The Trinity of God

Systematic Theology 1 is the study of the doctrines about the Bible: its revelation, inspiration,
illumination and infallibility; the doctrines of God: the Trinity, the attributes and the names of God;
the doctrines of Christ: His person, deity, humanity, and character; the doctrines of the Holy Spirit:
His deity, person, work in election, regeneration, and sanctification, plus the fruit, the gifts,
baptism and the fullness of the Spirit; and the doctrines about man: his original creation and his
fall into sin.

5. The Trinity of God

Systematic Theology 1 is the study of the doctrines concerning the Bible: its revelation, inspiration,
illumination and infallibility; the doctrines of God: the Trinity, the attributes and the names of God;
the doctrines of Christ: His person, deity, humanity, and character; the doctrines of the Holy Spirit:
His deity, person, work in election, regeneration, and sanctification, plus the fruit, the gifts,
baptism and the fullness of the Spirit; and the doctrines about man: his original creation and his
fall into sin.

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5. The Trinity of God by Lewis Sperry Chafer

A. BELIEVING IN THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.

The belief that there is a divine being much greater than man has been common in all
the cultures and civilizations. This is partly due to the fact that man reasons that he has
that there is an explanation for our world and for human experience and that only a being
superior to man would serve to explain it. Man, intuitively, by his own
religious nature, tends to seek a being that is in some way much higher and superior to
He. This can also be explained, in part, by the work of the Holy Spirit in the world and that it
extends to every creature, a work that is designated in Theology as common grace, in contrast
with the special work of the Spirit related to the salvation of man. The modern phenomenon of
Many who claim to be atheists arise from the perversion of the human mind and the denial of what it is.
possible rational explanation of the universe. According to this, the Bible states that a
Ateo is a stupid crazy person.

The fool says in his heart:

They have become corrupt, they do abominable works;

There is no one who does good.

Ordinarily, man does not seek proof of his own existence, nor of the existence of the
material things, which are recognized by their senses. Although God is invisible in his person, his
existence is so evident that men generally do not require proof for the fact of
God. The doubt about the existence of God is evidently due to the wickedness of one's own
man, to his blindness and to the satanic influence. The evidence of the existence of God in creation
it's so clear that rejecting it is the foundation of the condemnation of the pagan world, which has not
heard the Gospel. According to Romans 1:19-20, it is 'because what may be known of God is manifest to them'
manifesto, for God revealed it to him, because the invisible things of Him, His eternal power and divinity,
they are clearly visible since the creation of the world, being understood.

The revelation of God through the prophets, before the Scripture was written, and the revelation
derived from Scripture, has penetrated, to a certain degree, the total consciousness of man today.
Although the world, in general, is ignorant of the scriptural revelation, some concepts of
God has penetrated the minds of everyone, in such a way that the belief in a
a kind of superior Being is generally true even among men to whom it has not reached.
directly the Scripture.

Although the ancient Greek philosophers ignored the biblical revelation, as it was not familiar to them,
they made, however, some attempts to explain our universe based on a Being
superior. Several systems of thought have evolved:

1) polytheism; that is, the belief in many gods;

2) hylomorphism, which identifies the principle of life found throughout creation as being
God Himself;

3) materialism, which argues that matter operates by itself according to a natural law and
no god is necessary for its functioning, a theory that supports modern evolutionism; and
4) pantheism, which holds that God is impersonal and identical with Nature itself, and that God
it is immanent, but not transcendent. Thus, there are many variants of such concepts regarding
God.

Arguing in favor of the existence of God, proceeding from the facts of creation, apart
From the revelation of Scripture, four general classes or lines of reasoning can be observed:

1) The ontological argument; argues that God exists, because man universally...
believe that it exists. This is sometimes called an a priori argument.

2) The cosmological argument; it maintains that every effect must have a sufficient cause, and,
Therefore, the universe, which is an effect, must have had a Creator as its cause.
in this argument lies the complexity of an ordered universe, which could not have had
accidental existence.

