Trinity, Mystery Divine
Chapter 2: Of God and the Holy Trinity
3. In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost:o the Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.
Analogies and illustrations are very useful teaching aids; I use them often in my chapels and children’s sermons. However, there are some circumstances ones where analogies are not only unhelpful, but can even be dangerous. Such is the case for any analogy one might use to attempt to explain the nature of God’s Triune being.
For example, some one might say that the Trinity is like the sun in that we have the body of the sun, as well as the light and the heat which the sun creates. This analogy may sound good! It is, after all, something which we can all grasp, having seen the sun (indirectly), felt its heat and benefited from its light. However, this analogy makes a very grave error. The error is that in comparing the sun to the Trinity, it is describing at least two of the persons of the Trinity as having been made by the other. This is an error called Arianism which teaches that the Father created the Son and the Holy Spirit. This isn't the only one that leads into dangerous water. In fact, I would say that all of our attempts at illustrating the Trinity break down in this way: the three-leaf clover, the egg, the apple, the nature of water, etc. So if this is the case, then how do we understand and teach this vital doctrine of the scriptures, especially when teaching children? I would encourage you to simply state the truth that God exists eternally in three persons, and that this is a wonderful mystery which the Bible teaches us.
As always the Bible is central to our understanding of the Trinity. As we have already established, it has been given by God to be our authority on matters spiritual and eternal, therefore we must submit ourselves on this, as well as all issues. This means when Gid gives us information concerning Himself, the nature of salvation, or other matters divine and unreachable by our own senses, we listen and heed it intently, but where the Bible remains silent on said matters, we must be content. Yes we may have questions, yet we are called to submit ourselves with meekness to God’s Word (James 1:19-21). In another word, we hold onto the doctrine of the Trinity with faith, meaning with reverent and joyful awe as we entrust ourselves to God’s will and wisdom.
God has given us what is necessary for us to know in order to trust and obey Him. This means that whatever information He withholds from us is for our good and His own wise purposes. Again, the Christian must be content with this, and stand in reverent awe of the depths of God's majesty and beauty. So what do we know about God’s Triune nature? We know that the One God exists in three distinct persons, yet these three are the One only living and true God. Neither person is less God than the others: the Father is not more God than the Son, and the Son is not more God than the Spirit. Consider the great commission where Jesus commands the disciples to baptize in the One name which belongs to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). Yet in calling the Father the Father, the Son the Son, and the Spirit the Spirit, the Scriptures are pointing to qualities that each person of the Trinity holds in distinction in some way from the others.
The WCF speaks of this in the this paragraph; in some way the Father has an eternally paternal relationship with the Son, and in some way the Son holds an eternally filial relationship with the Father, and in some way the Holy Spirit has a unique relationship with the Father and the Son in spirating (proceeding) from them. What is this relationship? What are the mechanics of it? Many people have asked this question, but I encourage you with what John Calvin said when speaking on the equally challenging subject of election and predestination:
“The limits of sobriety will be firmly set if, as we learn, we follow God and always allow Him to go ahead of us. Conversely, when He ceases to teach, may we stop wanting to know more.” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle Pa, pg. 465).
I am also very thankful for the humility and wisdom which Chad Van Dixhoorn displays when he speaks on this subject in his book on the WCF:
"Putting the pieces together, here and elsewhere, we see that 'the Father is of none.' He is not 'begotten.' He does not proceed, or is not sent, from anyone else. But He does eternally and divinely beget the Son--by which we only understand that He is in some way always a Father to the Son...But the Son is different from the Father because He is 'eternally begotten'--by which we only understand that He is in some way always a Son to the Father." (Confessing the Faith, The Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle Pa, pg. 39)
So, to have questions is not wrong. We have been made to enjoy God and glorify Him forever, and this of course includes a hunger for knowledge. Yet the details of this aspect of God’s nature have been withheld, so our job is not to attempt to fill in the blanks with our best guesses, or theorizing. Instead, our job is to joyfully submit to God in this matter, being content with the provision He has given us, and to declare and cherish the Trinity as one of several sweet mysteries divine.
