May 25, 2023
By Elijah McSwain, Sr.
Many people are baffled about the unity of God in the operation of the Godhead. There is much confusion in regards to the person of God and how each person operates within the Godhead. The vast majority of people outside the community of faith have a hard time fathoming the dimensions of God. At the same time, many professing believers have a hard time trying to explain the nature of God in the Trinity. As God has revealed Himself primary through nature and the Scriptures, it behooves us to consider the revelatory means of His being, His existence, His person, and His nature among other things as He has made known unto us via His trichotomy.
The Trichotomy of God
Often, when people speak of God, He is spoken of by His plural name, Elohim, as well as by words that are descriptive of explaining His plural form, by the use of a theological phrase like “The Trinity”. Paul Little asserted that “at the heart of the Christian view of God is the concept of the Trinity. Rather than being “excess baggage”, as the late Episcopal Bishop James A. Pike called it, this truth is central to an understanding of biblical revelation and the Christian gospel. The word Trinity does not occur anywhere in the Bible, but the fact is inescapable and does not mean the idea is a late development or a product of philosophic speculation. It is a teaching revealed to us: God is one being, but He exists in three persons. God is one in His essential being, but the “divine essence” exists in three modes or forms, each constituting a Person, yet in such a way that the divine essence is wholly in each Person.” 3
There is ample evidence in the Scriptures that the Godhead is a unity made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We should not feel that it is an insult to our intelligence in trying to understand this revealed truth as recorded in Scripture.
“Let us be as open to the truth as that converted Indian who gave the following illustration, imperfect though it is, for his belief in the Trinity: ”We go down to the river in winter and we see it covered with snow; we chop through the ice, and we come to the water. He states that a person must realize that snow is water, ice is water, and water is water; therefore, the three are one.” In this way, God demonstrates His triune nature through the natural world.”4
The Bible frequently uses God’s name in Hebrew to denote Him in His plural form as well as through other means by which He reveals Himself to mankind. A prime example of this can be seen in Genesis 1:1, where it is written, “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In this passage, all of creation is said to be created by the triunity of the Godhead. The use of plural pronouns also indicates the plural form of God when He speaks of Himself. The following Scriptures outline this very notion.
Genesis 1:26 declares, “let Us make man in Our image according to Our likeness.”
Isaiah 6:8 poses question, “Who will go for Us?”
Genesis 3:22 insinuates “behold man has become as one of Us.”
The use of plural words like Us and Our implies the trinitarian essence of God as three in one, namely the Trinity. Matt Perman avowed that “the doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Stated differently, God is one in essence and three in person. These definitions express three crucial truths: (1) the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, (2) each Person is fully God, (3) there is only one God.” 5
God is personified as one God who reveals Himself in three Persons; who all share the attributes of being coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial Persons as they share the same divine nature.
The Bible speaks of God the Father as God in Philippians 1:2, while Jesus Christ is referred to as our God and great Savior according to Titus 2:13, and the Holy Spirit is referred to as God in Acts 5:3-4 by the indication from Peter stating that Ananias had lied to the Holy Spirit in verse three and as further expressed in verse four as lying to God. The mention of these verses which indicate each Person as God, clearly shows forth the personification of God being unmistakably distinct as three Persons, while at the same time manifesting Himself as one God. Matt Perman confirms that, “while the three members of the Trinity are distinct, this does not mean that any is inferior to the other. Instead, they are all identical in attributes. They are equal in power, love, mercy, justice, holiness, knowledge, and all other qualities.” 5 The Trinity are equal in divine perfection. When Isaiah spoke of God, he indicated that God was holy; which signified that God is the paradigm of perfection and purity as He is excellent, righteous, and blameless in all His way. Isaiah 6:3 describes God as “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” Jesus is declared as the Holy One of God (Luke 4:34). Whereas, the name of the Holy Spirit entails of His holiness alone.
To reiterate an insert from Paul Little‘s book entitled, Know What You Believe, that was previously discussed in the blog, The Holiness and Worthiness of God. He states, “holiness is a moral attribute of God. Holiness is the sum total perfection of God, perhaps the most comprehensive of all of God’s attributes. It is a term for the moral excellence of God and His freedom from all limitations to His moral perfection. Only God is holy. He is therefore the standard of ethical purity by which His creatures are measured.” 3
The Trinity advocates truth, the absolute truth. This is evident in the trichotomy of God as recorded in the Scriptures. God’s Word is regarded as the truth in Psalm 86:11 and Psalm 119:160). Jesus is referred to as the way, the truth, and the life in John 14:6. The Spirit is exemplified as the Spirit of truth who leads and guides individuals into all truth as stated in John 14:17 and John 16:13. Thus, it is evidently clear that the Persons of the Godhead are all one In being, one in mind, one in operation, one in position, one in mission, one in Lordship, one in authority, one in creation, and one in every facet as God.
As Wayne Grudem writes, “when we speak of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together we are not speaking of any greater being than when we speak of the Father alone, the Son alone, or the Holy Spirit alone.” 5
Hence, the doctrine of the Trinity helps us to understand God. It is foundational to Christianity as a revelatory means to express God as one God who distinctively operates in three Persons.
