Post #49 The Doctrine of God - The Persons of the Trinity in the General Epistles (James, 1 & 2 Peter)

Introduction:

    In our last post we explored how we see the Trinity in the letter to the Hebrews. When it comes to our New Testaments, there are noted four main divisions. 

1. The Gospels

2. Acts

3. The Epistles or letters

4. The Book of Revelation or Apocalypse.

    When we look at that third designation, "epistles", we subdivide it further:

A. Paul's letters (Romans - Philemon)

B. General Epistles (Hebrews - Jude)

    In more ancient listings of the New Testament literature, Hebrews was classified as a Pauline letter. The majority of the early church identified Hebrews as authored by Paul (although it was not a complete consensus). In more recent church history, Hebrews was classed among the general epistles. This latter classification is called "general" or sometimes "catholic epistles" ("Catholic" isn't referencing the Roman Catholic church, but instead is from the Greek word "katholikos", meaning "general"). Such a designation is due to the letters written to a more generalized collection of churches or on more generalized topics (hence the name "General Epistles"). 

    In any case, we will take time in this post to explore the books of James to 2 Peter to see what they have to teach about the Godhead and the Persons of the Trinity. In the next post we will continue our exploration of the Trinity in the general epistles of John (1,2,3 John) and the Epistle of Jude.

1. The Book of James overtly mentions the Father and the Son

    We notice right away the two foundations of the doctrine of the Trinity in James' letter. First, the Oneness of God in being (James 2:19,23; 4:4,7,8), and secondly the distinction of Persons within the Godhead or Divine essence (The Father, James 1:17-18; 3:9 and the person of the Son 1:1;4:10; 5:4,7,8,9,15). 

    Why do I say mention is made of the Son? Although the term "Son" is not overtly expressed, it nevertheless is a pattern in the New Testament to find the Son mentioned with the Divine title "LORD" (Hebrew "Yahweh", Greek "Kurios") or ascribed the offices and functions of God (Judge, compare Matthew 25 and 28:18, with the other titles distinguishing the Divine Person from God the Father). Wherever the Father is mentioned by the title "God", it is not too far to find the Person of the Son mentioned directly or indirectly by a Divine title to distinguish the two Persons. 

    James 1:1 distinguishes the Father and the Son in this manner: "a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ". James is the earliest of the New Testament letters (and arguably the first New Testament book written, with Matthew, Galatians, and the Thessalonian letters written a few years thereafter in the late 40's to early 50's A.D.). 

    The early church distinguished the Father with the title "God" and Jesus with the title "LORD" (see 1 Corinthians 8:6, for example), with a second pattern of expressing the Son as having the same nature as the Father when a more forceful argument was made to prove the deity of the Son, hence being called "God" (as in John 1:1 "the Word was God"; John 1:18, "the only Begotten God"). 

2. The Epistles of 1 & 2 Peter further reveal the Persons of the Godhead 

    When we consider 1 & 2 Peter, we are dealing with letters written twenty-five years after James. If we take a date of 45-50 A.D. for James, it is reasonable to assign a date for Peter's letters no later than 70 A.D. and no earlier than 60 A.D. Most scholars date 1 Peter to 63-64 A.D. As for 2 Peter, though some question its authorship due to literary differences between 1 & 2 Peter, if we understand that 1 Peter was dictated by Peter to an amanuensis named Silvanus (an "amanuensis" is an ancient term for a recording secretary, describing Silvanus' role, see 1 Peter 5:12), with 2 Peter written directly by Peter himself, such arguments denying Petrine authorship can be ignored. We can date 2 Peter to 64-66 A.D. 

    As for how we see the Trinity in 1 Peter, we see mention made of all three Persons in 1 Peter 1:2 

"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."

    As all three Persons of the Godhead operate inseparably in the activity of sustaining Christian salvation, the doctrine of appropriations stipulates that each Person is assigned a particular role. The Father planned salvation. The Son purchased it by His blood as the incarnate Son of God. The Holy Spirit applies salvation by His setting apart, internalized call to whichever sinner He is dealing, with subsequent faith and repentance issuing forth from the sinner to newfound faith in Jesus Christ.

    1 Peter is rich in its treatment of the Trinity. We find in 1 Peter 1:5 that the Father is credited with preserving the Christian's faith as He or she perseveres in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:6-8). The Holy Spirit (designated "the Spirit of Christ") works through the prophetic Scriptures to reveal and bring salvation to the human soul (1 Peter 1:9-12). 

    Peter's Trinitarian emphasis moves on into the remainder of 1 Peter 1. The Father (1:13-17), the Son (1:18-21), and Holy Spirit (1:22-25) are featured again in his ongoing exposition of Biblical salvation. Peter then expounds further on the Father's involvement in subsequent chapters of 1 Peter (2:1-4, 9-10, 15; 3:12; 4:17-19; 5:6-11). Also too, He mentions the Son in those same chapters (2:4-8, 21-25; 3:18-22; 4:1-2,11; 5:4,14). We then see mention made of the Holy Spirit's work in the raising of Christ from the dead (1 Peter 3:18). Overwhelmingly the Trinity is the centerpiece of Peter's arguments in 1 Peter.

    As for 2 Peter, 2 Peter 1:1-4 features all three Persons of the Trinity (The Father and Son, 1:1-2; indirect mention of the Holy Spirit in 1:3-4). The Divine revelation by God of Himself is presented by Peter along Trinitarian lines in 2 Peter 1:16-21. It is then in 2 Peter 3:2 we see affirmation of the deity of the Son. 2 Peter 3:9 asserts the work of the Father, with 2 Peter 3:10 pointing us to the Son. 

    It is interesting how the term "Day of the Lord" in 2 Peter 3:10, no doubt pointing to the second coming of Jesus (compare Matthew 24:15-28; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2), has a parallel term "Day of God", gesturing towards the Person of the Father. This dual mentioning of the Father and the Son is Peter's way of reinforcing the New Testament's teaching of the distinction yet equality of the Father and the Son in the Godhead. Further analysis of the remainder of the New Testament confirms this point. 

    For instance, the Apostle John in Revelation 16:14 is the only other Biblical author to feature this particular title "Day of God". In the context of Revelation 16:14, we find the Son returning in the future to fight and defeat the confederations of Anti-Christ and the nations at the battle of Armageddon. Luke tells us that the Son will return when "He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels" (Luke 9:26). The union of Divine nature and glory between the Father and the Son serves to cement the reality of the doctrine of the Trinity (One God, revealed in distinct Persons).   

