The Trinity Series: Immanent and Economic Trinity

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 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. (NIV)

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 it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (NIV)

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

2 Corinthians 3:3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (NIV)

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 we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. (NIV)

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 you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (NIV)

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 “1 Peter 1:2 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. (NIV)

The writer of Hebrews speaks of the salvation “Hebrews 2:3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (NIV)

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

Hebrews 9:14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (NIV)

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, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” (NIV)

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

Revelation 1:4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, (NIV)

The Scriptures also implicitly refer to God as three persons.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (NIV)

Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (NIV)

“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.”

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).”

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.”

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.

Jewett speaks of the economic Trinity as “the Trinity of Revelation.”

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

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.’”