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BIBLE REFERENCES

Yet, it is the Spirit’s inspiration of the writings that gives transcendence and harmony to the Bible (2 Pet. 1:20–21).4

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 4). (Function). Kindle Edition.

OLD TESTAMENT

God appears to speak in the first-person plural. Each of these texts describes an extraordinary intersection between the divine realm and the human: God’s creation of humanity in Adam and Eve (Gen. 1:26–27); their disobedience and fall for having eaten the forbidden fruit (3:22); divine judgment over all humanity for the building and intentions of Babel (11:7); and Isaiah’s vision of the throne of God with the divine question, “Who will go for us?” (Isa. 6:8)

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 17). (Function). Kindle Edition.

None has been the subject of more scrutiny than Genesis 1:26–27, taken by some as a template for interpreting the other divine-pronoun passages: “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness... .’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” In what is arguably the most important anthropological passage in the Bible, Elohim employs the first-person plural form (“us”) followed in the text by the third-person singular pronoun (“he”)—thus plural and singular pronouns stand together. Moreover, the term “Let us make” (na’aseh, 1:26) parallels the verb bara’ (“create”), which is repeated three times in 1:27, and bara’ is exclusively used in relation to God himself in the Hebrew Bible.

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 17). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Even more, the Spirit is portrayed as a divine emissary who comes forth to do Yahweh’s bidding. In this way, the Spirit’s activities become intensely personal as one who instructs (Neh. 9:20), guides (Ps. 143:10), grieves (Isa. 63:10), and provides rest (63:14).

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 20). (Function). Kindle Edition.

John’s gospel that Jesus is the eternal Word who was with God and is God (John 1:1–3; cf. Rev. 19:13). Paul and the author of Hebrews argue that it is through Christ that all creation came into existence and through him “all things” are sustained (Col. 1:16–17; Heb. 1:2–3).

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 22). (Function). Kindle Edition.

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul appropriates the Jewish personification of wisdom to Jesus Christ, “who has become for us the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:30), even “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1:24).

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 24). (Function). Kindle Edition.

THE ANGEL OF THE LORD

“the angel of the LORD” (mal᾿āk yhwh) occurs 59 times to uniquely describe a divine messenger. He first appears to Hagar who concludes that she has seen God (Gen. 16:7–14) and later, again, promising to her about her young son Ishmael, “I will make him into a great nation” (Gen. 21:18).

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 24). (Function). Kindle Edition.

The distinction becomes even more apparent in passages where the angel is both identified with God, yet seemingly distinguished from God (Zech. 3:1–7). The fact that other angels renounce any form of worship (Rev. 19:10; 22:8–9) suggests that the angel of the LORD, when speaking as God and freely accepting worship, is a uniquely divine person.

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 26). (Function). Kindle Edition.

We cannot ignore the fact that various central passages designate the angel of the LORD as one who speaks and acts as God (cf. Exod. 3:2–4:17).

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 28). (Function). Kindle Edition.

In the context of this royal wedding psalm, poetic and hyperbolic language is applied to the idealized groom, commander-king, a son of David. He is “the most handsome of the sons of men” (Psalm 45:2), “O mighty one” (Psalm 45:3), and twice addressed as “God” (Psalm 45:6–7): “Your throne, O God [᾿ĕlōhîm], will last for ever and ever;

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 30). (Function). Kindle Edition.

The first verse of Psalm 110 is the most cited messianic text in the New Testament. 67 “The LORD says to my Lord [᾿ādônî]: ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’”

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 30). (Function). Kindle Edition

Matthew 22:23–46 recounts the ill-willed questions of Sadducees and Pharisees to Jesus. Turning the tables, Jesus asks, “’What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?’ ‘The son of David,’ they replied.” Citing Psalm 110:1 Jesus asks, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’?... If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” (22:42–43).

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 31). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Isaiah 9:6–7 is the favorite: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 44:6 “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god” (ESV).

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 32). (Function). Kindle Edition.

from a canonical perspective, in the book of Revelation the words, “I am the first and I am the last,” or their equivalents, are proclaimed both by God the Father and by the glorified Lord Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:8, 17; 2:8; 22:13; 21:6).

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 32). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Isaiah 45:21–24 “And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.... Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’ All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.” In the enigmatic wording of this passage, Yahweh declares that he alone is God and Savior, but continues, “All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.”

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 33). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Daniel 7:13–14 In the vision of Daniel 7, “the Ancient of Days” takes his place in the heavenly courtroom. This is a celestial theophany as Yahweh appears clothed in blazing white and seated on a flaming throne with a river of fire flowing out. Many thousands are said to attend him, countless numbers are before him (lit. “one hundred million,” 7:9– 10). Into this context of judgment over the empires of the world appears “one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven” (7:13). Of some seventy Old Testament passages, unless Daniel 7 be the exception, the act of coming on the clouds is always by deity.

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 33). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Isaiah 48:12–16 A favorite of the church fathers, And now the Lord GOD [Heb. Adonai Yahweh] has sent me, and his Spirit” (48:16 ESV). At first glance, Yahweh speaking is now the One sent together with the Spirit.

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 35). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Isaiah 63:8–16 In the span of a few verses, Isaiah describes Yahweh as Father (twice), Yahweh as Savior-Redeemer (four times), and Yahweh whose presence is mediated by his Spirit (three times), all of which imply what the advent of Jesus Christ and Pentecost would later clarify.

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 37). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Zechariah 12:10 “And I [Yahweh] will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit [rûaḥ] of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son” (12:10, italics mine).

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 37). (Function). Kindle Edition.

GOD THE FATHER

GOD IS FATHER

Jesus’ “high priestly prayer” on the night of his betrayal, he addresses the Father as “the only true God” (John 17:3)—even as he asks the Father to restore “the glory I had with you before the world began” (17:5; note 1:18 “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’ side, he has made him known,” ESV). In every Pauline letter, the apostle’s salutations iterate the phrase, “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (or near equivalent). 1 Corinthians 8:6 declares, “there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live,” even as it continues, “and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.” In the Trinitarian prologue of Ephesians, it is God the Father who has decreed and predestined the elect for salvation (Eph. 1:3–14). He is “the glorious Father” (1:17) and elsewhere “the only wise God” (Rom. 16:27). In the Epistle to the Hebrews it is God the Father who has spoken “at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, (Heb. 1:1–2). James writes of “the Father of the heavenly lights” (Jas. 1:17). Peter speaks to “God’s elect” “who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Pet. 1:1–2). In the prologue of the Book of Revelation, God the Father is the Almighty, the one “who is, and who was, and who is to come” (Rev. 1:4, 8). In the same prologue, the glorified Christ “has “made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father” (1:6).

Unknown. 4.A2 Ch3 Father Who Draws Near 41pp (p. 7). (Function). Kindle Edition.