Closing thoughts:

    Today we explored how we see the doctrine of the Trinity discussed in James and in Peter two epistles. In our next post, we will continue our exploration by noting how we see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in 1,2,3 John and Jude. 

Introducing the Jewish Feasts, their meaning, and significance

Introduction:

    In today's post I want to introduce the reader to the main Jewish Festivals we find in the Bible. Recently I began a new teaching series in our church on this topic.  

    A number of chapters and sections in the Bible details each of them or summarize all of them. The third book of the Bible, Leviticus, gives us the seven major Jewish festivals in Leviticus 23. Moses writes in Leviticus 23:1-3 

“The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these: 3 ‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.” 

    The phrase at the end of Leviticus 23:2, “appointed times” (mo-ed =  מוֹעֲדֽ ) has to do with "meeting times", or "appointed seasons". The Jewish festivals or "appointed times" tell us not only about what God did for Israel in the Old Testament, but also point ahead to Jesus in His coming in the New Testament. 

    Ed Hindson and Gary Yates in their volume "The Essence of the Old Testament - A Survey", summarize the presentation of the seven major Jewish Feasts in Leviticus 23:

"The nation could experience sanctified obedience by appearing before the Lord regularly to worship (the Sabbath) and celebrate various feasts that would remind them of their covenant relationship with Him." 

    How many of us have old photo albums, or have memories stored on social media that remind of us important events? The Jewish Festivals commemorated the LORD's faithfulness. But they also pointed ahead to the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Jesus Himself stated in Luke 24:44 

“Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 

    One of the ways we find the Hebrew Bible (another name for what Christians call "the Old Testament") pointing to Jesus the Messiah is by the individual and combined messages of the main Jewish Feasts. 

    In all, there are seven main feasts mentioned in Leviticus 23 and in other places (most notably Numbers 28 and Deuteronomy 16). We also note there are two other main Jewish feasts or festivals: Purim and Hannukah (also known as "the feast of dedication").  

     As I mentioned already, the word translated “appointed times” in the opening verses above means “to meet, to appoint”. It first appears in Genesis 1:14 to describe why God created the Sun, moon, and stars “signs, seasons, days, and years”. God had already included methods for marking off appointed times in history by way of cosmic phenomena like stars, the moon, and the sun. 

    Again, we can also think of these times and places where God made changes in people's lives (that is, if we are followers of Jesus in saving faith, or perhaps we can look back and see how He was at work before we were brought to faith in Jesus). Such celebrations were meant to remind the people to not forget what God had done. 

    Also, as already mentioned, the Jewish Feasts pointed ahead to what God intended to do through the coming of Messiah. What I want to do now is simply depict the Feasts, their general meaning, and say something about what they tell us about Jesus and prophetic events. 

1. Importance of the feasts: To relate, revere, remember. 

A. God wants His people to relate to Him.

    God's covenants were intended for relationship with His people. The festivals were visible dramatizations of that reality. Deuteronomy 16:16 "Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed." See also 2 Peter 3:18.

B. God wants His people to revere Him.

        We too often in modern society (and I'm mainly talking about our American Church culture) don't have a fear or reverence of God. The Christian is to live their life between two guardrails: confident access to God through Jesus Christ and carefulness in how one conducts themselves by the Holy Spirit. Numbers 28:1-2 "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be careful to present My offering, My food for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time." 

C. God wants His people to remember Him. 

        God's people today can get so busy with life, even service to God, that they can plan Him to the edges of life. It was the author Oswald Chambers that once noted how our number one competition for our fellowship with God is our service to God. We ought never forget that were it not for the Lord Jesus, we would be incapable of anything (Read John 15). Thus, Leviticus 23:43-44 "so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” 44 So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of the Lord."

2. Summarizing the Feasts.

 

    The Jewish people had two calendars, a civil calendar and a religious one. The civil calendar began in our September, during the Fall. Their religious calendar began in the Spring (March/April). The festal cycle followed the religious calendar, with Passover being the beginning of their spiritual lives for that year (See Exodus 12:1-2). When the final feast ended in September, that was when the Civil calendar began. 

    The Jews were reminded of those twin rhythms of regular life and spiritual life, all of which was presided over by the Lord who redeemed them. It was He who gave them a new beginning. What follows is a summary of the Feasts.

 

A. Spring Feasts: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First-Fruits, Pentecost

B. Fall Feasts: Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Booths 

C. Two other feasts we’ll consider: Purim and Dedication

D. The main seven are unified by the concept of Sabbath rest. 

    The concept of “Sabbath” pervades Leviticus (the listing of the seven main feasts) in nine places. The Sabbath principle articulates God’s Revelation, Priestly activity in Heaven, and Kingship in creation. Being that there are seven sabbatical days among the feasts that occur separately from the regular Sabbaths, this indicates God’s redemptive work, fulfilled most prominently in Jesus Christ (Compare Hebrews 4). Consequently, Jesus as the eternal Son of God in human flesh, occupies His three-fold office of Prophet, Priest, and King. 

3. Meanings of the feasts.

(Note: All seven festivals point to Jesus. First three pertained to Jesus in His first coming. Pentecost involved Jews and Gentiles, memorializing the birth of the Jewish nation and Church, as well as the sending of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus. The latter three pertain to the future of Israel, God’s promises to her, and the events prior to Jesus' second coming.)

 

Four Spring Feasts

Passover = Deliverance. Exodus out of Egypt / Jesus our Passover Lamb

See Exodus 12 and 1 Corinthians 5:7, also Leviticus 23:4-5.

Unleavened Bread = “Put the world behind you”. Remind the people they were no longer in Egypt, and thus needed to “put away Egypt (leaven)” from themselves / Jesus was buried on the first day of this Feast, perfect and without sin in life and death. See Leviticus 23:6-8. This also is a type of the Christian life, to put away from ourselves the leaven of sin (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). 

First Fruits = “New life”. The first sheave of the Barley Harvest brought forth to the temple, signaling the end of Winter, start of the Spring Harvest / Jesus raised from the dead on this celebration, hence called “the First-fruits (1 Cor 15:20-23).  See Leviticus 23:9-14. 

