Hello, welcome to another Theology in 30 Minutes. I'm Pastor Jack, and tonight we're gonna be considering the unity and the trinity of God. The unity and the trinity of God. The doctrine of the trinity is one of the most important doctrines in the Christian faith. To study the Bible's teachings on the Trinity gives us great insight into the question that is really at the center of all of our seeking after God. And that is, what is God like in Himself? Here we learn that in himself, in his very being, God exists in the persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and yet he is one God. So we may define the doctrine of the Trinity like this. God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God. God. Now the doctrine of the Trinity is progressively revealed in Scripture. The word Trinity is never found in the Bible and that shouldn't alarm you too much because the word Bible is never found in the Bible as well. The idea of the Trinity is taught in many places and as I said it's progressively revealed. So in the Old Testament we get a partial revelation. The word Trinity means triunity or three in oneness. And it's a term that's used to summarize the teachings of the scripture that God is three persons and yet one God. So sometimes people think the doctrine of the Trinity is a New Testament doctrine, as though it was just made up when Jesus came. But if God has eternally existed as three persons, it would be surprising to find no indications in the Old Testament of the Trinity. And what we're gonna see, even though it's not explicitly taught in the Old Testament, there are numerous passages that suggest or imply that God exists as more than one person. Consider different passages where God is described in plurals. In Genesis 1 and 26, it says, then God said, let us make man in our image. Notice, let us, make man, and the make is a third person verb, plural verb, let, I'm sorry, a first person plural verb, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Similarly, in Genesis 3.22, he says, after man has sinned, the Lord God said, behold, the man has become like one of us, to know good, and evil. In Genesis 11, 7, at the Tower of Babel, the Lord is speaking and says, Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language that they may not understand one another's speech. And then in Isaiah 6 and verse number 8, when the Lord is looking for a servant to do His will, notice how He phrases the question. Isaiah says, also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go? for us. So there's passages that refer to God in the plural. There's also passages where two are named God or Lord. Psalm 45 and verse number six says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. Here the psalm passes beyond describing anything that could be true of an earthly king. And in verse number six, he calls the king God. Your throne, O God. His throne is going to last forever and ever. But then still speaking to the person called God, in verse seven, the author says that God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. So two separate persons are called God. In the New Testament, this is quoted in Hebrews 1, in verse number 8, where it says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. So two gods mentioned in the same passage. Now, obviously, there's not two gods, but God refers to another person and refers to him as God. Similar passage is in Psalm 110, verse number one. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Jesus rightly understands that David is referring to two separate persons as Lord. He uses this very passage to teach the Pharisees something about himself that they were unable to answer. Jesus knew that, but who is David's Lord, if not God himself? And who could be saying to God, sit at my right hand, except someone else who is fully God. From the New Testament perspective, we can paraphrase this verse. God the Father said to God the Son, sit at my right hand. But even without the New Testament teaching on the Trinity, it seems clear that David was aware of a plurality of persons in one God. Jesus, of course, understood this. And when he asked the Pharisees for an answer to this passage, it says that no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question him. anymore. It's Matthew 22 41 through 46 where you can find that. So unless they were willing to admit a plurality of persons in one God, Jewish interpreters of scripture to this day have no satisfactory explanation for this verse or Genesis 126 or other passages that we've discussed just like they didn't in Jesus' day. Psalm 48 or Isaiah 48 6 remains one of the most remarkable passages in the Old Testament. Because if we understand the prophecy of Isaiah, then we understand that this verse is a clear reference to all three members of the Trinity, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Look at it with me. Isaiah 48 6. Oh, I got the wrong verse up here. This should be Isaiah 48, 16, not verse number six. So give me just a moment. All right. I don't have that one on the screen. My bad. Isaiah 48 and verse number 16. Here's what it says. Come near to me. Hear this. I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From the time that it was, I was there, and now the Lord God and His Spirit have sent me. I wish I had that on the screen so you could see it. Isaiah 48 and verse number 16. This is a prophecy about the coming servant, who we understand plainly from Isaiah 40 through 66, the coming servant is the Messiah. We know that Jesus is the Messiah. He is God the Son. So here in Isaiah 48, 16, the prophetically speaking of the servant that will come, it says, The Lord God, that's God the Father, and His Spirit, that's God the Holy Spirit, have sent me, that's God the Son, for this mission. There's passages in the Old Testament that refer to the angel of the Lord, and those are also evidences that God exists in a plurality of persons. Because the angel of the Lord is obviously distinct from Yahweh, the Lord God, the Father, and yet he is referred to in a number of passages in ways that only deity could be referred to. In fact, in Genesis 16 and verse 13, Hagar has had the angel of the Lord appear to her and she says this. to Him. She says, You are the God who sees. For she said, Have I also here seen Him who sees me? She witnessed, she saw the angel of the Lord and she calls the angel of the Lord God and the angel of the Lord does not stop her. from doing that. The angel of the Lord is also who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. And we know how that went. The voice from the burning bush said for Moses to take his shoes off for he was on holy ground. And then he introduces himself in verse 6. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. So the Old Testament does give us numerous clues that there is a plurality of persons in the one true God. Now that is shown numerous times, numerous other times I don't have time to go to, but what we wanna look at right now is a more complete revelation of the Trinity in the New Testament. And with the arrival of the Son of God in history, you would expect to see more explicit teaching on the Trinity. And that is exactly what we find. If you look at Matthew 3, verse 16 and 17. This is at Jesus' baptism. It says, he came up immediately from the water. So there we have the son. And behold, the heavens were open to him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. God, the Holy Spirit. And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. This verse shows us that there are three members of the Trinity and they are distinct. So this isn't just that God wears three different hats depending on what he's doing. No, there are three persons. They're all present here at the baptism of Jesus. You see it as well in the Great Commission. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Notice how the three names are used there and they're all put on an equal plane. The baptism is to occur not just in the name of the Father, or not just in the name of Jesus, but the three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are placed on the same plane. That happens over and over. 2 Corinthians 13, 14. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. You say, this verse doesn't teach the Trinity right here, it just names all three of them. Well, it's true, it does just name all three of them, but notice how they're grouped together. So, in other words, this verse doesn't say, well, the grace of the Lord, and this of the Father, and this of the Spirit, and this of Paul, and that of Timothy. No, Paul and Timothy don't belong in this group. We're talking about God here, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Paul doesn't go here. So a passage like this one does support the equality of the three persons. So when we come down through looking at all the evidence in the New Testament, and there's a lot more that I haven't shown you, There's a lot more verses. We'll look at a few more as we go here. But we'd summarize the Bible's teaching on the Trinity with three key statements. Here they are. The unity and diversity of God. First, God is three persons. Each person, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each person is fully God. And then last, there is one God. Now the first two things we could comprehend easily. The third one is where it becomes difficult and mysterious. It's where we learn that God is not like us. But let's walk through each of them one by one. First, God is three persons. The fact that God is three persons means that the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Holy Spirit. They are distinct, distinct persons. So these distinctions will be seen not only in the passages we already quoted, but in several we're going to look at right now. And John 1 1 says in the beginning. was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. Right in that one verse, you have a distinction between father and son, and you have a unity between father and son. John 17 four gives us another glimpse of this. Jesus here is praying to the father just before he goes to the cross. And he says, I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work you have given me to do. So there's a clear distinction of persons. 1 John 2, verse one, my little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. So here John says, the one who stands between us and God and pleads our case, is Jesus Christ. Actually, He doesn't plead our case. He pleads His own righteous blood as our substitute to pay for our sins. But there's a clear distinction in persons. Same thing with the Holy Spirit. John 16 and verse number 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you. Now, throughout this passage, Jesus has been talking about sending the Holy Spirit. And he says, I'm going away, then he's going to come. Like we are different. There's a distinction there. So we've got our three points, God and three persons. Each person is fully God. So we've looked at God and three persons. Now let's consider each person is fully God. It should go without saying that God the Father is clearly God. I mean, all through the Bible, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and all through the Bible, God is obviously God. So we're not gonna look at a bunch of verses about that. But John 1, in verse number one, is a key, key text. It's a verse that you should memorize. It's a verse that clearly states the deity of Jesus. Notice it says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. As you read through the rest of John 1, it's clear that the Word is what John is using to refer to Jesus. So in the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. Notice how this puts Jesus as eternal. It ought to remind you in the beginning, it ought to remind you of Genesis 1.1, which is in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. So in the beginning, the eternal God, before there was anything, there was God and God existed in three persons. Here too are named because John has a special purpose in writing to convince people that Jesus is in fact, the son of God. So the translation here says the Word was God. Now Jehovah's