FATHER OF ISRAEL

In this sense, God instructs Moses to tell Pharaoh, “Let my son go, so that he may worship me” (Exod. 4:23). Yahweh is the Father who carries his son out of Egypt (Deut. 1:30–31), disciplines his children (8:2–5; 14:1), and “has compassion on those who fear him” (Ps. 103:13).

Unknown. 4.A2 Ch3 Father Who Draws Near 41pp (p. 8). (Function). Kindle Edition.

FATHER AND THE SON

The Father, the Son, and the Christian. The New Testament continually reminds of the Father’s abundant love for the Son and, through the Son, for the entire world (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; John 3:35; 5:20; 10:17). Through Jesus, this Father-Son love is revealed to all humankind and shared with those who believe: “as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you” (John 15:9); that “the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (17:23); “that the love you have for me may be in them” (17:26). Indeed, the Father sends the Son precisely so that all who believe in the Son can also become God’s sons and daughters (John 1:12). Hence, only the Son and those who respond properly to him can rightly call God their Father. They are the only ones who truly know the Father (John 8:19), honor the Father (5:23), worship the Father (4:23), glorify the Father (15:16), and receive the Father’s special elective love (14:21; 16:27). According to Johannine theology, we are brought into filial relationship with the Father by believing in his Son and being regenerated by the Spirit, that is, “born of God” (John 1:13; 3:5–8; 1 John 3:9). The apostle Paul adds the theme of adoption describing Christians as brought into the family of God and made full legal heirs (Rom. 8:14–17; Gal. 3:23–4:7; Eph. 1:5).

Unknown. 4.A2 Ch3 Father Who Draws Near 41pp (p. 11). (Function). Kindle Edition.

THE FATHER OF ALL

In the economic Trinity, everything originates by the Father’s will (Eph. 1:11; 4:6).

SOVEREIGN RULER

Consonant with his role as eternal Creator and ultimate Source of all, God the Father is revealed as the heavenly Monarch, transcendent Ruler, “Lord of heaven and earth” (Matt. 11:25).

Unknown. 4.A2 Ch3 Father Who Draws Near 41pp (p. 15). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Repeatedly, the motif of a heavenly temple and royal throne reinforces the role of God the Father as the supreme Monarch who is joined by the Son (Rev. 4:2–5:13).

Unknown. 4.A2 Ch3 Father Who Draws Near 41pp (p. 15). (Function). Kindle Edition.

HIM TO WHOM ALL THINGS RETURN

As all things originate in the beginning with God the Father, so all things return to him at the end of cosmic history. At the consummation of salvation history, all the Son has been given is returned to the Father [1 Cor. 15:24–28

1. TRINITY

1.1. Unity and Plurality in the Godhead

Genesis 1:26–27 – “Let us make mankind…”: Plural and singular forms in creation; Elohim using both “us” and “he.”

Genesis 3:22; 11:7; Isaiah 6:8 – God speaks in plural form during key divine-human interactions.

Isaiah 48:12–16 – Yahweh speaks of being sent by the Lord GOD and His Spirit — a trinitarian formulation.

Isaiah 63:8–16 – Yahweh as Father, Savior-Redeemer, and Spirit.

Zechariah 12:10 – Yahweh says, “They will look on me, the one they have pierced” — identifying God as the pierced one and simultaneously speaking of "him".

1.2. Shared Divine Titles Across Persons

Isaiah 44:6 – “I am the first and the last...”

Revelation 1:8, 17; 2:8; 21:6; 22:13 – Both God the Father and Jesus share this title.

Isaiah 45:21–24 – Yahweh as the only God and Savior: “Before me every knee will bow...”

Philippians 2:10–11 (implicitly alluded) – Applied to Christ, affirming divine identity.

2. GOD THE FATHER

2.1. God is Father

John 17:3, 5 – Jesus calls the Father “the only true God” and refers to the glory he shared with the Father before the world began.

John 1:18 – “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

1 Corinthians 8:6 – “One God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live…”

Ephesians 1:3–14 – The Father elects and predestines believers.

Romans 16:27 – “The only wise God.”

Hebrews 1:1–2 – The Father spoke in various ways, and now has spoken through the Son.

James 1:17 – “The Father of the heavenly lights.”

1 Peter 1:1–2 – Chosen “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.”

Revelation 1:4, 6, 8 – God the Father is “the Almighty,” “who is, and who was, and who is to come”; Jesus serves “his God and Father.”

2.2. Father of Israel

Exodus 4:23 – “Let my son go…” – God’s fatherly relationship with Israel.

Deuteronomy 1:30–31; 8:2–5; 14:1 – The Father carries, disciplines, and identifies His people as His children.

Psalm 103:13 – “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.”

2.3. Father and the Son

Matthew 3:17; 17:5 – The Father’s love and approval of the Son: “This is my beloved Son.”

John 3:35; 5:20; 10:17 – The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does.

John 15:9; 17:23, 26 – That the love the Father has for the Son may be in us.

John 1:12–13 – Those who believe in the Son are given the right to become children of God, “born of God.”

John 4:23; 5:23; 8:19; 14:21; 15:16; 16:27 – Believers know, honor, worship, and glorify the Father.

Romans 8:14–17; Galatians 3:23–4:7; Ephesians 1:5 – Believers are adopted as sons and heirs.

2.4. Father of All

Ephesians 1:11; 4:6 – The Father works out everything in conformity with His will; He is “over all and through all and in all.”

2.5. Sovereign Ruler

Matthew 11:25 – “Lord of heaven and earth.”

Revelation 4:2–5:13 – God the Father on the throne in the heavenly temple, joined in worship with the Son.

2.6. To Whom All Things Return

1 Corinthians 15:24–28 – At the end, the Son hands the kingdom back to the Father so “God may be all in all.”

3. THE SON

3.1. Preexistent and Divine Word

John 1:1–3, 14, 17–18 – The Word was with God and was God; through Him all things were made; the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; the only Son from the Father.

Colossians 1:13–19; 2:9 – The Son is the image of the invisible God; firstborn over all creation; by Him all things were created and sustained; in Him all the fullness of deity dwells.

Hebrews 1:1–3, 8 – Through the Son God made the universe; He is the radiance of God’s glory and exact representation of His being.

1 Corinthians 8:6 – One Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

Romans 9:5 – Christ, who is God over all, forever praised.

Titus 2:13 – Jesus Christ is our great God and Savior.

2 Peter 1:1 – The righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

3.2. Messianic Identity in the Old Testament

Psalm 110:1 – “The LORD says to my Lord…” (most cited OT verse in the NT).

Matthew 22:42–45 – Jesus applies Psalm 110 to Himself.

Psalm 45:6–7 – The Davidic king addressed as “God.”

