By Neil Earle
Grace Communion International’s recent stress on Trinitarian teaching is in line with the main pattern of Christian thought even before there was a Bible.
Before? Yes. The first listing of books that we see in our New Testament was produced by the Trinitarian champion Saint Athanasius in his Christmas message to the churches of Alexandria in 363 AD. The clarifications regarding Jesus’ divinity at the Council of Nicea in 325, which marked Athanasius as the chief defender of the Trinity, was 40 years earlier. The first Bible between two covers we know of was Jerome’s Latin Bible in about 410AD. This means that the doctrinal disputes of the 300s forced orthodox Christians to quote from books that were more or less universally accepted as inspired – not the fakes which get such wild press today such as “The Gospel of Judas,” etc.
One could say, then, that in some senses the Trinity discussion called into being the New Testament canon! That is a bold statement but perhaps a helpful one in discussing Trinitarian theology. Athanasius and others knew that dozens and dozens of passages pointed to the divine activity and life of the Son and the Holy Spirit as equal to and co-existing with the Father. A few brief references would include Genesis 1:2; Numbers 11:16, Job 33:4, Psalm 51:3, Isaiah 63:10 and Zechariah 12:10. In the NT this is pervasive – e.g. Matthew 28:19-20, John 1:17, 5:20, 23, 6:63, John 14:8, Acts 3:15, Galatians 4:6 and many other passages which we have spoken of many times before.
But what does a Trinitarian emphasis mean for the average parishioner in the pew? Much every way. Let’s look at this today.
First, the Trinity helps safeguard the Mystery of God (1 Timothy 3:9, 16).
It is a matter of historical record that almost every where the Trinity has been deemphasized the true nature of God has become confused in people’s minds. Let us remind ourselves of this without in any sense denigrating the sincere beliefs of others. We are solely interested in comparison and clarification not in attacking anyone’s religion. First, think of Hinduism and paganism, etc. with their millions and millions of gods. Or the other extreme such as the Atheists who see God nowhere, and the Pantheists who see God everywhere (in a leaf, a flower, a tree). We could bracket Buddhists in there since their ethically-oriented adherents believe in spiritual practices more than doctrine, perhaps one reason it is the fastest growing religion in California today. Scientology likewise is a “gnosis” that lays down no requirements as to the Nature of God but tends to be a “head religion.”
On the other side we could include such Christian and quasi-Christian sects as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and their “God is only the Father” position which relegates Jesus to inferior status (Subordinationism). Unitarians revived this teaching in the 1800s – God is just the Father, the Son is not divine. Islam is adamant that “God has no son” neither does he beget anyone as opposed to the words of Hebrews 1:5. Christian Scientists and others adopt similar subordinating positions re. the Son to the Father. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has a position on the origin of God that might shock many of its adherents if it were fully known and we know that many Mormons have moved beyond that today. So, from a World Religions perspective, the Trinity, which sees God acting from eternity in loving community and outgoing, enfolding harmony as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is outstanding as being more modest, restrained and at the same time more elevated than its doctrinal rivals. Nothing is more marvelously uplifting when properly studied (John 14:23).
Second, the Trinity offers a perpetual reminder of how the process of Salvation works in the believer’s life. Galatians 4:6 summarizes it simply: “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father.’” Ephesians 1:4-7 confirms that the Father has sent forth the Spirit of adoption into the world to reconcile us to Himself as his children through the work of the Son. It is the notion of God Himself taking up residence inside us through the Holy Spirit that is so attractive. There is God’s purpose in a nutshell. Trinitarian teacher Gary Deddo shows how this approach avoids “false starts” in the approach to salvation. Sin and the Law are vitally important issues, Deddo explains, but it is in fact further down the scale from the primary intentions of God to reconcile us to Himself in a loving Father-Son relationship.
What is there that godly parents would not do for their sons and daughters? Simply nothing. So how does this affect your prayer life? This way of thinking very early avoids the traps of legalism and performance religion, which is the bane of even Christian groups that fail to keep before them the threefold working of God. At Jesus’ baptism, all three agents of the Godhead were at work (Matthew 3:13-17). They now reside in us (John 14:23) effecting a salvation that begins and ends in God, not in human efforts. This deserves more explanation than we can give in a 40 minute sermon but I think you get the drift.
Third, Trinitarian theology teaches a more elevated and worshipful concept of God even compared to that we find in the Old Testament. In God’s scheme of Bible study we start with the New Testament and not the Old. “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1). Knowing God exists in Father, Son and Holy Spirit helps us read the OT more accurately. Knowing that it was angelic intermediaries who spoke to Moses and gave him the Law (Acts 7:38,53; Galatians 3:19) prevents us from assuming that God walks in gardens like an absent-minded professor (“Adam did you eat from the tree?”), slays people in fits of jealousy, thunders from the mountain-tops, and supposedly has both wings and chariots. Again this needs more full treatment than we can give here but even that one facet of Trinitarian teaching which highlights the omniscience of God shows us much more of God’s essential nature than we would derive from just the inspired Old Testament text alone.
The men of Nicea put it very beautifully and simply in their explanation of the complete equality of the Father and the Son. It speaks of “One Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light from Light, True God of True God, begotten not created, of one substance with the Father…who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven…”
This is beautiful, simple, and economical and even poetic. In 381AD the church fathers saw the need to go further and safeguard the identity of the Holy Spirit by describing the Holy Spirit as “the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified together.” As St. Basil of Caesarea reminded the anti-trinitarians of his day: “When the Lord established the baptism of salvation, did he not clearly command his disciples to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit? He did not disdain his fellowship with the Holy Spirit…If baptism is the beginning of my life, and the day of my regeneration is the first of days, it is obvious that the words spoken when I received the grace of adoption are more honorable than any spoken since…May I pass from this life to the Lord with this confession on my lips” (On The Holy Spirit, Chapter 10).
At every turn, then, Trinitarian theology calls us back again to those first principles of the faith – to baptism, to reception of the Holy Spirit of adoption from the Father effected in the work of the Son, to worshipful prayer and adoration and opens up much broader vistas than a focus on Law and Obedience, Faith and Works could ever do. “Since only God is holy by nature and since according to Scripture it is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies men, then the Holy Spirit must be divine,” says David Anderson. This is the right start to Christian discipleship and one reason the Trinity doctrine has stood for almost 1800 years in face of all attacks. “Mas alla” – more to come!