The Trinity, Pt. 1

Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

The Trinity We believe in a 3 person God. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit Three separate persons, together as one God. There was never a time that one part of the Godhead existed that another part did not simultaneously exist.

Basic Trinity 3 persons, 1 God

Questions How can God be three AND one? What is the nature of Christ? What is the nature of the Spirit?

Creed of the Council of Nicaea We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, that is from the substance of the Father. He is God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance [homoousios] with the Father.

By him all things were made, things in heaven and on earth By him all things were made, things in heaven and on earth. For us men and for our salvation he came down, was made flesh and became man. He suffered, rose again on the third day and ascended into the heavens. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit.

But the holy catholic and apostolic church anathematizes [curses] those who say: “There was once when he was not” and “He was not, before he was begotten” and “He was made out of nothing” and those who assert that he is from some being or substance other than the Father or that he is mutable or liable to change.

Homoousios or Homoiousios? Does it make an ‘iota’ of a difference?

Nicene Creed from the Council of Constantinople, 381 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 [homoousios] with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men 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.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Eternal Subordination Jesus in equal in essence to the Father, yet he subjects himself (subordinates) himself to the Father.

The Trinity in the Old Testament Genesis 1:26 Genesis 11:7 Psalm 45:6-7 Psalm 110:1 Hosea 1:7

The Trinity in the New Testament Matthew 3:16-17 Matthew 28:19 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 2 Corinthians 13:14 Ephesians 4:4-6

Three Summary Statements There is one God Deut. 6:4, Isaiah 45:5 God is three Persons John 10:30, 1:1, 17:20-21, 14:26, 15:26, 16:7, 16:13-15 Each Person is fully God (Father, Son, Spirit) John 1:2, 20:27 Mark 2, Isaiah 9:6, Acts 5:3-4, 1 Cor. 2:10-11, Ps. 139:7,Psalm 51:10

What the Trinity Is Not— Heresies: Unitarianism Binatarianism Tritheism Dynamic Monarchism (Adoptionism) Modalistic Monarchism (Modalism) Arianism Subordinationism

Filioque Clause Not included in the Creed until 589 “...proceeds from the Father and the Son...”

The Trinity: One God three persons Alike in.... Power Character and Essence Different in... Person and Role In God’s economy, the persons of the Trinity all carry different roles.

“The evangelical world has become a world of virtual Unitarianism. ” J “The evangelical world has become a world of virtual Unitarianism.” J.I. Packer, Knowing God

John Owen, Communion with God “The chief way by which the Saints have communion with the Father is love – free, undeserved, eternal love. This love the Father pours on the Saints. Saints are to see God is full of love to them. They are to receive Him as the one who loves them, and are to be full of praise and thanksgiving to God for his love. They are show gratitude for his love by living a life which pleases him.

John Owen, Communion with God Commonly, the father, the first person of the Trinity, is seen as only full of wrath and anger against sin. Sinful men can have no other thoughts of God.

John Owen, Communion with God But in the gospel, God is now revealed especially as love, as full of love to us. To bring home to us this great truth is the special work of the gospel.

1 John 4 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Four Things to Understand the Father The Love of the Father is Full God’s Love is initiated by Him The Love of the Father is For You God’s Love is Sacrificial

“God’s love is like the sun, always the same and its light, though cloud may sometimes hide it. Our love is like the moon. Sometimes it is full. Sometimes it is only a thin crescent.” John Owen

Four Things to Understand the Father The Love of the Father is Full God’s Love is initiated by Him The Love of the Father is For You God’s Love is Sacrificial

God demonstrates his love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, while we were still running from God, while we were far from God, he loved us… He pursued us, he came after us… Romans 5:8

Four Things to Understand the Father The Love of the Father is Full God’s Love is initiated by Him The Love of the Father is For You God’s Love is Sacrificial

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— Ephesians 2:1-5

Four Things to Understand the Father The Love of the Father is Full God’s Love is initiated by Him The Love of the Father is For You God’s Love is Sacrificial

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 Cor. 4:10

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Cor. 5:21

The Father’s Love Is... Full Initiated By Him Particularly for You Enormously Sacrificial

Next week: Trinity II