Pentecost = “Ingathering”. Celebrated the Barley Harvest and was fifty days after the Feast of First Fruits / Same day as the Spirit’s outpouring on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-47 cf Joel 2:28. See also Leviticus 23:15-22. 

Three Fall Feasts

Trumpets = New beginning. Announced the beginning of the first day on the Civil Calendar (Jewish New Year) / Corresponds to Jesus regathering the Jews at the end of the future seven-year tribulation period (see Mt 24:31). See Leviticus 23:23-25.

Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) = “Forgiveness”. A time devoted to national repentance and mourning for sins / Zechariah 13 and Romans 11:25 predicts that when Jesus returns to earth, the Jews will call upon Him and forgiveness of sin will be made available to them. Leviticus 23:26-38.

Feast of Booths = “Kingdom”. Reminds the Jews of their journeys through the wilderness under Moses’ leadership on their way to the Promised land / Many note how this feast pictures Christ’s Millennial Kingdom prior to the final appearance of the New Heavens and New Earth. Leviticus 23:39-44

Two other Feasts

Purim = “Preservation.” When God used Queen Esther to save the Jews from the plot of Haman to commit genocide against them. / Jesus may very well had healed the lame man in John 5 during this Festival. See Esther 9:17-24.

Dedication (Hannukah) = “Provision”. This commemorates the providential act of God in using the Maccabees to preserve the Temple during the invasion of Antiochus Epiphanes in 168-165 b.c. This feast is also connected to Jesus’ incarnation and body as being the true Temple (see John 2:19). See also John 10:22. 

4. Why study the Jewish Feasts?

    As we close out this post on the Jewish Feasts today, I hope you can see why they are important. Why study them? Let me end with four reasons.

A. To know Jesus better. 

B. Insight into Prophecy

C. Divine intervention in our lives. 

D. God keeps His promises.

Post #48 Doctrine of God - Observing the Triune God At Work In The Book Of Hebrews

Introduction:

    In the last post I introduced readers to the doctrine of "eternal relations of origin" (eroo) and did a review of the doctrine of the Trinity in terms of our working definition here Growing Christian Resources: Post #47 Doctrine of God - An Introduction To Eternal Relations of Origin In The Trinity. 

What I want to do in today's post is continue our survey of the Bible with how it develops the doctrine of the Trinity. Understanding important doctrine like "eroo" (eternal relations of origin) can help us navigate the revelation of God in His Word. I thought today we would focus on the Book of Hebrews and see how the Triune God works in creation, redemption, and the Christian life. 

The Trinity’s work in creation, redemption, and the Christian life in Hebrews

    Hebrews 1:1-4 shows how The Father speaks and the Son shows. The Father was not incarnated, yet the Son became incarnated.  This gives us an example of appropriations, namely, how fitting it is that the Son become man, to reveal, make plain, and manifest the character of the Father in the work of salvation. The Son is begotten eternally of the Father, thus He is the Second person of the Trinity, revealed secondly, while revealing the One from whom He ever receives His identity as the “only begotten God” (John 1:18). 

    Hebrews 1:5-9 reveals The Father unbegotten, The Son begotten. The Father and the Son are distinguished by their eternal relations of origin as to the Father’s paternity or being “unbegotten, not made”, and the Son’s filiation or being “begotten, not made”. Here we see illustrated the inseparable operations of the Father and Son in the work of creation, both being One God (Hebrews 1:8-9). 

    Hebrews 1:10-13 reveals how The Father started creation and the Son situated it. Yet, both Persons are one Creator God (1 Corinthians 8:6). 

    In Hebrews 2:1-4, The Father bore witness by signs and wonders. The Son witnessed by His earthly ministry. The Spirit testified by gifts and miracles. Yet all three inseparably revealed salvation by the One shared will of God. 

    In Hebrews 2:5-18, The Father subjected all things under the Son. Note: “It was fitting for Him” in Hebrews 2:10. This is the language of appropriations, namely, it was fitting or appropriate for the Son to become incarnate, since He reveals the Father and with the Father, sends the Spirit. In His incarnation, the Son subjected His human will under the Father’s will, while still sharing that One will with the Father as truly God. 

    In Hebrews 2:5-18, The Father royally adopts the Christian as a son or daughter by faith (Hebrews 2:8). Meanwhile the Son represents Christians by His intercession and help as “man for us” and God with us” (Hebrews 2:14-18). 

In Hebrews 3:1-19, The Father is the builder of the house (all true Christians), whereas the Son is over the house (all true Christians), i.e. “The Church”. The Spirit draws sinners to become part of the household of faith. This is the Trinity’s inseparable work in our salvation. 

       In Hebrews 4, The Father is the source of spiritual rest. The Son is the Savior of spiritual rest. The Holy Spirit, by the scriptures, sustains spiritual rest. All three as One God grants spiritual rest. Here we see the doctrines of appropriations and inseparable operations together. 

In Hebrews 5:1-6, The Father eternally begets the Son His eternal identity. The Son is begotten of the Father, equally God with Him. This illustrates the eternal relations of origin between the Father and the Son.

        In Hebrews 5:7-11, The Son became man, praying to the Father, while ever the eternal Son, equal to the Father. As man, the Son as incarnate Christ learned things (such as obedience). As truly God at the same time, the Son knew all things. 

In Hebrews 6:1-8, The Holy Spirit illuminates truth. The Father judges by the truth. The Son is the truth. Yet all three Persons are the One true and living God. Here again we see the doctrine of appropriations and inseparable operations working hand-in-glove.

         In Hebrews 6:13-19, The Father swore the covenant to Abraham. The Son, in His redemptive work, would secure the covenant, a covenant of grace whose spiritual promises to Abraham are applied by the Holy Spirit to all who trust in Christ by faith.

 In Hebrews 7, The Father appointed the Mediator for the Christian – the Son. The Son became incarnate to be our Mediator. This eternal covenant is called “the covenant of redemption” (see Titus 1:2). The Holy Spirit affirms this “Covenant of Redemption” in Hebrews 8. 

         In Hebrews 9:14, the Son became man to offer His life to the Father. The Father sent the Son to be the offering whom He would receive. The Holy Spirit made possible the offering by the Son of Himself as the incarnated Jesus on the cross. Yet One God is the source of our salvation. 