3) The theological argument; it emphasizes that every design must have had a designer, and as the
the totality of creation is intricately designed and interrelated, it had to
having had a great designer. The fact that all things work together indicates that this
the designer must necessarily have been one of infinite power and wisdom.

4) The anthropological argument; it argues that the nature and existence of man results
absolutely inexplicable unless by the creation of God, who has a similar nature,
but much greater than that of man. Implied in this argument is the fact that the
man has intellect (capacity to think), sensitivity (capacity to feel), and will
(capacity to make moral choices). Such extraordinary capacity points towards the One who
have similar but much greater capabilities and that has created man.

Although these arguments in favor of the existence of Diogenes have considerable validity and the
man can be justly condemned for rejecting them (Ro. 1:18-20), they have not been sufficient
to lead man into the proper relationship with God or to produce real faith in God, without the
assistance of the complete revelation of God, confirming all the facts found in the
Nature, but adding to the natural revelation many truths that it would not have.
unveiled by himself.
Ro. 1:18-20 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
the men who unjustly restrain the truth; 19 because what is known of God is clear to them
manifesto, for God manifested it to him. 20 For the invisible things of him, his eternal power and
deity, are clearly visible since the creation of the world, being understood through
of the things done, in such a way that they have no excuse.

B. THE UNITY OF THE DIVINE TRINITY.

In general, the Old Testament emphasizes the oneness of God.

You shall have no other gods before me.

Dt. 6:4 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

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, and outside of me there is no God.

A fact that is also taught in the New Testament.

Jn. 10:30 30 I and the Father are one.

John 14:9 Jesus said to him: Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip?
He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

Jn. 17:11, 22-23 11 And I am no longer in the world; but these are in the world, and I am coming to you, Father.
Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.
The glory that you gave me, I have given them, that they may be one, just as we are one.
they, and you in me, so that they may be perfect in unity, so that the world may know that you sent me
you sent, and that you have loved them as you have also loved me.

Col. 1:15 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Both in the Old and in a large part of the New Testament, it is also indicated that God
exists as a Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Many believe that the
the doctrine of the Trinity is implicit in the use of the word Elohim, as a name for God, and
that is in a plural form and seems to refer to the triune and one God.

In the principles of Genesis, there are references to the Spirit of God, and the personal pronouns in
plural is used for God as in Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:7.

Then God said: Let us make man in our image, according to our
likeness; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, over the beasts, over all the
earth, and in every animal that crawls on the earth.

Gn. 3:22 22 And the LORD God said: Behold, the man is like one of us, knowing good and evil.
But now, lest he reach out his hand and also take from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.
always.

Gen. 11:7 7 Now, come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that none may understand.
talk about your companion.

Frequently, in the Old Testament there is a distinction within the nature of God,
terms of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Isaiah, in 7:14, speaks of the Son as Emmanuel, 'God
with us", which must be different from God the Father and the Spirit. This Son is called, in
Isaiah 9:6, "Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

In Psalm 2:7, God the Father, referred to as "I", indicates that it is His purpose to have His Son as
the supreme sovereign over the earth. For the same reason that the Father and the Son are distinguished, so
God is also distinguished from the Holy Spirit, as in Psalm 104:30, where the Lord sends his
Spirit.

Psalm 2:7 I will publish the decree;

The Lord has said to me: You are my son;

I have begotten you today.

And you renew the face of the earth.

To this evidence, all the references to the Angel of the Lord must be added, which point to the
appearances of the Son of God in the Old Testament as one sent by the Father, and
references to the Spirit of the Lord, such as the Holy Spirit, distinct from the Father and the Son.

