THREE IN ONE & ONE IN THREE

 

Westminster Shorter Catechism 6

Quest. How many persons are there in the Godhead?

Ans. There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

Introduction

In his book “Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace” James Montgomery Boice asks,

How many in our day regularly think about God, even in evangelical churches? It is impossible to know what is going on in another person’s mind, of course. But judging by our actions, words, and church programs, I would suggest that not one in a hundred average churchgoers today actively thinks about God or stands in awe of Him as part of an average Sunday service. Our minds are on ourselves. And even when we focus on the sermon, it is usually the case that we are directed to think about our needs rather than about God – who He is, what He has done, and what He requires of us.[1]

 

In the following we shall focus our minds on God. We are going to look at who He is. Therefore, we’ll need to think about Him.

The Shema, i.e., “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one!” (Deut. 6:4), primarily expresses the fact that there is only one God, and Jehovah (YaHWeH) is that one God. However, as we shall see, this verse also very importantly expresses the oneness or unity of God.

The Trinity In Creation

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 6 informs us that there are three Persons in the Godhead, which is to say that the three are one Godhead, or one God is three persons.

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Now, the question necessarily arises: How do we know this? Is it possible to know that God is three in one just by looking at His creation and ourselves? The answer to this is two-fold – one of those “yes and no” answers. Yes, man before the Fall could study himself and creation and see and know the Triune-ness of God. For man could clearly see that the Creator was and is Triune. But man after the Fall lost this knowledge, or to put it the way the Bible puts it, we “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Hence after the Fall man needs to be regenerated by the Creator in His role of Redemption.

Sin has blinded man to the knowledge of God inherent in himself and creation. Therefore, fallen Man now needs God’s Word-revelation to comprehend God’s Triune-ness. It’s with this verbal or written revelation of God that regenerate man again sees God’s Triune-ness in himself and in God’s creation, which is to say that the regenerate man “is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him…” (Col. 3:10).

God’s verbal or written revelation of Himself is redemptory, which is to say that God had His Word written with redemption in His mind. And by the power of the Holy Spirit working in the heart of fallen men, God’s redemptive Word reveals the knowledge of God to man.

Now, this need for God’s special revelation, i.e., Redemptive Revelation, is not because God’s reflective nature (including His Triune-ness) has somehow been removed from creation. Rather it’s because fallen man’s rebellious attitude toward God has blinded him. Fallen man cannot, or better, will not, or better yet, wills not to see God in himself and creation, which is to say that fallen man, unless renewed, refuses to acknowledge the reflection of the Triune God in man and creation. In other words, fallen man denies the very existence or “is-ness” of the only living and true God in whose image and likeness he was made. It’s the old ostrich burying his head in the sand. Fallen man thinks he has made God disappear simply because he’s closed his eyes to Him.

Now, the question is: Who is the only living and true God whose existence or “is-ness” man denies? What is the nature of the one only living and true God? What we’re essentially asking is: Who was the God Adam knew before the Fall? What was Man’s understanding of God before the Fall? Could Adam look at himself and know the nature of God? Could he study creation and know and understand the nature of God?

Well, listen to what Paul the Apostle in Romans 1:20 has to say about this, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” And Romans 1:20 says that we can even understand God’s eternal power and Godhead by the things that are made. Therefore, we must conclude that man before the Fall could see the triune-ness of God simply by looking at himself and creation. But more importantly so can Man after the Fall see the Triune-ness of God in man and His creation.

How can we say this? Well, it’s simple. Fallen Man is not rebelling against a figment of his imagination. Think about it, man is rebelling against the one living and true God. And who is this one living and true God? Well, it’s the God whose invisible attributes, even His eternal power and Godhead are clearly seen in the things He has made.

So, we are without excuse if we claim that we cannot understand the Triune nature of God by studying the things that He has made. Therefore, let it be clearly understood that fallen man is fleeing from the Trinity. He flees by simply closing his eyes to God and, like a tortoise, retreating into the darkness of himself (John 3:19)..

But the problem is that man was made in the image and likeness of God with the Law of God written on his heart, (e.g., Rom. 2:14-15). The Westminster Confession of Faith 4:2 states it like this: After God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after His own image, having the Law of God written on their hearts… etc.

Man is not then fleeing from some God he knows nothing about. Rather, he, as Paul says in Romans 1:18, “suppress[es] the truth in unrighteousness.” Listen to what the Apostle says in Romans 1:18-19: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” So, if “what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” then it would be foolish to conclude that God is any other than the Triune God.

Do you see what I’m getting at? God has always been the Triune God, the Trinity, the three in one and one in three from all eternity. The Fall of Man didn’t change God because God is unchangeable in His Being. However, the Fall changed man even to the point of his denying the existence of the Triune God. He denies the Triune of God even though His invisible attributes stare him in the face at every turn.

For example, we see the Triune God’s invisible attributes, even His Triune-ness, manifested in space, time, and matter. In space there are the three dimensions of length, breadth, and height. In time there are the three dimensions of past, present, and future. And in matter there is solid, liquid, and steam, or land, water and air. We see God’s invisible attributes manifested in light, with its three primary colours. And when we look at man, we see the Trinity reflected in the husband, wife, and child.