Isaiah 9:6–7 – A child will be called “Mighty God, Everlasting Father…”

3.3. The Angel of the LORD as a Theophany

Genesis 16:7–14; 21:18 – The Angel of the LORD appears and speaks as God.

Exodus 3:2–4:17 – The Angel in the burning bush calls Himself “I AM.”

Zechariah 3:1–7 – The Angel is identified with and yet distinct from God.

Revelation 19:10; 22:8–9 – True angels reject worship, unlike the Angel of the LORD.

3.4. The Son of Man as Divine Figure

Daniel 7:13–14 – One like a Son of Man comes on the clouds and is given authority, glory, and power.

Revelation 1:17; 2:8 – Jesus claims divine titles: “First and Last,” “the Living One.”

3.5. The Son is Humble

Philippians 2:5–7 – Though in very nature God, He emptied Himself and took on humanity.

3.6. Jesus’ Claims to be God

John 4:26; 6:20; 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19; 18:5–6, 8 – Jesus repeatedly uses the divine name “I AM.”

John 5:18–26; 10:30–31 – Jesus claims equality with the Father.

Matthew 28:18–20 – Baptismal formula invoking Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

3.7. The Son is God

Mark 1:1 – Jesus, the Son of God.

John 1:1–18 – The divine Word is now identified as the Son.

Colossians 1:16–17 – All things created through Him and for Him.

Hebrews 1:1–14 – The Son is the exact imprint of God’s nature and superior to angels.

Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1 – Jesus referred to directly as “God.”

1 Corinthians 8:6 – All things exist through Him.

John 11:25 – “I am the resurrection and the life.”

John 9:1–11 – Heals the blind, a divine prerogative (cf. Isaiah 29:18; 35:5; 42:7).

John 5:26 – The Son has life in Himself.

4. THE HOLY SPIRIT

4.1. Personal and Divine Attributes

Inspires Scripture:

2 Peter 1:20–21; 1 Corinthians 2:10–14; Hebrews 3:7; 2 Peter 1:21

Instructs & Guides:

Nehemiah 9:20; Psalm 143:10; John 14:17; 16:13

Grieves:

Isaiah 63:10; Ephesians 4:30

Provides Rest:

Isaiah 63:14

Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent:

Isaiah 40:13–17; Psalm 139:7–9

Gives Life & Creates:

Genesis 1:2; 2:7; Job 33:4; Job 26:13; Psalm 104:30; Ezekiel 37:1–14

Holy and Eternal:

Isaiah 63:10–11; Romans 1:4; Hebrews 9:14; Revelation 4:8

Titles:

“Spirit of God” (1 John 4:2),

“Spirit of Christ” (1 Peter 1:11),

“Spirit of truth” (1 John 4:6; 5:6; John 14:17; 16:13),

“Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29),

“Spirit of glory and of God” (1 Peter 4:14),

“Spirit of holiness” (Romans 1:4),

“The eternal Spirit” (Hebrews 9:14)

4.2. The Spirit as God's Emissary

Isaiah 48:16 – The Spirit is sent along with the Son.

Isaiah 63:8–16 – Yahweh’s presence mediated by His Spirit.

Zechariah 12:10 – God pours out a spirit of grace and supplication.

Ezekiel 36:26–27 – God promises to put His Spirit in Israel.

Ezekiel 37:1–14 – The Spirit revives dry bones: “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live.”

4.3. The Spirit in the Life and Ministry of Jesus

Conception:

Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:35

John the Baptist filled with the Spirit before birth:

Luke 1:15

Baptism of Jesus:

Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22

Jesus as Spirit-Baptizer:

Matthew 3:12; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16

4.4. The Spirit in the Life of the Believer

Indwelling, Baptism, and Sealing: Ephesians 1:13–14; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19

New Birth and Justification: Romans 1:16–17; Romans 8:1–2, 10

Anointing and Internal Teaching: 1 John 2:20, 27

Being Led by the Spirit: Romans 8:14

Freedom and New Life in the Spirit: Galatians 5:1

4.5. The Spirit’s Ministries

Regeneration, Sanctification, and Justification: Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:2; Romans 8:10

Filling, Encouragement, Growth: Acts 9:31

Prayer in the Spirit: Jude 20

Spiritual Gifts and Fruit: Hebrews 2:4; 1 Corinthians 12–13

Producing Fruit: Galatians 5:22–23 (implícito no contexto mencionado)

Teaching and Testifying: Hebrews 10:15; 1 John 5:6–8

Conviction and Transformation: 1 Corinthians 2:10–14

Mediates God’s Presence: 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19

4.6. The Spirit as God

Acts 5:3–9 – Lying to the Spirit is lying to God.

Divine Names and Titles Equated with God: Isaiah 63:10–11; Romans 1:4; 1 Peter 1:11; Hebrews 10:29

Same work as God: 1 Corinthians 12:6

Trinitarian Associations: Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14 (não mencionados no trecho, mas relevantes para completar a seção, se desejar adicionar)

The apostle Paul writes that when one believes in Jesus Christ the Spirit is God’s seal on our life and an experiential down payment of far more to come (Eph. 1:13–14). By the Spirit, believers are baptized (or immersed/conjoined) into one body whose head is Christ (1 Cor. 12:13).

Unknown. 6.A1 Ch5 Other Comforter 40pp (p. 3). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Having given new birth, the Spirit then nurtures Christians with his sanctifying presence. We are justified, that is, counted righteous before God (Rom. 1:16–17) yet, at the same time, the Spirit begins a justifying process.

Unknown. 6.A1 Ch5 Other Comforter 40pp (p. 3). (Function). Kindle Edition.

all believers have “an anointing from the Holy One,” such that God himself internally leads each of us into truth and away from error (1 John 2:20, 27).

Unknown. 6.A1 Ch5 Other Comforter 40pp (p. 3). (Function). Kindle Edition.

The Spirit’s personaity is implied in creation, giving life and beauty to the universe (Gen. 1:2; 2:7; Job 33:4; 26:13; Ps. 104:30; Ezek. 37:9ff)

Various Old Testament prophecies record the promise of the LORD God to pour out his Spirit on Israel in national restoration and spiritual cleansing (Isa. 32:15; 44:3; Ezek. 39:29). Ezekiel 36:26–27 states, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you.”

Led by the Spirit of the LORD (37:1), Ezekiel then enters “the valley of dry bones” and is commanded to prophesy that “breath” (ruach 6 times) enter into the dead of Israel. Bones rattle, flesh returns, then life, and “a vast army” stands to their feet. “Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD.... I will put my Spirit in you and you will live” (37:13–14).

