Louie Giglio on Pentecost – A Trinitarian revolution of the heart

A Trinitarian revolution of the heart – message from ASPIRE Southern Baptist Conference

Louie Giglio  is Lead Pastor PassionCity Church, Atlanta Georgia and Founder of Passion Conferences.

Jesus is doing, on every continent, what He said, “I will build My church”. He orchestrates history, He is God and there’s no one like Him. If you signed Jesus up to help you build YOUR church, you’re in trouble. But if you are having Jesus order you around to build His church, you are on to something.

We do not have tiny power, we have the same power that God used to raise the crucified Lord from the dead. The kind of power that can change cities and crack history, that is the kind of power we have.

Ephesians 3:20

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

I’d like to talk about a Trinitarian revolution of the heart. God is always at work and is wanting to do more (not just in the sense of the measurable increments) …but in what we can do. He is always wanting to show up in a way, to move in a way that makes it clear to everyone that these people did not do this on their own and when that happens, glory comes to God. God gets the glory in the church.

Talks about people who are afraid of the third part of the trinity- the Holy Spirit. He makes 2 points – People don’t speak or celebrate Pentecost (even though around the world people count the 50 days from Easter and praise God for the day when the Holy Spirit came and blew the church away. You remember that it is a trinitarian thing that empowers the church’s ministry. The Holy Spirit leads us to truth (John 14) And, He will testify  to Jesus. And, by the way, the Holy Spirit is a Person. He is not an “it”.  When the Holy Spirit comes, he doesn’t make much about the Holy Spirit, he’s gonna make it all about Jesus. The Holy Spirit loves to testify about Jesus. In a Spirit filled church you are talking all about Jesus. And when the city hears Jesus’ name and not your (church) name big things are going to happen.

Related articles

• Louie Giglio – The Global God Who Gives the Great Commission Desiring God 2011 National Conference Finish the Mission: For the Joy of All Peoples

Dr. Bruce Ware – Lecture 2 – Christology – Beholding the glory of the Christ – The Trinitarian Context (Pt 2)

photo from SBTS
Dr. Ware deals with the person of Christ (not the work of Christ) in the Trinitarian context. Dr. Ware says, “Even trained, educated Bible believers have not been taught to think of Jesus, in relation to the Father and the Spirit, and what that means in terms of how He lived His life. We’re going to be looking at it in this perspective, because I really think this was the perspective of the New Testament. You will see as we take a look at passages form the Bible, the Bible presents Jesus to us very clearly in relationship to the Father and in relationship to the Spirit. In seeing that, it gives us a richness as an understanding of who he is.”

1. Trinitarian context: This first session is on the larger trinitarian theology and is a framework session about the doctrine of the trinity, for the basis of thinking about Christ in trinitarian terms, in relation to Father and Son. In the other three sessions (there are a total of 4) Dr. Ware takes a look at sort of chronological (order)
2. Eternal Word – Who was the eternal Son of the Father in eternity past, who is this Son in relation to the Father and what did He do.
3. Incarnate Son – The Son as He had come into the world and the life that He lived, the obedience that He rendered, the temptations that He resisted and the life of Christ, lived out among us as the incarnate Son of the Father, who lived out His life with the power of the Spirit.
4. Reigning King – the One who has ascended, who is at the right hand of the Father, who is coming again as judge and King, and reigning over the church, and will bring consummation to all things.

See LECTURE  1  - The Trinitarian Concept  Part  1 here  

Some notes from the current Lecture 2:

C. THE HOLY SPIRIT

We’re putting together a composite picture here. There’s one God, the Father is God, the Son is God. In time, the early church also developed a conviction that the Holy Spirit is God. Now, this took a while, just in terms of the early church councils that met, because, really, the front burner issue for them was: Who was Jesus? You can see why that is the case. We are Christians, we are not Father-ians or Pneuma-something or other. We are Christians. We announce the Gospel of Christ. We believe in the Lordship of Christ. We worship Christ who is Jesus. So that was clearly the dominant question that had to get settled in the early church. And, only after that was settled, were they able to focus attention on the Holy Spirit. But, in time, they came also to a clear conviction that the Holy Spirit also is God.

Here are some of the passages that came into consideration as they thought about this:

