3. In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. It is fair to say that in much of the church today the Trinity is a
neglected doctrine. If you were to think about how we pray or sing, or what is taught in our churches, you may find it difficult to discover what we believe about God as he is revealed in the Bible.
It is also true to say that the Trinity is a
misunderstood doctrine. If we do teach about the trinity, it is often using unhelpful illustrations like an egg (yolk, white and shell), or H2O (water, ice and steam). This leaves most of us with ideas about the Trinity which were condemned as heretical by church councils years ago!
However the Trinity is a
vital doctrine. It is so important we grasp what the Bible teaches about who our God is. We do not make God up, he has revealed himself to us, and he tells us that he is the Trinity. Our salvation is at stake in the doctrine of the Trinity – much of the hard thinking and biblical study that went into formulating the doctrine came as a result of attacks on the identity of Jesus Christ, and therefore on his work. Many, if not most of the great creeds and confessions of the early church were formulated precisely to get right what the Bible teaches about the trinity.
It is important to emphasise that the Trinity is a
Biblical doctrine. Although the word “Trinity” is never used, the concept is clearly taught as we learn from our one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
It is nevertheless a
difficult doctrine, and this is only to be expected as we are talking about God, who as the confession has already taught us is altogether unlike who we are. We are at the very edges of our understanding as we come to this topic. We must hear and submit to what we are told about the Trinity, we cannot just dismiss it as “too difficult”. Yet as we put all we are taught together we must recognise that in doing so we may have to use words and language carefully when referring to our creator, but not quite in the same way as we may use it when referring to created things.
There are some very clear boundaries we need to set in place when we are thinking about the Trinity, and they are these (we must never deny any one of these statements)
- There is one God.
- The one God eternally exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- The Father is God, The Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God.
- The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct from one another.
Point 3 of Chapter 2 of the Westminster Confession of Faith is upholding all of these statements.
THE ONE GOD EXISTS AS THREE PERSONSThis point stresses “the unity of the Godhead”. There is no more foundational Biblical truth that “there is one God”. Deuteronomy 6:4 (the Shema) was the basic statement of faith for the Jews. In James 2 we are told that even the demons believe this. This stands against atheism (the belief there is no God, which is foolishness and a suppression of the truth), and against polytheism (the belief there are many Gods). It also underlines all we have seen in chapter 2 of the WCF. If there is one God, he is consistent and reliable and faithful.
However the one God is not a lonely, isolated one. He exists as “three persons”. He has always, eternally existed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are distinctions between the three persons, but we must not understand the word “person” here in the same way as we think of human persons (clearly separate beings). They dwell in communion in the divine nature without being compounded.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not three masks for the one God, as if sometimes he appears as Father, sometimes as Son, sometimes as the Holy Spirit. No – just think back to the baptism of Jesus (Luke 3) where we see all 3 in action together.
All 3 persons are of “one substance” (think “Godness”, what makes God to be God), “one power” (none are more or less powerful than the other), and “one eternity (they have always been three in one).
There are many places in the Bible where the Father is said to be God (e.g. John 6:27). The Son is said to be God clearly in John’s prologue (John 1:1-18), in Colossians (1:15-20, 2:9), in many places in the gospels Jesus audience knew exactly what he was claiming by his words and works. The Holy Spirit is said to be God in a very revealing incident in Acts where Anaias and Saphira are judged for their lies – they lied against God/the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel of John in particular emphasises the Trinity. The close connection, and also the distinctions between Father, Son and Spirit come through. The words and actions of the Son are the words and actions of the Father, which the Spirit will continue to do. Yet it is clear they have distinctive tasks (you cannot say that the Father died on the cross for our sins for example).
The Trinity comes together in some of the key formulas used in the New Testament. We are to go into all the world baptising in the name (notice, the ONE name) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We often say the grace together from the end of 2 Corinthians – a verse which emphasises God is Trinity (“the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit”).
As we think about all this we begin to see the problems with most, if not all, of the common illustrations and children’s talks we give for the Trinity. You cannot illustrate God! Nothing is simultaneously three and one (particular h20 atoms are never water and steam at the same time).
However the Trinity is a vital doctrine today to emphasise and teach, particularly as we think about the challenges facing us in our culture. Many people either emphasise plurality (post modern society, no absolutes) or unity (Islam). We can tell people of the God who is both one (therefore there is truth and certainty and absolutes), but also three (so there can be real relationships with him and in his universe, there can be real community and distinctiveness).
THERE IS ORDER WITHIN THE TRINITYThe last sentence in this point in the WCF is emphasising the fact that there is an order within the Trinity. It is an easy statement to misunderstand. The equality of the persons is not being denied, nor is it saying that the Father created the Son who then both created the Spirit. Notice the key word “eternally” in both statements. This is how it has always been.
“The Son is eternally begotten of the Father”. This statement draws together what the Bible says about the Son being “of the Father” in John 1:14, 18 to show that in some way the Son has always been a Son to the Father. It also emphasises the Son is of the same being as the Father, upholding his divinity.
The Spirit is also fully God, being sent by the Father and Son acting as their executive agent (in a sense) in the world to do their will. The Spirit knows the mind of the Father and the Son.