In Hebrews 10:1-18, The Son, becoming also man, expressed in His human will the desire to perform the Father’s will. The Father had sent the Son, with whom He shared One Divine will. The Holy Spirit confirms this united will with the Father and Son in making possible the Son’s incarnation. 

        In Hebrews 10:19-39, The way of salvation is planned by the Father. The way of salvation is provided for by the Son in His incarnated flesh. The way to salvation is persuaded by the Holy Spirit. 

In Hebrews 11:1 - 12:11, The Father is the aim of faith (see Hebrews 11:6). The Holy Spirit is the Agent of faith (see Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 11:1). The Son is the Author and Finisher of faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).

        In Hebrews 12:12-29, The Father is the Voice thundering from Heaven (see Hebrews 12:19,25-27). The Son is the Theme of Heaven (Hebrews 12:24). 

In Hebrews 13:5, the writer quotes Deuteronomy 31:6-8, which spoke of Yahweh, The LORD, going ahead of the Israelites to lead the way, not forsaking them. Isaiah 63:9-14 indicates all three Persons of the Godhead were inseparably involved. When I feel alone, afraid, and not knowing what to do, I have the entire Trinity to Whom I can call for help at anytime. 

        Then finally, In Hebrews 13:8, The immutability of the Son and the enduring work of the Father. Note: This is how One Book of the Bible shows the inseparable operations and appropriated working of the Father, Son, and Spirit in creation, redemption, and the Christian life. The richness of the Trinity is seen somewhat similarly in every New Testament book!

Post #47 Doctrine of God - An Introduction To Eternal Relations of Origin In The Trinity

Introduction:

    In the last post we explored how we see the doctrine of the Trinity in Paul's letters. Today's post continues our series on the doctrine of the Trinity. I did want to review the doctrine of the Trinity in this post, while introducing the important doctrine of "eternal relations of origin" in our portion of this series of posts on the Trinity. Let's then look first at the doctrine of eternal relations of origin, followed by plugging what we learn into our review of the doctrine of the Trinity.

Eternal relations of origin in the doctrine of the Trinity

     When we talk of the distinctions of identity between the Persons of the Trinity, we refer to what is called the doctrine of "eternal relations of origin". When we look at the name of the doctrine, we can break down each word as follows.

1. "Eternal", meaning forever, without beginning, the Father has always been the Father, the Son has always been the Son, the Holy Spirit has always been the Holy Spirit.

2. "Relations", meaning that the distinction of identities reside in the unique way each Person is related to the other two. Such relationships in the Trinity had no beginning. The One God of the Bible did not decide one day to be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Instead, these "relations" are embedded by necessity in the nature of God Himself, which in turn would not be without the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ever relating to one another. 

3. "of origin" tells us that all three Persons of the Trinity never had a beginning or origin. The Father is the source of identity for the Son, the Son in turn makes it possible for the Father to be ever the Father, and the Holy Spirit's identity is ascribed to how He proceeds forever from the Father and the Son. However, as to the source of the Divine nature shared between them, there is no beginning. God as He is has forever been and forever will be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

    To bring some clarity to what I've written thus far, we can appeal to far better thinkers than myself. Theologian Matthew Barrett defines this important doctrine in his book "Simply Trinity - The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Holy Spirit":

"Eternal relations of origin distinguishes how each person is related to another, identifying the everlasting provenance (principle/origin/source) from which each Person proceeds."

       Thus, when we speak of the Father, we talk of Him as "unbegotten" or without origin, or what theologians term "innascible" (Latin "in" meaning "not" and "nascibilis" meaning "born", hence "that which cannot be born"). When we speak of the Son, Scripture talks of Him as "begotten" of the Father, meaning He as Son derives His eternal identity from the Father and forever has shared in the same undivided deity of the Godhead (see Psalm 2:7; John 1:18). When we discuss the Holy Spirit, we use the term "proceed" to distinguish Him from the Father and the Son (see John 15:26).

    What the eternal relations of origin doctrine explains is what distinguishes each Person of the Trinity from the other two. All three are equal in glory, power, and worthiness of worship. Each Personally and all three together possess the undivided Divine essence or Godhead. 

    As touching the Divine nature, each Person of the Godhead is the same in attributes and being, with all three sharing the same essence, mind, and will as One God. These eternal relations of origin help us explain how we can distinguish the Father from the Son, the Son from the Father, and the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son.

    The great 19th century theologian Charles Hodge summarizes this doctrine of "eternal relations of origin":

"While all the Divine attributes are common equally to the three persons...nevertheless the Scriptures attribute some Divine works wrought within (the Trinity), exclusively to each divine Person respectively; thus, generation to the Father, filiation (or begetting) to the Son, and procession to the Holy Spirit." 

   So that is an introduction to "eternal relations of origin" (or what one friend of mine called "eroo" for short). In the time that remains in this post, I want to plug in what we just learned to reviewing the doctrine of the Trinity, showing how this doctrine aids us in our overall grasping of the doctrine itself.

Review: The Doctrine of the Trinity

    Being that this is the 47th post in our overall series on "The Doctrine of God", I felt it necessary to restate what has been our working definition of the doctrine of the Trinity.

1. There is only one true and living God.

2. This one true and living God is three “whos”: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

3. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each have the whole and entire Divine nature. 

4. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the One True & living God.

    We can summarize the four above propositions by using a diagram used in the earlier part of church history called "the shield of faith".

    As the reader can see, the doctrine of the Trinity is interested in expounding how God is "One" in one sense and "Three" in another sense. If we take the same diagram, we can change the labeling connecting the Three Persons of the Trinity to depict what we learned today about "the eternal relations of origin" of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

    The eternal relations of origin doctrine aids us in noting how there are two sets of relationships between the Three Persons of the Trinity:

1. The Father, who being unbegotten or without origin (what theologians call "innascibility") begets or makes common the Divine nature to the Son. 

    The Father is the eternal source of the identity of the Son, who forever shares co-equally the Divine nature with the Father. Sometimes we speak of the  relationship of the Father to the Son as "the paternity of the Father" in His filiation of the Son. As we view the same eternal relation of origin from the Son's perspective, the Bible reveals He is the "only-begotten Son" (Psalm 2:7; John 1:18; John 3:16), begotten of the Father.

