trinity

TRINITY

God the Father

Scripture presents the role of the Father in relationship to the Son and the Spirit as the leader and head of the triune Godhead (I Cor. 11.3). He is the chief architect and initiator of the mighty acts of creation (Gen. 1.1; I Cor. 8.6a) and redemption (Jn. 3.16a-b), accomplishing both acts through the Son (Col.16; Jn. 1.17) by the Spirit (Gen. 1.2; Ps. 104.30; Job 33.4; 34.14-15). His superintendence over all His creation moves Him daily to act with general benevolence toward mankind (Mt. 5.45) while also simultaneously pouring out His wrath on mankind for their disbelief of His personal revelation in creation (Rom. 1.18-32). Due to the fact that “from Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (Rom. 11.36), He is the Father of all creation (Eph. 3.14-15; Acts 17.26, 29), but this does not mean He has a fatherly relationship with every person (cf. Jn. 8.34-47; cf. Acts. 17.22-31). Only in and through the person and work of Jesus Christ can individuals be reconciled to Father God, thereby knowing Him in a paternal way (Jn. 14.6; Rom. 8.9-17).

God the Son

Scripture presents the role of the Son in relationship to the Father and the Spirit as the Agent through whom the Father created (Jn. 1.3; Col. 1.16), reveals (Lk. 2.29-32; Gal. 1.12), and redeems (Rom. 3.24; I Cor. 1.30). While the Father ordained and initiated creation and redemption, the chief agent of these two monumental events was and is His Son (Jn. 1.1-3, 12, 17; I Cor. 8.6b; Heb. 1.1-3, 10). Existing from all eternity alongside the Father (Jn. 1.1b), the Son shares fully in the deity of God (Jn. 1.1c; Col. 2.9), yet He has eternally had a different role than the Father and Spirit (Jn. 14.16-17, 26; 16.7-15; 18.11). He is eternally subservient to the Father’s authority within the triune Godhead (Jn. 8.28-29; 14.28; 1 Cor. 11.3). Before His incarnation, the Son was present in the old covenant in types and shadows (Lk. 24.25-27, 44-45; Jn. 5.39; Col. 2.16-17).

Subsequently, the Son took on our full humanity as a baby, being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin, Mary, not being of the seed of man (Mt. 1.17-25; Lk. 1.26-35; John 1.14). Therefore, when He added humanity to His deity at conception, that full humanity was forever added to His (already) full deity (Lk. 24.39; Jn. 20.25-27; Acts 1.11; Heb. 1.3, 8; Rev. 1.13-17). Thus, these two natures (of deity and humanity) exist in the oneness of His personhood (cf. Chalcedonian definition of A.D. 451).

A direct result of this union of natures was the Son’s sinless life (2 Cor. 5.21; Heb. 4.15; I Pet. 2.22; I Jn. 3.5). A life free of any transgression was possible for Him because He was completely unaffected by Adam’s fall (both immaterially and materially), due to the fact that He has been God the Son from all eternity and uniquely conceived by the virgin Mary (Mt. 1.18-23; Lk. 1.35). Consequently, He was able to accomplish that purpose for which the Father sent Him – namely, to be the sacrificial substitute on the cross for the sins of fallen men, women, boys, and girls (because God’s wrath against sin demands an eternal punishment) (Rom. 3.23-26; cf. Gal. 2.20).

He saves only those who place faith in Him alone for salvation (Acts 4.10-12; Rom. 10.9-13). After being crucified, Jesus was placed in a tomb (Lk. 23.53). But death could not hold Him. Christ rose from the dead three days later (Lk. 24.6-7, 38-43, Jn. 2.19-21). His death and resurrection thus inaugurated a new age of covenantal redemption – not only for humanity (Heb. 8.6-13; 9.1-20; 10.1-18) but also for the entire creation (Rom. 8.19-23; Col. 1.20).

After bodily appearing to His disciples for forty days (Acts 1.3), He ascended to heaven to sit at God’s “right hand” of power (Acts 2.33) where He presently advocates and intercedes for the saints (Heb. 4.12; Rom. 8.34). He will one day return visibly and bodily to consummate His reign on earth (Acts 1.9-11; Rev. 1.7).

God the Spirit

The Scripture presents the Holy Spirit as eternally equal in deity in relation to the Father and the Son (Acts 5.3-4; 2 Cor. 3.17; Ps. 139.7-8). He applies the work of the Father and the Son to our lives as Christians (Jn. 3.6-7; 6.63; Rom. 8.14-17; I Cor. 6.11; 2 Cor. 3.6, 18; Gal. 4.6; Titus 3.5; I Jn. 3.24; 4.13). He performs a unique role in comparison to the Father and the Son (Jn. 14.6, 26; 15.26; 16.7; Rom. 8.16; I Cor. 2.10), yet He does possess those attributes that are unique to the character and nature of God. His chief duty and delight is to reveal Jesus Christ as the crucified and risen Son of God (Jn. 15.26). His role, then, is one of divine humility, never desiring to be the sole focus of the Godhead, but rather the Agent who illumines and exalts the wondrous work of redemption directed by the Father and accomplished by the Son (Jn. 16.7-15).

He regenerates and illumines the heart and mind of every convert to believe in the authority, inerrancy, and infallibility of Scripture (I Cor. 2.13-14; cf. 2 Pet. 1.19-21). He indwells every individual who has placed faith in Jesus Christ for salvation from their sin (Rom. 8.11; I Cor. 3.16; 2 Tim. 1.14), baptizing them into Christ upon conversion (I Cor. 12.13) and empowering them for service (Acts 1.8; 6.10; Rom. 8.1-14). As an extension of such empowerment, He gives gifts to each member of the body of Christ (I Cor. 12.4-14; cf. Rom. 12.4-8) – in the context of the local church – for the express purpose of strengthening its members to lovingly edify one another (I Cor. 12.7, 21-26; I Cor. 13; Rom. 12.9a, 10, 16), live godly lives (Rom. 12.9-21), and testify to the world of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 2.6-41; I Cor. 14.24-25; cf. Rom. 12.14, 17-21). Such gifts are never given to exalt certain men or women within the body (I Cor. 12.12-25; Rom. 12.3-5).

What We Believe @ New 3C