To those evidences of the Old Testament, the New adds an additional revelation. Here, in the
the person of Jesus Christ, is the Incarnate God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and, in all, Son of
God, the Father. In the baptism of Jesus, the distinction of the Trinity becomes evident with God the Father.
speaking from the heavens, the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and spreading light
about Him, and Jesus Christ Himself baptized (Mt. 3:16-17). These distinctions of the Trinity are
They are also observed in passages such as John 14:16, where the Father and the Comforter remain
distinguished by Christ himself, and in Matthew 28:19, where the disciples are instructed to baptize.
to the believers 'in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit'.

The many indications that exist, both in the Old and in the New Testament, that God
it exists or subsists as three and one, they have formed the doctrine of the Trinity as a fact
central to all orthodox beliefs, from the principles of the church to the most recent times
modern. Any deviation from this is considered a departure from the truth
scriptural. Although the word 'Trinity' is not found in the Bible, the acts of revelation
written do not allow another explanation.

Although the doctrine of the Trinity is a central fact, the core of the Christian faith goes beyond
human understanding has no parallel in human experience. The best definition is the
to state that, although God is one, He exists in three persons. These persons are equal, they have the
the same attributes and are equally worthy of worship, cult, and faith. Nevertheless, the doctrine of the
The unity of the Divinity is clear in the sense that there are not three separate gods, like three
separated human beings, such as Peter, Santiago, and John. According to this, the true
Christian faith is not tritheism, as a belief in three gods. On the other hand, the Trinity has no...
that can be explained as three modes of existence, that is, that a single God manifests in
himself in three forms. The Trinity is essential to the being of God and is more than a form of
divine revelation.
The persons of the Trinity, although they have equal attributes, differ in certain properties. From
here that the First Person of the Trinity is called Father. The Second Person is called the
Son, as sent by the Father. The Third Person is the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and
of the Son. This is called in theology the doctrine of procession, and the order is never inverted,
that is to say, the Son never sends the Father, and the Holy Spirit never sends the Son. From the nature of the
The uniqueness of the Divinity has no illustration or parallel in human experience. Thus,
doctrine must be accepted by faith on the basis of scriptural revelation, even though
is beyond all human understanding and definition.

C. THE NAMES OF GOD.

In the Old Testament, there are three names attributed to God. The first name, "Jehovah" or
"Yahweh" is the name of God applied only to the true God. The first name appears in
connection with creation in Genesis 2:4, and the meaning of the name is defined in Exodus 3:13-
14 as "I am who I am", that is, the one who exists by himself, the eternal God.

The most common name for God in the Old Testament is Elohim, a word that is used
both for the true God and for the gods of the pagan world. This name appears in the
Genesis 1:1. This name has been much debated, but it seems to include the idea of being the 'One and
"Strong", the Being that must be feared and revered. Due to being in a plural form.
seems to include the Trinity, although it can also be used in the individual Persons of the
Trinidad.

The third name of God in the Old Testament is Adonai, which commonly means 'master'
O Lord," and it is used not only for God as our Master but also for men.
that are lords over their servants. It often joins with Elohim, as in Genesis 15:2; and when
It is used this way, reinforcing the emphasis that God is our Master or Lord. Many
combinations of these names of God can be found throughout the Old Testament. The most
frequent is Jehovah Elohim, or Adonai Elohim.

To these combinations of the three primal names of God, many others must be added.
compounds that are found in the Old Testament, such as:

Jehovah-jireh, which means 'the Lord will provide'

Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram
caught in a thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it as a burnt offering.
instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place, The Lord will provide. Therefore it
it says today: On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.

Jehovah-Rapha, "the Lord who heals"

Ex. 15:26 26 And he said: If you diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in his sight,
his eyes, and you shall listen to his commandments, and you shall keep all his statutes, no disease
Of the ones I sent to the Egyptians, I will send you at; because I am the Lord your healer.

