God's Trinity Is Scriptural

The Old Testament does not completely reveal the Trinity, but it proves the doctrine of the Triunity is Biblical: (1) The context of Genesis 1 proves that the noun elohim is plural (Gen. 1:1). (2) The plural pronoun “us” is used in recording the creation of man (Gen. 1:26). The transition from theology to anthropology is natural. Scripture does not present an abstract revelation of God, but it gives a revelation of God in relation to His creatures. However, in anthropology one cannot go from man to God, but from God to man. (3) A prophecy of the Son is given (Is. 9:6). (4) “Holy” is repeated three times in reference to God (Is. 6:3). (5) The high priest gave a threefold benediction (Num. 6:24-26). (6) The Holy Spirit is spoken of in a manner that suggests a distinctive subsistence (Is. 48:16).

The New Testament, which gives the greatest clarity of the Trinity, reveals all that God intends His people to presently know. Revelation is progressive; therefore, the mystery of the Trinity is progressively revealed. It reaches its highest clarity in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, which is described in the New Testament. There are more than 70 passages in the New Testament that bring Father, Son, and Holy Spirit into close association with each other. The following are the most outstanding and familiar: (1) the virgin birth (Luke 1:35), (2) Christ’s baptism (Matt. 3:16, 17), (3) Christ’s promise of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16; 15:26), (4) the great commission (Matt. 28:19), (5) Paul’s benediction (II Cor. 13:14), (6) Paul’s description of salvation—chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:1-14), and (7) John’s testimony concerning the three who bear record in heaven (I John 5:6-8).

Many false gods are contrasted with the true and living God: “yet [alla, the strongest adversative meaning yet or on the contrary] for us there is but one God, the Father, from [ek, ablative of source] whom are all things, and we exist for [eis, accusative of result] Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by [dia, ablative of agency, in this instance an intermediate Agent] whom are all things, and we exist through [dia, ablative of agency] Him” (I Cor. 8:6 NASB). The word “one” in reference to God in this verse is masculine gender. It describes the one Father. The word “one” in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ is masculine. It describes the Lord Jesus. When Christ said “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30 NASB), the word “one” is neuter gender. He was saying, “I and My Father are of the same essence.” Jesus Christ is the intermediate Agent between the Father and His elect. He brought all things into existence (John 1:1, 3).

The term “unity” is not easy to explain. It may mean the state of being one single entity (oneness), or it may be the state of being combined with others to form a greater whole. Unity often means more than the antithesis of many. Although the unity of God means there is one God in opposition to the claims of many gods and many lords, the phrase in I Corinthians 8:6 implies whatever internal distinctions may be in the one essence of God. When Jesus Christ came into the world, He did not lay aside His Deity. No one should suppose that “Lord” is less Divine than “God.”

Christian monotheism is distinguished from the heathen concept of many gods in I Corinthians 8:6. There is only one true and living God, and He is the God described in Scripture. There is a special subsisting between Christians and the one Lord and one God. All men are in God by creation (Acts 17:24-28). God is also the Author of the different nations, and He has set the bounds of their habitation. However, Christians are in God by the intermediate agency of Jesus Christ. Through His intermediate agency, they have access to the Father, are separated from all things, and are made a special people to God. Through Christ men become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. They reflect the Divine love manifested in redemption. They are the fruit of Divine grace.

The relationship between Father and Son is not examined in I Corinthians 8:6. The title “Father” in these verses is not in relation to any Person in the Godhead, but the context proves the title is used in relation to His creatures. The proposition is stated that there is one God. Jesus Christ was included within the one Godhead. While all things originated from the Father, they came through the Son: “All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3 NASB). “And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him” (Col. 1:15, 16 NASB). The one true and living God will not share His glory with others: “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another” (Is. 42:8 NASB).

The Father and Son are one in nature and purpose. To those who deny the Trinity, John 10:30 would have to read, “I and My Father is one.” “Trinity” is more than names or manifestations. The oneness of Deity is emphasized throughout Scripture.

There is only one God. The word “God” sometimes denotes the entire Godhead. John 4:24 refers to one true and living God in distinction from a falsely understood god who is to be worshipped at some particular place. Acts 17:24-29 presents the living God as the Creator and Sustainer of all things in contrast to the Athenians’ false gods who could not create anything and who also needed support. God fills heaven and earth (Jer. 23:24). The eternity of God contains all time. The infinity of God contains all space. Therefore, no one can escape His presence any more than he can cease breathing the air.

The word “God” sometimes denotes Deity without reference to either the Trinity or any particular Person in the Godhead. The truth that “The Word was God” (John 1:1), not God was the Word, destroys the heresy of Arianism, which denied that Christ was of the same substance with the Father. The truth that “The Word was with God” destroys the heresy of Sabellianism, which goes back to 256 A.D. Sabellius in 250 A.D. accepted the Deity of the Son and the Spirit but denied their proper personalities. He believed in a trinity of manifestations, but not in an eternal Trinity in the Divine essence. When either the Father or Son or Spirit is designated theos, the word is used in the sense of Deity, not of Trinity.

God is not merely one. He is the only one. God is one God and the only God. When the essence is finite and limited, only one person can be in one essence, but this is not true when the essence is infinite. God’s essence is infinite. The unity of God is unique. There is only one of His kind. There is not one God in three gods, nor one person in three persons. There is one God with three personalities. Each Person in the Godhead is God.