The WSC Q&A 6 states that there are three Persons in the Godhead. Now, if God is three Persons in one Godhead, “Three in One”, this means that He is One while at the same time Many. So, one would expect to see the invisible attribute of God as “the One and the Many” manifested throughout everything God has made.

Reflecting the Triune God there is oneness and diversity of difference in snowflakes. For example, every single snowflake is apparently different to every other snowflake, yet all are snowflakes. Every leaf on an oak tree is, as we say, “the same only different” at the same time. Every fingerprint is a finger print, yet every fingerprint is unique – unity and diversity.

Whether you call it the “one and many” principle, or likeness and difference, or whether you call it unity in diversity, it all manifests the oneness and many-ness or likeness and difference or unity and diversity in the Godhead.

Man was made in the image and likeness of God. Mankind therefore is one and many at the same time. Poets, artists and philosophers and politicians have all wrestled with the one and many phenomenon in each of their respective spheres ever since the Fall of Man.

Some approach the problem with the view that unity is absolute, hence the rights of the individual have suffered in societies built on this philosophy. Then there are those in societies who recognize that we are all different and therefore don’t want any part of unity.

We see the same problem in labour relations where management and workers vie for supremacy over the other. But neither should be supreme because they both belong to the same body. And speaking of bodies, Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 speaks of this Unity and Diversity. Indeed, some Bibles have that heading at the top of the page. He says in 1 Corinthians 12:12, “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body.”

So, even in our own human bodies we carry around with us a reminder of who God is, i.e., the Triune One, Unity and Diversity, sameness and difference all at the same time.

But how do we know that God is indeed manifested in the things that are made? Would we know, for instance, that the Triune God is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost just by looking at the things that are made? Well, this is where the Scriptures come in.

The Trinity in Scripture

We would not know that God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit unless He told us, which is to say that, for fallen Man to know this, God needs verbally to reveal it to us – hence the Scriptures.  We’ve already seen (when we looked at WSC Q&A 3) that the Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

So, the Scriptures reveal the Triune God whose invisible attributes are manifested in the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, the question is: Did Adam before the Fall know that God was the Triune God? Some people claim that the Trinity didn’t appear on the scene until the 4^th century.

The Nicene Creed in 325 was the first Creed that had a go at formulating a statement about the Triune nature of God. Others claim that the Trinity isn’t revealed in Scripture till the New Testament. They allege the Older Testament saints worshipped what they did not know, like the woman at the well! But, when God said, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exod. 20:3), He meant it! When He told His people not to worship idols, He meant it.

So, let me ask you: Is the god of the Muslims an idol? Is the god of the Unitarians a false god? Is the god the Jews worship a false god? Of course, these gods are all false gods! Muslims, Unitarians, and Jews all have one thing in common – they worship a Unitarian god, which is a non-god, a false god, which is to say that they are all non-Trinitarian monotheists.

Now let me ask you: In Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s day, would they have recognized this? If you could somehow transport a Muslim or Unitarian or one of today’s Jews back to the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, would their god very much resemble the God of the Patriarchs? Would Moses in his day have known that the god of the Muslims, Unitarians, and today’s Jews is an idol, i.e., a false god?  What would Moses say to a Muslim or a Unitarian or one of today’s Jews? He would say that their god is not his God because his God is a plurality of persons in one Godhead, whereas theirs is simply a single entity – which is a non-entity.

God, as you know, used Moses to write the first five Books of the Bible. But Moses might just have quoted them Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God [i.e., a plurality of Persons who is One] created [i.e., He, singular] created the heavens [which are dual or two] and the earth [which is singular].” Or if you will, Moses might paraphrase Scripture and say: “In the beginning the Triune God, He created a trinity of things, the two heavens and the one earth. The one earth was formless and void and darkness as over the face of the deep. And, as the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters, the Voice of God sounded, as His Voice or Word spoke.”

“So, you see my Muslim friend, and my Unitarian friend, and my modern Jewish friend, God created, as His Word spoke, and as His Spirit hovered. To be sure, this doesn’t conclusively prove my God is not the god of you three Unitarians. Nor does it conclusively prove that my God is the Trinitarian God. It does, however, prove right from the outset that, though the Creator God is a plurality of Persons, He at the same time is One God only. And if you, my three Unitarian friends care to carefully study what I, Moses, have written, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the first three verses of God’s Word revelation, you will see mentioned there God, His Voice or Word, and His Spirit.”

“And since the Hebrew word for God, (Elohiym) signifies a plurality of persons, and since I have been born of the Spirit of God, and since the verb “created” is singular, which is to say that the plurality of persons, He created, this immediately draws the reasoning mind to wonder if there is not some interaction taking place in the Godhead.”

