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I. Biblical Teaching on the TrinityA. Jesus' Teaching Regarding the Trinity1. Jesus On the Oneness of GodJesus affirmed that God is one. When asked what is the most important commandment in the Old Testament, He affirms Deuteronomy 6:4. (Mark 12:29) Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord.'” 2. Jesus' relationship with the Fathera. John 8:51-59i. The context – Jesus is in a heated discussion with the Pharisees and other Jews. Jesus has been trying to show them their sinfulness and their own need for salvation. Furthermore that by believing in Him, they “will never taste of death” (v. 52). The Jews respond by stating that Abraham and the prophets died, and question Jesus as to who exactly he thinks he is. Does he really regard himself as more than Abraham (vs. 52-53)? Jesus' response astounds these people. In verse 56 He states, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” This was a preposterous claim. Jesus was a relatively young man who was claiming to have seen Abraham. The Jews believe Jesus is insane for making this statement. ii. The claim – Jesus' response is an even more preposterous (or shall we say blasphemous) statement: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Note, he does not say that before Abraham was born, he was. He said I AM. He is specifically using this to assert his claim that He is Yahweh, the Great I AM. He is claiming to be God himself, in the flesh, having existed from eternity past, self-existent, independent, and here willing to reach down and redeem His people. iii. The response – The Jews understand this claim and immediately seek to execute this blasphemer. But what should our response to this be? What is the relationship that Jesus has to the God of Israel, Yahweh? Jesus is clearly claiming to be Yahweh. Yet He has also distinguished himself in this passage from the Father, “whom you say, ‘He is our God.'” (vs. 54). He states that He and the Father are both God, but are distinct persons with different roles. b. John 10:22-39i. The context – The Jews directly ask Jesus again, who He is. Is He the Christ? ii. The claim – Jesus responds by telling them in verse 30, “I and the Father are One.” They pick up stones, ready to kill Him. But He asks why? He cites his works as evidence of this oneness with the Father, and then reasserts the claim in verse 38, “the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” iii. The response – The Jews do not misunderstand His claim. Again they seek to kill Him. Jesus is claiming a special relationship with the Father. In verse 30 He claims unity with the Father. They are One. But He also shows a distinction between the two, stating that the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father. The grammatical gender of the word “one” is neuter, meaning that Jesus was not claiming to be the same person as the Father, but was united with the Father and was as divine as the Father [1]. 3. The relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father and Son (John 14:23-26)Jesus does not just claim a special relationship with the Father, but with another person: The Spirit. In John 14:23, Christ promises that the Father and He will together abide in those who love Him. But how will this abiding take place? In verse 26 we see that the Father will send, in the name of Christ, a Helper, the Holy Spirit. This Helper will teach, bear witness of Jesus (15:26), convict (16:8-9), and guide into truth (16:13) This third person, the Holy Spirit, is distinguished from the Father and the Son, and yet is closely tied into the work of the Father and the Son. The work of the Spirit involves things that only God can do (i.e. convict of sin and righteousness), thus demonstrating Jesus belief that the Spirit was divine. 4. ConclusionJesus taught that there is only one God. Yet Jesus regards himself in a united relationship with the Father. The Jews rightly interpreted that in claiming to be united to the Father, Jesus was declaring himself to be equal in divinity to the Father. Jesus also taught that another like himself, the Holy Spirit, was divine, yet distinct in His role. B. The Old Testament Teaching Regarding the Trinity1. The Unity of God (Deut. 6:4)The clarity of Deuteronomy 6:4 demands that we regard this passage as definitive in the nature of God. “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is One!” There is only one God, and that One God is unified, in perfect balance. But while the concept is simple, that does not necessitate that God himself is simple, or of only one personality. Merely that whatever His nature is, it will be unified and completely consistent with the rest of His character. The word “One” used in this passage is also used in Genesis 2:24, where the institution of marriage is founded. Here, God declares that a husband and wife “shall become ONE flesh.” Certainly there are still two distinct persons within the marriage, but in some mystical sense, a husband and wife are of one substance, or flesh. They are united. So it is with God. He is one substance, united. 