3
– The Doctrine of the Trinity
Yesterday,
we talked about the definition of the term “Trinity.” Today, we’ll look at the distinctions in the
Trinity.
Distinctions in the Trinity
The
New Bible Dictionary (R.A. Finlayson,
“Trinity,” The New Bible Dictionary,
Eerdmans, p. 1300) summarizes certain
recognizable distinctions in the Trinity.
a.
Unity
in diversity
In
most formularies the doctrine is stated by saying that God is One in his
essential being, but that in his being there are three Persons yet so as not to
form separate and distinct individuals.
There are three modes or forms in which the divine essence exists. ‘Person’ is, however, an imperfect expression
of the truth inasmuch as the term denotes to us a separate rational and moral
individual. But in the being of God
there are not three individuals, but three personal self-distinctions within
the one divine essence. Then again,
personality in man implies independence of will, actions and feelings leading
to behavior peculiar to the person. This
cannot be thought of in connection with the Trinity. Each Person is self-conscious and
self-directing, yet never acting independently or in opposition. When we say that God is a Unity we mean that,
though God is in himself a threefold centre of life, his life is not split into
three. He is one in essence, in
personality and in will. When we say
that God is a Trinity in Unity, we mean that there is a unity in diversity, and
that the diversity manifests itself in Persons, in characteristics and in
operations.
b.
Equality
in dignity
There
is perfect equality in nature, honour and dignity between the persons. Fatherhood belongs to the very essence of the
first Person and it was so from all eternity.
It is a personal property of God ‘from whom every family in heaven and
on earth is named’ (Eph. 3:15). The Son
is called the ‘only begotten’ perhaps to suggest uniqueness rather than
derivation. Christ always claimed for
himself a unique relationship to God as Father, and the Jews who listened to
him apparently had no illusions about his claims. Indeed they sought to kill him because he
‘called God his own Father, making himself equal with God’ (Jn. 5:18). The Spirit is revealed as the One who alone
knows the depths of God’s nature: ‘For
the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God . . . No one comprehends
the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God’ (1 Cor. 2:10f.). This is saying that the Spirit is ‘just God
himself in the innermost essence of his being.’
This puts the seal of NT teaching upon the doctrine of the equality of
the three Persons.
c.
Diversity
in operation
In
the functions ascribed to each of the Persons in the Godhead, especially in
man’s redemption, it is clear that a certain degree of subordination is
involved (in relation, though not in nature); the Father first, the Son second,
the Spirit third. The Father works
through the Son by the Spirit. Thus
Christ can say: ‘My Father is greater
than I.’ As the Son is sent by the
Father, so the Spirit is sent by the Son.
As it was the Son’s office to reveal the Father, so it is the Spirit’s
office to reveal the Son, as Christ testified:
‘He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to
you’ (Jn. 16:14).
It
has to be recognized that the doctrine arose as the spontaneous expression of
the Christian experience. The early Christians
knew themselves to be reconciled to God the Father, and that the reconciliation
was secured for them by the atoning work of the Son, and that it was mediated
to them as an experience by the Holy Spirit.
Thus the Trinity was to them a fact that before it became a doctrine,
but in order to preserve it in the creedal faith of the church the doctrine had
to be formulated.
We’ll
look at Avoidances in Dealing with the Trinity tomorrow.
Doug
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