• Acts 5:3-4 Ananias before Peter, and Peter says to him, “You have lied to the Holy Spirit. You’ve not lied to man, but to God”. So it’s a very clear connection between ‘the Holy Spirit is God’ and when you lie to the Holy Spirit, you lie to God. So He is God.
• 1 Corinthians 2:10-11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except thespirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. So, the Spirit of God knows the thoughts of God. Wow! One thing that it indicates is He is personal, but, it also indicates He is deity, because no one can know the thoughts of God except God. He is omniscient. So this attributing of the knowledge of God to the Holy Spirit indicates He is personal and He is God.
• 1 Corinthians 3:16 where Paul says, “You are a temple of God, as the Spirit dwells within you”. So, obviously, that image of temple from the Old Testament background, where the shekinah glory of  God was, and “I will dwell with My people in the Temple”. I mean, this is a vivid image of the presence of God with His people. Well, now we are the temple collectively and individually. Here in chapter 3 it’s collectively- “You”, plural. In chapter 6: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? But that’s in chapter 6, though. Here, it’s collectively. You, together as a corporate whole are the temple of God. The Spirit of God dwells in you. So, Spirit is connected with “God dwelling with His people” thorough His Spirit, who is there. So the Spirit is God.
• Hebrews 9:14 He was able to go to the cross. He was delivered by the eternal Spirit. Eternal is a kind of attribute. Remember 2 different categories of attributes (in Theology I class) One category is a kind of attribute that God has that  we too can possess in finite measure. Those are called communicable attributes. (Ex) Be holy, as I am holy. Love one another as I have loved you. So we are called to do those things that God does. Those are communicable. But, God also has attributes that only He possesses. Those are incommunicable attributes and eternality is one of those. Only God is eternal. The Holy Spirit is eternal, therefore the Holy Spirit is God. So, some indications of the deity of the Spirit.

The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. And then you add to that the early church, these actually were very important passages that were sometimes called triadic passages that put Father, Son, and Spirit in the same context, indicating deity. There are many in the New Testament, but these two are the most important:

• Matthew 28:19-2o Jesus says, “Go into all the world, make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them in the name (notice it is singular). Name indicates nature: One God. But what is that One God’s name? Father, Son and Spirit. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So that one God, that one name of God is Father, Son and Spirit. The three together comprise, or constitute that one God.
• 2 Corinthians 13:14 The very last verse, the benediction of Paul, where basically, he is saying, “May God go with you”. But, here is how he says that. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God (shorthand for God, the Father), and the fellowship of the Spirit be with you. So, how does Paul say, “May God be with you?” May Father, Son and Spirit be with you. So, all three understood as one God.

When you put all those together you realize that the early church has its hands full because- do the math. There is one God. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. How do you put this together? One God. But, each of these is fully God. So, unitarianism is out because it is three. But, tritheism is out because it’s one. So, how do you put together one God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit- where each is fully GodThat’s the challenge the early church faced in trying to put together this synthetic understanding from Scripture of who God is.

Lecture 2: Beholding the Glory of Christ: The Trinitarian Context, Part 2 from Southern Seminary on Vimeo.

IV – The first four councils of the early church

These are the most important councils that there were. There were 7 ecumenical councils altogether. At least, that is the way, we in the western church count them. But, the first four were the most formative of those councils. Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon (in that order). Here is just a summary of what happened at each of those councils as they met.

The Council at Nicaea 325

The first one  is the singularly most important council. The Council at Nicaea was convened by Constantine, who was emperor in Roma at the time. He was a Christian and he wanted to bring unity to the empire and part of that was to bring together theologians who come to an agreement on theological issues that were much disputed. And they focused on the Trinity. And, within Trinity, they focused on the Son. Who is the Son, in relation to the Father.

In the background at Nicaea are 2 heresies that were very prominent at the time. The first one was Sabellianism. Sebelius argued that there is one God, and the Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Each of them is God successively, not simultaneously. That’s the problem. So for Sabellius, he was a monarchian. Modalistic monarchianism is sometimes the name given to Sabellianism. The monarchian view is that there is one God is monarch over all, the King over all. That’s the Father, the one God who is over all. And according to Sabellius, the Father chose to take on the form of the Son. And so, He came to earth as the Son. But, when the Son is here, then He’s no longer, as it were, Father who relates to Son. He is now the Son. And then, He ascends back to heaven when He is done with His work, and then He comes in the form of the Holy Spirit. So, it’s Father, then Son, then Holy Spirit. But, what you don’t have is Father, Son and Holy Spirit simultaneously existing as three distinct persons together. That’s rejected in Sabellianism.

The Sabellian heresy was not the focal point at Nicaea. For the most part, Christian people who read their Bible understood this is not going to work (Jesus’s baptism, praying to the Father, Jesus right now at the Father’s right hand). The other more prominent alternative was the Arian model. Arius was a bishop, although he was not during Nicaea, at 325 when that council met. He was not at that time seated as a bishop, so he couldn’t be seated formally at the council, but he exerted an enormous influence from behind the scenes and Arius held the views, again, he wants to uphold monotheism. What’s not to commend about that? We know, from the Old testament, there’s one God. And we know Jesus prayed to the Father. We know that the Father send Jesus into the world. We know that he did the will of the Father, so clearly the Father is God. There is one God, the Father is God, pretty simple. So, who is Jesus? Oh, the Son was the first and greatest of all of the creations of the Father. But He was a created being. A famous phrase went around at this time, that Arius would say about the Son: “There was a time when He was not”. Which you cannot say of the Father. There was never a time when He was not. He’s eternal. But, of the Son: There was a time when He was not. So, the Son is a created being, brought into existence at a point in time. But, given such great power, and splendor, and glory, that any of us, looking upon Him would think He’s God. But, He is not. He’s very much like God, but He’s a created being. So He’s not God. This was the position of Arius, that is sometimes called subordinationism or dynamistic monarchianism. Those are both terms used of Arius’s view. Dunamis- the power of God the Father given to the Son. Or subordinationism- the nature of the Son is inferior to, insubordinate to the nature of the father. The nature of the Father is eternal and infinite, the nature of the Son is temporal and finite, even though it has great power and splendor.