Our understanding of the Spirit’s divine personhood derives from the New Testament and particularly from “Jesus as the Spirit Bringer.”30 Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18; Luke 1:35). John the Baptist—one “filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born” (Luke 1:15)—announced that the Coming One “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (3:16; Matt. 3:12; cf. Mark 1:8). Inaugurating his ministry, Jesus’s baptism was marked by the heavenly voice of the Father and the Holy Spirit descending on him in the physical form of a dove (Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22).

“Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:1). Paul writes, “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (8:14); “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Gal. 4:6); “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body... we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Cor. 12:13).

In Galatians, the apostle is never more frustrated than when believers turned back to the laws of Judaism. Paul exhorts them to the new freedom they have in Christ (Galatians 5:1), a new life in the Spirit that elevates them above both

Hebrews and the Catholic epistles mention the Spirit another twenty-two times, as the Spirit speaks, shows, or testifies (Heb. 3:7; 9:8; 10:15, 1 John 5:6–8), enlivens (1 Pet. 3:18), sanctifies (1 Pet. 1:2), distributes gifts (Heb. 2:4), can be insulted (Heb. 10:29), and carries along his prophets in the inspiration of Scripture (2 Pet.1:21). Jude exhorts us to pray in the Holy Spirit (20). He is “the Spirit of God” (1 John 4:2), “Spirit of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:11); “Spirit of truth” (1 John 4:6; 5:6), “Spirit of grace” (Heb. 10:29), and “the Spirit of glory and of God” (1 Pet. 4:14).

Acts 5:3–9 Another indication that the Spirit is God occurs in Peter’s confrontation with Ananias and Sapphira. When they “lied to the Holy Spirit,” they “have not lied just to human beings but to God” (5:3–4). “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord?” (5:9) At first reading, it appears that the apostle Peter considers synonymous “the Holy Spirit,” “God,” and “the Spirit of the Lord.”

omniscience—“who can fathom the Spirit of the LORD, or instruct the LORD as his counselor?“ (Isa. 40:13; cf. 14; 1 Cor. 2:10–13); omnipotence—“before him all the nations are as nothing” (Isa. 40:15–17); and omnipresence—“where can I go from your Spirit?” (Ps. 139:7–9). As God is “holy, holy, holy” (the trisagion of Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8), so the Spirit is holy (Isa. 63:10–11; Eph. 4:30), “the Spirit of holiness” (Rom. 1:4), and to believers, in contrast to the antichrists who deny the faith, “you have an anointing by the Holy One, and all of you know the truth“ (1 John 2:20). He is “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17; 16:13), the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2, 10), “the eternal Spirit” (Heb. 9:14), “the Spirit of grace” (Heb. 10:29), and “the Spirit of glory” (1 Peter 4:14). In that each of these attributes is innate to the Divine Being, he is rightly called “the Spirit of God,” which is to say he is God the Spirit.

Virtually all the divine ministrations in Christian believers are accomplished by the Holy Spirit—regeneration, baptism, sealing, indwelling, anointing, filling, spiritual gifting, producing the fruits of the Spirit, and so on. The early church throughout “Judea, Galilee and Samaria” was “encouraged by the Holy Spirit” and “increased in numbers” (Acts 9:31).

Paul likens this deep knowledge of God by the Spirit to our own human spirit within ourselves. The Spirit of God—one with God—comes forth from God to codify the deep thoughts of God into language comprehensible to humankind. He does so through human authors, themselves fallible, but guided by his Spirit. [1 Cor. 2:10–14]

The Spirit mediates the presence of the Father and the Son to the believer, such that we are simultaneously “God’s temple and... God’s Spirit dwells in your midst” (1 Cor. 3:16). In the same letter Paul describes believers as “members of Christ himself” (6:15), “temples of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:19), “the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27; cf. 13), indwelled and baptized by the Spirit, “but in all... it is the same God at work” (12:6).

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The Nicene Creed, composed 325 a. d.

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible:

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, Being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. And I believe in one Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.1

1 Archibald Alexander Hodge, J. Aspinwall Hodge, The System of Theology Contained in the Westminster Shorter Catechism: Opened and Explained. (New York: A. C. Armstrong and Son, 1888), 18.

Therefore, following the holy Fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance (ὁμοούσιος) with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer (θεοτόκος); one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence (ὑπόστασις), not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the Fathers has handed down to us. 11 Ivan H. French, “The Man Christ Jesus,” Grace Theological Journal 1, no. 2 (1980): 186.

THE TRINITY

DIVINE PLURALS - GODS NAME

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 17). (Function). Kindle Edition.

“If the intention was to tell us that God took counsel, the Bible would have explicitly stated whom He consulted, as we are told in the other passages that are usually cited in support of this theory.”

Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, 2 vols., trans. Israel Abrahams (Jerusalem: The Hebrew University, Magnes Press, 1961), 1.55.

Augustine concurred, “For if the Father only without the Son had made man, it would not have been written Let us make man to our image and likeness.”33

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Augustine, The Trinity, 1.14; cf. 7.6.

CONCEPT OF THE TRINITY

The Three are distinct numerically in Tertullian’s thought. He could state, “We believe in one God, yet subject to this dispensation, which is our word for economy, that the one only God has also a Son, His Word, Who has issued out of Himself … which Son then sent, according to His promise, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, out of the Father.”11 Myk Habets, The Progressive Mystery: Tracing the Elusive Spirit in Scripture & Tradition (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019), 105.

Tertullian, “Against Praxeas,” in Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, trans. Peter Holmes, vol. 3, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 598.

As observed earlier, Tertullian famously expressed the concept of Trinity as three persons and one substance or, again, as the “divine three-in-one, Father and Son and Holy Spirit.”24 The definition of the Trinity holds together two biblical realities: God is one as to the Divine Being (or nature, substance, essence—all relative equivalents) and God is three persons in some form of genuine personal distinction. 25 In simplistic terms, as to what God is, there is but one Supreme Being. As to who God is, there are three persons who constitute the one God. Our definition of the Trinity can be simple: The one true God eternally exists as three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—one in nature, equal in glory, and distinct in relations.

24.Tertullian, De Pudicitia 21.16: trinitas unius divinitatus, Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus.

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TRINITY SOURCES

In developing Trinitarian thought, historic Christian theology turns to multiple sources: the Bible as God’s inspired, verbal revelation, the acts of God in history (notably incarnation and Pentecost), the apostolic and Christian tradition (especially the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed), and the follower of Christ’s threefold experience of the Christian God.

Unknown. 3.A2 Ch1 Revelatn & Mystery 36pp (p. 35). (Function). Kindle Edition.