Jehovah-nissi, 'the Lord is our banner'

Ex. 17:8-15 8 Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. 9 And Moses said to Joshua:
Choose us men, and go out to fight against Amalek; tomorrow I will be on top of the hill, and
the rod of God in my hand. 10 And Joshua did as Moses told him, fighting against Amalek; and
Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it happened that whenever Moses raised his...
When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.
Moses was tired; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it.
she; and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and the other on the other; thus there was in his hands
he firmed up until the sun set. 13 And Joshua destroyed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14 And
The LORD said to Moses: Write this for a memorial in a book, and tell Joshua that I will utterly blot out the
memory of Amalek from under the sky. 15 And Moses built an altar, and called its name the Lord-

Jehovah-Shalom, "the Lord is our peace"

Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
today in Ofra of the Abiezerites.

Jehovah our righteousness, 'the Lord is our justice'

Jer. 23:6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell in safety; and this will be his name by which
They will call him: Jehovah, our righteousness.

Jehovah-shammah, "the Lord is present"

In the New Testament, there are additional titles where the First Person is
distinguish by 'the Father', the Second as 'the Son', and the Third as 'the Holy Spirit'. These
titles, of course, are also found in the Old Testament, but they are more common in
the New. The discussion regarding these terms will continue in the chapters that deal with the three
Persons of the Trinity.

D. THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD.

In the essential Being of God, there are certain inherent attributes or essential qualities of God. Such
attributes are eternally maintained by the Triune and One God and are the same for every person
of the Divinity. Included in these attributes is the fact that:

God is Spirit.

John 4:24 God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

God is life.

Jn. 5:26 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.
in itself;

God exists by Himself.

Ex. 3:14 14 And God said to Moses: I AM WHO I AM. And he said: Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: I
I AM sent to you.

God is infinite.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

And His greatness is inscrutable.

God is immutable or unchanging.

Psalm 102:27 But you are the same,

And your years will not come to an end.

Mal. 3:6 6 For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,
in which there is no change, nor shadow of variation.

God is the truth.

HeistheRock,Hisworksareperfect,andallHiswaysarejust.AfaithfulGodwhodoesnowrong,uprightandjustisHe. He is the Rock, whose work is perfect,

Because all his paths are straight;

God of truth, and without any iniquity in Him;

It is fair and right.

Jn. 17:3 3 And this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
Who have you sent?

God is love.
1Jn. 4:8 8 He who does not love has not known God; for God is love.

God is eternal.

Before the mountains were born

And you formed the earth and the world,

From century to century, you are God.

Jeremiah 23:23-24 23 Am I a God who is near, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD.

Will anyone hide from me, says the LORD, in secret places that I cannot see? Am I not filling, says the LORD, heaven and
land?

God is omniscient.

Psalm 147:4-5 4 He counts the number of the stars;

He calls them all by their names.

5 Great is our Lord, and of great power;

And his understanding is infinite.

And God is omnipotent.

But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."
it is possible.
Other variants of such attributes can be seen in the fact that God is good, God is
merciful and God is sovereign. All perfections are attributed to God in an infinite way.
and their works, as well as their Being, are perfect. The great design and details of the universe are evidence
of His infinite greatness and sovereignty, His power, His wisdom. His plan of Salvation, as it is
revealed in the Scriptures, is another evidence of His love, His justice, and His grace. No aspect of
creation is too vast for Him to have complete control over all that exists, and
not even the smallest detail, not even the fall of a sparrow, is too small to not
to be included in its sovereign plan.

E. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.

The attributes of God reveal that God is the supreme being above all that exists. Not
Nothing is subject to another power, authority, or glory and is not subject to any entity that exists.
superior to Him. He represents perfection to an infinite degree in every aspect of His Being. He
can never be surprised, defeated, or diminished. However, without sacrificing its authority
or compromise the final realization of His perfect will, God has pleased to give to the
men a measure of freedom and choice, and for the exercise of this choice, God maintains the
responsible man.

Due to man being in his depraved state, blind and insensitive to the work of God, appears
It is clear in Scripture that men should not stray from God, suppressing the Spirit of their
hearts.

Jn. 6:44 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at
the last day.

