RT Kendall - The Trinity

I want to talk to you today about the Trinity, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. So we embark upon one of the most difficult subjects in Christian theology. At the end of the day, we may feel that we're still at sea, but at the least we will learn something. At best, perhaps, we will have a greater appreciation of the Trinity, a greater ability to talk about it, if not defend the Trinity. Now here's part of the problem. The word Trinity is not in the Bible. It's a theological term, not a biblical one. By theological, I mean that it is a term that best expresses what we believe the Bible teaches. By not biblical, we mean that the word itself is never used in Scripture. However, it is, of course, pure biblical teaching. Now some people feel that it's not being explicitly mentioned in the Bible in and of itself is sufficient reason to reject both the term and what it means. But should we reject the book of Esther? Because the name of God is not found in that God-centered book. So the word only or alone is not used by Paul when he quotes Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 4, the just shall live by faith. You may know that Martin Luther saw that faith alone is what was meant. And he was right. He got it right. And Luther got it right. But Paul did not add the word alone or only. It was implied. The doctrine of justification by faith alone is what gave Luther the theological breakthrough that he needed for that wonderful, wonderful teaching. So here's my point. We must not necessarily be suspicious of a word just because it is not found explicitly in the Bible or of a phrase that is used to make a teaching clearer. That's what we're going to do today.

Now I would define the Trinity like this. One God in three persons, Father, Son, Spirit. The God is one in his essential being. But in this being, there are three persons. Though there are three persons, they do not compete with each other. There are three modes or forms in which the divine being manifests himself to us. The three persons are self-distinctive in the one true God. The divine essence is holy in each person. This means that the Father is holy, W-H-O-L-L-Y, entirely God. The Son is holy God. The Spirit is holy, entirely God. Now Jesus is distinct from the Father, but he is truly God, even as much as the Father is God. The Holy Spirit is distinct from the Son and Father, but is truly God as is either the Son or the Father. Well, we may want to ask, is the Trinity the teaching of the Bible or is it the teaching of the church? In other words, is this a carefully expounded teaching in the Bible or is it merely the church's way of explaining God? Well, let me put it this way. The term Trinitas, Latin, was first used by a man by the name of Tertullian. He lived in around 200 A.D., and he also coined the term Persona, Latin, to describe the manifestation of the Father, Son, and Spirit. To those who say it is merely the teaching of the church, it is pointed out that the term is not in the Bible, as I said. The apostles were not bothered by the issue, as far as we can tell, and the term emerged over 150 years after Pentecost. So, is the teaching of the Trinity retroactive truth, or did they use the term merely to explain what is obviously there in Scripture to be taught?

Was it therefore true from the beginning, truth, however, that had not been necessary to grasp at first, but must be grasped now? So if the Trinity is merely the teaching of the Church, do we have to believe it? It could be argued by some that the Church did not always articulate it as we do. Why then must we believe it just because the term became orthodox in the eyes of the Church? Here's the thing. Church history is the laboratory of theology. Issues came up in due time that had not apparently bothered the apostles. Well, some could say it did bother the apostles, that this is why the teaching is there. But clearly there were terms which later emerged, not in the Bible, but which best explained what the Bible meant. The word theology seeks to explain what the apostles had to mean. New terms are employed to make the apostles' meaning clear. We cannot ignore the issues once they emerge. For example, John 1.1, John chapter 1, verse 1, simply says in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John does not say the Word was co-equal with God, but surely he does say that. That's what he means. The point is, a term was added to clarify the meaning. So once a new term has been injected into the picture by church history, we must either accept it or give a good reason for rejecting it. And so it is with the term, the Trinity. The term is with us whether we like it or not. So if we believe that the Holy Spirit is a person, but who is fully God, we're on our way to being Trinitarians in our theology. If we say that Jesus Christ is a person who is fully God, we are on our way to being Trinitarians in our theology. The term cannot be ignored. Once we explain what we mean by it, it is either true or it isn't. Generally speaking, here is partly how the thinking of the early church leaders developed