2. The Angel of YahwehThe Old Testament frequently discusses an entity known as "The Angel of Yahweh," The entity is usually bringing a message to a person, and while distinct from God himself, speaks with the authority of God. This again shows that there are personal distinctions within the unified God. (Gen. 22:11-18, Ez. 3:2) 3. The Spirit of GodThe Sprit of God is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament, and is shown as an entity from God, possessing attributes of God, who indwells certain people at certain times. Most commonly, the prophets were indwelled by the Sprit of God (Ez. 2:2, 3:24). But also, the early monarchs of the unified nation Israel received the Spirit. Saul, in 1 Samuel 10:10 received the Sprit of God upon His anointing. An in 1 Samuel 16:13ff, the Sprit of God leaves Saul and descends upon David. As such, the concept of the Holy Spirit was not new with the teachings of Jesus. While the Old Testament does not overtly declare the Holy Spirit to be God, the work of the Spirit in the lives of those in whom it dwelled is work that can only be accomplished by God himself. 4. The relationship of the Spirit to Yahweh (Isaiah 48:12-16)God speaks in this prophecy to Judah through the prophet Isaiah, to comfort them with His coming deliverance from Babylon. God first identifies himself in verse 12 as three “I am's.” “I am He, I am the first, I am the last.” This is clearly Yahweh, the self-existent one who exists from eternity past to eternity future. He then assures them that He is in control of what is happening with the Babylonians and that He is "against" Him. (Contrast this with how the name of Yahweh assures Israel that He is for them) In verse 16 we seem to still have Yahweh speaking, discussing how He is going to deliver Israel. Yet the speaker says, “The Lord Yahweh has sent Me and His Spirit.” If Yahweh is sending the speaker, then who is this speaker, this I am first and last, spoken of in verse 12? Here it seems there is a unity of Yahweh who has distinct persons with different roles to play sent by the Father. The comparison does not end there, for we see in verse 17 that Yahweh, our God is the one who teaches and guides us. Yet this is specifically a role set forth for the Holy Spirit in John 17. Furthermore, verse 16 describes the going forth of the Spirit. This would lend proof to the unity of the Spirit of God with God himself. C. The New Testament Teaching Regarding the Trinity1. The Unity of God in the New TestamentThe New Testament does not does not contradict the Unity of God, and in fact, reaffirms the Oneness of God. This fundamental belief is taken for granted in James 2:19, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 and 1 Timothy 2:5. However, the coming of Christ and the Holy Spirit raised questions as to how exactly these persons fit with the unity of God. 2. The Distinction of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the New TestamentWhile the unity of God is assumed in much of the New Testament, these books also emphasize the distinctness and uniqueness of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:4-6, in a passage reminiscent of Deut. 6:4, declares that there is not just one God and Father, but also one Spirit, and one Lord (i.e. Christ). 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 exhibits this same distinctness and unity. The distinction is not just in form, but also in role. Ephesians 2:18 is one example of how access to the Father is shown as coming through Jesus in the Spirit. I John 4:12-15 and 1 Peter 1:2 also show similar roles. Finally, Matthew 28:19, Jesus tells his disciples to baptize “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Clearly the New Testament teaches these three entities are distinct. 3. Other Important Passagesa. Colossians 1:15Jesus is declared to be the image of God, the firstborn of all creation. This has caused some to believe that Christ is a created being, not equal to God. In this view, Jesus is still “semi-divine,” being the “first born.” This is the Greek word “proto-to'kos,” meaning the first born. However, if the accent symbol is moved back one syllable, the word is now “pro-tot'-okos,” it changes the verb to the passive voice. This would change the meaning to ‘the first bearer of all creation.” Accents were not included in the Greek text until the 16 th century, and the changing of such an accent can have a profound difference in meaning [2]. b. John 1:14Jesus is said here to also be the “only begotten” of the Father. Again, this is used to state that Jesus was created by the Father, thereby making him not fully divine. However, the term only-begotten can also be translated, “one-of-a-kind,” or “unique.” This is confirmed by the usage of the same word in Hebrews 11:17, where Isaac is considered Abraham's “only-begotten” son, when Isaac was neither the only son nor even the first born son of Abraham (that distinction belonging to Ishmael) [3]. In both the Colossians and the John passage, the term begotten or first born speaks not to Christ being created, but being of first priority. John 1:1 makes that clear, showing that Christ was with God already in the beginning, and that Christ was indeed God from eternity past. c. 1 John 5:6-8Certain later manuscripts found in the West include the words: …in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one And there are three that testify on earth, the Spirit. This, however, is not found in most of the earliest manuscripts, and in none of the manuscripts found in the Eastern Mediterranean. In the West there was a prevalent heresy called Arianism (see below) which denied the Trinity. Therefore most scholars today beieve this passage was not part of the original manuscript, but was added here to combat the Arian heresy [4]. D. ConclusionsBased on these scriptures, here are some truths about God:
Footnotes
[Next: Historial Development of the Trinity]
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