Jn. 16:7-11 7 But I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the
The Comforter would not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict
to the world of sin, of justice, and of judgment. 9 Of sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 of justice,
for I am going to the Father, and you will see me no more; and of judgment, because the prince of this world
has already been judged.

On the human side, however, man is responsible for his disbelief and is ordered to
create in the Lord Jesus Christ with the aim of being saved.

Mr. 1:15 15 saying: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and
creed in the gospel.
Acts 16:31 31 They said: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.

But God, having overlooked the times of this ignorance, now

It is also true that in the affairs of men, especially of Christians, God acts.
so that his will may be fulfilled.

Phil. 2:13 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
will.

Nevertheless, He does not force men to surrender to God, but rather encourages them to do so.
they do.

Romans 12:1-2 1 Therefore, brothers, I urge you by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 Do not be
do not conform to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
so that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The fact that God has granted a certain freedom to man does not introduce a factor of
uncertainty in the universe, since God anticipates and knows everything even to infinity that the
men will respond to divine and human influences that occur in their lives.
Its sovereignty, therefore, extends infinitely to every act, even if it must be temporary.
in the evil, for allowing it, and that ultimately everything results in God being able to be
glorified.

F. THE MANDATE OF GOD.

The sovereign purpose of God is theologically defined as the mandate of God, referring to the
general plan that includes all events of any kind that may occur. The
God's mandate includes those events that God does by Himself, and it also includes everything
what God accomplishes through natural law, over which He is absolute sovereign. More difficult
to understand is the fact that his sovereign mandate also extends to all acts of
the men, who are included in his eternal plan.

Although it may be incomprehensible to us, it is evident that the omniscient God, having a
complete knowledge of what man will do in his freedom, when deciding to grant man the
freedom of choice does not introduce any element of uncertainty. The divine plan, according to
with this, he included allowing sin as Adam and Eve committed it, with all the consequences of
this commission of sin. It includes the divine remedy of Christ, dying on the cross, and all the
work of the Holy Spirit in bringing men repentance and faith.

Although God's work in the human heart is inscrutable, the Bible clearly states that
While on one hand, what man does was included in God's eternal mandate, on the other,
man operates with the freedom to choose and is responsible for his free acts of choice. The mandate
God is not fatalism --a blind and mechanical control of all events-- but rather
it is the intelligent, loving, and wise plan, in which man, responsible for his actions,
stay responsible for what you do, being, moreover, rewarded for your good deeds.

The mandate of God can be divided into subdivisions such as his mandate to create, his
mandate to preserve the world, his mandate of Providence and his wise governance of the universe. His
the mandate includes God's promises or alliances, His purposes in Divine Providence and His
grace, supremely manifested towards man. Before such a God, man can only
to bow in submission, in love and in worship.

QUESTIONS

1. How can we estimate the common belief in the existence of God?

2. Why is atheism unreasonable?

3. How clearly is God's revelation manifested in Nature?

4. Define four systems of thought that seek to explain the universe based on a
Be superior.
5. What is the ontological argument for the existence of God?

6. What is the cosmological argument for the existence of God?

7. What is the theological argument?

8. What does the anthropological argument for the existence of God consist of?

9. To what extent does the Old Testament emphasize the unity of God?

10. To what extent does the Old Testament teach the doctrine of the Trinity?

11. And to what extent does the New Testament do so as well?

12. Distinguish the doctrine of the Trinity from tritheism.

13. Why can't the Trinity be explained as three modes of God's existence?

14. Explain how the Trinity is distinguished by certain properties.

15. Establish and define the three most important names of God in the Old Testament.

16. What are some of the compound names mentioned for God in the Old Testament?
Will?

17 What are the different names of the three persons of the Trinity in the New Testament?
Will?

18. Designate some of the important attributes of God as revealed in Scripture.

What does the mandate of God want to signify?

21. In what way can the mandate of God be subdivided?

22. How is God's mandate distinguished from fatalism?

23. Why does biblical revelation ask for our submission, our love, and worship in relation
with God?