Plural pronouns refer to God. Genesis makes curious use of
plural pronouns in two passages:
God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”
(Genesis 1:26).
God addresses another being like himself. Psalm 110:1 seems
to reference the Father and Son when it says, “Yahweh (God) says to my Lord, ‘Sit
at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.’”
Isaiah 48:16 appears to reference the Father and Holy Spirit
when it says, “Come you near to me, hear you this; from the beginning I have
not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord
God has sent me, and his Spirit.”
In an ancient world that worshiped multiple gods, Judaism
and Christianity uniquely served one God. (For a discussion on how Christianity
emerged from Judaism, see Chapter 10.) Both the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6:4)
and New Testament (Mark 12:29) reinforce that point continually. But the fact
that the Bible hammers on this basic fact over and over again is usually the
biggest stumbling block for people in accepting the Trinity – because they
often think that the Trinity represents three gods. However, Christians believe
that the Trinity maintains the unity and oneness of God.
As I show you in the preceding bullets, although the Old
Testament emphasizes that one God exists, it also suggests that something
deeper and more mysterious lies under the cover when humans consider who God
is. It’s only later, in the New Testament, that these clues develop more fully.
If God is a Trinity, then you may legitimately ask why the
Old Testament isn’t more explicit. One possible explanation is that, other than
Israel, the cultures of that day were invariably polytheistic (worshiped
multiple gods). As a result, the Trinity may be easily misunderstood as meaning
three gods. Therefore, it was perhaps most important to first hammer the point
home about the oneness of God before telling the rest of the story. (See the “An
argument of convenience?” sidebar.)
An argument of convenience?
Just because the Old Testament doesn’t make the Trinity crystal
clear doesn’t automatically make attempts to justify this idea mere arguments
of convenience. In fact, you see the practice of revealing only part of the
full story all the time in the world. Think, for example, of that 1980s
neo-classic movie The Karate Kid. If you recall, Daniel is a teenager who wants
to learn to be a karate expert and eventually talks an old master, Mr. Miyagi,
into teaching him. However, when the training begins, Mr. Miyagi doesn’t begin
in the gym. For two weeks, he makes Daniel wash his cars repeatedly, using the
same hand and arm motions. Daniel grumbles, wondering why he’s wasting his time
washing cars rather than learning karate when the big match is quickly
approaching. However, after Daniel gets to the gym, it becomes clear that Mr.
Miyagi was teaching him karate all the time – the car-washing technique that
had become second nature to Daniel was actually the basic karate move that he
used to win the karate match. Similarly, the Old Testament concept of God is
true, but it only makes full sense when you look at in the broad context of the
entire Bible.
Putting the pieces together in the New Testament
If the Old Testament shines a pen light at the Trinity, then
consider the New Testament to flash a super-sized spotlight on the idea of “three-in-oneness.”
In particular, the New Testament refers to all three members of the Trinity as
God, clarifies their roles, considers them unified, and treats them as equals.
New Testament refers to each Trinity members as God
The New Testament scriptures talk much about each of the
three members of the Trinity and, at various points, refers to each of them as
God.
Father as God: The Father is certainly the most obvious
reference to God, because the Bible is littered with statements tying the
Heavenly Father with God. Romans 1:7 is one such example: “Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Son as God: In Chapter 5, you explore the ways that Jesus
expresses his divine nature during his earthly ministry. However, in addition
to what Jesus himself said, the Bible has a lot of other references to his
deity, including:
Hebrews 1:8 says, “But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O
God, is forever and ever. The sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of your
Kingdom.’”
After seeing the resurrected Jesus for the first time, the
disciple Thomas exclaims in John 20:28, “My Lord and my God.”
Paul writes in Philippians 2:5-6, “Jesus, being in very
nature (in the form of) God....”
The Gospel of John starts out immediately stressing the fact
that Jesus is God. In 1:1, John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In context, the “Word” is a clear
reference to Jesus Christ.
Peter opens up his second letter with reference to “our God
and Saviour, Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1), and Paul does the same in Titus
(2:13): “Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great
God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.”
It’s easy to get hung up on the term “Son” because
contemporary society usually thinks of a son as someone junior or unequal. Yet,
in biblical times, sonship was thought of as meaning “likeness.” John 5:18 also
expresses this popular understanding of “sonship” in Jesus’ day. In this
passage, John indicates that the Jews tried to kill Jesus because he “called
God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”
Holy Spirit as God: The Holy Spirit is often equated with
God through many parts of the Bible, but perhaps the most specific reference is
in Acts 5. This chapter of the Bible tells the story of Ananias and Sapphira,
two dishonest believers in the early Church. Peter says to Ananias, “Why has
Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?... You haven’t lied to men,
but to God” (Acts 5:3-4).
New Testament distinguishes among Trinity members and their
roles
The three names of the Trinity aren’t just different names
referring to one identity, because the Bible distinguishes each from the others
and shows that they all have distinct roles:
When Jesus was baptized, all three members of the Trinity
were present and active. Luke 3:21 chronicles the events: “Now it happened,
when all the people were baptized, Jesus also had been baptized, and was
praying. The sky was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form as
a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying ‘You are my beloved Son.
In you I am well pleased.’”
Jesus prays to the Father constantly throughout his
ministry, making an unmistakable distinction between his Father in heaven and
himself on earth.
In John 14, Jesus talks to his disciples about the coming of
the Holy Spirit. In several instances, he noticeably refers to each member of
the Trinity:
“I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another
Counselor, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world
can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he
lives with you, and will be in you.”
“If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will
love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him. He who doesn’t
love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the
Father’s who sent me. I have said these things to you, while still living with
you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.”
New Testament refers to Trinity members as “one”
The essential unity of the Trinity is referenced when
Trinity members are called “one.” John 10:30-31 calls the Father and Son “one,”
and Romans 8:9 considers the Spirit and Son “one.”
New Testament associates all Trinity members as equal
Several times, the New Testament associates the Trinity
members together in ways that wouldn’t make sense if they weren’t each
distinctly God. A few examples follow.
Perhaps the best example is in Matthew 28:19-20, when Jesus
gave parting words to his disciples just before he ascended into heaven: “Therefore
go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of
the age.”
In his closing, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13:14, “The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy
Spirit be with you all.”
Throughout the Bible, God makes it clear that he doesn’t
share power with anyone. Therefore, if the Son and Holy Spirit aren’t part of
the same being as the Father, then these verses are nothing more than
heretical, because they treat the three as equals.
The Nicean Creed
The Nicean Creed (referred to by Orthodox Christians as the
Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed) was developed at the Council of Nicaea and
refined at subsequent councils in the fourth century. The creed is significant
because, for over sixteen hundred years, it has served as the definitive
statement on the doctrine of the Trinity and put to rest the question of what
the Church considered acceptable teaching on this matter. It’s also significant
because it’s the lone Christian creed that Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox
Christians all accept. Below is the creed in its final form:
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of
heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from
true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all
things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was
incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our
sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On
the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into
heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in
glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father (and the Son), who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
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