GraceTrax

AS WE SAW last time, equality among the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is sufficiently revealed in the Scriptures. But there are functional variations within the workings of the blessed Trinity. 

A primary example of this functional variety is seen in prayer. For instance, we are taught by the Lord Jesus in His model prayer to pray in this manner, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven . . .” (Matthew 6:9-10).

Of course, praying to the Father does not negate the parallel work of the Son as Mediator. Without Christ, prayer rises no higher than the words flowing from our lips. 

But that is not all that occurs in true prayer. The Apostle Paul also gives us insight into the dynamic of prayer relating to the Trinity. In Romans 8:26 (ESV), he writes, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

So in this inexplicable union of the godhead, true prayer must flow through every person. The Spirit helps us in prayer; the Son mediates the prayer; the Father receives the prayer. Ultimately, the prayer terminates in the Father Who subsequently finds the answer in the One who intercedes by way of the Holy Spirit. What wisdom and insight beyond our capacity to fathom.

But there is yet more that the Holy Spirit engages in for the saints. First, it is said of the Spirit by the Lord Jesus Himself in John 15:26,  “But when the Helper comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, Who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me.” 

In other words, Christ’s words spoken during His earthly ministry are presently witnessed by the current work of the Holy Spirit here on earth.

Next time, we’ll take a look at the Holy Spirit’s primary role in redemption: granting new life to a dead sinner.  

IT IS NOT uncommon for people to get the impression that God the Holy Spirit is slightly subservient to God the Father and God the Son. 

Why? It is due to an unfortunate misconception related to the prevalent terminology, the third person of the Godhead. Such vernacular has very little real connection to biblical revelation, but it does seem to be latched to the language of theological lingo. 

The Bible never speaks of the Holy Spirit as a “third” person, though it is convenient for Bible scholars to attempt to make understandable something that is fully and completely incomprehensible. 

Clearly, there are three persons in the Godhead; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Furthermore, this prevalent order is not without biblical warrant, for there are occasions when that order is revealed in texts such as the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18–19 (ESV): “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’”

To understand the three persons of the Godhead, one must comprehend the Godhead’s unity. We know from concrete language within the divine revelation that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are co-equal, co-eternal, and co-substantial. That alone wipes out the connotation that one or two within the godhead could be even minutely inferior to the other.

Therefore, even though a procession exists within the Godhead, each member is to be worshipped, loved, and glorified as an equal. 

But it is not just a procession; it is an eternal procession. The Son is truly the Son of God proceeding eternally from the Father. The Holy Spirit, as believed by many Bible Scholars, proceeds from both the Father and the Son. 

The question may be, wherein do theologians contrive what may seem to be mere conjecture? The answer to that question is singularly found in biblical texts. Such as Christ’s own words in John 8:42: “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came (“I proceeded forth” in the Authorized Version) from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.’” The Lord also revealed the Spirit’s procession in John 15:26: “But when the Helper (The Holy Spirit) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

Equality among the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is sufficiently revealed in the Scriptures. But there are functional variations within the workings of the blessed Trinity. We’ll take a look at that next time. 

THERE IS A NOTION in this day and age—and I guess in every day and age—that God the Father is mean and vindictive. There tends to be this dividing line of God the Father between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

In the Old Testament God the Father is unapproachable. He is filled with uncontrollable anger and unleashes unnecessary wrath upon His creation. Yet, in the New Testament the Father is tamed by His Son and is, in a way, leashed.

Of course, it may not be stated this way, but these are the implications of such a view regarding the God of the Old and New testaments. Is this view correct? Absolutely not! 

God the Father is the same in both testaments. He is the same God yesterday, today and forevermore. Somehow those who hold this naive and unscriptural view of God disassociate God the Father from the passages that speak of the immutability of God. They forget that God the Holy Father, God the Holy Son and God the Holy Spirit do not change. Therefore you sons of Jacob you are not consumed (Malachi 3:6).

Somehow, they forget that the covenant of redemption is a plan and promise of the triune God from before the foundations of the world (Titus 1:2). Yes, that means before the New Testament, before the Old Testament, before the creation—all the way in eternity past.

They forget that it is God the Father who was pleased to bruise His Son for, well, for at least one reason, the sake of His elect (Isaiah 53:10). It was God the Father who loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in His Son will have everlasting life (John 3:16).

In the Godhead, God the Holy Father is no more wrathful than God the Holy Son or God the Holy Spirit. The Son is no more compassionate or loving than the Father or the Spirit. The Father is no less forgiving than the Spirit or the Son.

All three Persons of the Godhead are equal in every attribute of the triune God. The Son will come at the consummation of the ages and pour out His wrath on those who neglected so great a salvation. But in this wrath all three—the Father, the Son and the Spirit—will be in full agreement.

God the Father is full of love, as is the Son and Spirit. No one hurts more than parents when their children are hurt. Yet, it was the Father who loved His church so much that He was willing to pour out His wrath for all the sins of His elect upon His Son who knew no Sin. This is a loving God with a loving plan that was put forth before the ages.