For many, the most convincing factual evidence of the Trinity derives from the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, specifically in his rising from the dead. The Christian church does not arbitrarily “believe the Bible,” preferring it to other holy books (…)Rather the testimony of Scripture is supported by a broad sweep of historical evidence, especially that of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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TRINITY MEANS THAT GOD IS LOVE

the Trinity can be presented as a fusty and irrelevant dogma, but the truth is that God is love because God is a Trinity.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 9). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Now, God could not be love if there were nobody to love. He could not be a Father without a child. And yet it is not as if God created so that he could love someone. He is love, and does not need to create in order to be who he is. If he did, what a needy, lonely thing he would be! “Poor old God,” we’d say. If he created us in order to be who he is, we would be giving him life.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 26). (Function). Kindle Edition.

The Father is who he is by virtue of his relationship with the Son. Think again of the image of the fountain: a fountain is not a fountain if it does not pour forth water. Just so, the Father would not be the Father without his Son (whom he loves through the Spirit). And the Son would not be the Son without his Father. He has his very being from the Father. And so we see that the Father, Son and Spirit, while distinct persons, are absolutely inseparable from each other. Not confused, but undividable. They are who they are together. They always are together, and thus they always work together.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 34). (Function). Kindle Edition.

THE FOUNTAIN OF LOVE

The person of Christ is the principal object of the love of God, and of the whole creation participant of his image11 John Owen, The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, n.d.), 144.

Herein originally is God love: “For God is love,” 1 John 4:8. This is the fountain and prototype of all love, as being eternal and necessary. All other acts of love are in God but emanations from hence, and effects of it. As he doeth good because he is good, so he loveth because he is love. He is love eternally and necessarily in this love of the Son; and all other workings of love are but acts of his will, whereby somewhat of it is outwardly expressed. And all love in the creation was introduced from this fountain, to give a shadow and resemblance of it.11 John Owen, The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, n.d.), 144.

The fountain begs not from the river; the sun borrows not light from the candle; God begs not goodness from the creature. Ours is a borrowed goodness, but his is a communicative goodness: ‘Seek my face,’ that I may impart my goodness. The sun delights to spread his beams and his influence in inferior things, to make all things fruitful. Such a goodness is in God as is in a fountain, or in the breast that loves to ease itself of milk.11 Richard Sibbes, The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 6 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson, 1863), 113.

THE TRINITY IS SELF SUFICIENT

Such are the problems with nontriune gods and creation. Single-person gods, having spent eternity alone, are inevitably self-centered beings, and so it becomes hard to see why they would ever cause anything else to exist.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 41). (Function). Kindle Edition.

It is not, then, that God needed to create the world in order to satisfy himself or to be himself. The divine majesty of this God is not dependent on the world. The Father, Son and Spirit “were happy in themselves, and enjoyed one another before the world was.” But the Father so enjoyed his fellowship with his Son that he wanted to have the goodness of it spread out and communicated or shared with others. The creation was a free choice borne out of nothing but love.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (pp. 48-49). (Function). Kindle Edition.

If God had. not a communicative, spreading goodness, he would never have created the world. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were happy in themselves, and enjoyed one another before the world was. But that God delights to communicate and spread his goodness, there had never been a creation nor a redemption11 Richard Sibbes, The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 6 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson, 1863), 113.

For if God is not a Father, if he has no Son and will have no children, then he must be lonely, distant and unapproachable; if he is not triune and so not essentially loving, then no God at all just looks better.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 111). (Function). Kindle Edition.

THE HARMONY IN CREATION, CREATION IS GOOD

For just as though some musician, having tuned a lyre, and by his art adjusted the high notes to the low, and the intermediate notes to the rest, were to produce a single tune as the result, so also the Wisdom of God, handling the Universe as a lyre, and adjusting things in the air to things on the earth, and things in the heaven to things in the air, and combining parts into wholes and moving them all by His beck and will, produces well and fittingly, as the result, the unity of the universe and of its order11 Athanasius of Alexandria, “Against the Heathen,” in St. Athanasius: Select Works and Letters, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans. Archibald T. Robertson, vol. 4, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1892), 26–27.

By graciously giving his creatures the room to exist, the triune God allows them the freedom to turn away without himself being the author of evil.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 58). (Function). Kindle Edition.

TRINITY NOT IN THE BIBLE

while later church theologians would use philosophical terms and words not seen in the Bible (like Trinity), they were not trying to add to God’s revelation of himself, as if Scripture were insufficient; they were trying to express the truth of who God is as revealed in Scripture.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 13). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Opponents of historic Trinitarianism often argue that the Bible never uses the word Trinity, which, ironically, is something every orthodox theologian in history knows is true. In fact, the New Testament sets forth over 130 passages that bring together the three divine persons with a diversity of names, titles, orders, and functions. Beyond that, nearly 1,000 texts include two persons of the Godhead.14

Unknown. 3.A2 Ch1 Revelatn & Mystery 36pp (p. 10). (Function). Kindle Edition.

GOD IS ONE

In fact, the word for “one” in Deuteronomy 6:4 really doesn’t convey “mathematical singularity” at all well. The word is also used, for example, in Genesis 2:24, where Adam and Eve—two persons—are said to be one.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 13). (Function). Kindle Edition.

These two portrayals of the Spirit—an expression of God in action and a distinctive personal agent in relationship to God—are not incongruent. Scholars agree that in the Old Testament, the distinctions between the personal and impersonal were obscure. The fluidity of the concept of person allows the Spirit to be both different from and one-in-the-same with Yahweh. When the biblical authors write of the Spirit of the LORD, they may be referring simultaneously to a divine agent identified with Yahweh and to Yahweh himself. The Spirit was seen as both God and one coming forth from God.

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 21). (Function). Kindle Edition.

As with the Spirit of God, so the word of Yahweh assumes a more definitive place in the intertestamental and New Testament periods. In startling imagery, the Book of Wisdom 18:15–16 declares, “Your all-powerful Word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed; a stern warrior, carrying a sharp sword of your authentic command, he stood and filled all things with death.”

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 22). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Writing at the time of Christ, the Jewish thinker Philo described the Logos as “the second god” who was both the creative power behind the world’s design and the mediating agent by which humanity can know God.40

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 22). (Function). Kindle Edition.

40 Philo, Questions in Genesis, 2.62, in Larry W. Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 36.

THE ANGEL OF THE LORD

Philo treated the angel of the LORD as the logos, “scarcely distinct from God at all, but more like an aspect of God that acts as an independent person.”48 A similar Jewish tradition viewed the angel of the LORD as a “second God,” a visible Yahweh distinct from the invisible Yahweh—a weighty Jewish belief that endured to the seventeenth-century AD. 49

Unknown. 4.A1 Ch2 VeiledGlory.TrinityOT 41pp (p. 25). (Function). Kindle Edition.

49 Margaret Barker, The Great Angel: A Study of Israel’s Second God (London: SPCK, 1992), 72, argues that the longstanding memory of the Great Angel as a form of God is “a sure sign that this was a major belief and not the deviation of a minor sect.” However, Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ, 32–42, contests that there is no evidence of an angel cultus or Jewish worship of a second God at the time of Jesus. Cf. Hurtado, One God One Lord: Early Christian Devotion and Ancient Jewish Monotheism (London: SCM Press, 1988), 71–92.