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“And then when I see that His Spirit is hovering or brooding, and God’s voice or Word is heard. Then, because I’m a reasoning creature being renewed in knowledge, I’m drawn to conclude that the plurality of Persons (who is One), reveals Himself in at least three ways: a) As the Creator, or Father of all creation. b) As the Voice or Word through which creation comes into being. And c) As the Spirit who shapes and upholds all creation.”

“So, without straining the intellect over much, I, Moses, under the influence of God’s Spirit, see the rough form of the Father, His Word, and His Spirit. And when I look at what God has created, myself, and everything else He has made, I see His Triune-ness reflected. But when I consider what God said, as recorded in Genesis 1:26, I can do no other than believe that He is at the very least three Persons in One Godhead. Listen to what God has had recorded: “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’” (Gen. 1:26).

Now, to be sure, the Older Testament saints, even Moses didn’t have a copy of the Nicene Creed under their arm. And Moses didn’t have a carefully formulated and crafted proposition like Westminster Confession of Faith 2:3. But to suggest that he and the other Older Testament saints worshipped God while being ignorant of His Triune-ness is pushing it, to say the least.

No, the Older Testament saints knew Westminster Shorter Catechism 6 before it was formulated. They knew that there are thee persons in the Godhead. They knew because the Triune God, the only living and true God, revealed Himself to them by His Spirit through His Word revelation. Ah! you say, but did He reveal Himself as the Triune God? Well, I ask you, what other God is there? There is no other god apart from the only true and living God, i.e., the Trinity.

When a man is born of the Spirit of God, even a man in the Older Testament, he no longer seeks to suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness to follow the lie, which is to say that he accepts the revelation of God. He begins to see the reflection or image and likeness of God in himself. He begins to see and understand the invisible attributes of God in the things He has made. Regenerate man sees what Adam saw before the Fall. In a word, He can see the Triune-ness of God manifested in man and in creation.

Now, the Catechism speaks of God as three “persons”. These three Persons are the same in substance, power and glory. Simply put, the three Persons of the Godhead are equal, which is to say that they are each equally God. No person in the Godhead is more God than any other person in the Godhead. The Unity of the Godhead does not have supremacy over the Diversity of the Godhead. Nor does the Diversity have supremacy over the Unity. There is no hierarchy or subordination in the Godhead. Neither is the One subordinate to the Many or the Many to the One. The Triune God is in perfect harmony with Himself. This is made most clear in the baptismal formula given in Matthew 28:19b. “Baptizing them in the name [singular] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

How can God’s name be singular when God is three Persons? Well, ask Matthew, ask Moses, ask anyone, ask yourself! What else can a man, with a reasoning mind, conclude except that God is Three in One and One in Three? And what else could a man with reasoning mind conclude but that the three Persons in the Godhead are equal in power and glory? If this were not the case, then how can the plurality of Persons in the Godhead share one and the same name?

Now, I just want to supply a few verses that help to distinguish the three Persons in the Godhead. I’ll start with the Older Testament. I’d like to compare Genesis 1:2 with Psalm 104:30 and Proverbs 8:22.

Genesis 1:2, “And the Spirit OF God was hovering.” And Psalm 104:30: “You send forth Your Spirit, they are created.” So, God the Father of creation sends forth THE Spirit, which at the same time is His Spirit. And then Proverbs 8:22, “The Lord possessed Me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old.” This of course, is referring to a person other than the Father and the Holy Spirit. A careful reading of the Proverbs 8:22ff., will show this other person to be the Son of the Father. For the Son is indeed the personification of the wisdom of God.

And then there are those passages that mention the Son by name. Perhaps Psalm 2 is the best known, “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are those who put their trust in Him” (Psa. 2:12). Thus the Older Testament reader is being urged by the Spirit to put his trust in the Son of God the Father.

Proverbs 30:4b asks the Older Testament reader the question, “Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know?” Isaiah speaks of God as Father: “You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name” (Isa. 63:16b). To be sure then, if the Older Testament saints had needed to, they could, very easily have formulated a Creed stating and defending the Triune nature of God.

The redemptive revelation of God’s Triune-ness is far clearer in the Newer Testament. We’ve already mentioned the baptismal formula of Matthew 28:19. But if you were also to study those passages dealing with Christ’s own baptism you’d see the Triune God. The Father was in heaven, the Son was on earth, and the Holy Spirit was between heaven and earth, (see e.g., Matt. 3:16-17; Mark 1:10-11; Luke 3:22; John 1:32-34).

There are many, many other places we could go to see the Trinity in the all the Scriptures. 1 John 5:7 would be the obvious place to go if its authenticity wasn’t so much disputed. But if I were anti-Trinitarian, if I were the Devil, I too would want rid of that verse! “For there are three who bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; these three agree as one” (1 John 5:7).

That the compilers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism believed this verse to be authentic is proven by its inclusion as one of their so-called “proof-texts.” It does sum up the Doctrine of the Trinity very well, and it certainly doesn’t contradict Scripture.

Then there’s the benediction given by Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:14 with which I’ll close this chapter, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

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[1] James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace? Rediscovering the Doctrine that Shook the World, (Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 2001), 150.