A FORMAL CHARGE of heresy in the early centuries of the church was no laughing matter. The accused was likely to meet an unpleasant fate either through fire, water, the guillotine, or the rack. Heretics were seldom spared, but that didn't stop the movement.

In the early church, heresy arose primarily from misguided attempts to understand and explain the nature of Christ. Most of the major heresies had developed before the fifth century. Some of them you might recognize by name: Gnosticism, Montanism, Arianism, Donatism, Pelagisnism, and several others.

Because heresy is often associated with those ideals, Christians often imagine heresy is a thing of the past, a threat only for primitive Christians who didn't quite understand the basics of theology and had not yet recognized all 66 books in the canon. "Heretics aren't around today," they think. "Or if they are, surely they're easy to spot—a dead giveaway."

Not exactly. Heretics write best sellers. They occupy the scholar's chair on seminary faculties and fill pulpits every Sunday. They're sophisticated, sincere, and satanic.

The apostle Paul used the word heresy (Greek, hairesis) to describe one who follows his own stubborn, self-willed teachings, and he counseled the church to reject such a person (Titus 3:10). So in Paul's teaching, the word came to signify self-chosen doctrines not emanating from God—and thus not from Scripture.¹

The apostle Peter provides the most clear and helpful context to understand the heart of heresy in his second epistle. He writes:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves (2 Pet. 2:1).

Peter points out five sobering realities about heresy and heretics to alert his readers to the danger.

Peter did not intend to frighten his reader with those warnings. He was seeking to help them identify false teachers and beware of their heresies. He intended to sober them. In fact, that's one of Peter's favorite commands—"Be sober" (1:13; 4:7; 5:8). If there's anything in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ needs today—especially in America—it's sober-minded Christians who take seriously the New Testament warnings on false teaching.

So how do you spot a heretic? How can you tell if someone is spewing "destructive heresies" your way? Biblically and historically, heretics have always put three things in their crosshairs: The person of Christ, the message of Christ, and the work of Christ. Those are their targets.

So before walking away from this article, ask yourself these questions about the teaching you find yourself under, whether it's a book, sermon, lecture, or an influential "Christian" friend.

• Does this teaching diminish the nature of Christ?
• Does this teaching distort the truth of the Gospel?
• Does this teaching direct the sinner away from Christ?

Remember, it's all about the person, message, and work of Christ. Take heed!

_________________________

¹ M.G. Easton, Easton's Bible Dictionary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).

By using the phrase "triune God," Christians seek to convey one of the greatest mysteries of their faith. God is at one and the same time three and one. He is one being in three persons. The Father is God, the Son is God and the Spirit is God. But the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, the Father is not the Spirit, the Spirit is not the Father, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Son.

This is the doctrine of the Trinity. It is such a great mystery that it is impossible for us to stretch our minds enough to encompass it. But the fact something is mysterious does not mean it is not true.

Some object to this doctrine on the grounds that the word "Trinity" is not found in Scripture. While the word is not in the Bible, the teaching of the concept is definitely there. The oneness of God is affirmed in both the Old and New Testaments (Deut.6:4-9; 1 Cor. 8:4; James 2:19). And the "threeness" of God is affirmed with every mention of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That "threeness" comes home with particular force in the gospel accounts of the baptism of Jesus. The Second Person of the Trinity is present, of course, in the person of Jesus. But the First Person, the Father, also makes His presence known by speaking from heaven. And the Third Person, the Holy Spirit, makes His presence known by descending upon Jesus "like a dove" (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 2:9-11; Luke 3:21-22).

The Apostle Paul affirms the "threeness" in these words: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor. 13:13).

Some have tried to explain the Trinity in terms of one God temporarily manifesting Himself first in one way and then another, but that won’t do. It is the error of Sabellianism (named after Sabellius). Each of the three persons is fully God at all times.

Some theologians use the term "the Economic Trinity" to convey the Bible’s teaching on the roles of the three persons of the Godhead in the work of redemption. The Father chose for Himself a people to redeem, the Son agreed to come to this earth as a human being to actually perform the work of redemption, and the Holy Spirit agreed to apply the redeeming work of Christ to the individual hearts of those chosen by the Father.

This work of redemption made it necessary for the Son to become subservient to the Father (John 5:19,30; 6:38; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10), which is why Paul was able to write: " … the head of Christ is God" (1 Cor. 11:3). The Lord Jesus is equal to God in every respect, but for the purpose of working out redemption he assumed a subservient role.

It is important to note that in assuming our humanity and in expressing submission to the Father, the Lord Jesus did not in any way or at any time cease to be God. He did not lay aside His deity at any point. God cannot un-God Himself! He rather added to His deity our humanity so He was both fully God and fully man, enabling the Apostle Paul to affirm: "God was in Christ" (2 Cor. 5:19).

We do well to remember that the doctrine of the Trinity should not be treated as a subject for idle speculation and for clever analogies. It is rather meant to show us the unspeakable glory of our God and to evoke from us awe, wonder and worship.