[h=3]THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY[/h] The Doctrine of the Trinity is a core truth of the Christian faith and is central to an understanding of Biblical revelation and the message of the gospel. It teaches that there are three distinct and separate, co-eternal and co-equal members of the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The three are equal but one essence - they co-exist as one. While the word Trinity is not found in scripture it is not crucial to sound Christian doctrine that the word defining it is not scriptural. What is crucial is that the doctrine itself stresses its authority in scripture. The Doctrine of the Trinity does this perfectly - the New Testament church was founded on this teaching (CP
Ac 2:32-33;
1Pe 1:2).
The Doctrine of the Trinity is not a new revelation found only in the New Testament. It is a progressive revelation which underlies the whole teaching of scripture (CP
Gen 1:1). Here in the very first verse in the Bible we find that God, from the Hebrew word Elohim, is a plural noun, indicating that a plurality of persons exist in the Godhead. Its significance becomes more evident as we read further (CP V 26; 3:22; 11:6-7;
Isa 6:8). These scriptures all stress a plurality of persons in the Godhead (CP also
Jn 14:23). Elohim is used over two thousand seven hundred times in the Old Testament, proving that many times a plurality of persons in the Godhead (CP
Mk 1:9-11; Lu 3:21-22;
Jn 1:29-34). Here we see clearly the three separate and distinct co-external and co-equal members of the Godhead: God the Father is represented by the voice from Heaven, God the Son is Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit is represented by the dove. Although they are three distinct and separate personalities (CP
1Cor 12:4-6; 2Cor 13-14;
Eph 2:17-18;
4:4-6;
2Th 2:13-14), they all function as one (CP
1Jn 5:6-7). One in this context means one in unity, not in number (CP
Jn 17:5,
21-24).
This oneness, while clearly emphasising the plurality of persons in the Godhead, is plainly expressed in the baptismal formula Jesus gave to the church before being taken up to heaven (CP
Mt 28:19). Name here is singular, proving the oneness in unity of all three members of the Godhead it includes, even though each one individually is God. The Father is God (CP
Jn 6:27;
Ro 1:7;
1Cor 8:6;
Ga 1:1,
3;
Eph 6:23;
Php 2:11;
1Th 1:1;
2Ti 1:2;
Tit 1:4;
Jas 3:9;
1Pe 1:2;
2Pe 1:17;
2Jn 3:
Jude 1:1). The Son is God. Jesus is not the Eternal Son of God as so many Christians believe. He became God's Son at His incarnation - when He took on human form (CP
Psa 2:7;
Isa 7:14;
9:6-7;
Mt 1:18-25; Lu 2:8-11;
Jn 1:1-2,
14;
Ga 4:4;
Php 2:5-8;
He 1:5-6;
5:5). These scriptures all prove that Jesus came into being as God's Son at a particular time in history and has not been God's Son throughout eternity, as so many believe. In His preincarnate state Jesus always existed as God and scriptures throughout teach this. The name Immanuel in
Mt 1:18-25 by which Jesus was to be known, according to
Isa 7:14, which means "God with us", confirms His Deity.
Jn 1:1-2,
14 teaches that in His preincarnate state Jesus was eternally God; that He became the Son at His incarnation "… the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us …"
Php 2:5-8 teaches that Jesus had equal status in the Godhead from all eternity, but when He entered the human race at His incarnation He surrendered all the privileges of Deity - "but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men".
Php 2:5-8 does not teach that at His incarnation Jesus renounced His Deity, or that His humanity displaced Deity in His personality. Rather, it teaches that He took upon Himself, in addition to His Divinity, self-abnegation and humility. During His earthly life Jesus did not claim any special privileges. Instead He lived a selfless, obedient life, and then died a selfless, obedient death by crucifixion.
(CP
Nu 21:4-9 with
1Cor 10:9). In
1Cor 10:9 we learn that God who sent the fiery serpents among the Israelites, was the preincarnate Jesus. He was God who the Israelites murmured against in the wilderness (CP
Psa 45:6-7 with
He 1:8-12). We see here two distinct and separate persons, both called God - God the Father, and God the Son. The Father calls the Son God, and declares the Son's eternal sovereignty. In
He 1:10 we see that in His preincarnate state the Son carried out the work of creation (CP
Gen 1:1-2 with
Psa 90:2;
102;
25-27;
Jn 1:1-3,
10;
Eph 3:9;
Col 1:16-17;
He 1:1-2;
11:3;
Rev 3:14).