These four Old Testament agents contribute to our understanding of the one God in a kind of ambiguous profusion: the Spirit, the Word, Wisdom, and the angel of the LORD. Each term manifests both distinction from and unity with God.

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Centuries before and after Jesus, rabbinic tradition testified that Daniel’s son of man must be a divine figure, a Messiah, a kind of second God.76

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Daniel Boyarin, The Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ (New York: New Press, 2012), 44–45, 71– 101.

THE FATHER

SOURCE OF CREATION

In all classical theology, God the Father is declared the divine Source of all creation and of all human life (Acts 17:24–29; Rom. 16:26; Rev. 4:11).

Unknown. 4.A2 Ch3 Father Who Draws Near 41pp (p. 7). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Although various biblical texts in both the Old and New Testaments deem the Spirit and the Word as co-creators of the world with the Father, only God the Father receives the designation of fons divinitatis, the ultimate divine source for all created existence. In the economic Trinity, everything originates by the Father’s will (Eph. 1:11; 4:6).

Unknown. 4.A2 Ch3 Father Who Draws Near 41pp (p. 13). (Function). Kindle Edition.

FATHER LOVED THE SON BEFORE CREATION

Jesus tells us explicitly in John 17:24. “Father,” he says, “you loved me before the creation of the world.” And that is the God revealed by Jesus Christ. Before he ever created, before he ever ruled the world, before anything else, this God was a Father loving his Son.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 21). (Function). Kindle Edition.

FATHER LOVE TO THE SON AND US

Unknown. 4.A2 Ch3 Father Who Draws Near 41pp (p. 11). (Function). Kindle Edition.

THE FATHER IS THE PERFECT FATHER

God the Father is not called Father because he copies earthly fathers. He is not some pumped-up version of your dad. To transfer the failings of earthly fathers to him is, quite simply, a misstep. Instead, things are the other way around: it is that all human fathers are supposed to reflect him—only where some do that well, others do a better job of reflecting the devil.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 25). (Function). Kindle Edition.

THE FATHERS LOVE OVERFLOWS -

That God, in seeking his glory, therein seeks the good of his creatures. Because the emanation of his glory (which he seeks and delights in, as he delights in himself and his own eternal glory) implies the communicated excellency and happiness of his creature. And that in communicating his fulness for them, he does it for himself. Because their good, which he seeks, is so much in union and communion with himself. God is their good. Their excellency and happiness is nothing but the emanation and expression of God’s glory.11 Jonathan Edwards, The Works of President Edwards (Worcester: Isaiah Thomas, Jun., 1809), 56.

THE FATHER OF ISRAEL

Most commonly, the term father relates to Yahweh’s paternal role in forming the nation of Israel.

Unknown. 4.A2 Ch3 Father Who Draws Near 41pp (p. 8). (Function). Kindle Edition.

THE FATHER OF ALL

In sum, God is Father to Israel, Father of the fatherless, Father to the Son, Father to all believers, and finally “Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:6). The last phrase reminds us that the New Testament does affirm what became the mantra of liberal theology: “the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.” God is not only Father to believers, as Creator-Sustainer he is also Father to the whole human race (Acts 17:24–28; Eph. 3:14–15).

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SOVEREIGN RULER

Consonant with his role as eternal Creator and ultimate Source of all, God the Father is revealed as the heavenly Monarch, transcendent Ruler, “Lord of heaven and earth” (Matt. 11:25).

Unknown. 4.A2 Ch3 Father Who Draws Near 41pp (p. 15). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Repeatedly, the motif of a heavenly temple and royal throne reinforces the role of God the Father as the supreme Monarch who is joined by the Son (Rev. 4:2–5:13).

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COMPASSIONATE RECONCILER

God the Father is the Divine Source, the Sovereign Ruler, and Lord Chief Justice, yet he—quite astonishingly—is also the caring, benevolent Reconciler.

Unknown. 4.A2 Ch3 Father Who Draws Near 41pp (p. 19). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Yet, it is in love that God the Father decreed and created the world and continues to provide for it (Acts 14:15–17). It is the Father who “so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16).

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HIM TO WHOM ALL THINGS RETURN

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LORD CHIEF JUSTICE

As the center of divine outworking, God the Father appears in a primary sense as the ethical Absolute, the “Lord Chief Justice.”23 Particularly, the Father is the Lawgiver who by nature and decree institutes what is right and wrong. Twenty-six times Isaiah speaks of Yahweh as “the Holy One [of Israel],” representing all that is perfect and pure in contrast to the corruption in the world.

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ONLY THROUGH JESUS THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER IS RESTORED

However, in its primary sense, the message of the Christian gospel is clear: it is only through Jesus Christ that humanity’s estranged relationship with God can be restored. When Jesus speaks of God as the Father of a specific person, he refers to his own followers, not a universal fatherhood. The religious leaders of Israel did not have God as their father (John 8:19, 39–44). The New Testament normatively addresses human beings as those alienated from God and under his judgment. People are prodigal sons and daughters, having squandered their inheritance, even as the Father stands waiting (Luke 15:11–24).

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THE SON

THE SON AMAZING CHARACTER - Jesus as Captivating Human Being

No one can remain unmoved by Jesus’s surrender to God’s will in tandem with his lordship over every circumstance he encounters. The largely “uneducated” Galilean was intellectually brilliant. His teaching left listeners either thirsty for more or deeply disturbed. Jesus proclaimed good news and stern warnings. Religionists and theologians retreated from debates stunned and embarrassed. He cared for children, showed compassion to those grieving loss, and treated women with dignity such that they trusted his purity and goodwill.

Unknown. 5.A1 Ch4 God Made Flesh 43pp (p. 6). (Function). Kindle Edition.

JESUS IS HUMBLE

While he was more than capable of revealing his divinity, Jesus seemed to deliberately conceal it. Philippians 2:5–7 instructs believers to assume the same attitude as Christ who, despite being God by nature, did not flaunt or exploit his deity.

Unknown. 5.A1 Ch4 God Made Flesh 43pp (p. 6). (Function). Kindle Edition.

CLAIMS TO BE GOD

Andreas Köstenberger notes John’s gospel records seven instances of Jesus appropriating the divine “I AM,” the Jewish number of completion. To be sure, many times egō eimi simply functions as an identifying statement without necessarily claiming deity on Jesus’s part. But at certain times, especially with the seven absolute, non-predicated forms of “I am,” Jesus implicitly asserts his own deity.