2. The second type of relationship in the Trinity has to do with how the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, or more accurately, proceeds from the Father through the Son (see John 15:26). 

    As we view this second relationship from the Father and Son's perspective, theologians speak of this as their "spiration" or out-breathing of the Holy Spirit. Such a metaphor captures what Scripture talks about in reference to the Triune God being "the Living God". As viewed from the Holy Spirit's point-of-view, Scripture reveals Him "proceeding" from the Father and the Son.  

Closing thoughts:

    In today's post we introduced the reader to the doctrine "eternal relations of origin". Such a doctrine aids us in explaining what distinguishes the Father from the Son, and the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son. This doctrine reminds us that all three Persons are identical in being and attributes, indistinguishable from the vantage point of considering as three as One God by essence. At the same time, the doctrine informs us that their eternal identities as unbegotten (the Father), begotten (the Son), and Proceeding (The Holy Spirit) is how we distinguish the Three Persons. Nothing outside of the Trinity, including the works of creation, redemption, or the Christian life, makes the Trinity the Trinity. The Triune God has been Who He is and what He is from all eternity.

    We then plugged in this important doctrine of "eroo" (eternal relations of origins) to reviewing and grasping better our overall working definition of the doctrine of the Trinity. As we progress onward in this series on the doctrine of God, knowing such truths will enable greater appreciation and worship of our Triune God. 

   

Post #46 The Doctrine of God - How The Doctrine of the Trinity Is Seen In Paul's New Testament Letters

Introduction:

    We've recently looked at how the doctrine of the Trinity is prepared for in the Old Testament here Growing Christian Resources: Post #43 The Doctrine of God: The Old Testament and Jesus' teaching on the Divine Person of the Holy Spirit, expounded upon in Jesus' teaching in the Four Gospels here Growing Christian Resources: Post #44 The Doctrine of God - Summarizing Jesus' teaching on the Holy Spirit's ministries and relationship to the Father and the Son, and witnessed in the preaching of the Book of Acts here Growing Christian Resources: Post #45 The Doctrine of God - How the Trinity Anchored Practices And Preaching In The Book of Acts. 

    One persistent pattern emerges about the doctrine of God as we progress into the New Testament, namely in how the Trinity is embedded in the thinking of the Biblical authors' explanations of the Christian life. B.B. Warfield's Treatise on the Trinity points out this observation,

"The phenomena of Paul's Epistles are repeated in the other writings of the New Testament. In these other writings also it is everywhere assumed that the redemptive activities of God rest on a threefold source in God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit; and these three Persons repeatedly come forward together in the expressions of Christian hope or the aspirations of Christian devotion." 

    To attempt to disentangle the practices of prayer, baptism, the Lord's Table, evangelism, and church life from the doctrine of the Trinity is to attempt the impossible. Why? Once the early Christians began confessing the deity of Jesus Christ alongside their confession of monotheism from the Old Testament, the doctrine of the Trinity necessarily followed. 

    I've argued already that what the early church was acknowledging was not so much new as it was a more clearer realization of what they faintly understood from the Old Testament. The One God of the Hebrew Bible was identified a plurality of Divine personalities. In Deuteronomy 32 and Proverbs 30:4 the God of Israel is Yahweh, the Father of Israel. The Divine Father has a Son, being also Yahweh in nature yet distinct, described as begotten of Him (Psalm 2:7). This second Divine figure, no doubt the pre-incarnate Son of God, is called "The Angel" (Isaiah 63), "The Word" (Psalm 33:6,9), the "Son of Man" (Daniel 7:13) and even Yahweh (see Genesis 19:24-25). This underlying theology proper or doctrine of God would follow through the Second Temple or Intertestamental literature, where the Jews developed a "two-powers" theology, recognizing the One God of Israel as having two Personages. 

    It is upon the advent of the Son's incarnation that He brings to full light the foundational underpinnings for the robust Trinitarian theology we see developed in the preaching of Acts and now the New Testament letters. The Spirit of God found in the opening verses of Genesis 1:2 is a third Divine Person, given a gradual revelation of being also a Divine Person (1 Samuel 15:29) and performing the same activities as the Father and the Son (Psalm 104; Isaiah 63). Jesus would equate the Spirit of God with Himself and the Father, promising to have Him sent in His name to His church (John 14:17,26; 15:26; Acts 2). 

What the New Testament letters do with the Trinity

    We find the New Testament Epistles or letters continuing on the Trinitarian trajectory set forth by the Old Testament, expounded upon by Jesus and preached by the Apostles in Acts. We will begin with Paul in today's post, since he is responsible for two-thirds of the 27 books of our New Testament. Paul exemplifies this throughout his letters where he writes for example in 1 Corinthians 8:6 

"yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him."

    As we have stressed in the last several posts of this series, Jesus and the Apostles did not introduce a new doctrinal understanding of God as a Triunity. Rather, they were making explicit was already implied in the Old Testament revelation, that God is One in being and plural in personhood. What I want to do in the remainder of this post is set before the reader how the Apostle Paul expressed the Trinity in His letters. 

The Trinity in Paul's introductions to his letters.

    Whenever we read the books of Romans through Philemon (and if we take Hebrews to be written by Paul), we find truths of the doctrine of the Trinity embedded in the introductions. Take Romans 1:7 as an example, 

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

    The Father is identified with the Divine Title "God", just as we've witnessed already in previous posts - fair enough. But then you'll notice how Jesus Christ is identified with the Divine title of "Lord", translated from "kurios" in the Greek, which reflects the Hebrew name "LORD" or "Yahweh" in the Old Testament. Both titles are ascribed to the God of Israel. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, came to utilize this Greek term "kurios" for "Yahweh". 

    We find two different titles to distinguish these two Divine Persons, who are by nature the same, holy, eternal God who bestows grace and peace. Virtually every other letter Paul wrote begins with some reference to the Father and the Son bestowing grace, mercy, or peace as One God. 

    So too we see inclusion of the Holy Spirit in Paul's opening remarks in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 

"for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake."

    These citations should give the reader a sampling of the pattern we find throughout the New Testament letters again and again. B.B. Warfield notes,

"In numerous passages scattered through Paul's Epistles, from the earliest of them (1Th 1:2-5; 2Th 2:13-14) to the latest (Tit 3:4-6; 2Ti 1:3,13-14), all three Persons, God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, are brought together, in the most incidental manner, as co-sources of all the saving blessings which come to believers in Christ."