from the second century. Take the Apostolic Fathers. These are those who succeeded the original apostles in the first century. The title was given to those church leaders of the era immediately succeeding the New Testament period whose works in whole or in part have survived. Take Clement of Rome. He lived in approximately 90 AD. He coordinated the three in an oath when he said, and I quote, as God lives and the Lord Jesus Christ lives and the Holy Spirit. You have it right there. Ignatius, who lived in approximately 107 AD, used the triadic formula but described the Father, Son, and Spirit in a way that gave rise to the idea of what is sometimes called economic Trinitarianism, that is, regarding God as one in his essential being, the Son and Spirit being merely forms or modes of the Father's self-revelation, only distinguishable from him in the persons of revelation. There was a man in the second century. He's known as Hermas. He envisaged three distinct personages, the Master, that is, God the Father, and then his well-beloved Son, that is, the Holy Spirit, and the Servant, that is, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. You see, these men were not as articulate, and it began to grow. Take what is known as the apologists. This is the name given to early Christian writers from around 120 to 220 A.D. who gave a reasoned defense of their faith to outsiders. One of the best known was Justin Martyr, who lived from 100 to 165 A.D. He coordinated the three persons, not calling him that, however. Sometimes quoting the baptismal formula

and defended the veneration given to the father, the son, and the prophetic spirit. A man by the name of Irenaeus, around 180 A.D., he's the first great theologian after apostolic times. Largely, he combated what was known as Gnosticism, but also made statements regarding the Godhead that anticipated Orthodoxy. For example, quote, "'God, the Father, not made, not material, invisible. "'One God, the creator of all things.' "'This is the first point of our faith. "'The second point is the Word.'" Greek word being logos. "'The Son of God, Christ Jesus, our Lord, "'was made man among men, visible and tangible. "'And the third point is the Holy Spirit "'through whom the prophets prophesied "'at the end of the age, "'and he was poured out in a new way.'" And then Tertullian, that I've referred to, lived around 200 A.D., gave the most advanced exposition of the Trinity, employing the terms, as I said, persona, means person, and trinity, from the Latin word trinitas. He stated, quote, "'We believe in only one God, "'and that the only one God has a Son, his Word, "'who is issued out of himself, "'which the Son then sent, according to his promise, "'the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, out of the Father.'"

Well, he balanced the divine unity into Trinity, setting forth Father, Son, and Spirit as three. The Apostles' Creed, we don't know the exact date or origin of the Apostles' Creed, was one of the earliest creeds and shows the belief in the Father, Son, and Spirit. I could quote it. "'I believe in God the Father Almighty, "'and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, "'who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, "'who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and was buried. "'He descended into hell. "'The third day, he rose from the dead. "'He ascended into heaven "'and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. "'Whence he comes to judge the living and the dead. "'I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, "'the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, "'the life everlasting.'" But then in 325 AD, there was the Council of Nicaea. This is when the teaching of a man by the name of Arius, who lived from 250 to 336 AD, led to a major statement regarding Jesus Christ. Arius taught that the word was God's creation, although God's greater creation, but it was error, it was false. A man by the name of Athanasius, who lived from 296 to 373, refuted the rapidly growing Arianism. And he asserted that the word is co-substantial,

co-equal and co-eternal with the Father. He also asserted equally the deity of the Holy Spirit. Well, the Nicene Creed, 325 AD, formally and officially condemned Arianism as heresy. I quote, "'We believe in one God, the Father, all sovereign, "'maker of all things, visible and invisible. "'And in the Lord, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.' Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only begotten, that is, of the substance of the Father, God of God, begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father, through whom all things were made, and in the Holy Spirit. Well in 381 A.D., there was the Council of Constantinople, and it made official what Athanasius taught also about the Holy Spirit, namely, that the Holy Spirit is equally co-substantial and eternal with the Father and the Son, and that the Trinity was now explained in the simplest terms so far. We conclude that the Trinity is the teaching of the Church, but as we shall see, equally the teaching of the Bible. Now here's a caution. Do not let Muslims or cultists get away with accusing you of believing in three gods. This is their simplistic but clever way of making us look stupid. You see, Christian theology is never necessarily logical. It is logical to claim that God is the author of sin and thus be responsible for sin, but we don't believe that. God is all-powerful, God is all-knowing, God had the power to prevent man from sinning, and God knew man would sin. And since God didn't stop man from sinning, when He could have done, some would say, well, this means God is the author of sin. That would be logical, but nothing could be further from the truth. The point is, you can't always go by logic. We go by Scripture.

