“God Is Trinity”
Sermon Series: “God Is”
Introduction: According to Jesus in John 17:1-5, the heart of Christianity is knowing God through Jesus Christ. It is not just knowing about God, although that is important as well. Eternal life is not heaven, but eternal life is knowing God, with heaven simply being the location where we physically experience the presence of God for eternity. If you do not want to know God, you would not want to be in heaven. There is no life without God. Eternal life begins the moment we get saved.
1. Definition of the Trinity- First, the Bible clearly asserts from beginning to end that there is only one God. Second, the Bible names three persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: as God. The full deity of each of the persons is affirmed. Third, the Bible affirms that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the one God. Fourth, the Bible teaches that the Father, Son, and Holy are co-eternal and co-equal. Fifth, the Bible
asserts that the three persons are of the same essence but are distinct persons. Sixth, the Bible teaches that the Father, Son, and Spirit work together to accomplish the functions of the Godhead. In summation, the biblical doctrine of the Trinity is that there is one God in three persons. These persons are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are co-eternal, co-equal, and of the same essence but with distinction of persons.
2. Illustration-According to Romans 1:19-20, the Creator is revealed through the creation (the universe and us).
3. One God (this is taught in the Old Testament and New Testament but even the Old Testament implies the Trinity)- The fundamental premise of Old Testament theology is monotheism. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Youngblood writes, “The Book of Genesis begins by assuming that there is only one true God, and that assumption is maintained throughout the OT.” Exodus 20:2-3 says, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.” The theological truth that serves as the foundation for these verses is the fact that God is one instead of
many. Deuteronomy 6:4 is the basic Jewish statement of faith known as the shema. It states, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” In addition, Isaiah 45:5a says, “I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.” Therefore, the Old Testament clearly teaches that there is only one true God. As a result of this clear teaching of monotheism, many people conclude that
it is impossible for the doctrine of the Trinity to be taught in the Old Testament. However, there is more evidence to be considered before this conclusion is hastily drawn. In regard to Deuteronomy 6:4, the Expositor’s Bible Commentary says, “To the Jews v.4 is not only an assertion of monotheism, it is also an assertion of the numerical oneness of God contradictory to the Christian view of the Trinity of the Godhead. This kind of oneness, however, runs contrary to the use of ehad in the sense of a unity made
up of several parts. Ehad “is used of a single bunch of grapes which in turn is divisible into distinguishable individual grapes, rather than yahid, which means uniquely one.” Furthermore, there are verses in the Old Testament that seem to at least imply plurality within the unity of the Godhead. Genesis 1:26a states; “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” This verse asserts (like Gen. 1:1) that there is only one God, but the verse also uses the plural pronouns “us” and “our” in reference to God. Deliberation and communication within the Godhead are also implied in this verse. In addition, in Gen. 11:6, the LORD says, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” The New Testament doctrine of God does not contradict the Old Testament teaching that there is only one true God. 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:20 says, “Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.” Therefore, both testaments clearly teach that God is one.
4. One God in Three Persons- There are passages in the New Testament that refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together. Matthew 28:19 says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” It is important to note that “name” is singular even though it refers to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Gleason Archer says, “This suggests that the name of God is Father-Son-Holy Spirit.”
5. Deity of the Father- In order to establish the doctrine of the Trinity; it must be shown that the New Testament refers to the Father as God, the Son as God, and the Spirit as God; and the New Testament clearly does this. First, the Father is called God. 2 Peter 1:17 says, “For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory.” John 6:27; 1 Cor. 15:24; Gal. 1:1, 1:3;
Eph. 5:20, 6:23; Phil. 2:11; Col. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:2;
2 John 3; and Jude 1 are other verses that use the phrase, “God the Father.” Millard Erickson says, “It is apparent that, for Jesus, God’ and ‘your heavenly Father’ are interchangeable expressions.” In summation, Erickson also says that the Father’s deity “is scarcely in dispute.”
6. Deity of the Son- Jesus is also specifically called God in the New Testament. Hebrews 1:8 records the Father saying to the Son, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.” Therefore, the Son, Jesus Christ, is specifically called God. This is taught in many other places in the New Testament. Matthew 1:23 refers to Jesus as Immanuel, meaning, “God with us.” John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word {and the context clearly refers to Christ}, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In several places in the Gospel of John, including 8:58, Jesus refers to Himself as I AM. This refers back to Ex. 3:14, “where the words stand for the eternal person of YAHWEH.” Doubting Thomas, after seeing the resurrected Christ, exclaimed, “My Lord and My God!” (John 20:28), and Jesus
received this as worship. Romans 9:5 to Christ as the “eternally blessed God.” Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Revelation 1:8 refers to Jesus as “the Almighty.”