For example, some one might say that the Trinity is like the sun in that we have the body of the sun, as well as the light and the heat which the sun creates. This analogy may sound good! It is, after all, something which we can all grasp, having seen the sun (indirectly), felt its heat and benefited from its light. However, this analogy makes a very grave error. The error is that in comparing the sun to the Trinity, it is describing at least two of the persons of the Trinity as having been made by the other. This is an error called Arianism which teaches that the Father created the Son and the Holy Spirit. This isn't the only one that leads into dangerous water. In fact, I would say that all of our attempts at illustrating the Trinity break down in this way: the three-leaf clover, the egg, the apple, the nature of water, etc. So if this is the case, then how do we understand and teach this vital doctrine of the scriptures, especially when teaching children? I would encourage you to simply state the truth that God exists eternally in three persons, and that this is a wonderful mystery which the Bible teaches us.
As always the Bible is central to our understanding of the Trinity. As we have already established, it has been given by God to be our authority on matters spiritual and eternal, therefore we must submit ourselves on this, as well as all issues. This means when Gid gives us information concerning Himself, the nature of salvation, or other matters divine and unreachable by our own senses, we listen and heed it intently, but where the Bible remains silent on said matters, we must be content. Yes we may have questions, yet we are called to submit ourselves with meekness to God’s Word (James 1:19-21). In another word, we hold onto the doctrine of the Trinity with faith, meaning with reverent and joyful awe as we entrust ourselves to God’s will and wisdom.
God has given us what is necessary for us to know in order to trust and obey Him. This means that whatever information He withholds from us is for our good and His own wise purposes. Again, the Christian must be content with this, and stand in reverent awe of the depths of God's majesty and beauty. So what do we know about God’s Triune nature? We know that the One God exists in three distinct persons, yet these three are the One only living and true God. Neither person is less God than the others: the Father is not more God than the Son, and the Son is not more God than the Spirit. Consider the great commission where Jesus commands the disciples to baptize in the One name which belongs to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). Yet in calling the Father the Father, the Son the Son, and the Spirit the Spirit, the Scriptures are pointing to qualities that each person of the Trinity holds in distinction in some way from the others.
The WCF speaks of this in the this paragraph; in some way the Father has an eternally paternal relationship with the Son, and in some way the Son holds an eternally filial relationship with the Father, and in some way the Holy Spirit has a unique relationship with the Father and the Son in spirating (proceeding) from them. What is this relationship? What are the mechanics of it? Many people have asked this question, but I encourage you with what John Calvin said when speaking on the equally challenging subject of election and predestination:
“The limits of sobriety will be firmly set if, as we learn, we follow God and always allow Him to go ahead of us. Conversely, when He ceases to teach, may we stop wanting to know more.” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle Pa, pg. 465).
I am also very thankful for the humility and wisdom which Chad Van Dixhoorn displays when he speaks on this subject in his book on the WCF:
"Putting the pieces together, here and elsewhere, we see that 'the Father is of none.' He is not 'begotten.' He does not proceed, or is not sent, from anyone else. But He does eternally and divinely beget the Son--by which we only understand that He is in some way always a Father to the Son...But the Son is different from the Father because He is 'eternally begotten'--by which we only understand that He is in some way always a Son to the Father." (Confessing the Faith, The Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle Pa, pg. 39)
So, to have questions is not wrong. We have been made to enjoy God and glorify Him forever, and this of course includes a hunger for knowledge. Yet the details of this aspect of God’s nature have been withheld, so our job is not to attempt to fill in the blanks with our best guesses, or theorizing. Instead, our job is to joyfully submit to God in this matter, being content with the provision He has given us, and to declare and cherish the Trinity as one of several sweet mysteries divine.