Dakota Community Church
September 4, 2011
Unity
Jeremiah 9:23-24
This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.
This morning we continue: “God’s Incommunicable Attributes” with a look at the unity that exists in our triune God.
First of all I want to note that God is different than man in this aspect of His being.
Even within our own being we recognize division between body, soul, and spirit.
Galatians 5:17
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
In this life, on this fallen planet we may experience momentary glimpses of something that is almost unity.
Genesis 11:6
The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
Acts 2:1
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
(NKJV where unity is implied more prominently than in the original text)
These glimpses are nothing compared to the eternal unity that exists as the LORD who is ONE – Father, Son and Holy Sprit.
The Triune God in three sentences:
There is one God. God is three persons. Each Person is fully God.
St. Augustine describes the Trinity with these seven statements:
1. The Father is God
2. The Son is God
3. The Holy Spirit is God
4. The Father is not the Son
5. The Son is not the Holy Spirit
6. The Holy Spirit is not the Father
7. There is only one God.
Why are we bothering to spend time on this kind of thing?
The word “trinity” is not even in the Bible.
This kind of talk leads to nothing but arguing and church-splitting.
Let me remind you that we are out to know the Lord – AS HE IS
Truth matters all the time and in every circumstance but never more than in our pursuit of the knowledge of God.
We live in a day when everything is “relative” – even the definitions of right and wrong vary depending on circumstance for many people.
Our theology cannot be about what makes us feel comfortable or what “works for us”, rather we need to be about what is objectively real and true.
If the doctrine of the Trinity best describes the reality of God’s existence, we need to know it.
Our misunderstanding of this doctrine has some potentially devastating consequences.
If Jesus is not GOD it matters a great deal. Are we to worship a created Jesus?
Should we pray to Him?
Worshipping and praying to a created Jesus would be blatant idolatry.
To the Bible then:
1. The Triune God in scripture
Although the term “Trinity” is never used in the Bible, the concept is seen throughout.
Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
This is perhaps the greatest statement of monotheism in the Torah, the word translated “one” is a word which means a collective one, such as a bunch of grapes, or as in “one people”.
“Echad” is the same word used in Gen 2:23-24 in the statement that the man and woman shall become “one flesh”.
Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth…
Genesis 3:22
And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”
Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
In many instances there are two persons implied in the passage, both addressed as God or “the Lord”.
Psalm 45:6-7
Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.
In the New Testament we see that this was indeed a reference to Christ and the Father.
Hebrews 1:8
But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
Psalm 110:1
The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
Matthew 22:41-46
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” - “The son of David,” they replied.
He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’
If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Matthew 3:16-17
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
2 Corinthians 13:14
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Jesus is God
John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
John 20:26-31
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Titus 2:13 - we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ
2 Peter 1:1 - who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours
Romans 9:5 - Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
There are many, many more, my PowerPoint presentation was beginning to turn into a nightmare!
The Holy Spirit is God
Acts 5:3-4
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”
2. Eternality and Immutability support Trinity
Immutability, the Unchangeableness of God’s nature supports the doctrine of the Trinity.
If God only began to have interpersonal relationships with the creation of humanity there would have to have been a state of God, before creation, in which He was truly alone.
If He is a trinity of persons, he has eternally been relational or interpersonal
If there is no Trinity then Jesus was a mere human male.
Could a mere creature justly bear the full wrath of God for the sin of the other creatures?
Justification by faith is jeopardized - how can we rely on the death of another creature for our salvation?
3. Close but no cigar
Incorrect teaching about the Trinity abounds:
Arianism
(Christian Religious Writings / Theology) the doctrine of the Greek Christian theologian Arius (?250-336 ad), pronounced heretical at the Council of Nicaea, which asserted that Christ was not of one substance with the Father, but a creature raised by the Father to the dignity of Son of God
Modalism
The theological doctrine that the members of the Trinity are not three separate persons but modes or forms of God’s self-expression — modalist, n. — modalistic See also: Heresy
Subordinationism
The theological tenet of progressively declining essence within the Trinity — subordinationist, n
Tri-theism
This says that the Trinity consists of three separate (but cooperating) Gods.
There are problems with many of the most popular illustrations as well:
Three leaf clover;
Problem: each leaf is only a part of the clover, not the whole clover
One man simultaneously father, son, and brother:
Problem: he is never all three of these to any particular individual
“Three blind men and the elephant”:
Problem: this is really a form of modalism, or simply a matter of perspective
Augustine said that anyone who denies the Trinity is in danger of losing his salvation, and anyone who tries to understand it is in danger of losing his mind.
C. S. Lewis’ Trans dimensional explanation:
A cubic solid would be incomprehensible to a being that exists in a two-dimensional world.
Such a being could not conceive of one thing having six squares (the sides) and yet being a single thing (the cube).
Likewise since we each consist of one “person”; we cannot conceive of a being having three persons and yet being only one.
Father, Son & Holy Spirit have different primary functions in relating to the world
In Creation:
Genesis 1:1-3
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was[a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
In Redemption: the Father plans and sends, the Son obeys, comes and dies, and the Spirit applies, comforts and guides.
We never see one person of the Trinity doing the specific work of another.
Next Week - The Eternality of God
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
Follow Dan Cormie on twitter: @DanCormie
