QUESTION 3

This is a RLC podcast and in this podcast, we are working through the New City catechism… 

Question 3: How many persons are there in God?

Answer 3: There are three persons in the one true and living God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  They are the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

This goes to the nature and character of God as triune, or the triunity of God.  There is one God and three coequal, coexistent persons.  The Father is not the Son who is not the Holy Spirit.  And yet they are one in essence.  Of course, this is a great mystery.  Therefore, we should never go beyond what the scriptures teach.  Of course, you won’t find the word trinity or triune in the bible.  If you go to a concordance, you won’t find those words.  But reading through the scriptures, Christians have for centuries have understood the truth of the trinity by deduction.  Let me explain.  

The bible makes the claim over and over again that there is one God.  There is one God, not three or a hundred.  Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Here O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.”  But then there are texts that say the Father is God (Titus 1:2), others that claim Jesus is God (Titus 2:13), and others that claim the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4).  Some have then made the error of saying, “Well yes, that is just the one God manifesting himself in different modes” - this is the error of modalism.  But that doesn’t work.  Because there are times we see all three Persons - for instance at the baptism of Jesus in Luke 3 (explain).  Or when Jesus prays in John 17.  Who is he praying to?  Himself?  Of course not.  He is praying to the Father, a unique Person in the Godhead.

In a day where there is a big emphasis on being Christ-centered and gospel-centered, we need to remember the centrality of the trinity in the Christian faith.  The Christian faith is certainly Christ centered and gospel centered.  But even more fundamentally (and beautifully), it is trinitarian. The Father, Son, and Spirit working in harmony to redeem sinners (Galatians 4:4-6).  Which leads to the scripture for this question and answer, which is a powerful trinitarian benediction or blessing.

2 Corinthians 13:14 - The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.