Witnesses have challenged this and you may have Jehovah's Witnesses come to your door and you may think that they are another Christian group. But listen, I want you to know very plainly that Jehovah's Witnesses are not a Christian group. They might be nice people. They might be kind. They might be well-intentioned. But they do not hold to Christian doctrine. They are a cult. They teach a false Jesus. Because the Jehovah's Witness assert that Jesus is not God. And Jesus did not die to pay for your sins in full so you can receive the gift of salvation by faith. No, they teach that Jesus is actually Michael the archangel who came to the earth and he died as a sacrifice, as an example of the payment of sins, but not that he was God who died for us. Instead, he is an angel. He's the first creation of God. He is one of the mightiest. He is the mightiest being. They would even refer to him as God, but with a little G, not a big G. And so they translate this, John 1, 1. The last phrase they translate, the word was a God. Now they have their own Bible translation that they made to try to support their doctrines. It's... it makes a big mistake here. Basically they want to imply by translating the word was a god that Jesus is a heavenly being but he's not fully divine. Now they justify this translation by appealing to Greek. And I've talked to numerous Jehovah's Witnesses and not one of them actually could talk about Greek with me, but their booklets that deny the Trinity make a big deal about this. And they say that because in Greek, the word God doesn't have an article in front of it. So an article in English is the word the, or a, or an. The definite article is the. So which phone are we talking about? The phone in my hand. So it makes it definite, this particular phone. And so what they argue is that in John 1.1, since in Greek, it doesn't have the article right before the word for God, that it should be translated a God. Now, the problem with this is it is a basic misunderstanding of Greek grammar. So there have been no recognized Greek scholars anywhere who agree with this translation. Because it's commonly known that this sentence follows a regular rule in Greek grammar, and that the absence of the article, it just means that God is the predicate, not the subject. Now, I don't want to be too grammatical on you here, but notice how it says, and the word was God. If it was the other way around, if the word for God wasn't the predicate, but the subject, it would say, and God was the word. So in Greek grammar, when they leave off the article, it's just indicating which one is the subject and which one's the predicate. So translating it, the word was God, is the only way to translate it. Now, the Jehovah's Witness, if they were consistent with their own rule that they claim is so important that if you leave the article off before God, then you have to say a God, then you would expect to see them do that consistently. I'm not aware, actually, of anywhere else they do it, other than John 1, 1. Because if they went down to verse 6, they'd find there's no definite article there either, where it says, there was a man sent from God. But their translation doesn't say there was a man sent from a god. Verse 12, Jesus promises to those who believe power to become the sons of God. Again, there's no article. So if the Jehovah's Witnesses were true, they should say power to become children of a God. And you can go on through the chapter, verse 13, verse 18. If they were consistent with their understanding here, they would have to translate it differently. But here's the truth. They're not making their translation based on grammar. They're making their translation based on their own theology, which says Jesus is not God. So they have to change John 1, 1 to say something else because it says it right there, white letters on a black screen. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. I told you that John was writing in order to convince the unbelievers that Jesus was in fact God and God the Son. And you see that in the end of the book in a very powerful testimony, to the deity of Christ. It says in John 20, 27, then he said to Thomas, this is Jesus after he's risen from the dead, reach your finger here and look at my hands and reach your hand here and put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. Doubting Thomas is confronted with Jesus and Jesus pleased with him to believe. Thomas answers very plainly. and said to him, my Lord and my God. Thomas sincerely calls Jesus God after his resurrection. How does Jesus respond? Does he correct him and say, no, I'm not really God, I'm just a lot like God? No, he says, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. He's saying that this is the right thing to believe and Thomas is blessed for believing it. John goes on to write, and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life through, you may have life in his name. Here, John wraps up his book with this powerful conclusion that Jesus is God, and it's the way to have eternal life. So scripture affirms clearly the Father is God, and also that Jesus is God. Some people want to deny that the Holy Spirit's God. In fact, the Jehovah's Witness do that as well. But here's a key text that I want you to see in Acts 5. Of course, we've got the verses we read earlier that tie Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together and put them on the same plane. But notice in Acts 5, as Ananias and Sapphira have gotten into trouble, to put it mildly, with God, because of lying. And notice how Peter deals with them. Peter says, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to, who's he lying to? Notice, the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price for yourself. So here he's lying to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is who he's lying to. Then if you go to the very next verse, it says, while it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. It's God who he lied to. So here, Peter clearly puts the Holy Spirit as God. Numerous other passages would reaffirm this in the Old