The Trinity is seen in what Paul has to say about prayer and worship in His letters

     Paul is fond of including an awareness of the Trinity in his teaching on prayer and worship. When we look into his letter to the Church at Ephesus, we find such Trinitarian thinking in regards to how Christians are to pray and worship. Ephesians 2:18 "for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father." 

    The reader can notice the pattern for prayer - through Him (the Son), in or by One Spirit (or by One Spirit), to the Father. Prayer's trajectory is Father-oriented, since the Father is the one who chose the believer to be His adopted child from eternity (Ephesians 1:4-5). 

    But then notice, those prayers pass through the Son, Jesus Christ, our Supreme mediator, to whom the Father gave each believer as a love-gift to pay the purchase-price of salvation in His blood (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Timothy 2:5). 

    Yet we see too that we cannot pray without the Holy Spirit helping us in our infirmity as weak, frail, helpless people (Romans 8:26). The Holy Spirit closes the circuit that was begun by the Father, through the Son. The whole of prayer is Trinitarian, through-and-through.

    We find too in the Ephesian letter that the public worship of the church is also Trinitarian. Notice Ephesians 4:4-6,

"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." 

     The whole life of the church is caught up in living for and worship toward the Trinity. Each Person of the Trinity tends to point to the others. The Spirit, by the Scriptures, points us to the Son. The Son, in turn, always makes it His point to direct our attention to the Father. The Father, sending forth the Son and Spirit into history and time, urges the Christian to draw strength from the Spirit as they focus their eyes upon Jesus Christ. What Paul is teaching us in his letters is that the doctrine of the Trinity is woven into the very fabric of Christian living itself.

Examples of the Trinity seen in aspects of Christian practice and living in Paul's writings.

    I only have space to give but a sampling of where we see the Trinity in other teachings of the Apostle Paul. Whenever he speaks of how God equips the Christian to serve others with spiritual gifts, the reader finds the spiritual gifts distributes along Trinitarian lines in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6,

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons."

    As for certain practices, Paul expounds on the meaning of believer's baptism, he utilizes the doctrine of the Trinity, as witnessed in two passages. We find that water baptism symbolizes the union we have with Jesus from saving faith - united in His death and resurrection to the glory of the Father, as explained in Romans 6:4-5,

"Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection."

    The meaning of water baptism is a sign, a symbol, pointing back to the reality of Spirit baptism granted in saving faith. The sign (water baptism) and the thing signified by the sign (Spirit baptism which united the sinner to Christ upon profession of faith) are together the One Baptism we read of in the opening verses of Ephesians 4. Water baptism, subsequent as it is to saving faith, nonetheless points back to what the Holy Spirit did in uniting us to Jesus at the moment of one's profession of faith. As Paul writes of in 1 Corinthians 12:13,

"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit."

Conclusion: The doctrine of the Trinity seen in how Paul ends his one of his letters to the Church at Corinth

    There is so much more I could write in this post of where we find the Trinity spoken of by Paul in his epistles. Space and time forbid what merits far more comment. We've seen how Paul is thinking of the Trinity in the openings of his letters, pray, worship, Christian living, and certain Christian practices like baptism. It is appropriate to close out today's post by considering the prime example of the Trinity in the close of Paul's letter of 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 13:14,

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all."

Post #45 The Doctrine of God - How the Trinity Anchored Practices And Preaching In The Book of Acts

Introduction:

    As we continue our Biblical survey of the doctrine of God and the doctrine of the Trinity, we come to the Book of Acts. A pattern we find common in the Bible pertaining to God's revelation of Himself is the cycle of God's works, followed by the revelation of His ways. 

    In Genesis, we see God create - His work. Then we see the exposition or revelation of the way in which He did the work (hence Genesis 1-2). This cycle of God's work, then "ways of revelation", is repeated progressively throughout the Bible. God acted in history, followed by a codifying all He did in creation, providence, and redemption, though means of the Divine inspiration of Scripture. Scripture does not merely witness to what God did, it is the revelation of all He achieved. The entire Old Testament is a testimony of God's work of creation, providence, and redemption, followed up by the ways of His revelation put into writing via the prophets.

    The time between the Old and New Testaments, known in the technical literature as "the second temple era" or the "intertestamental period" witnesses a temporary cessation of this cycle of "God acting, followed by revelation" for four hundred years. We could say that the Jews spent four centuries reflecting upon the revelation they had received through the 39 books of Genesis to Malachi. 

    It is then that the Son of God is incarnated in history as the man Jesus Christ. Once Christ arrives in history through His incarnation, the cycle resumes. Jesus came as the decisive revelation of God in the flesh. He came to work the final work of redemption here on earth, and then to ascend after His resurrection to do His work as Mediator in the Heavens (see Hebrews 10:19-25). The Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and John's Apocalypse serve as the final body of revelatory literature, disclosing God's ways through the incarnate Son of God and the ongoing work of the Spirit. The New Testament, along with the Hebrew Bible or "Old Testament", completes God's written revelation of His acts in creation, providence, and redemption, as well as predicting what will be Christ's return and consummation of the ages. 

The Triune God in the practices and preaching of the Christians in the Book of Acts

    The reader may notice in my introductory comments above how embedded the doctrine of the Trinity is in the fabric of Scripture. We've witnessed the Old Testament's setting the stage for this doctrine. No doubt Jesus spoke time and again about His own relationship with the Father. He further elaborated on His promise of the Holy Spirit. These two-sets of truths show how all three Persons of the Trinity worked together as One God in the drama of redemption accomplished in the four Gospel accounts. But what about the Book of Acts, and the remainder of the New Testament for that matter? 

    The 19th century theologian B.B. Warfield wrote a wonderful article on the Doctrine of the Trinity in His volume "Biblical and Theological Studies", an essay that readers can access in the online "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia" here Trinity, 1 - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.. What Warfield has to say is relevant to our posting today,

    "The relation of the two Testaments to this revelation is in the one case that of preparation for it, and in the other that of product of it. The revelation itself is embodied just in Christ and the Holy Spirit. This is as much as to say that the revelation of the Trinity was incidental to, and the inevitable effect of, the accomplishment of redemption. It was in the coming of the Son of God in the likeness of sinful flesh to offer Himself a sacrifice for sin; and in the coming of the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, that the Trinity of Persons in the Unity of the Godhead was once for all revealed to men." 