A man called and challenged me to a debate on the Trinity. After several debates, I asked him to give me a written statement of his faith concerning God. He answered, “God is a distinct single entity, namely, who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1) The one true God is the Father. (2) Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (3) The Spirit is the Spirit of God, but I am not definite about the Spirit being a Person.”

Following his statement concerning God, I asked him six questions concerning the Trinity. The following are my questions and his answers: (1) QUESTION—Is there no absolute God but the Father? ANSWER—Yes. (2) QUESTION—Is Jesus Christ a part (member) of the Divine essence? ANSWER—Yes, as man has a fractional part of human nature. (3) QUESTION—Is Christ’s Deity different from the Father’s? ANSWER—It is to be understood in a derived sense when speaking of Christ and in the absolute sense when speaking of the Father. (4) QUESTION—Is Christ’s subordination to the Father one of nature or one of order or office? ANSWER—His subordination is appropriate in the nature. (5) QUESTION—Is more than one essence in the Godhead? ANSWER—Essence is an invented bridge to stop up the holes in the doctrine of the Trinity. (6) QUESTION—Can more than one Person be in the Divine essence? ANSWER—His answer to this question was the same as his answer to the third question.

God is the Father from whom are all things. The word “Father” is not used in I Corinthians 8:6 to express the relation of the first Person to the second Person in the Godhead. He is presented as the Father of creation, not as the first Person in the Trinity. “Father” is a title used several ways in Scripture: (1) It is used in relation to His creatures as Creator (Heb. 12:9; Zech 12:1). (2) The title is used in the source of illumination (James 1:17). (3) It appears in relation to those who have been regenerated (Matt. 6:9; Rom. 1:7; Eph. 1:2; 2:18; 4:6; I Cor. 1:3). The one God is the Father of Christians in a special sense. (4) It is found in the unoriginated relationship with Christ (Matt. 11:27; John 20:17; Rom. 15:6; II Cor. 1:3; 11:31; Eph. 1:3; Heb. 1:5; I Pet. 1:3; Rev. 1:6). There are many creatures called gods, but there is only one true God, the Creator, from whom all things exist.

As there is only one Divine Being, there is only one Mediator between God and man, the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Christians are in God through the intermediate agency of Christ. The second part of I Corinthians 8:6 does not teach redemption by Christ. It would be tautological to say He created all things, and He created man. Jesus Christ is included in the one God, which is the essence. Paul included Jesus Christ after stating the proposition of one God in I Corinthians 8:6.

Plurality in the Godhead is a plurality of distinctions or personalities, not of essence. Speaking of the personality of the essence instead of the Person of the essence is preferable because the essence is not one Person but three Persons. The essence cannot be both one Person and three Persons if employed in one signification. However, essence can be three Persons and one personal Being. Titles belong to Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is God, but not God as such because God is not only Father but also Son and Spirit. The three Persons are neither three gods nor three parts of God. The relation is not of mutual exclusiveness but of mutual inclusiveness. No Person in the Godhead is or can be without the others. The undivided essence of the Godhead belongs equally to each Person—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Phil. 2:1-11). In Him (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead (Col. 2:8, 9).

God transcended. The incarnate Son revealed the Father (John 1:18). Theology must be Christocentric on its historical side, but theocentric on its doctrinal side. Salvation is wrapped up in the doctrine of the Trinity. God is the way to Himself. God alone can satisfy God. God who alone is an absolute One but in whom is no united one may be judge, but He cannot be Savior, Sanctifier, or Mediator. If Christ is not God, there is no revelation of God: “No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (John 1:18 NASB). If God can be revealed only by means of God, God can be appropriated only through God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if the Holy Spirit is not God, the love and self-communication of God to the human soul are not a reality. The Father planned depraved man’s redemption. The Son is the Physician who came to provide the remedy. The Holy Spirit applies the remedy by entering the hearts of the chosen to regenerate them and give them the new principle.

Biblical evidence of the Divine Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is overwhelming. The following are truths attributed to all three Persons in the Godhead: (1) eternality (Deut. 33:27; Eph. 1:4; Heb. 9:14), (2) omnipresence (Jer. 23:24; Matt. 28:20; Ps. 139:7), (3) omniscience (Matt. 11:27—twice; I Cor. 2:10), (4) omnipotence (Ps. 66:3; Matt. 11:27; Zech. 4:6), (5) creation (I Cor. 8:6; John 1:3; Job 33:4), (6) incarnation (Luke 1:35—the Highest overshadowed Mary, the Son of God was born of Mary, and the Holy Spirit came upon Mary), (7) Christ’s death (John 3:16; 10:18; Heb. 9:14), (8) Christ’s resurrection (Acts 2:24, 32; John 2:19; Rom. 8:11), (9) salvation of the elect (Eph. 1:4; I Pet. 1:18-20; John 3:8), (10) indwelling the regenerated (II Cor. 6:16; Eph. 3:17; John 14:17), (11) the Christian’s access (Matt. 6:9; John 14:12, 14; Rom. 8:26, 27), and (12) progressive sanctification of the regenerated (I Pet. 5:10; Phil. 4:13; Eph. 3:16).