7. Deity of the Spirit- The New Testament also refers to the Holy Spirit as God. Acts 5:1-11 contains the story of the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, who received the judgment of God because they lied to God. Peter indicated that they had lied to the
Holy Spirit (v.3). He then proceeded to indicate that they had lied to God (v.4). They had only told one lie, but Peter said they had lied to the Holy Spirit and God. The logical conclusion of this is that the Holy Spirit is God. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says,“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
However, 1 Cor. 6:19 states, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” One of the verses states that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit while the other states our bodies are the temples of God. The verses do not say the Spirit and God. This seems to indicate that they are interchangeable expressions which would put the Spirit on equal footing with the Father. Furthermore, it has already been noted in a previous paragraph that John 1:1 teaches the deity of Christ. In John 14:16, Christ says, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper {the Holy Spirit, according to v. 17}, that He may abide with you forever.” J. I. Packer notes the connection of these two verses in revealing the plurality within the unity of the Godhead. There is a connection because “another” is translated from the Greek word, allos, meaning “another of the same sort”, as opposed to heteros, which means “another of a different sort.” Therefore, the Holy Spirit is of whatever sort Christ is. Therefore, if Christ is God, which He is, the Holy Spirit is also God, and it is His job to continue the ministry of Christ. Further evidence of the deity of the Holy Spirit is revealed in the fact that the Spirit is a person. Packer says, “John underlines the point {that the Spirit is God} by repeatedly using a masculine pronoun (ekeino, ‘he’) to render Jesus’ references to the Spirit, when Greek grammar called for a neuter one (ekeino, ‘it’) to agree with the neuter noun
‘Spirit’ (pneuma): John wants his readers to be in no doubt that the Spirit is he not it.”
8. Relationship of the Three Persons- First, the New Testament clearly teaches that each person within the Triune God is eternal. Psalm 90.2 speaks of the LORD being “from everlasting to everlasting.” The Father is generally assumed to be eternal because of the strong and clear affirmation of His deity. In Hebrews 9:14, the Holy Spirit is actually called “eternal.” The Son is not specifically referred to as eternal but His eternality is clearly taught in the Scriptures. Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End” (Rev. 1:8). John 1:1 states that He was “in the beginning.” This verse is parallel with Gen. 1:1. In John 8:58, Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM {ego eimi}.” Ego eimi means “I have always been.” Colossians 1:16 says, “For by Him {Jesus} all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.” Since Jesus created everything, He is not created, and thus, is eternal. In fact, there has never been a moment in all the eons of eternity that any member of the Godhead was not in existence. Second, the New Testament clearly teaches that each person within the Triune God is equal. John 5:17 records Jesus referring to God as “my Father.” The next verse relates that the Jews tried to kill Him because He “also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.” Jesus is everything He claimed to be so His Father and He are equal. The Holy Spirit is also equal to the Father and the Son. Some passages that speak of the Father, Son, and Spirit name the Spirit before one or both of the others (cf. Rom. 8:12-17 and Rev. 1:4-5 for examples). Packer says, “When the Father is put first and the Son third and the Spirit between them, as here, no room remains for doubt as to the Spirit’s coequality with them.” Third, the New Testament clearly teaches that each person within the Triune God is of the same essence. Jerry Hauhton says, “The divine essence is not divided among three persons, but each one partakes equally of all the attributes of deity so that there is a numerical unity of essence. They are one in essence, but three in person.” Jesus said, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). A. T. Robertson says the Greek grammatical construction does not mean one person, “but one essence or nature.” Therefore, the Father and Son are of the same essence. This truth also extends to the Holy Spirit because He is another of the same sort as Jesus. H. Wayne House lists eternality, power, omniscience, omnipresence, holiness, truth, and benevolence as attributes of deity shown in the Bible to be shared by all three persons of the Trinty. Fourth, the New Testament clearly teaches that each person within the Triune God is distinct from the others. John 1:1 says that “the Word was with God.” The preposition, “with,” pros in the Greek, could be translated as “toward, and it suggests that the Word and the Father were facing one another. Zodhiates says, “John is careful to point out to us that Jesus Christ, the eternal Logos of whom he spoke in the first clause of the first verse, is not the same person as God the Father. He declares that He is a distinct Person and ought not to be confused with the Father.” In addition, Jesus taught His disciples that He must go away in order for the Father to send the Holy Spirit. This clearly shows a distinction among the persons. The passages describing the baptism of Jesus also
clearly demonstrate the distinction. Jesus, the Son, is being baptized, the Father is speaking from heaven, and the Spirit is descending like a dove upon the Son. However, as Wayne House says, “The Godhead exists ‘undivided in divided persons’.”
9. Applications:
A. Salvation-Ephesians 1:3-14
- The Mystical Union-John 14:16-20, 17:20-23
- The Church-Ephesians 5:22-33, 1 Corinthians 12
D. Marriage-Ephesians 5:22-33
E. Spiritual Growth-John 17:17, Colossians 2:6-7, Galatians 5:16
F. Prayer- Christians pray to the Father (Mt. 6:9), through the Son (John 14:6), and with the help of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26). C. S. Lewis clearly states this truth by writing, “What I mean is this. An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God: God, so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God- that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him.”
Conclusion:
A. Life is about knowing God through Jesus Christ. He is what it is all
about, and He is enough at the end of the day and for eternity. B. This should lead to worship.
