Trinity Sunday

There are two results of increasing our knowledge of a topic.

Understanding which explains (internal combustion engine isn’t magic)

Knowledge which causes wonder (a telescope that reveals a universe more vast than our eyes can see)

If you leave this message thinking that you now understand the trinity I have utterly failed in my aim.

Aim: Lead us to wonder at and worship the triune God.

Biblical Evidence for the Trinity

The word “trinity” appears nowhere in the Bible, but three truths saturate the Bible:

God is three persons

Each person is truly God

There is one God

1. God Is Three Persons

The Father ≠ Son

Jn 1:1-2 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.”

1 Jn 2:1 “1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”

Father ≠ Spirit

Rom 8:27 “27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

Jn 14:26 “26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

Spirit ≠ Son

Jn 16:7 “7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

2 Cor 13:14 “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.”

2. Each Person Is Truly God

The Father is God

Gen 1:1 “1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

1 Cor 8:6 “6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live;

1 Pet 1:2 “2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.”

The Son Is God

Jn 1:1 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Jn 20:28 “28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!””

Heb 1:8 “8 But about the Son he [God] says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.”

The Spirit is God

Ac 5:3-4 “3 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 just to human beings but to God.””

1 Cor 3:16 “16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”

3. There Is One God

The Father and Son are One

Jn 5:18 “18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”

Jn 10:30 “30 I and the Father are one.””

The Father and Spirit are One

1 Cor 3:16 “16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”

The Son and Spirit are One

Rom 8:9 “9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.”

The Father, Son, and Spirit are One

Deut 6:4 “4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

The Doctrine Formulated

The doctrine of the trinity is the way we talk about these 3 truths all at once.

God is not 3 of the same thing he is 1 of

Who’s and What’s

God is one what (being, substance)

God is three who’s (person, subsistence)

Distinguishing persons

The persons of the trinity are distinguished from each other relations with one another because the Trinity is the only eternal existence

The Father begets (not creates) the Son

The Son is begotten of the Father

The Spirit is spirated (breathed) by the Father and Son

Heresies

The importance of getting it right

A husband describing his wife incorrectly

Modalism/Sabellianism:

Denial that God is three persons

Instead, God is one person in three different modes/roles

Analogies

Husband, Father, Employee

Ice, Liquid, Steam

Partialism/Tritheism:

Denial that there is one God

Instead, there are three Gods or three parts of God

Analogies

Shell, yoke, white

3 leaf clover

Arianism

Denial that all three persons are truly God

Analogies

Sun, Light, Heat

The Trinity and You

The tri-unity of God is not some irrelevant bit of theological trivia. Because God is trinity the Christian faith requires us to believe this doctrine.

You already believe in the trinity if you believe the gospel.

Today we will close with three practical implications of trinitarian theology.

God is Love

The love of God is an attribute of God that is held dear by all his saints. What could a precious, warm doctrine like this have to do with a technical, challenging doctrine like the trinity?

Was God lonely before he made Adam? If he was he’s not God.

The logic of “God is love”

An attribute of God cannot change, grow, or develop because God is unchanging

Love is inherently relational

If God did not exist in trinity, he could not have the attribute of love because it would be dependent on creatures to be able to love

God with Us

Salvation comes from the Lord, yet our great need for salvation is being saved from the wrath of God.

Only God could save us from his wrath. We need the son of God to be truly God and truly man.

God’s tri-unity is essential to the Son’s incarnation. Without the triune God we would have no hope for salvation.

God is More

Finally, the doctrine of the trinity matters to you because God is more than us. He is more than anything.

Exodus 15:11 NIV

11 Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

The most appropriate response to knowing more of the triune nature of God is to wonder at him and worship him. He is not like and egg! He is not like a clover! He is not like us! He alone is triune God, bow before him and worship!