Key Verse
There is one body and
one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and
through all and in all. – Ephesians 4:4-6
Lesson Objective
There is one God, who is infinitely
perfect, existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.
Resources
The Doctrine of the Trinity: No Christianity without it (The Gospel Coalition)
Explaining the Trinity to a seven year-old (The Gospel Coalition)
Distinguishing among the three persons of the Trinity within the Reformed tradition (The Gospel Coalition; complicated but in-depth article)
Word Study: YHWH - "Lord" (The Bible Project)
"I am who I am" (John Piper)
The Holy Spirit (The Bible Project)
Take a Test on the Trinity (Tim Challies)
Word Study: YHWH - "Lord" (The Bible Project)
"I am who I am" (John Piper)
The Holy Spirit (The Bible Project)
Take a Test on the Trinity (Tim Challies)
Introduction
The Trinity is one of
the most difficult concepts of Christian Doctrine to grasp, because on the
surface it’s impossible: How can 3 persons be one Being? To get to an
understanding of the Doctrine of the Trinity, you must have a firm grounding in the Doctrine of Scripture. The Doctrine of
the Trinity is not something fancy that Theologians made up; it is simply a way
to express what God Has plainly revealed to us about Himself in Scripture: that
He, the One True God, is eternally existent as Father, Son and Spirit. This
lesson is not an explanation of how the Trinity works or an argument for why
the Trinity is true; it is simply about telling you what the Bible says. The
Bible says it is, therefore it is so! So today, we will be running around the
Bible a lot!
What is the definition of the Trinity? One God who eternally exists as three distinct persons – Father, Son and Holy
Spirit – who are each fully
and equally God.
Was the word Trinity ever explicitly stated in the Bible? No
What is one of the most emphatic claims of the Bible that
all Abrahamic religions (Jews, Muslims, Christians, etc) believe in?
(Deuteronomy 6:4)
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is
one.”
What is the name of God, and what is the significance of His
Name? (Exodus 3:14-15)
God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.[e] This is what you are to say to the
Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” 15 Again Elohim
said to Moses, “This is what you must say to the people of Israel: Yahweh
Elohim of your ancestors, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
has sent me to you. This is my name forever. This is my title throughout every
generation.
God is the eternally pre-existent, omnipotent One.
God the Father
What are some of the names for God the Father, and what is
the significance of these names?
Name
|
Meaning
|
Elohim
|
God, one supreme deity, plural form but can be
treated as singular, Creator, mighty and strong (Gen 1:1)
|
El Shaddai
|
Gen 17:1 God Almighty
|
NT- Abba Father
|
Mark 14:36 Jesus praying to God before his
arrest,
Romans 8:15 child to father term, Abba is a term
of endearment. Signifies closeness, a dearly loved Father, us as adopted
children of God,
|
From John 17:1-5, how can you summarise the Role of the
Father within the Trinity? Headship, Direction, Will.
God the Son
What are some of the names for God the Son, and what is the
significance of these names?
Verses
|
Names
|
Significance
|
Matthew
1:23
|
Immanuel
|
God with
us
|
John 1:1
|
The Word
of God
The one
through which everything was made.
|
God’s
power at work in the universe.
|
Colossians
1:15-20
|
Image of
the Invisible God
Firstborn
Head of
the Church Body
|
You can
see God the Father through Him.
|
Revelation
19:11-16
|
Faithful
and True
The Word
of God
King of
kings and Lord of lords.
|
Trustworthy
Lord
|
Hebrews
4:14-16
Romans
8:34
(cf Job
9:32-35)
|
High
Priest
Intercessor
|
He is the
one through whom we can have full access to God.
|
How can you summarise the Role of the Son within the
Trinity? (eg. Rev 19:11-16) Action,
Hands
Some people claim that Jesus did not Himself claim to be
God. How does John 8:56-59 defeat that claim? (cf Exodus 3:14)
Some people claim that
Jesus did not Himself claim to be God, but that this claim was put in His mouth
by His followers later, or that it was simply a great misunderstanding. But in
this passage, Jesus clearly claims the Holy name “I AM” (the name that God
declared to Moses in Exodus 3:14) for Himself, which is clearly blasphemy if it
wasn’t true, and that was why the Jews wanted to stone Him.