That was the dominant view at Nicaea, that was argued against by Athanasius, who was the hero at Nicaea. Now, Athanasius was not seated as a bishop either. He was young. I think he was about 25 years old at the time, with a fine mind and great exegetical ability, great rhetorical abilities, that God raised up to be the hero. The church was very pressed by Arius. The Arian model was widely held in churches across Asia minor and the like of the church in that day. So, it took a forceful person to be able to render arguments against Arius, and Athanasius was that man. If you never heard John Piper’s address that he gave on Athanasius (2005) at Desiring God, go to the website and download it.

Athanasius proposed that we have to understand the eternal Son not as a created being, but Himself fully God. But not 2 Gods. So, how do you have Him fully God, and the Father’s fully God, and yet, not 2 Gods. Well, it must be then, that each of them, that is, the Father and Son each possess the same nature. If they have 2 distinct natures, even if they’re equally deity, equally divine, then you’ve got bi-theism or (if) you add the Holy Spirit- tritheism. But we don’t hold to that. We hold to monotheism. So, what constitutes the oneness of God? One divine nature that is the full possession of the Father and that same nature is the full possession of the Son. So he proposed a word- homoousios. Homoousios- homo: one kind, on thing, like homogenized milk all mixed together.  Oousios- nature. Homoousios- same nature. This was an important term because at the very same council, there was kind of a middle position. At Nicaea, you had these moderates who were trying to propose a middle ground  between Arius and Athanasius. And they said, “How about if we adopt the term homoiousias? Similar nature. Athanasius was not okay with it. Similar is not good enough. He pressed the point and it won the day at Nicaea. There were only a few votes contrary, it passed overwhelmingly and from that time on that has been orthodoxy- the claim that the Son possesses the identically same nature.

By the way, nature- what is the nature that is the full possession of the Father and the Son? The easiest way to think of that is- the nature of God is the collection of all of the essential attributes of God comprise the nature of God. So, His holiness and righteousness, and justice. His knowledge and wisdom, His power, His love and His mercy. These attributes of God that constitute God is God. That without those attributes He wouldn’t be God. Can God be God if He doesn’t know everything? No. Can God be God if He isn’t holy? No. So these attributes that are essential for God to be God, comprise then the nature of God.

So, the Father possesses the one undivided nature fully. The Son possesses the one undivided nature fully.The Holy Spirit possesses the one undivided nature fully. So, Father and Son are homoousios, as declared here at Nicaea.

The Council of Contsantinople 381

Arius died in 336, just 11 years after Nicaea. He is off the scene, but Arius’s disciplesare still alive and well, and they’ve kind of shifted the battle now away from the Son. They lost the battle of the Son at Nicaea, but now they shifted the battle to the Holy Spirit. These followers of Arius, who deny the deity of the Holy Spirit have been called the pneumatomachians- spirit fighters. These are people who are fighting against the deity of the Holy Spirit. Arius’s followers, they view the Spirit as the presence of God, the power of God, but, not a distinct person of God. This is a tough argument because the OT and NT word for Spirit can also be translated ‘breath’, ‘wind’. Well, you wouldn’t interpret the breath of God any differently in terms of the kind of language that is from the hand of the Lord. You don’t turn the hand of the Lord into a person of the godhead. Or the strong right arm of the Lord, or the eyes of the Lord. So, the followers of Arius argued (that) this is not a distinct personof the godhead. This is rather just the presence of God, and His power, and His comfort, or His instruction. So, it’s just God manifest in one of His ways as the Spirit of the Lord, the breath of the Lord.

So, this had to be addressed. The people who took this on and won the day at Constantinople are called the Cappadocian Fathers. These three are highly esteemed by all christians for their role in the early church, but particularly in eastern orthodoxy. These three are Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa,  and Basel of Caesarea, also called Basel the Great. He was called that by contemporaries, not for his theological expertise,  although he had great theological acumen. He was rather called Basel the Great by his parishioners, who viewed his pastoral work in their lives, taking care of their needs, they viewed him a great bishop. Basel and Gregory of Nyssa were brothers. Gregory of Nazianzus was a friend of the two of them. They realized they had their hands full, trying to defend the deity of the Spirit, in light of the fact that so many arguments could be put forward by the followers of Arius, that the Spirit was the presence of God, rather than a separate person of the godhead.

