Dive2023-0511 – The Triune God

Bible Study, Going Deeper / By

INTRODUCTION

 

The doctrine of THE TRIUNE GOD is one of the most important doctrines in the Church. 

  • Consider some of the things Mr.Tkach said in an article ...

It was our acceptance of the Trinity that brought our denomination “in out of the cold,” allowing us to break free from being considered a cult.  (FYI ... WCG believed that God was a Family, consisting of two God beings)

When the Trinity is not at the center, shaping all other doctrines, strange ideas and distortions arise. For example, those who proclaim a health/wealth/prosperity gospel tend to view God as a divine “vending machine.”  

Trinitarian theology puts the Trinity at the center of all doctrinal understanding, influencing everything we believe and understand about God.  

We know of this triune life of God from Jesus, who is God’s self-revelation in person. 

At the same time, the doctrine of the Triune God is one of the most misunderstood doctrines in the Church.

  • Consider the quiz I gave last week ...

According to the doctrine of the Trinity, which of the following statements is TRUE?

      1. The Trinity is one God.
      2. The Trinity is three Gods.
      3. The Trinity is three Beings.
      4. The Trinity is three Persons.
      5. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are the same Person.
      6. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three separate persons.
      7. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three separate beings.
  • Many/Most persons would be surprised to realize that only two of the above statements is TRUE.
      1. The Trinity is one God.
      2. The Trinity is three Gods.
      3. The Trinity is three Beings.
      4. The Trinity is three Persons.
      5. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are the same Person.
      6. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three separate persons.
      7. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three separate beings.
  • The reason they'd be surprised is because they don't know/understand what the Bible says about the Trinity.

 

So ... What does the Bible Says about THE TRIUNE GOD ?  

Let us begin by first looking at ...

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT GOD

 

1.  THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD

    • Mark 12:29 ... Deuteronomy 6:4 ... Deuteronomy 4:35,39 ... Isaiah 45:21 ... Isaiah 46:9 ... 1 Corinthians 8:4-6   

 

2.  THE ONE GOD IS MORE THAN ONE

    • Genesis 1:26 ... Genesis 1:1-3 ... Isaiah 48:16

 

3.  THE ONE GOD IS MADE UP OF MORE THAN ONE PERSON

    • God the Father … God the Son … God the Holy Spirit
    • JESUS CHRIST IS GOD  ... John 1:1-2,14 ... John 10:30 ... John 10:31-33 ...  Hebrews 1:8
    • THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ALSO GOD ... Genesis 1:2 ... Psalm 33:6 ... John 14:26 ... John 15:26 ... Acts 5:1-4 ... Ephesians 4:30

 

4.  GOD THE FATHER AND GOD THE SON ARE ONE BEING 

    • John 14:9 ... Hebrews 1:1-3 ... John 10:30 ... John 17:11 ... John 17:21-22

 

5.  GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON and GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE ONE GOD BEING   

    • Matthew 28:19   Acts 20:28   2 Corinthians 13:14  1 Peter 1:2

 

WHY THE DOCTRINE OF A TRIUNE GOD BECAME NECESSARY

Judaism was/is a monotheistic religion.

  • The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4)

Jesus came hinting/saying that He was God ... and doing things that only God could do.

  • I and the Father are one.
  • Before Abraham was I AM.
  • He would raise the dead, forgive sins.

So the question became ... IF there is only one God (and no one can see God and live), THEN how could Jesus also be God, as the apostles were saying (as John wrote in John 1:1-2,14)?

How could the Word BE God and WITH God at the same time ... IF there is only one God?

 

 

PROBLEM QUESTIONS

  1. IF the Trinity is so important … THEN why is “Trinity” not found in the Bible? … but concept is … just as omnipresent, omniscient is not in the Bible
  2. IF John 17:3 says that God is the only true God … THEN how can Jesus be God? Remember John 1:1
  3. IF John 14:28 says that the Father is greater than Jesus … THEN how can Jesus be God? … in some sense … in personal sense (in Personhood, NOT in Being) … NB: He doesn’t say God is greater than Me, but the Father (one Person)  … Cf. Philippians 2 … Christ did not consider equality with God something to be grasped B/C He was equal to God
  4. IF Jesus is God, THEN why did He pray to God? … Did Jesus pray to Himself? … as a Person, NOT as a Being …
  5. IF God is the Father of Jesus, THEN How can Jesus be God … IF God is His Father? … B/C He is a different Person, even though NOT a different being.
  6. IF, according to Colossians 1:15, Jesus is the firstborn of the creation, THEN that implies He was created … so how can He be God IF He is a created being? cannot be God does not say He is created, but that He is the exact image … Firstborn is not about creation, but about position … Colossians 1:16 shows He is the uncreated Creator B/C He created all things
  7. Why didn’t Jesus just say He is God? … He did, which is why Jews tried to stone Him.

