LBCF 2:3 - Of the Trinity

Statement Within The Confession

3. In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided: the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son; all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on him.

Differences Between the Confessions

The WCF states:

WCF Statement

The Differences in LBCF

LBCF Statement

What Does This Teach Us?

That in the one Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

I need to be careful here as I have preached, at length, on this doctrine.

The term which has been chosen to express the doctrine in our confession is the Trinity.

This word is not to be found in Scripture, but it is a very appropriate and happy term to express this profound mystery.

It is a compound Latin word, signifying three in unity; that is, three distinct persons in one undivided Godhead.

Oppositions to the Trinity

Anti-Trinitarians, who maintain that God is one in respect of personality as well as of essence.

The adversaries of the Trinity go by various names:

Unitarians, by which they mean to intimate their belief of only one God, and insinuate that those who believe the doctrine of the Trinity must admit more than one God.

Modalists: that there is one God who expresses Himself in three forms

Explanation of the Trinity

We maintain that there is only one God, and we think it perfectly consistent with this belief, to acknowledge three persons in the Godhead.

We should explain the terms employed.

The word Godhead signifies the divine nature. This is a scriptural term.—Rom. 1:20; Col. 2:9.

In the Scriptures, and, agreeably to them, in our Confession, Godhead denotes that infinite, eternal, and unchangeable nature, or essence, which is not peculiar to the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Ghost, but common to all the three.

The distinction in the Godhead is characterized by the word person.

This term, in the common acceptation, denotes "a separate and independent being, whose existence and actions have no necessary connection with the existence and actions of any other being. It has been defined to be a thinking substance, which can act by itself, or an intelligent agent, who is neither a part of, nor sustained by another."

But this term, when applied to the Trinity, is not to be understood in exactly the same sense as when applied to creatures. The cases are totally dissimilar.

Three human persons have the same specific nature, but three divine persons have the same numerical nature.

We believe in a plurality within the Godhead.

There are many passages in the Old Testament which prove a plurality of persons in the Godhead, such as those passages in which one divine person is introduced as speaking of or to another. (Gen. 1:26, 3:22, 11:7; Ps. 14:6, 7; Isa. 6:8.

Genesis 1:26 NKJV

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Genesis 3:22 NKJV

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—

Genesis 11:7 NKJV

Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

Psalm 14:6 NKJV

You shame the counsel of the poor, But the Lord is his refuge.

Psalm 14:7 NKJV

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord brings back the captivity of His people, Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

Isaiah 6:8 NKJV

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

All these texts plainly point out a plurality of persons in the Godhead. But it is evident from Scripture, not only that there is a plurality, but also that there is a Trinity, or only three persons in the Godhead.

This is plain from Isa. 61:1, where our Divine Redeemer thus speaks:

Isaiah 61:1 NKJV

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

During the Lord's baptism we have a plain intimation of the mystery of the Trinity.—Matt. 3:16-17.

Matthew 3:16–17 NKJV

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

The apostolic benediction furnishes another proof of a Trinity: 2 Cor. 12:14.

2 Corinthians 12:14 NKJV

Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

That these three are distinguished by their unique roles

It is unique to the Father to beget the Son.—Ps. 2:7.

Psalm 2:7 NKJV

“I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.

It is unique to the Son to be God’s one and only Son —John. 1:14; 3:16

John 1:14 CSB

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 3:16 CSB

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

It is unique to the Holy Ghost to proceed eternally from the Father and the Son.—John 15:26; Gal. 4:6.

John 15:26 NKJV

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

Galatians 4:6 NKJV

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

That each of these persons is truly God

The deity of the Father has never been questioned during the church.

The deity of the Son has been a battle ground

The Arians held the Son had a beginning - the JW’s follow this error

The Socinians, who sprung up towards the close of the sixteenth century, went further than the Arians.

They held that the second person had no existence till he was formed in the womb of the Virgin, and that he is called the Son of God because God employed him to propagate divine truth by his ministry, and to confirm it by his death, and advanced him, after his resurrection, to the government of the universe.

The Unitarians come from the Socinians

In a sermon I went through this at length so I will not repeat it - go back and listen to that sermon.

Let is suffice that the Son is of the same nature as the Father - both are fully God but they are also different persons.

Furthermore, within the Godhead there is one will.

The Father does not “press His will” upon the Son.

There is ONE God and they are one in nature, purpose, and will.

However you understand the difference in the members of the Trinity do not make them so distinct that you lose the unity within the Godhead: THE LORD OUR LORD IS ONE LORD.

That this doctrine is essential

If you misunderstand the Trinity you misunderstand God.

If you deny the Trinity you deny the Persons of God and you do not know who God is.

We must review the Core elements of the Trinity

Core Elements

These are core elements we need to maintain about the Trinity

God is one

We use the term Godhead - one God, not three Gods.

The Lord our Lord is ONE LORD.

God is three persons

There are three unique persons who are God.

There are three distinct persons in the Trinity - do not make them the other person. Do not ascribe the works of the Spirit to the Father or Son; recognize who is whom.

All three persons are equal

The Son is not lesser God than the Father, nor is the Spirit lesser God in proceeding from the Father and Son.

All three are Equally God - all three are equal in the Godhead though their role or function differs.

All three persons are not the same

The Father is not the Son, nor the Son the Father.

Different ways are used to express the difference in the Trinity: the Economic Trinity, the Ontological Trinity, etc.

Works generally proceed from the Father, through the Son, and are consummated by the Spirit.

They are all equal but they are different.

We see this in salvation:

The Father decrees the election of the sinner

The Son procures the election of the sinner

The Spirit effects the election of the sinner

We see this in prayer

We pray TO the Father

We pray THROUGH the Son

We pray with the AID of the Spirit

Diagram of the Trinity

Let the Trinity affect your view of God; do not confuse the members of the Trinity or their work - be intelligent about it.