So they argued that the Spirit of the Lors is not like the hand of the Lord. It’s not like the presence of God because we’re talking about something that is personal. They went to passages in the Bible that talked about, for example, grieving the Holy Spirit. Or, by the Spirit’s will we are given the gifts that we are given. (1 Corinthians 12) So the Spirit wills things, the Spirit knows things, the Spirit can be grieved about things. The Spirit has character qualities- the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and so on. So the Spirit is a person, and furthermore, the Spirit is God. So they argued the case for the deity of the Spirit strongly at Constantinople. But they were fearful (Basel and Gregory of Nyssa) that they might lose the vote and they knew a lot was at stake at this. So they insisted on using only biblical terms in their statement that they developed on the Holy Spirit, that would be voted on. Gregory of Nazianzus on the other hand, he was bold and brash, and forthright. He wanted badly to invoke the term homoousias- of the Spirit. That one nature is the nature of the Father and the Son and the Spirit. So why not invoke the term homoousias for the Spirit also? Well, Basel and Gregory of Nyssa said it’s not a biblical term, and because of that we might lose the vote. And so, they would not go that way. It angered Gregory of Nazianzus so much that he pulled out and left and he wasn’t there for the end of the council when the vote was finally taken.

So they put forth this addition to the third article of the Nicaean creed. The Nicaean creed has 3 articles for Father, Son and Holy Spirit- We believe in God the Father, Creator of all things, visible, invisible and so on… and one Lord Jesus Christ, who is begotten of the Father, who is God of God, light of light, who is one nature with the Father- homoousias.. and then you have the third article at Nicaea 325 on the Holy Spirit. You know what it says? We believe in the Holy Spirit. That’s all it said. So now, at 381, that third article is amplified. And here’s what’s added to it. Five articles, using biblical terms only. So homoousias, though they agreed it was true, they were not going to use it.

So five amplifications:

We believe in the Holy Spirit-

1. the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are beingtransformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. Using the words  ’Lord the Spirit’ indicates deity.
2. the giver of life (John 3) you must be born again Titus 3:5- regeneration by the Spirit
3. who proceeds from the Father (John 15:26) When the Holy Spirit comes, whom I will send to you form the Father, He will bear witness of me. By the way, they put that procession of the Spirit in to be equivalent to ‘the Son is the only begotten Son of the Father’, which is in the second article of the Nicaean creed. Well, if the Son is the only begotten Son you cannot say that the Spirit is begotten. But you want a relationship of Son to Father that is parallel to Spirit to Father. That is, they both have the same nature as the Father. The Son, because He is begotten of the Father, the Spirit because He proceeds. That word was actually Gregory Nazianzus’s before he left. He provided that word ‘who proceeds’ and that text- John 15:26.
4. who with the Father and Son is worshipped and glorified. Matthew 28:19 “Baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit”. So this act of worship, worshipping God, you bow to Him, you identify with this one God. And so, that act of worship in baptism is in the name of Father, Son and Spirit. So, who with the Father and Son are worshipped and glorified.
5. who spoke by the prophets (all over the place, but 2 Peter 1:20-21) “Men, moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God“.

Unlike at Nicaea, where they purposefully used an extra biblical term,  Athanasius’s conviction was “if we don’t use this, Arius will probably win the day”, because there are texts Arius can go to, which clearly say who Jesus is. For example: The Father who sent Me is greater than Me. And Mark pointed to Mark 13:32- No one knoew the hour of the Second coming, not even the Son. Well, the Father is omniscient, but the Son is not omnscient. Therefore the Son is not God. So, it was Athanasius’s conviction that they had to use an extra biblical term to wrap up all of the indicators  in the Bible that the Son was equal to the Father and put those under the category of homoousias.But when it came time for Constantinople, they thought: If we try and do that we can’t win the day. We’ve got to have strictly biblical terms. So that’s what they did, arguing for the deity of the Spirit in that fashion.

One other thing happened at Constantinople  and that was a further decision in relation to Christology. And that was a decision in regard to the full humanity of Christ, as well as the full deity of Christ. The background here is apollinarianism. Apollinaris, who was committed to Nicaea, believed that the Son was one nature with the Father, committed to the deity of the Son, could not understand how, if He’s fully God, He could also be fully man. That sounds contradictory. So, Apollinaris argued that He was fully God, but, the incarnation was taken on merely the human body of a man. The soul, as it were, was the divine Logos. And so, the inner reality of Jesus Christ of Nazareth was fully God, who lived His life in a human body.

This is where the term docetism comes from. The Greek word ‘to seem’. Docetism- He seemed to be a man. He appeared to be a man. But He wasn’t really a man. That was Apollinaris’s view. And that was rejected at the Council of Constantinople. Instead, it was affirmed that Christ was fully God and fully man. He was two natures in one person. This was a huge development for Christology. You do realize that issues of Trinity and issues of Christology are really closely interrelated. Here we have Trinity: Father, Son, Spirit. But when you talk about Son, now you’re talking about two natures of the Son- so, He’s fully God and and fully man in one person. With the trinity then, we have singular nature and multiple persons. But, in Christology we have singular person and multiple natures.

Next, Council of Ephesus and Council of Chalcedon follows at the 36 minute mark. Length of lecture (video) is 74 minutes.