Testament. In Psalm 139, the Holy Spirit is said to be omniscient. The scripture says, where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. He's saying the Spirit is everywhere. And then in 1 Corinthians 2, the Spirit knows all things. Paul says this, 1 Corinthians 2, verse 10, God has revealed them to us through His Spirit, for His Spirit searches all things. Yes, the deep things of God. So up to this point, we've got two things that we've tried to prove clearly from the scripture. And that is that God is three persons. Each person is fully God. And now we wanna look at the most difficult of these. There is one God. This is not difficult to understand. It's plain in scripture. The most famous passage is probably this in Deuteronomy 6, 4, and 5. It's called the Shema, the word about God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Scripture is abundantly clear that there is one and only God. The three different persons of the Trinity are not only one in purpose and in agreement on what they think, but they are one in essence, one in their essential nature. In other words, God is only one being. There are not three gods. There is one God. Isaiah 45 verse 5 and 6 says, I am the Lord and there is no other. There is no God besides me. I will gird you though you have not known me. That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides me. I am the Lord and there is no other. No other God. There's only one God. So that is not just an Old Testament doctrine. Again, the Trinity is not a New Testament invention. The Old Testament taught a unity of God, one God, no one else, one God, and yet there was a plurality of Godhead hinted to in the Old Testament. The New Testament also affirms the unity of God. James 2, in verse number 19, you believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. And there's so many verses we could turn to, but scripture is clear. God is three persons. Each person is fully God. and there is only one God. Now, throughout the history of the church, there have been attempts to come up with a simple solution to how this all fits together. And each of those solutions denies one of these three statements. If someone denies the first statement, then we are left with the fact that each of the persons named in scripture is God and there is one God. But if we do not have to say they're distinct persons, there's an easy solution. You just say, oh, well, they're all the same person, just called by different names. This is an ancient heresy about God. It's a heresy that's still alive today. The United Pentecostals hold to this doctrine that God does not exist in three persons, three distinct persons, But he's one and basically wears a different hat at different times for different events. Sometimes the person calls himself father, sometimes son, sometimes the spirit. Now, you and I can do that. I can be pastor. I can be husband. I can be father. I can be son. I can be brother. I can be all of these things. And there's really nothing too special about that. But to say that about God would deny the fact that the three persons are distinct. God is three persons. You can see that plainly in Scripture, a distinction. So another solution that people have tried to come up with, that again is heresy, would be denying the second statement. that each person is fully God. That's what Jehovah's Witnesses do. They deny Jesus as God, deny the Spirit's God. But these are, the reason these are errors is because they contradict what the scripture reveals, how God reveals himself to us. He reveals himself to us as three persons, each person, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, fully God, and it reveals that there is one God. One God. When the universe was created, God the Father spoke the powerful, creative words that brought it into being. God the Son was the divine agent who carried out these words. John 1.3 says, all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. And God the Holy Spirit was active, according to Genesis 1.2, in moving over the face of the waters. So it's what we would expect. If all three members of the Trinity are equally and fully divine, and if all three existed for all of eternity, then God has eternally existed as Trinity. Moreover, God cannot be other than He is, for He is unchanging. So the Bible demands that God exists as a Trinity. He cannot exist any other way. Now this might seem mysterious to you, but it's not mysterious in the sense of it can't be comprehended. We can understand. The Bible teaches that God is three persons, each person is fully God, and there's only one God. How does that work? How does it fit together? Well, that's where there's a mystery. But the mystery is not that what is revealed is a contradiction. It's just beyond our comprehension. It would be like sitting down your pet and trying to explain to your pet physics. Trying to explain to your pet how trigonometry works. And you can explain it and explain it and illustrate it and show charts and videos and pull up Khan Academy, but your pet's just not gonna get it. It's beyond their comprehension. So the level of thinking that's required to understand those things is beyond the level of thinking that your pet's able to do. The fact that God exists in three persons and each of the persons is fully God and yet there's only one God is beyond my level of comprehension. That doesn't mean it's not true. I know it's true because that is what God has revealed in His Word. We worship a God who's not like us. He's bigger. He's greater. He's more amazing than we can imagine. So we ought to praise God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, our great triune God. We ought to praise Him and love Him and serve Him with all our heart for all of our days. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You should love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Oh Lord, we pray that you might help us to love you as you deserve, to give you the honor and glory that you deserve, to worship you as our great triune God with all our heart. We pray it in Jesus name. Amen.