Theology must be understood analogically, not logically. Now let me put it this way. Logic is like mathematics. Two and two are four. Four and four are eight, and so forth. But according to the Bible, two and two may not equal four. Well then you will ask, what does analogical mean? Here's what it means. To compare Scripture with Scripture, we don't build a complete teaching on one verse. We compare Scripture with Scripture by analogy. It's what John Calvin called the analogy of faith based upon Romans 12, verse 6, where Paul said, if a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion, the Greek word analogia, to his faith. So here's the point. What the Scriptures teach often will defy logic. We therefore conclude God is not the author of sin, and that defies logic. God is a trinity. It defies logic. To understand the trinity, I think we begin with John chapter 1, verse 1. There are two questions. Was Jesus a person? Yes. Was he a man? Yes. 1 Timothy 2, verse 5, there's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And so Jesus himself had a personality. He astonished people with his teaching, Matthew chapter 7, verse 28. His style had a definite impact, Matthew 22, verse 16. He had feelings, Matthew 14, 14. He had a will, Matthew 8, 7.

He had a mind, Philippians 2, 5, when Paul said, let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus. Then we ask the question, was he God? Yes. He existed from the beginning, John chapter 1, verse 1. He was creator, John 1, verse 3. And Colossians 1, 16 says he was before all things. By him all things consist. He was indeed fully God, John 1, 1, Colossians 2, 9. He was worshipped, Matthew chapter 2, verse 2, John 20, 28. He forgave sins, Matthew 9, verse 2. You know, most people who object to the Trinity reject the deity of Jesus. I want you to remember this. This is possibly the most important thing I can say. If we accept the deity of Jesus, people will almost always accept the Trinity. It's when they deny that Jesus is God, those are the ones that reject the Trinity. Now there are some exceptions who would call a person not being of God, but for the most part, those who object to the Trinity have, at bottom, a hostility toward the belief that Jesus is God. This is why we begin with Jesus, to understand and to defend the Trinity. Here it is. If Jesus is God, the Trinity will not be offensive, even if it is hard to understand, and it is. Don't begin with the concept of a triune God when trying to defend the Trinity. Ask your friends this question. Do you believe that Jesus is God? It may be that they will sooner or later then accept Trinitarian theology. Now let's come to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is a person.

Jesus described him as another paraclete. John 14, verse 16, the word paraclete comes from the Greek word parakletos. It means one who comes alongside. When Jesus called the Holy Spirit another paraclete, this implied that the Holy Spirit is a person just as much as Jesus was and is a person. The Spirit is never an it. Never forget this. Never it, but always he. John 16, verse 8, verses 12 to 14 of John 16, Romans 8, 26. He had personality, Acts 5, 32. And this is how he was recognized by the apostles. Strange as it may seem, the Holy Spirit has feelings. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 30, where Paul says, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. The word grieve comes from a Greek word that means get your feelings hurt. He has a will, Acts 16, verses 6 and 7. He has a mind, Romans 8, 27, John 3, 8. So the Holy Spirit is God. He is creator. He is eternal. He's called God, 2 Corinthians 3, 17, 1 Corinthians 12, verses 4 to 6, Acts 5, verses 3 to 4. He gives life. He convicts of sin. He intercedes for us. Well, now this is what we learn by taking all these scriptures together. We're not trying to be logical, but compare scripture with scripture, and you can be rest assured that the Trinity is the best word to explain the fact that we have Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They don't compete with each other. He preys on each other. But we accept what the Bible says.

It is called Trinity. Remember this. If you believe that Jesus is God, you'll end up believing the Trinity. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, apply this word by your Holy Spirit and grant that we will seek your word, your infallible word, to get to the truth that brings glory to your name. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.