Andreas J. Köstenberger, A Theology of John’s Gospel and Letters: Biblical Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 359; Raymond E. Brown, John, 2 vols., ABC, 1:533–38;

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ONLY THROUGH THE SON WE KNOW THE FATHER

Our definition of God must be built on the Son who reveals him. And when we do that, starting with the Son, we find that the first thing to say about God is, as it says in the creed, “We believe in one God, the Father.”

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 22). (Function). Kindle Edition.

In all the Gospels (albeit with multiple parallel passages), Jesus addresses God as “Father” some 190 times. He rarely if ever invokes God by any other name in his prayers.19 Shocked by this kind of personal immediacy with God, the Jews accuse Jesus of “even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18).

Unknown. 4.A2 Ch3 Father Who Draws Near 41pp (p. 10). (Function). Kindle Edition.

When you start with the Jesus of the Bible, it is a triune God that you get. The Trinity, then, is not the product of abstract speculation: when you proclaim Jesus, the Spirit-anointed Son of the Father, you proclaim the triune God. And what Arius demonstrated was the reverse: when you don’t start with Jesus the Son, you end up with a different God who is not the Father. For the Son is the one Way to know God truly: only he reveals the Father.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (pp. 37-38). (Function). Kindle Edition.

“only the bare and empty name of God flits about in our brains, to the exclusion of the true God.” Calvin, Institutes 1.13.2

While he proclaims his unity, he distinctly sets it before us as existing in three persons. These we must hold, unless the bare and empty name of Deity merely is to flutter in our brain without any genuine knowledge11 John Calvin and Henry Beveridge, Institutes of the Christian Religion, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation Society, 1845), 147.

We must now explain what the power of human reason is, in regard to the kingdom of God, and spiritual discernment, which consists chiefly of three things—the knowledge of God, the knowledge of his paternal favour towards us, which constitutes our salvation, and the method of regulating of our conduct in accordance with the Divine Law. With regard to the former two, but more properly the second, men otherwise the most ingenious are blinder than moles11 John Calvin and Henry Beveridge, Institutes of the Christian Religion, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation Society, 1845), 320.

In short, not one of them even made the least approach to that assurance of the divine favour, without which the mind of man must ever remain a mere chaos of confusion. To the great truths, What God is in himself, and what he is in relation to us, human reason makes not the least approach.11 John Calvin and Henry Beveridge, Institutes of the Christian Religion, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation Society, 1845), 321.

THE SON KENOSIS (empting of himself)

How are we to understand the kenosis of the Son, that “he made himself nothing [ekenōsen]”? Church fathers reasoned that if the Son is truly God, then he did not cease to be God by assuming a human nature. God as Christ did not become partially God. Rather, the Son’s divine nature took to itself all that is innate to our humanity. He put off his glorious heavenly form and, in taking on a human nature, chose to limit the exercise of his divine attributes.

Unknown. 5.A1 Ch4 God Made Flesh 43pp (p. 21). (Function). Kindle Edition.

THE SON PARDONS SIN

The ability to forgive sins belongs to God alone. “There is irony here, because what the Jewish theologians complain about is precisely part of the point. Even though they do not believe it, they correctly understand what Jesus is doing.”54 To forgive sins is to identify with God.

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THE HOLY SPIRIT

THE SPIRITS ROLE - COMPLETE CREATION

What is the Spirit’s role? We have already seen that the Spirit empowers the Word, but he does even more: while the Son establishes and upholds all things (Heb 1:3), the Spirit perfects or completes the work of creation. Job 26:13 puts it delightfully: “By his breath [or Spirit] the skies became fair.” In other words, the Spirit garnishes and beautifies the heavens and the earth.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (pp. 50-51). (Function). Kindle Edition.

the Spirit vivifies, bringing what has been created to life. And so, while the Nicene Creed speaks of the Father as the “Maker of heaven and earth,” it speaks of the Spirit as “the Lord and giver of life.”

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 51). (Function). Kindle Edition.

The psalmist sings: “When you send your Spirit, they [the creatures] are created, and you renew the face of the earth” (Ps 104:30). Small wonder, then, that creativity, the ability to craft, adorn and make beautiful, is a gift of the Spirit:

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 51). (Function). Kindle Edition.

THE SPIRIT IN CREATION

The Spirit’s personaity is implied in creation, giving life and beauty to the universe (Gen. 1:2; 2:7; Job 33:4; 26:13; Ps. 104:30; Ezek. 37:9ff)

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THE SPIRIT RENEWS OUR DESIRES

Our problem is with our desires, that naturally we have no appetite for God, and we place all our affections elsewhere. Our only hope of life is to be found with the Spirit, who “bringeth lust [that is, desire!], looseth the heart, maketh him free, setteth him at liberty.”

William Tyndale, “A Prologue upon the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans,” in The Works of William Tyndale (Edinburgh and Carlisle, Penn.: Banner of Truth, 2010), 1:489.

THE SPIRIT IS THE AUTHOR OF SCRIPTURE

Prioritizing the Bible, the Reformation theologies of Luther and Calvin insisted on the unity of the Word and the Spirit. The Spirit operates through the written and preached Word, the Spirit and Word inseparable in the life of the believer and the church. Authentic spirituality centers in hearing and responding to the Word of God with faith, understanding, and devotion generated by the Spirit of God. The Bible and its preaching are the primary vehicle of the Holy Spirit’s activity in the life of the believer.

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THE AGENT OF DIVINE REVELATION

As the agent of divine revelation, God’s Spirit anoints people with spiritual power in visions, ecstasy, and prophetic speech (Judg. 13:25; Num. 11:25ff).

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Specific use of the title “Holy Spirit” occurs only three times in the Hebrew Bible (Ps. 51:11; Isa. 63:10–11) and becomes more frequent in Jewish writings during the intertestamental period. During this period, the phrase “Holy Spirit” generally focuses on the Spirit’s role in revealing divine truth, often in the prophetic word. 21 Compared to other writings of this period, the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran refer to the “Holy Spirit” frequently and in a variety of roles.22

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THE SPIRIT SANCTIFY THE BELIEVER

all believers have “an anointing from the Holy One,” such that God himself internally leads each of us into truth and away from error (1 John 2:20, 27). Through the Christian’s rebirth, the Holy Spirit immediately sets out to remold each believer into God’s likeness. Our broken humanness begins healing and conforming to Jesus Christ, the perfect image of God (Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4; Heb. 1:3). We begin, slowly, to become beautiful people.

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THE SPIRIT AS THE BREATH OF GOD, THE MANIFESTATION OF GODS PRESENCE

More than mere “breath” or human “spirit,” ruach can denote “heavy breathing,” “snorting,” and respiration accompanied by unusual power, even violence and rage (e.g., Job 15:13). Exodus 15:8 describes the ferocious wind that swept back the Red Sea for the Israelites to escape Pharaoh's army as “the blast” (ruach) of God's nostrils. Accordingly, the term spirit frequently carries connotations of power, vigorous action, and overwhelming force that cannot be withstood. When the Hebrew scribe wrote “the Spirit of the LORD” in the Old Testament, what most often came to mind was the dynamic, effective power of God. Yahweh’s presence was manifested in the Spirit’s power.

