The Trinity is perhaps the most mysterious of doctrines in the Christian faith. Yet, it is perhaps the most central as well. Without it, no part of the faith makes sense. If you deny it, its not really the God of Christianity that you’re worshipping anymore. So, we affirm that our God is one God, with three Persons, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. What does this mean though? Gregory of Nazianzus wrote on the Trinity, “when I think on the One, I am drawn to the Three, and when I think on the Three, I am drawn to the One.” The three-ness and one-ness of God are equally important to Who He is.
Theologians have found it helpful, therefore, to think of the Trinity as both ontological and economic. These fancy, philosophical terms help us to think of God as He is, all three Persons included, and to think of the distinct roles that each Person plays. Thinking of the economic Trinity gives us a fuller picture of what our God is like, and we can then better understand what each Person is like. The Father is the sovereign Ruler, the One Who has foreordained all that has come to pass, and the One Who loves us, His children, with grace and mercy. He is the One Who chose us from eternity past to be His children to begin with.
The Son, Christ Jesus, is the Son of God, that is, He is “eternally begotten.” What does this mean? When we use the term “begotten” or “son” to describe human relationships, it is hard for us to imagine how this can apply properly to Christ. He is God, and He is eternal. There was never a time when He was not. If this is true, how can He be begotten? The answer comes when we stop thinking in terms of our experience and reverse our thought process. When we see fathers and sons, what we are seeing is a reflection of the true Father and Son. The relationships down here are mere shadows of what that relationship truly is. Something similar can be said in the marriage relationship; Christ and His Church are the true mystery revealed by marriage, so what we normally associate with that term in human relationships is the reflection of, and it is meant to point us to the prototypical relationship. Does that mean that fathers and sons, or husbands and wives, merely exist as icons or pictures to point us to these things? No, the Lord uses those relationships in our lives to produce good things. Let us be thankful that the Lord uses imperfect fathers and sons to accomplish His good ends.
The Son is the only One Who became incarnate. As the Father chose those whom He would save, the Son came down to Earth to accomplish that task. He saved the chosen. And at what cost! He humbled Himself by becoming man, and lived in submission to the law, and then died a horrific death on a cross! Christ is the God-Man and remains so. Even now, at the right hand of the Father, Christ remains human. In this way, He is our elder Brother. He lives in a glorified, resurrected body. We too will have glorified and resurrected bodies. He is the first fruits, and we are united to Him when we are saved by Him. Because of this, Paul can refer to us as being “in Christ.” This is why we can rightly call ourselves Christian.
The Spirit is in eternal procession. He “proceeds from the Father and the Son”, as the Nicene Creed says. What does this mean? It means that He has been sent by the Father and the Son to be with us, to dwell in us. It is the Spirit that comforts and guides us. It is the Spirit Who calls us. The Spirit often gets overlooked in the Reformed tradition, yet the Spirit’s roll in our lives is of vital importance. He who does not have the Spirit has not Christ. The Spirit applies the salvation that Christ bought on the cross to us. Paul speaks in Ephesians of living a “Spirit-filled life.” The Spirit strengthens us to work out our faith in fear and trembling, giving us the perseverance we need till the end.
These three work in perfect harmony. From eternity past, they covenanted together to save men from their sin. And in this act of salvation, their harmony is apparent. Whom the Father chose, the Son died for, and the Spirit called. There is no time when someone falls into one or two of those categories. If you have been called, you can feel certain that Christ’s blood was shed for you, and that the Father has chosen you. Christ blood, therefore, was not spilled for someone whom the Father has not called. They play different roles in the covenant of redemption, yet they are all in total agreement on its outcome: the salvation of God’s elect. Much of this is mysterious to us. Yet we must affirm this. God is God, and we are not. There are many things about Him that will always be incomprehensible. Yet let us be thankful, knowing that He is a gracious and merciful God to His people, showing steadfast love to thousands upon thousands.
Older
Top