The Work of the Godhead in Redemption
Charles Stanley, once said. “while there is only one God, the Godhead consists of three distinct persons - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All are equally omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal, and unchanging, but each has unique functions.” 1 Each Person of the Godhead undertakes a difference role in the trichotomy of the Godhead. In respect to the distinction of Persons in the Trinity, it showcases the executional role in their distinct but harmonious offices in the work of redemption. As the roles of the Trinity are being considered, their distinct but harmonious offices can be summed up in that the Father orchestrates all things, the Son of God Redeems, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies. God the Father as the orchestrator gives direction to all things. He originated a plan of salvation for the fallen world in eternity past. He predestined that Jesus would be the personification and means of salvation. Ephesians 1:3-4 is inscribed, “blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love.” God in His omniscience already knew that humanity would fall from the holy state that they were created and fashioned in after the likeness of the Trinity. The event known as “The Fall” would cause a disconnect between humanity and our Maker; while at the same time it introduced sin, condemnation, and spiritual death as a result of transgressing the law of God. However, God elected to provide a solution to the problematic issue of sin that He foreknowledge would enter the ranks of the world shortly after creation. “The orchestration of God‘s plan to provide salvation for a fallen world was not contingent upon anything that humanity would contribute but it was solely based on His own choice to demonstrate His divine love, His forgiveness, and His plan of rescue in alignment with His sovereign purpose for humanity.” 6
It is in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus that all God’s purposes for His people are brought to pass. 1 John 5:11 reveals, “and this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”
God graciously gave Jesus to the world as the manifestation of His plan of salvation.
The reality of this testimony that Jesus is the Son of God proceeds from the very essence of God Himself to set forth the precedence that God is ultimately the source and mastermind behind the great redemption work of salvation. God the Father elected to display His plan of salvation to a lost world, for the purpose of mankind having the opportunity to be restored to a place of holiness like that of our original position in creation as represented through Adam. Also, His provisionary means provided a way of escape from eternal punishment, facing the wrath of His judgment, condemnation, spiritual death, and eternal suffering for being alienated from God as sinners.
As it relates to Jesus, He is the personification of redemption. “Redemption is the divine act in and through which the forces that threaten life and creation are overcome.”9
Redemption in the Bible entails of a divine act, whereby, "a payment is given to account for the ransom and penalty of sin." 10
Jesus is our Redeemer. Jesus paid the sin debt that we owed for violating the law of God. The payment for the malady of sin was steep. In fact, it was too steep for humanity to pay. The payment that was required involved divine holiness and perfection. This is no shape, form, or fashion could ever be produced among humanity outside of the Person of Jesus Christ. Therefore, God sent Jesus into the world to be our Redeemer and the ultimate sacrifice to appease His holy disposition toward the vile nature of sin. Ephesian 1:7 provides insight that “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.” John MacArthur writes, “the term used here relates to paying the required ransom to God for the release of a person from bondage. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross paid that price for every elect person enslaved by sin, buying them out of the slave market of iniquity (see notes on 2 Cor. 5:18, 19). The price of redemption was death (cf. Lev. 17:11; Rom. 3:24, 25; Heb. 9:22; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19; Rev. 5:8–10)." 7
The role and work of the Holy Spirit involves the process of sanctification. The terminology of the word “sanctification” means to make holy. The Holy Spirit acts as a Sanctifying Agent by setting us apart for holy service unto God. He consecrated believers to adhere to the will of God and at the same time to resist following the systematic ways of the world.
The Holy Spirit molds us into the likeness of God by reforming our thinking, conduct, and lifestyle to mirror that of Jesus Christ the Son. The work of the Holy Spirit consists of empowering Christians to live a life of obedience and submission unto God.
Sanctification of the Holy Spirit is the process by which Christians are being freed from the influence of sin and are no longer held hostage to its power of imprisonment. The reality of being set free from sin’s stronghold enables every believer to realize the will of God for his or her life and live out God‘s will in the frame of our lifestyle. 1 Peter 1:2 highlights that, God the Father knew you and chose you through sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Yielding to the Holy Spirit enables every believer to diminish our ungodly desires, our own agenda, and our own plan for our lives as we willingly submit to the purposes and plan of God for us. It is a means for the community of faith to denounce sinful impulses and pursuits by gravitating toward the things of God as we are guided by His Spirit. Obedience is our chosen pursuit as opposed to following after vile passions that attempt to surface in our lives.
“The elect status is associated with the saving action of all three members of the Trinity: its basis is the Father‘s foreordination, its manifestation in time by the Spirit’s sanctification and its aim is that Jesus’ death might be applied, leading to the people‘s obedience.” 8
References
https://www.christianity.com/wiki/god/the-roles-of-the-trinity.html?amp=1
William Evans. The Great Doctrines of the Bible
Paul Little. Know What You Believe
https://www.studylight.org/pastoral-resources/sermon-illustrations-archive.html
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-doctrine-of-the-trinity
Believer‘s Bible Commentary
The MacArthur Study Bible
The Grace and Truth Study Bible
Terence Fretheim. The Reclamation of Creation: Redemption and Law in Exodus.
Elijah McSwain. The Great Debate Over the Doctrine of Salvation