Immanent and Economic Trinity

This morning we will continue our study of the doctrine of the Trinity by noting passages in the Scriptures, which explicitly and implicitly refer to the Trinity.

We also will discuss the meaning of two terms theologians use with regards to the Trinity, namely, the “immanent” and “economic” Trinity.

The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 makes an explicit reference to the Trinity when teaching the Corinthian church.

1 Corinthians 12:4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord (God the Son). 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God (God the Father) who works all things in all persons. (NASB95)

Notice when addressing the issue of spiritual gifts Paul employs three descriptions of God and connects each with a different Divine Person.

Again when writing to the Corinthians, Paul makes an explicit reference to the Trinity.

2 Corinthians 1:21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God (the Father) 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. (NASB95)

Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:3 mentions each member of the Trinity.

2 Corinthians 3:3 being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God (the Father), not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (NASB95)

When defending the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ in Galatians 3:11-14, the apostle Paul includes the expressions “before God,” “Christ redeemed us,” and “the promise of the Spirit.”

Paul refers to each member of the Trinity in Ephesians 2:18.

Ephesians 2:18 for through Him (God the Son) we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. (NASB95)

In Ephesians 4:4-6, the apostle makes another explicit reference to the fact that God is three distinct persons.

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. (NASB95)

There are several other passages in Paul’s writings which also explicitly teach that God is a Trinity (Romans 14:17–18; 15:16, 30; Philippians 3:3; Colossians 1:6–8; Ephesians 2:20–22; 3:14–16; Titus 3:4–6).

In each of these passages, three persons-God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit—are presented together as co-sources of all the blessings of the believer’s salvation which are given to believers through their union and identification with the second member of the Trinity, Jesus Christ.

Not only does Paul makes mention of the fact that God is three persons, but also the apostle Peter who in 1 Peter 1:2 tells his readers that they were “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.” (NASB95)

The writer of Hebrews speaks of the salvation “first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God (the Father) also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” (Hebrews 2:3-4).

In Hebrews 9:14 we have another reference explicit reference to the Trinity.

Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (NASB95)

In this verse, we see that the second person of the Trinity, the Son, through the eternal Spirit offered Himself up without blemish to the Father.

Then, there is Jude.

He writes “Jude 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God (the Father), waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” (NASB95)

Lastly the apostle John also taught that God is three persons.

Revelation 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His (the Father’s) throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood.” (NASB95)

The Scriptures also implicitly refer to God as three persons.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (NASB95)

Isaiah 6:1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.” 8 Then 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!” (NASB95)

“Us” in each of these passages make clear that God refers to Himself as being more than one person.

When approaching the doctrine of the Trinity, theologians employ the term “immanent” Trinity in order to explain the internal workings and relationships among the three persons of the Trinity.

Sometimes the terms “ontological” or “essential” are employed instead of “immanent,” which means, “near, close to, actively involved with,” and the term ontological is from the Greek participle (ὄντος, ontos) meaning “being.”

Jewett speaks of the ontological Trinity as “The Trinity of Being.”[1]

The Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms has the following comment regarding the “immanent Trinity,” they write “The term used to explore and, to an inadequate degree, explain the internal workings and relationships among the three persons of the Trinity. Statements about the immanent Trinity seek to give language to the inexpressible mystery of what God is like apart from reference to God’s dealings with creation. Thus the immanent Trinity is God-as-God-is throughout eternity. The Scriptures suggest that Jesus and the Father are one (Jn 10:30) and that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and of Christ (1 Cor 2:10; 3:17–18). The Scriptures also suggest that love is the essence of the immanent Trinity (see Jn 17:23–26; 1 Jn 4:8, 16).”[2]

Another expression that theologians employ with regards to the subject of the Trinity is the “economic Trinity,” which is used in two ways.

It considers the Father, Son and Holy Spirit from the standpoint of their work in the world for the salvation of sinful humanity.

It is “God-as-God-is-toward-us.”[3]

The term “economic” is from the Greek word (οἰκονομία, oikonomia) meaning “the arrangement or order of things.”

When theologians speak of the economic Trinity, they are speaking of God’s work in the world, and they include in their discussion the different functions of each person.[4]

Jewett speaks of the economic Trinity as “the Trinity of Revelation.”[5]

This expression “economic Trinity” also includes the different ways the three persons have functioned and acted toward each other from all eternity.[6]

David MacLeod writes “The functions that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have performed in time are simply the outworkings of an eternal relationship between the three persons. The functions performed by each member in time were not arbitrary or accidental. It was appropriate, for example, that the Son should come into this world and not the Father because it is the function of a Father to command, direct, and send. And it was appropriate for the Son to become incarnate and reveal God because He is the eternal Word of God. In this sense the ‘economic Trinity’ can also be called ‘the Trinity of Function’ or ‘the Trinity of Role.’”[7]

The Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms commenting on the expression “economic Trinity” has the following note, they write that it “refers to the manifestations of the three persons of the Trinity in relationship to the world, particularly in regard to the outworking of God’s plan (economy) of salvation. Thus the economic Trinity refers to how God as a tripersonal being relates to the world, which in turn provides the biblical context for understanding how the persons of the Trinity relate to each other (immanent Trinity). One of the most important contemporary theological questions surrounding the Trinity asks: Is there a difference between “God in relationship to the world” (economic Trinity) and “God in internal eternal relationship” (immanent Trinity)?[8]

[1] Paul K. Jewett, God, Creation, and Revelation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 294.

[2] Grenz, S., Guretzki, D., & Nordling, C. F. (1999). Pocket dictionary of theological terms (63). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

[3] Toon, Our Triune God, 43.

[4] Grudem, Systematic Theology, 248–49.

[5] Jewett, God, Creation, and Revelation, 305.

[6] Grudem, Systematic Theology, 249–51. Jewett and Grudem illustrate two tendencies in Trinitarian discussion. Jewett limits the expression “economic Trinity” to God’s work in the world for salvation. Grudem also includes the roles or functions of the three persons in eternity past.

[7] Vol. 11: Emmaus Journal Volume 11. 2002 (2) (134). Dubuque, IA: Emmaus Bible College.

[8] Grenz, S., Guretzki, D., & Nordling, C. F. (1999). Pocket dictionary of theological terms (42–43). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.