Lesson 8 - Doctrine of God (Trinity)

Question 1

Why is the Trinity the supreme object of the Christian’s trust and devotion?

Answer 1

1. ) Trust - Trinity means God is surest, so he’s worthy of our complete trust
   - - He is the center of the universe
   - - From Him, through Him, to Him
2. ) Devotion - Trinity means God is supreme so he’s worthy of our complete devotion
   - - He is the source of every good and perfect gift, so the Christian owes everything to Him

Question 2

How is the Christian to understand the one name and nature of God in light of the Trinity?

Answer 2

1. ) The singular name and nature of God in the OT (Exodus 3:14, Deut. 6:4) - The Lord is one
2. ) The Singular name and nature of God in the NT
   a. ) God’s singular name and nature (Mark 12:29 - YHWH is one)
   b. ) The singular name and nature belongs to the three persons of the Trinity (Matthew 28:19)
   
   • • The Father is the one true God (1 Cor. 8:6)
   • • The Son is the one true God (Lord - Romans 10:9, I am - John, God - John 1:1, creator and ruler - Col. 1,
   • • The Spirit is the one true God (Lord, God - 2 Cor. 3:17, shares in common - john 16:12-15

Question 3

How do the personal names of God “signify procession?”

Answer 3

a. ) Names of God are relations of origin - signify certain kinds of relationships (from someone)
b. ) The Father - Paternity is the Father’s personal property because he and he alone is Father to the Son.
c. ) The Son - Filiation or generation is the Son’s personal property because he and he alone is son of the Father.
d. ) The Spirit - Procession is the Spirit’s personal property because he and he alone proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Question 4

What does the Old Testament provide for understanding the Trinity?

Answer 4

Introduction:

a. ) “Inexplicit Indication” - Bavinck
b. ) Adumbrated in the OT, revealed in the NT - Sanders
c. ) Though the revelation of God’s tripersonal nature is primarily a New Testament phenomenon, the roots of that revelation may be found in the Old Testament by those “already acquainted with the doctrine of the Trinity.”

Illustration - lavished furnished room, but dimly lit; couldn’t see all that is in there, but doesn’t mean it wasn’t there. When the light is turned on (NT), it shows what has been there all along. (Warfield)

1. ) God’s creation and recreation through the Word and Spirit (Gen. 1:1-3, Isaiah 55:10-11)
2. ) Dialogue between the Father and the Son w/the help of the NT (Gen. 1:26, Psalm 2, 110; Isaiah 49:3 w/Mark 12:35-37, Heb. 1:5-14)
3. ) Texts that show a Triune naming of God (Numb. 6:23-27, 2 Sam. 23:2-3) and that associate the name and glory of YHWH with coming Messiah (Is. 52:13)

Question 5

What does it mean for God to exist in three “persons?”

Answer 5

Have to understand 2 categories:

1. ) Substantial Predication - God is being (All three are God)
2. ) Relational Predication - God is person (Father is God, Son is God, Spirit is God)

“The substance preserves the unity, the relation makes up the trinity” (Boethius)

Divine persons = “subsisting relations”

Subsisting Relations = a person who is the simple and self-existent God. Trinity relations are the relations they are to the other persons. They wouldn’t be the persons they are without the other persons. Relationally to the highest degree. Three persons does not mean three beings.

God in Three Persons:

1. ) God the Father - The personal property of the Father is paternity: from eternity, the first person of the Trinity is Father to his only-begotten Son, who is the radiance of his glory and the exact imprint of his being (Heb 1:3).
2. ) God the Son - The personal property of the Son is filiation or generation: from eternity, the second person of the Trinity subsists as the Son, Word, and radiance of the Father: light of light, true God of true God, consubstantial with the Father.
3. ) God the Holy Spirit - The personal property of the Spirit is procession: from eternity, the third person of the Trinity subsists as the Spirit of the Father (Matt 10:20) and of his Son (Gal 4:6).

Summary: God exists essentially and actually as God the Father of the Son, as God the Son of the Father, and as God the Holy Spirit who proceeds from them both; and God has no concrete existence apart from his threefold subsistence as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. While each divine person is really distinct from the others on the basis of his personal property—the personal properties are “incommunicable,” each divine person is identical with the self-existent being and essence of the one true God. God is three persons all the way down.

Question 6

How does the Trinity affect the Christian’s communion with God?

Answer 6

2 Corinthians 13:14

1. ) his communication of himself to us through the Trinity (Revelation)
2. ) Our return to him that he requires and accepts (Redemption) - accomplished by the Son; applied by the Spirit
3. ) That flows from the union, which in Christ we have with him

– Although the three persons act inseparably in the gracious work of restoring us to communion with God, we nevertheless enjoy communion with each person distinctly in accordance with the ways in which each person distinctly shines forth in this gracious work. We have communion with the Father in love, communion with the Son in grace, and communion with the Holy Spirit in consolation.

In the triune God, we find the one who is the center of the universe and the source of every good and perfect gift, we find the surest object of our trust and the supreme object of our devotion.