes showing that the Father and Son are two distinct witnesses.
“A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.”—Deuteronomy 19:15 (NASB)
“If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.”— John 5:31-32 (NASB)
“But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. 18 “I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”—John 8:16-18—(NASB)
The Bible tells us in multiple places that the Father sent the Son:
“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”—John 17:18 (NASB)
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”—John 20:21 (NASB)
We also see a real relationship between the Father and the Son. For instance, the Father and the Son love each other:
“The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.”—John 3:35 (NASB)
“[B]ut so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.”—John 14:31 (NASB)
“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”—John 17:24-26 (NASB)
In addition to loving each other, the Son speaks to the Father, and the Father speaks to the Son.
So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”—John 11:41-42 (NASB)
“Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”—John 12:28 (NASB)
In Parts II and III, we have addressed the heresy known as “modalism”, which teaches that God is sometimes in His Father mode, at others in His Son mode, and at other times in His Spirit mode. Showing from Scripture that the Father, Son, and Spirit are personally distinct and are in relationship with one another rules out this heresy. However, in addressing the modern form of modalism, Oneness Pentecostalism, it is also helpful to demonstrate the pre-existence of the Son.
Oneness Pentecostals teach that God was the Father before the incarnation, the Son during the incarnation, and the Spirit after the incarnation. If it can be demonstrated from Scripture that the Son existed before His incarnation, and even before creation, then the Oneness construct falls apart and is disproven.
Jesus, the Son, was with God the Father Before Creation
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.— John 1:1 (NASB)
“Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”— John 17:5 (NASB)
Jesus, the Son, Created All Things
All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.— John 1:3 (NASB)
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.— John 1:16-17 (NASB)
So, with this, we have now fully demonstrated the three biblical truths that form the basis of the doctrine of the Trinity. However, we have only been able to cover a small sampling of the very large wealth of Scripture that teaches these truths. This raises the question, “Why do some deny one or more of these truths that are so clearly taught in the Bible?” I believe it is related to the age-old human inclination to make gods in our own image or in the likeness of things we understand. The three truths we reviewed, as taught by the Bible, present an infinite God that is far beyond the comprehension of His finite creatures. It is a natural human impulse to try to redefine the infinite God in finite ways that we can grasp. However, to do this, one is forced to deny one or more of the truths God has revealed about Himself.
We have reviewed the heresies of polytheism, tritheism, Arianism, Macedonianism, and modalism. So, what do all these heresies have in common?
They all make God an understandable, finite god, by blatantly denying one of the truths He has condescended to reveal about Himself. All these heresies make God small enough for us to wrap our finite minds around. Unfortunately, they all present a god that is a different god from the one revealed in Scripture.
As Christians we are called to bend the knee before our infinite God even though we cannot fully comprehend Him. We are called to accept what He has plainly revealed in dozens of passages all through the pages of Scripture. When it comes right down to it, who would you rather worship, a god that is small enough to be grasped by his creatures, or one who is so big that He is beyond comprehension? The Bible presents the latter throughout its pages.
So, once we bow before the teaching of Scripture, how do we put all these truths together?
Here is one of the best, most concise summaries I have read that captures all three of the truths we have reviewed:
“Within the one Being that is God, there exist eternally three coequal and coeternal Persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” – James R. White (Christian Apologist—No relation to the person of the same name we are most familiar with.)
This is an excellent and concise statement of what Scripture teaches, but even this sentence can be a mouthful when referring to the God of the Bible. Because this is true of many subjects that are taught throughout Scripture, Christians have developed words that serve as a sort of shorthand to sum up concepts taught in the Bible. In this case, I know of no other single word that is more helpful in summing up the concepts the Bible teaches other than “Trinity”. While this word is not a word that is used in the Bible, it perfectly captures the essence of something that is most certainly taught in Scripture.
We should not be afraid to use shorthand words if they accurately represent plain Biblical truths. So, the next time you hear someone say, “You know, the Trinity isn’t anywhere in the Bible,” you can reply with, “It’s actually EVERYWHERE in the Bible! Let me show you the three things God has revealed about Himself.” †
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