What did the Jews think Jesus was claiming for Himself? Why
did they want to kill Jesus? (John 10:25-33)
This passage is simply
and emphatically clear that the Jews understood that Jesus was claiming to be God, and that He should be stoned for
blasphemy because to their limited
understanding they thought that he was simply a mere man claiming to be God. The Jews were rightly outraged
if Jesus’ claim was false.
Did Jesus’ disciples believe that He was God? (John
20:26-28)
Thomas exclaims that
Jesus is Lord and GOD. This outrageous claim is lost to our modern senses; for
a God-fearing Jew back then, this would have simply been almost impossible, as
EVERYONE knew that there was only ONE God, and to claim that anyone else was
God was blasphemy. Yet Thomas calls Jesus GOD. How can this be so? Because Thomas
finally had an inkling about the Trinitarian nature of God.
God the Holy Spirit
What are some of the names for God the Holy Spirit, and what
is the significance of these names?
Verses
|
Names
|
Significance
|
John
14:26, 15:26
|
Counsellor/Helper
|
You can
call on Him for help!
|
John 16:13
|
Spirit of
Truth
|
Reliable,
Trustworthy
|
Ephesians
4:29-32
|
HOLY
Spirit
|
A Spirit
that commands holiness
|
From Acts 1:8, how can you summarise the Role of the Holy
Spirit within the Trinity? Empowerment
How does 2 Cor 3:17-18 contribute to the understanding of
the divinity of the Holy Spirit? (see also vs 14)
The Lord IS the Spirit.
How does Acts 5:3-4 contribute to the understanding of the
divinity of the Holy Spirit?
“Lied to the Holy
Spirit”, followed by “You have not lied to men but to God”
An example: Ephesians 1:3-14
The following passage is highlighted in three different ways to
mark out how the Father, Son and Spirit acts in their different roles.
3 Praise be
to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing
in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be
holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he[c] predestined us to be adopted
as his sons through
Jesus Christ, in accordance
with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has
freely given us in
the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he
lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he[d] made known to us the mystery of his will
according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into
effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on
earth together under one head, even Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen,[e] having
been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in
conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were
the first to hope in
Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed,
you were marked in him with a
seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our
inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his
glory.
Trinitarian appearances in the Bible
How can we see the three Persons of the Trinity in Genesis
1? (See also John 1:1-4)
Father and Spirit are specifically
defined there so that is easy.
If you co-reference
that with John 1:1-4, what you see is that JESUS is actually there as well
(note how the Father SPEAKS and it was created; Jesus is the Word).
See Matthew 3:16-17, where the Trinitarian God makes His
full appearance. How does this passage emphasise the individuality of the
Persons of the Trinity? Why is this important?
This passage
emphasises the fact that the Trinity is THREE Persons – Father, Son and Spirit
– not one person masquerading in 3 different roles. This is important because
some people misinterpret the Trinity by saying it is actually just one God
putting on 3 different masks.
Unhelpful ways to see the Trinity
Wrong views
|
What they mean
|
Example
|
Tritheism
|
Seeing the three
Persons as three separate gods
|
Mormonism
|
Modalism
|
One “god” that acts
in three different roles wearing three different masks
|
United Pentecostal
Church
|
Arianism
|
One Person is more
god than the others (eg. Father is God but Jesus is not God
|
Jehovah’s Witnesses
|
Implications of the Trinity
How can a Trinitarian mindset change the way you pray? (cf
Romans 8:26-28)
Praying to the Father,
through the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit
How does a correct understanding of the nature of the
Trinity change the way we see God? (see 1 John 4:8 again)
Understanding the
Trinity is essential because it helps us understand the RELATIONAL and LOVING
nature of God. Within the very essence of the Trinity, this perfect Community
of One, we are able to see how vital the loving relationship is between the
Persons of the Trinity. This changes the way we see God, from just some distant
impersonal Force to a very Personal and loving God.
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