Rev 3:14 does not mean, as some teach, that Jesus was the first person God created. It means that Jesus began all creation. As
Jn 1:3 and
10, and
He 1:2 teaches, the preincarnate Jesus created everything there is. Nothing exists that He did not make. Jesus was also the King, the Lord of Hosts whose glory Isaiah saw in the Old Testament (CP
Isa 6:1-12 with
Jn 12:37-41). In
Isa 6:1,
8 and
22, Jesus is called Adonay which means Ruler, Master, and in V 3, 5 and 12, He is called Jehovah, denoting God in the Old Testament. All these names belong to the one person in those passages, and as it was Jesus' glory John said Isaiah saw, then they belong to the preincarnate Jesus, further proving His Deity (CP
Isa 52:12;
Zech 13:7;
Jn 1:1-2;
Ac 20:28;
Ro 9:5).
While Isa 52 pictures the end times and Christ as the Suffering Servant it also refers to the Israelites' deliverance from captivity in Babylon during Old Testament Times (CP
Isa 52:1-15 with
Zech 2:6-9). In its Old Testament setting
Isa 52:12 refers to the preincarnate Jesus as Jehovah - The Lord - who will lead the way for the Israelites out of their Babylonian captivity, while the God of Israel - also Jehovah - will bring up the rear. The eternal pre-existence of Jesus as God is further highlighted in the Old Testament by Micah (CP
Mic 5:2). The last defining scripture concerning the eternal pre-existence of Jesus as God in the Old Testament is
Zech 13:7 (CP
Zech 13:7). Here God - the Lord of Hosts - calls the preincarnate Jesus, My Fellow, which means "another Fellow of the same kind and nature; Fellow God". Jesus quoted
Zech 13:7 in part on the night of His arrest (CP
Mt 26:31).
Jesus is also seen in His preincarnate state many times in the Old Testament as the Angel of the Lord. In most of the Old Testament scriptures the Angel of (from) the Lord (Jehovah) is regarded as Deity, yet is distinguished from Jehovah. The Angel of Jehovah is one person in the Godhead, and Jehovah who sent Him, is another. As the Angel of the Lord the preincarnate Jesus spoke to Hagar - Sarah's handmaid - after Sarah at first dismissed her, and then cast her out altogether (CP
Gen 16:7-13;
21:9-10,
14-18). He wrestled with Jacob (CP
Gen 32:24-30 with
Hos 12:2- 5). He spoke to Moses out of the burning bush (CP
Ex 3:1-14 with Lu 20:37;
Ac 7:30-38). He was the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night that guided the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan (CP
Ex 3:1-14 with 14:19-20, 24. He stood in the way of Balaam and caused his ass to speak (CP
Nu 32:22-35,
38). He was the Captain of the Host of the Lord who instructed Joshua now to destroy Jericho (CP
Josh 5:13 - 6:5). He called Gideon to lead the Israelites against the Midianites who had held them captive for seven years (CP
Judg 6:11-24). He was the fourth man Nebuchadnezzar saw walking through the flames in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (CP
Dan 3:8-28). The preincarnate Jesus was also the rider of the red horse standing among the Myrtle trees who spoke to Zechariah toward the close of the Old Testament (CP
Zech 1:7-17).
In all of those scriptures the Angel of the Lord (Jehovah) is regarded as Deity, yet is distinguished from Jehovah, which proves He was an equal member of the Godhead. Other scriptures referring to the preincarnate Jesus as the Angel of the Lord are
Gen 22:11-18;
24:7,
40;
31:11;
48:16;
Ex 23:20-23;
32:34;
33:2;
Nu 20:16;
Judg 2:1-4;
13:3-6,
9,
13-21;
1Ki 19:5-7;
2Ki 1:3,
15;
1Chr 21:15-17;
Psa 34:7;
35:5-6; Ecc 5:6;
Isa 37:36 with
2Ki 19:25 and
2Chr 32:21;
Isa 63:7-9;
Dan 6:22;
Zech 3:1-10;
12:1-8. Bible scholars generally agree that the Angel of the Lord in those scriptures refers to the preincarnate Jesus. In all other places in scripture where the Angel of the Lord is found, the term refers to ordinary angels. The preincarnate Jesus as the Angel of the Lord also visited and spoke to Daniel (CP
Dan 10:5-6). Many believe that this was the angel Gabriel, but that is not correct as we shall see (CP
Dan 7:9 with
Rev 1:12-15). The one referred to in all these scriptures is the same person - the preincarnate Jesus. His clothing was fine linen; His loins were girded with a golden girdle; His hair was like pure wool; His eyes were like lamps of fire; His arms and feet like polished brass, and His voice was like a multitude - the sound of many waters. Gabriel did not speak to Daniel in Ch 10, until V 10 (CP V 10-14).
To be continued...