 

Dr. Bruce Ware – Lecture 1 – Christology – Beholding the glory of the Christ – The Trinitarian Context (Pt. 1) at SBTS

photo from SBTS
Dr. Ware deals with the person of Christ (not the work of Christ) in the Trinitarian context. Dr. Ware says, “Even trained, educated Bible believers have not been taught to think of Jesus, in relation to the Father and the Spirit, and what that means in terms of how He lived His life. We’re going to be looking at it in this perspective, because I really think this was the perspective of the New Testament. You will see as we take a look at passages form the Bible, the Bible presents Jesus to us very clearly in relationship to the Father and in relationship to the Spirit. In seeing that, it gives us a richness as an understanding of who he is.”

1. Trinitarian context: This first session is on the larger trinitarian theology and is a framework session about the doctrine of the trinity, for the basis of thinking about Christ in trinitarian terms, in relation to Father and Son. In the other three sessions (there are a total of 4) Dr. Ware takes a look at sort of chronological (order)
2. Eternal Word – Who was the eternal Son of the Father in eternity past, who is this Son in relation to the Father and what did He do.
3. Incarnate Son – The Son as He had come into the world and the life that He lived, the obedience that He rendered, the temptations that He resisted and the life of Christ, lived out among us as the incarnate Son of the Father, who lived out His life with the power of the Spirit.
4. Reigning King – the One who has ascended, who is at the right hand of the Father, who is coming again as judge and King, and reigning over the church, and will bring consummation to all things.