 

 

The Trinity – by 3-Minute Theology

The Trinity in 3 Minutes – Nabeel Qureshi

The Trinity Explained – by Jon Oleksiuk

God in 3 Persons – by Jon Oleksiuk

Questions and Responses re: THE TRIUNE GOD (#WeBelieve)

1.1 Who is the God Christians worship?

In accordance with the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, the God we worship is one divine Being in three eternal, co-essential, yet distinct Persons — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

  • Mark 12:29  Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 
  • 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, 
  • Acts 20:28  Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. 
  • 2 Corinthians 13:13  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of[e] the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
  • Hebrews 10:29  How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? 
  • 1 Peter 1:2  who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood:  May grace and peace be yours in abundance. 
1.2 What does being triune tell us about God’s nature?  

That God is the eternal communion of holy love shared by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

1.3 Does that mean there are three Gods?  

No. The triune God is one God who exists eternally as three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The triune God is one in being and three in Persons.

1.4 How can God be both one in being and three in Persons?  

Though we cannot know exactly how God’s being functions since we are mere creatures, we can say that, unlike human persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are related to each other in such an absolutely unique and profound way that they are one in being.

The oneness of God’s being is a tri-unity.

1.5  Are the three Persons of the Trinity three different ways God acts towards his creation, or three roles the one God plays?  

No, in the being of God there is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit who know, love and glorify each other for all eternity.

There never was a time when God was not triune.

1.6 Is one of the Persons of the Trinity the origin of the others, and thus superior?

No.  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are equally eternal and divine and share the same authority and power, and have the same mind, will and purpose in all things.

1.7 Does the equality of the three divine Persons mean that they are interchangeable with each other?  

No.

The divine Persons are not interchangeable “parts” of God.

Each has a unique relationship of holy love to the other two, and each has an eternal name that reveals their real personal distinction.

1.8 What are the unique relationships in the being of the triune God that are not interchangeable?  

The Father eternally begets the Son,

the Son is eternally begotten by the Father,

and the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and through the Son.

1.9 Do the three divine Persons act independently of each other towards creation?  

No.

All the works of the triune God toward his creation are indivisible ... since God is one in being and of one mind, will, authority and holy love.

1.10 Is there no difference, then, in how the three divine Persons relate to creation?  

There is a difference ... for though the acts of the divine Persons are undivided, each contributes uniquely to the perfectly united works of the one triune God.

1.11 How can we speak of the unique contributions of the three divine Persons without separating their works?

We could say that one of the Persons initiates, or takes the lead, in one or another of the distinct and gracious acts towards the triune God’s creation, while the others perfectly follow in complete harmony with each other.

1.12 What are the primary acts of the triune God towards creation?  

The Father is most associated with creation,

the Son with redemption,

and the Holy Spirit with bringing all things to perfection.

However, all three of the divine Persons are involved in all the works of the one triune God.

1.13 Why did the triune God create?

Because the triune God is a living, loving and generative God who creates for the sake of communion and holy love with his creation.

1.14 Why did the triune God redeem creation?  

From the beginning, God’s human creatures, in distrusting God, have alienated themselves and sought to live autonomously from their good, faithful and life-giving Creator.

But because the triune God is a faithful and loving God who does not give up on his creatures, God himself made a way for them to be reconciled to him and thus return to fullness of communion with him as their Lord and Savior.

1.15 Why does the triune God now work to perfect the creation? 

Because the triune God is a communion of perfect holy love who created us to share in the triune God’s love and life for all eternity and in that way give glory to God.

1.16 How can we finite creatures know, love and trust the triune God?  

The triune God has the desire, will and ability to make himself known to his human creatures who do not have the desire, the will, or the ability to know God on their own.

That revelation, which culminated in the Father’s personal self-revelation in Jesus Christ, has, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, been preserved for us in the Holy Scriptures.

1.17 What do the Holy Scriptures say about the triune God? 

The Bible records Jesus’ teaching concerning the eternal names of the divine Persons of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and the relationships in the eternal being of God — most specifically knowing, loving and glorifying one another.

Coming from the eternal communion of the Trinity, Jesus is the only one who can tell us surely and authoritatively that God, from eternity, is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Only the Father knows the Son, and only the Son knows the Father and those to whom the Son has chosen to reveal him.

1.18 What do Christians understand from the Holy Scriptures about the character of the triune God revealed by Jesus Christ? 

We learn that the character, mind, purpose, will and heart of the triune God is identical to what we see and hear in Jesus Christ, demonstrated by what he accomplished in his earthly ministry.

Those who have met and seen the Son have indeed met in him the Father.

We know the Father by knowing the Son.

They are united in such a way that they have the same nature, character, heart, mind, will, authority, power and purpose.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top