    When you consider the practices of the early church as demonstrating their consciousness of the Triune character of the God of the Bible, one can begin with the practice of Baptism. Jesus gave the church the practice of Baptism as one of two ordinances or commands. In Matthew 28:19-20 we find Him commanding the disciples to go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them, and then "baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit". 

    When we come to Acts 2:41, 8:12, and other places in Acts of the Apostles, we see Christian converts being baptized in the name of Jesus. This isn't a denial of the Trinity in the Baptismal formula. If anything, to be baptized in the name of Jesus was still affirming the plurality of persons in the Godhead, since public identification with all that was entailed in public confession of Jesus was resident in His name (The true deity, co-equality of the Son with the Father, plus He and the Father's promised sending of the Holy Spirit). 

    No doubt the practice of worship, prayer, and preaching in the Book of Acts showed how central the Trinity was in the Christians' minds. For instance, Peter's inaugural sermon on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 explains the event of Pentecost by reference to all three Persons of the Trinity. In Acts 2:17, reference is made to the Father's sending of the Spirit, wherein Peter quotes the prophet Joel "God says 'I will pour forth my Spirit'". Peter later in the sermon mentions all three Persons of the Trinity in Acts 2:33

"Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear."

    Throughout the Book of Acts you'll encounter roughly twenty sermons, half of which center upon the Resurrection of Jesus. In one of the Apostle Peter's sermons, we find him mentioning the Trinity in Acts 10:38

"You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." 

    The Apostle Paul's preaching is also recorded in the Book of Acts, referencing language that points us to the Trinity. One example is found in Acts 13:33, where Paul quotes Psalm 2:7, a passage that depicts the eternal Son of God and the Father in an inter-Trinitarian dialogue,

"that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; today I have begotten You.’"

    Like I said, there are roughly twenty sermons in the Book of Acts, most of which have woven within them a Trinitarian understanding of God's acts and revelation of Himself. 

    I only need to mention a couple other examples of practices of the early Christians to round out our study today.

1. The Lord's Supper.

    In addition to Baptism, Jesus had given one other command or ordinance to His church, the Lord's Table. In Acts 2:46 we read of how the early Christians were "breaking bread" from house-to-house. It is most likely this was reference to eating of meals together, however we could also include that they observed the Lord's Supper as a church gathered together. 

    The text states they continued in the Apostle's teaching. What was it that the Apostles had taught? In context, Peter had expounded to those gathered on the Day of Pentecost of the promised Holy Spirit, and how He came as a consequence of the ascension of Christ, as promised by the Father (see Acts 2:1-37 for the whole sermon preached by Peter). 

    The Lord's Supper, initiated by Jesus on the Eve of His crucifixion, represented not only His accomplished work of redemption, but also the body of believers. The three-thousand people saved that day were summarily baptized and had occasion to celebrate the Lord's Supper and other acts of fellowship with one another (Acts 2:42-47). No doubt the Trinity informed these practices of the early Christians.

2. Church Discipline.

    Jesus first taught about church discipline in Matthew 18. He expounded what I call "The Great Concern", namely the concern over the holiness of believers in what would be the forthcoming Church birthed on the Day of Pentecost. Accountability is so important in the Christian-life. The local church is designed by God to be a community in which Christians urge one another onto love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:23-25). 

    In Acts 5:3-5 we see the harrowing episode of the deceit of Ananias and Sapphira, a married couple who pretended to sell property to give to the church, while lying about how they secretly held back some of the proceeds for themselves. The Apostle Peter  publicly confronted them. In the passage, we find one of the strongest passages concerning the Personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit,

"But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it." 

    We see in verse three above that this couple had lied to the Holy Spirit. Then in the next verse, Peter tells them they have lied to God. The Lord disciplined these two by way of physically taking their life! This was what the Apostle John would later refer to as "the sin unto death" (1 John 5:16-17). 

    The deity and Personality of the Holy Spirit follows from the doctrine of the Trinity, since the one divine nature is equally and wholly in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. What is remarkable here is that the early Christians, Jews by background, would have had no problem affirming the deity of the Spirit of God, since He is mentioned as God in the Hebrew Bible (as early as Genesis 1:2, and most robustly Psalm 104:30, Isaiah 63:10, plus several other places). To mention one of the of the Divine Persons is to automatically include the other two. Even in this traumatic scene, the Triune God was deeply embedded in the spiritual life of the early Christians - Peter most notably.

Closing thoughts

    Today we looked at how we see the doctrine of the Trinity shaping the preaching and practices of the early church in the Book of Acts. Although I've given only a sampling of the full scope of references for sake of space, the reader ought to perceive how much the doctrine of the Trinity factored into the Church's understanding of itself. This ought to also demonstrate that the doctrine of the Trinity is not just a speculative doctrine, but highly practical in helping the Christ-follower and the Bible believing church to remain faithful to the Biblical revelation of the Triune God.  

Post #44 The Doctrine of God - Summarizing Jesus' teaching on the Holy Spirit's ministries and relationship to the Father and the Son

Introduction:

       As we move ahead in our study of the doctrine of the Trinity, I've labored these last several posts to set forth the Biblical theological understanding of the doctrine of God. Before we can consider the Systematic theological treatment of the Trinity (that is, theological conclusions we draw from the Biblical text in conversation with other disciplines), we must first have an understanding of how God progressively revealed Himself through the Bible. 

    The task of Biblical theology with respect to the doctrine of the Trinity it two-fold: God's unity of being and plurality of identity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Once this foundational work is completed, only then can we move onto consideration of what Christians throughout church history understood reflected in the Biblical data (Historical theology). Consequently, once the work of Biblical theology and historical theology are considered, we can then reap the harvest of systematic theological reflection. 

    We surveyed the Old Testament's teaching and revelation of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. In this post, we will observe how Jesus handled the revelation of the Spirit's identity and work. 

    Much the same way we observed in our studies of Jesus' teaching on the relationship between Himself and the Father, so too we shall see how Jesus' teaches the Personhood and true deity of the Holy Spirit. Such observations will reinforce to us the Trinitarian understanding of the doctrine of God found in the remainder of the New Testament. 