Some notes:

~~~Trinitarian indicators: specific details  that are there in the text, that tell you about the specific work of the Father (not God, generically), or of the Son (not God, generically), or of the Spirit (not God, generically). In other words, this is specifically the Father, specifically the Son, specifically the Spirit. And, when you begin seeing these things, it just opens up a world of beauty of awe and wonder, and you get to know better who God is. We have not been tuned into this, and so, we think in a category of the glory of God. We think in these broader categories, and it’s not that that’s wrong, it is just that it is imprecise; that in fact, we need to see what is so often the case in the Scriptures, particularly in the New Testament, that the God who does these things is the Father, who works through His Son, who is empowered by His Spirit. And so, we need to see this broader trinitarian reality that is there.

A background structure for the doctrine of the trinity.

The doctrine of the trinity- you might think of it as this giant block doctrine that is upheld by two pillars. And both of those pillars have to be in place or that doctrine is going to collapse, it can’t be upheld. It requires both of those pillars to be in place.

A. The twin pillars of trinitarian doctrine

1. One of those pillars is: DISTINCTION. That Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct from each other. So these are not three names for the same person. If we don’t have that in the Christian faith, then we truly don’t have trinitarian monotheism. If we have three names that are the same person, then we have unitarian monotheism. It’s no different then, really, than the god of Islam, or of Judaism. What distinguishes the monotheism of the Christian faith is that it is trinitarian monotheism. Trinitarian, meaning there are three distinct persons, distinct from each other, who are separate in some way although (next pillar’s coming up in a moment) they comprise one God. So that distinction needs to be maintained.

One of the most difficult areas in the doctrine of the trinity is really coming to terms biblically with what constitutes the distinctions of Father, Son and Spirit. If you look back at the history of the doctrine of the trinity, you will see that it is littered with heresy, that answered that question wrongly. So, coming to terms with the distinction is crucial. So, one pillar, then, is the distinction pillar. That Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct from each other. The Father is the Father, not the Son. The Son is the Son, not the Holy Spirit.

2. The second pillar of the trinity is: EQUALITY.  That Father, Son, and Spirit are equally the One God. They are equally divine. Now, that equality does not indicate that they are equal because they are the same kind of being. Our equality is the equality of same kind. You are a human being, I’m a human being, so we are equally human. But, if I were to get hit by an automobile on the way home tonight, you would continue living. Your nature is a different nature than mine. Even though it’s the same kind of nature. Your human nature is your human nature. My human nature is my human nature. I get in a car accident and die, you live on. Your nature continues. So, our equality is an equality of same kind.

But, in the trinity, the equality is an equality in which each of Them possesses not merely the same kind of nature, but the identically same nature. Then the nature of the Father IS the nature of the Son, the nature of the Son IS the nature of the Holy Spirit. So they have the strongest kind of equality that there is.

So, here we have those two pillars that uphold the doctrine of the trinity. Both of them have to be in place. Without the distinction pillar, it will collapse into unitarian monotheism. Without the equality pillar, if they’re not equal in the sense of having the identically same nature, then we could have tritheism, for example- the Father is a God, the Son is a God, the Holy Spirit is a God. Of course that would fit beautifully in a polytheistic world of the ancient Greco-Roman world. But, the church was insistent on monotheism. So, one God who is three persons- one in nature, three in persons is what the church has upheld.

B. Summary statement

The Christian faith affirms that there is one and only one God, eternally existing while fully and simultaneously expressed in three persons: The Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Each member of the godhead is equally God, each is eternally God, and each is fully God. Not three Gods, but three persons of the one godhead. Each person is equal in essence, as each possesses eternally, simultaneously, and fully the identically same and undivided divine nature. That each is also an eternal and distinct personal expression of that one, undivided divine nature. Because of this, what distinguishes each person of the godhead from each other person is not and cannot be the divine nature. (Because if you point to the divine nature as the point of distinction, you know you’ve got a heresy on your hands). Because the identically same and undivided nature is the full and eternal possession of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. So, what distinguishes each person of the godhead from each other person are the relationships each has with each of the other persons and His particular roles in relation to the others. In light of both the equality of essence, yet, differentiation of relationships and roles that exist among the persons of the godhead, we now consider how the church came to affirm these truths about the trinity and how these trinitarian relationships and roles are expressed within the trinity of the persons.

Next, Dr. Ware gives a biblical, historical overview of how we got the doctrine of the trinity. (at the 17 minute mark).

Lecture 1: Beholding the Glory of the Christ, Part 1 from Southern Seminary on Vimeo.

How does the Trinity affect all doctrine? Tim Keller, John Piper, D A Carson

We’re tempted to take the doctrine of the Trinity for granted. But there is scarcely any belief unaffected when we get the Trinity wrong.

In this video: Don Carson, John Piper, Tim Keller

Only the Triune God Is Love from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

Related articles

From The Mystery of the Trinity Teaching Series from Ligonier Ministries

• Dr. R.C.Sproul – Lecture 6, One in Essence, Three in Person 
• Dr. R.C.Sproul – Lecture 5, Contradiction vs. Mystery 
• Dr.R.C.Sproul – Lecture 4, Fifth-Century Heresies 
• Dr. R.C. Sproul – Lecture 3, Early Controversies 
• Dr. R.C.Sproul – Lecture 2, The Biblical Witness 
• Dr. R.C.Sproul – Lecture 1, Monotheism 
• Debate by noted Christian scholars on the Trinity
• Christian Doctrine 1 – Trinity: God Is
• There’s not a “Trinity Verse” by Fred Sanders, Biola University
• Chuck Missler – The trinity

 

R.C. Sproul Proves that God Does Not Exist

English: Theologian, pastor and radio teacher R. C. Sproul  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nope, there is no mistake in my post title. Watch the short (5 min) video to understand his premise.

Sproul:

God ‘is’ but He does not exist like we ‘created beings’ exist.

The word that theologians use with respect to the trinity is not the word three ‘existences’, but 3 ‘subsistences’.

R.C. Sproul proves that God does not exist. From his teaching series “Foundations.” http://www.ligonier.org/store/foundations-dvd/

R.C. Sproul Proves that God Does Not Exist from Ligonier on Vimeo.

Related articles

• CAN I BE SURE I’M SAVED? – R.C. Sproul (2010) (baldreformer.wordpress.com)
• WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE BORN AGAIN? – R.C. Sproul (2010) (baldreformer.wordpress.com)
• Criticism of the Bible (samuelatgilgal.wordpress.com)