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THE SPIRIT IS A PERSON

The Spirit of the LORD engages in numerous personalistic activities, such that Israel could not only distress Yahweh “who became their Savior” but also grieve “his Holy Spirit” (Isa. 63:9–10). In judgment over the perversions of a pre-Noahic humanity, God declares, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever” (Gen. 6:3).

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THE SPIRIT TEACHES

Jesus’s words, the Spirit will “teach and remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26);

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THE SPIRIT, TESTIFIES, ENLIVIEVENS, SANCTIFIES, DISTRIBUTE GIFTS, CAN BE INSULTED…

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THE DIVINITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

IN THE NEW NESTAMENT

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BAPTISM IN THE NAME OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

For if our Lord, when enjoining the baptism of salvation, charged His disciples to baptize all nations in the name “of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,” not disdaining fellowship with Him, and these men allege that we must not rank Him with the Father and the Son, is it not clear that they openly withstand the commandment of God? If they deny that coördination of this kind is declaratory of any fellowship and conjunction, let them tell us why it behoves us to hold this opinion, and what more intimate mode of conjunction6 they have.11 Basil of Caesarea, “The Book of Saint Basil on the Spirit,” in St. Basil: Letters and Select Works, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans. Blomfield Jackson, vol. 8, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1895), 16.

HAS DIVINE ATTRIBUTES

The Spirit, moreover, ranked alongside, not below, the Father and the Son, participates with the Father and the Son in the entirety of divine activity, from the creation of the angelic beings to the last judgement. For instance, the Spirit gives insight into divine mysteries, since he plumbs the depths of God (1 Cor 2:10), something only one who is fully divine could do. He enables men and women to confess the true identity of Christ and worship him (1 Cor 12:3). These two texts clarified for Basil how salvation was imparted: through the power of the Spirit men and women come to a saving knowledge about God’s redemptive work in the crucified Christ and are enabled to call him “Lord.” If the Spirit, therefore, is not fully divine, the work of salvation is short-circuited, for creatures simply cannot give such saving knowledge. Moreover, he is omnipresent (Ps 139:7), an attribute possessed only by God. And he is implicitly called “God” by Peter (Acts 5:3–4).11 Michael A. G. Haykin, “Defending the Holy Spirit’s Deity: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and the Pneumatomachian Controversy of the 4th Century,” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 7 7, no. 3 (2003): 76–77.

HOLY SPIRIT ACTS

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THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON

By Jesus’s own attestation, the Spirit as Advocate teaches, testifies, convicts, guides, and makes known—all intensely personal acts of thought and expression.

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CAN BE Grieved

So while Scripture emphasizes the affections of God the Father (cf. Luke 15:20) and the glorified Son (Rev. 19:11–15), it also attributes emotions to the Holy Spirit. Perhaps most noticeable is the Spirit’s grieving over sin, an explicit statement in both Testaments. The “Holy Spirit” is grieved over Israel’s obstinate disobedience toward Yahweh as “Father” and “Savior” (Isa. 63:10), and Paul warns Ephesian believers, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).

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THE SPIRIT IS GOD

CAN BE BLASPHEMED

Although rarely brought to the fore, Matthew’s account regarding the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a primary evidence for the Spirit’s deity. 50 Jesus has just healed “a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute” (Matt. 12:22) when the Pharisees accuse him of accomplishing his works through the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Jesus responds that Satan does not destroy his own kingdom, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (12:28). In no uncertain terms, Jesus then sternly warns them, “Every kind of sin and slander [Gk. blasphēmia] can be forgiven, but blasphemy [Gk. blasphēmia] against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (12:31–32).

KNOWS THE MISTERY OF GOD

The Spirit-who-is-God fully knows the mysteries of God’s unfathomable wisdom. Only an infinite mind can comprehend another infinite mind. Paul likens this deep knowledge of God by the Spirit to our own human spirit within ourselves. The Spirit of God—one with God—comes forth from God to codify the deep thoughts of God into language comprehensible to humankind. He does so through human authors, themselves fallible, but guided by his Spirit.

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THE SPIRIT GLORIFIES THE FATHER AND THE SON

Another reason for Scripture’s subtlety regarding the personal deity of the Holy Spirit is because the Spirit rejoices in glorifying not himself but the Father and the Son. Although equal in rank as fully God, his role (Gk. taxis) in the economic Trinity centers on making known the Son and the Father.

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THE HOLY SPIRIT OLD TESTAMENT

Summarizing the whole of Old Testament evidence regarding the Spirit, Anthony Thiselton observes, “The Spirit who reveals and inspires does so because he is often understood as more than the Agent of God; he represents God’s presence. It would be anachronistic to suggest that Old Testament writers consciously anticipated the later doctrine of the Holy Trinity, but they certainly laid the groundwork for such a doctrine by associating God’s Spirit with God himself.”23

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EXTRA - TRINITIES ACTS AND ATTRIBUTES

SALVATION - TO SIN IS TO ACT AGAINST THE TRINITY NATURE, TO NOT LOVE

The devil once seemed to be religious from fear of torment. Luke 8:28, “When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.” Here is external worship. The devil is religious; he prays: he prays in a humble posture; he falls down before Christ, he lies prostrate; he prays earnestly, he cries with a loud voice; he uses humble expressions—“I beseech thee, torment me not”—he uses respectful, honorable, adoring expressions—“Jesus, thou Son of God most high.” Nothing was wanting but love.

Jonathan Edwards, “Writings on the Trinity, Grace and Faith,” in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, ed. Sand Hyund Lee (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1957-2008),21:171

What, then, went wrong? It was not that Adam and Eve stopped loving. They were created as lovers in the image of God, and they could not undo that. Instead, their love turned. When the apostle Paul writes of sinners, he describes them as “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, . . . lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim 3:2-4).

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 65). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Astonishingly, it was this very rejection of God that then drew forth the extreme depths of his love. In his response to sin we see deeper than ever into the very being of God. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 Jn 4:8-10).

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (p. 68). (Function). Kindle Edition.

GODS WRATH/JUSTICE

The Father loves his Son, and so hates sin, which ultimately is rejection of the Son; he loves his children, and so hates their being oppressed; he loves his world, and so hates all evil in it. Thus in his love he roots out sin in his people, even disciplining them that they might be freed from their captivity to it. In his love he is patient with us. And in his love he promises finally to destroy all evil as light destroys darkness.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (pp. 119-120). (Function). Kindle Edition.

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