What Jesus taught on the Holy Spirit

    Throughout the four Gospels we find references to the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. Author John Walvoord's book "The Holy Spirit" summarizes these mentions of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus by way of five headings.

1. The Holy Spirit in Christ as a child.

    Isaiah 11:2-3; 42:1-4; 61:1-2 all refer to the anointing of the Messiah with the Holy Spirit. It is in passages such as Luke 1:35; 2:40,52 and John 3:34 that we find the Holy Spirit accompanying Jesus from His virginal conception and early life. Let readers be reminded that the incarnate Son of God has two natures or "two ways of expressing His Personality". There is the "Divine nature" which He shares eternally with the Father and Holy Spirit. Then, we have the "human nature" He received when the Holy Spirit united true humanity to the Person of the Son in the virginal conception in Mary (see Matthew 1:20-23; Luke 1:35). 

2. The Holy Spirit and the baptism of Jesus.

     It was the prediction of Old Testament prophecies (such as Isaiah 11; 61:1-2) that the Messiah, as a man, would be marked by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, which was fullfilled by Jesus once He was publically baptized. The Spirit of God's working was with the incarnate Son from the beginning of His human life. The empowerment and Messianic anointing phase of the Spirit's working began at Jesus' baptism, thus initiating Him into public ministry. 

      Scriptures such as Matthew 3:17 record for us the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a Dove. This public anointing of Jesus was a public way of expressing that Jesus was indeed God's Messiah. Walvoord comments on the scene in Matthew 3:17 - "The Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, and Christ was coming up from the Jordon. No better instance of the revelation of the Trinity could be desired." 

    Readers may note that in Jesus' baptism, we have the voice of the Father from Heaven, coupled with the descent of the Spirit upon the Son of God incarnate.

3. The Holy Spirit in relationship to Christ's public ministry (Luke 4:18 compared to Isaiah 61:1-2; also see Matthew 12:28; Mark 5:30; Luke 5:17; 6:19; 8:46). 

4. The Holy Spirit in relationship to the sufferings of Christ.

    Walvoord reminds us here of how the Holy Spirit drove Christ into the wilderness to face Satan the Temper in Mark 1:12 and Luke 4:14. No doubt the writer of Hebrews references the Holy Spirit's work in enabling Jesus to endure suffering on the cross, thus presenting His once-for-all sacrifice to the Father (Hebrews 9:14). 

5. The Holy Spirit's relation to the resurrection and glorification of Christ. 

    Jesus had already indicated in John 11:25 that He was the resurrection and the life. In John 10:17-18, Jesus stated that He could lay down His life and take it up at will. As to the Holy Spirit's work in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, Paul calls Him the "Spirit of holiness" that exercised that resurrection power in Christ's lifeless body to raise Him in Romans 1:4. The Apostles commonly credited the Holy Spirit with the work of raising our Lord from the dead (see Acts 2:32-36; 1 Peter 3:18). 

    Coupled with Jesus' resurrection is the Holy Spirit's activity in His ascension, especially in how He works with the Son in the distribution of spiritual gifts to the church (Ephesians 4:12-16; 1 Corinthians 12:1-7). The coming of the Holy Spirit to empower the church at Pentecost was proof positive of Jesus' ascension (see Acts 2:22-36). 

    It is no wonder that Jesus taught so much on the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, since the Spirit Himself was resident in Christ's humanity, as well as active throughout His life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension. We find the following two ideas summarizing what Jesus taught about the Holy Spirit.

1. The Holy Spirit as the Divine Person of the Comforter.

    The Deity and Personality of the Holy Spirit are evident in what Jesus taught about Him as "the Comforter", "Helper", or "Paraclete" in John 14:16; 15:26-27; and 16:7. This truth of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter calls to mind all of the references to Yahweh as the "Helper" or "Comforter" of Israel (Deuteronomy 33:26; Deuteronomy 33:29; Psalm 115:9; Isaiah 41:14, 44, 49:8;Hosea 13:9). No doubt the Holy Spirit's predicted ministry to believers would come as a consequence of Jesus' accomplished work and the sending forth of the Spirit by Himself and the Father (see John 14:26; John 15:26).

2. The mutual indwelling of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son.

    A couple of posts back I devoted time to showing how Jesus as the Son taught about He and the Father's mutual indwelling or unity with one another as the One True and Living God. 

    This "He in me" language is Jesus' theological short-hand for summarizing how He and the Father are distinct Persons yet truly God within the Godhead or Divine nature. In John 14:17 and 14:23, we see a prime example of how the Holy Spirit would mutually indwell somehow with the Father and the Son in the indwelling ministry He would come to have in the life of believers. 

    Jesus also used this same "Him in Me, I in Him" language to convey the Holy Spirit's work of uniting the Christian to Christ upon their profession of faith in Him. 

    Such a work is what theologians call the "believer's union with Christ". It is this union with Christ that the Spirit uses to bring to every Christian the Person and ministry of Jesus on their behalf in Heaven, so that they may sense their Savior at work within them (see Romans 6:4-12; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27 and roughly 100 other places in the New Testament that use the phrase "in Christ"). The Holy Spirit weds our humanity to His in a wondrous work that Peter describes as "participation in the Divine nature" (2 Peter 1:3-4). What this means is that all that Christ is and has done is mine to experience, enjoy, and to ground my identity.  

    This closeness of "mutual indwelling that the Holy Spirit shares with Christ is of such nature that seven New Testament passages refer to Him as "the Spirit of Christ" or some other variation (Acts 5:9; 8:39; Acts 16:7; Rom 8:9; Galatians 4:6; Phil 1:19; 1 Pet 1:11). 

    Much like what we saw in the mutual indwelling language of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit's mutually indwelling work with the Father and the Son entails His "unity of essence" with the Father and Son, while preserving His distinct identity as the third member of the Trinity. 

Closing thoughts for the day.

    We have witnessed how much the Old Testament set the tone for the New Testament's teaching of the Holy Spirit as a distinct member in the Godhead, co-equal in power and glory with the Father and the Son. We also observed how Jesus carried on such a "Trinitarian consciousness" in His teaching about the Holy Spirit. In the next post we will lay out what the remainder of the New Testament teaches about the Godhead with respect to the Divine unity of the Godhead and the three distinct Persons.