• The Deep Implications of Sin (samuelatgilgal.wordpress.com)

Dr. James White – The forgotten Trinity (Essential Apologetics)

Dr. James White – “Why I am a biblical trinitarian”.  Published on Sep 7, 2011 by LaneCh . Dr. White has also written a book by the same name: http://j.mp/pOfgN2 and has a website here http://www.aomin.org

Quote from lecture: (7 min mark) “I believe that the reason that Christian people formulated these confessions and creeds in later centuries was to answer questions as to what the completed canon of Scirptures taught. We are forced to believe the trinity when we believe “ALL” of the Bible and “ONLY” the Bible. The only way to not believe the trinity is to reject certain aspects of biblical revelation. That’s why I call myself a biblical trinitarian”.

Some notes: Dr. White lists 3 foundations. Whenever someone objects to the belief in the trinity, they are usually struggling with one or all 3 of these points.:

1. Monotheism – there is one true God. There are 3 world monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But Judaism and Islam are unitarian religions. One person, one God. Only Christianity is Trinitarian: One being of God shared by 3 persons. Here are the verses that state that there is one God: Deut 6:4, Deut 4:35, Isaiah 43:10, Isaiah 45:5-6, and many more texts between Isaiah 40 and 48 of some of the richest theology of God (worth taking the time to go through that), Jeremiah 10:10, here in the transition to verse 11 the text changes form hebrew to Aramaic and God is providing his people with the apologetic in answer to the people that are inviting His people to go into idolatry (min 25); Isaiah 44:24, Psalm 96:5. Just remember: Monotheism speaks to the Being of God, while trinitarianism speaks to the persons of God. The negation of monotheism is polytheism; the negation of trinitarianism (3 persons) is unitarianism (one person). Trinitarianism is NOT the negation of monotheism.
2. There are 3 divine persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (they refers to one another as persons). The Bible clearly differentiates between the 3 persons: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that the Father has eternally existed as a divine person; that the Son likewise has eternally existed as a divine person and that the Spirit has eternally existed as a divine person. These are 3 NT verses that state the eternal preexistence, personhood and deity of the Son: John 1:1-3 and 18, John 17:3-5, Philippians 2:5-7. (min 32). Now, here is a text that throws a curve: John 10:30 – “I and the Father are one”. So does that mean Jesus is the Father? No. Some claim that Jesus is here identifying Himself as the Father. However, Jesus uses the plural form of the verb “we are” instead of the singular “I am”. You cannot translate this “I and the Father ‘IS’ one”. The verb is plural. Hence, “I and the Father (we) ARE one”. If you would read the context, Jesus is demonstrating that the oneness that He has with the Father is a oneness of purpose in bringing about the redemption of God and His people. You think that could be said of a mere creature? This text DOES teach the deity of Christ, but it does so only when it’s understood properly. And it does not say that Jesus and the Father are the same person.
3. These 3 divine persons are coequal and coeternal. This is by far the most commonly attacked truth of trinity. Liberal theology denies this truth, groups such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses specialize in attacking the deity of Christ  and the person and deity of the Holy Spirit. Islam, likewise denies that the New Testament teaches this truth. Christians must be prepared to discuss these. Here’s a few things to remember: (1) Without the highest view of Scripture, inspiration, inerrancy, historicity- there is no reason to believe Jesus was God incarnate. Arguing about the deity of Christ and you don’t believe that God has spoken with clarity in the Bible is just foolishness. I mean, it’s just myth vs. myth. WHy would anyone bother? That’s why liberal theologians always abandon these things because they no longer believe that God has actually spoken. (2) Without Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone and Tota Scriptura – All of Scripture- one will never believe in the deity of Christ. In other words, if you’re willing to pick and choose, “I like this text; I don’t like this text”, as long as you’re willing to pick and choose, you can come up with any “Christ” you want.(3) All of what the Bible says about Christ must be taken into consideration. Christians often get stuck in proof texting instead of asking the opponent of orthodoxy to give the same kind of evidence for their own position. Any passage can be taken in the exclusion of others to the detriment of  the truth.

Three categories of evidence for the deity of Christ (min 44):

1. The use of God in describing Christ. He is called God numerous times in the Bible.
2. The identification of Jesus as Yahweh. If Jesus is Yahweh, Jesus is God.
3. The ascription of divine attributes and activities to Christ.

Dr. White focuses on category 2 and shows how to debate Jehovah’s Witnesses beliefs using 2 texts.(min 46). Hebrews 1:6-12 emphasis to verse 10. John 12 at the end of Jesus’ public ministry, v 39-42. ⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw His glory and spoke about him. When did Isaiah see Jesus’ glory? This is a citation from Isaiah ch. 6 . Isaiah 6 is Isaiah’s vision of the Lord. v. 10. Do you see what John is saying in John 12, when he says Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory and he spoke of Him. If you asked Isaiah, “Isaiah, who did you see in Isaiah ch. 6?” and Isaiah’s response would have been, “Yahweh, Yahweh was sitting upon His throne, lofty and lifted up”. If you asked John, “John, who did Isaiah see?”, John’s answer would be, “Jesus. The one sitting upon the throne is Jesus”. John identifies Jesus as Yahweh.

So, why do I believe in the doctrine of the trinity? Because I believe the Bible. Sure the council of Nicea is important, and all that stuff is important and I am not saying there’s anything wrong with studying all of that, but the reason a Christian is a trinitarian is because the Bible teaches those 3 trinitarian foundational truths.

Moses and Jesus – A Contrast

this is a small excerpt of commentary from www.bible.org  on the passage from Hebrews 3:1-6:

Moses and Jesus Contrasted
Hebrews 3:3-6

3 For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself! 4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’shouseas a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken. 6 But Christ is faithful as a sonover God’s house (Hebrews 3:5-6a, emphasis mine).

Just as Jesus is “higher than the angels” (1:1—2:18), He is also greater than Moses (3:1-6). Our Lord was faithful “to the one who appointed him” (3:2). Moses was faithful “in God’s house” (3:5), and thus he is viewed as being a part of the house in verses 3 and 4. What is this “house”? The “house” is My house(3:5), that is, God’s house. This is a term that is often used in reference to the nation Israel,  and then also to the temple. No doubt here “house” means that Moses was faithful in (or among) the people of God, the Israelites. I say among because the author’s point here is that Moses is a part of the house; the Son, however, is greater than the house. He is the builder of the house. The Creator is always greater than the creation.

Let’s not miss the subtlety of the author here. In verse 1, the reader is exhorted to “take note of Jesus.”In verse 2, Jesus and Moses are compared. In verses 3-6a, Jesus and Moses are contrasted, showing Jesus to be greater than Moses. But in verses 3 and 4, if Jesus is being shown to be Moses, then He is greater because He is the “builder of the house,” but the “builder of the house” is said here to be “God.”Let us not miss the fact that our author is saying that Jesus is the Son, and Jesus is God. He is proclaiming the deity of the Lord Jesus.

Two more elements of contrast are introduced in verses 5 and 6. First, we see that Moses was faithful “as a servant,”while “Christ” was faithful “as a son.” Second, this contrast between “servant” and “son” is underscored by the fact that Moses was a servant “in”all God’s house (verse 5), while Christ is the Son“over”God’s house. I love the story Bible teacher Ray Stedman told about visiting a ranch in Montana. At first, Ray knew only the son of one of the ranch hands. When he visited, they were restricted from the main house, and they rode the old “nags” when they went horseback riding. Then, Ray says, he became friends with the owner’s son. Now it was a whole new experience. They had free run of the ranch and could go wherever they pleased. When they rode horses, they rode the best horses. That’s the difference between a servant and a son.

There is one more observation that I would point out to you. The author began by referring to “Jesus,” then to Him as “God” (verse 4). In verse 6, He is the “Son” and “Christ.” Jesus is the Son, God, and the Christ, that is, the Messiah. Some Jews tended to understand these (and other) titles as referring to different persons. Such is not the case with the author of Hebrews.

How Iffy is Our Faith?
Hebrews 3:6b

We are of his house, if in fact we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope we take pride in (3:6b, emphasis mine).

So the author has shown us that the Lord Jesus Christ is vastly superior to Moses, as great a man as he was. Moses was part of God’s “house,” and he was faithful. And now we are told that we, likewise, are of God’s house, “if we hold firmly to our confidence. . . .” How do we deal with this “if”? Our answer has several parts:

1. “If” statements are not restricted to the Book of Hebrews.The fact is that we find similar statements in many places in the New Testament:

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him (Romans 8:9, emphasis mine).

And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) – if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him (Romans 8:17, emphasis mine).

Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God – harshness toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off (Romans 11:22, emphasis mine).

Put yourselves to the test to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize regarding yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you – unless, indeed, you fail the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5, emphasis mine)

22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him – 23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, without shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant (Colossians 1:22-23, emphasis mine).

1 So get rid of all evil and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, 3 if you have experienced the Lord’s kindness (1 Peter 2:1-3, emphasis mine).

3 Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep his commandments (1 John 2:3, emphasis mine).

Our problem, then, is not unique to Hebrews. If we don’t deal with it here, we will face it elsewhere.

2. The author assumes the best about his readers. That is to say, the author assumes that his readers are fellow believers in Jesus Christ. We saw this by his statements in the first verse of chapter 3. His readers are holy brothers, partners in the heavenly calling, and those who confess Jesus as apostle and high priest. The author’s statements in the rest of the book only confirm the conclusion that he assumes most of his readers are saved.

3. The author does not look at the world through rose-colored glasses.He does assume that most of his readers are believers in Jesus Christ. He does not believe them to be infallible. He understands that the danger of “drifting” is very real and that drawing near is not the path of least resistance. Thus, failure is dealt with as a real possibility.

4. This epistle is written to a church. It may not be a large church, but virtually all the commentators agree that it is written to a church (even if we are not certain where it may be). Whenever a church is addressed, the assumption is made that most of the recipients have a genuine faith in Jesus Christ. But it also means that it is very possible that one or more members of the church addressed may not be saved. Thus the qualifications and the “ifs” that we find in the epistles.

5. The “if texts” are not intended to teach or imply that salvation is by works.The author is simply telling us that those who are truly saved are those who will also persevere to the end. Their faith and trust in Jesus will not fail under pressure. We are encouraged to draw near because we are saved, not to work harder in order to be saved. It is Christ who saves us,  it is Christ through His Spirit who sanctifies us,  and it is Christ who keeps us.  This is precisely why we need to draw near (and stay near) to Him.

6. The “if statements” assume human weaknesses. Only God knows the hearts of men. We know that there will be some who assume that they have gained entrance into heaven who will not be admitted:

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus must have been a great shock to the Pharisees who heard it. They assumed the rich man would make it to heaven and that the poor man would join others like him in hell. Just the reverse occurred. Our consolation is that God knows His own:

19 However, God’s solid foundation remains standing, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from evil” (2 Timothy 2:19).

We do not know with absolute certainty those who are saved and those who are not. Some folks make their relationship with Jesus pretty plain, both by their profession and by their practice. But others leave us scratching our heads. My point here is to say that because we cannot know the hearts of men, we dare not assume all to be saved, even those who are fairly regular attendees at church. Thus, we must always leave room for the possibility that some who hear us may be unsaved and outside the faith. And because of this, it is only proper to include an “if” here and there, to address such folks. That is why I attempt, in nearly every sermon, to give the gospel to my audience. I assume that someone listening to or reading my sermon may be lost and in need of salvation. That is what our author is doing with his “ifs.”

7. The purpose of this epistle is not to create doubt, but to turn our attention to Jesus. Let’s not lose sight of what the Book of Hebrews is all about. It is an epistle that is addressed to a church, made up mainly of true believers. Over time, these believers, like us, can grow cold in their walk with the Lord, cold in their love for Christ and for men, much like the saints in Laodicea:

14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write the following: “This is the solemn pronouncement of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God’s creation: 15 ‘I know your deeds, thatyou are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot! 16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth! 17 Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, and need nothing,” but do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, 18 take my advice and buy gold from me refined by fire so you can become rich! Buy from me white clothing so you can be clothed and your shameful nakedness will not be exposed, and buy eye salve to put on your eyes so you can see! 19 All those I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent! 20 Listen! I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home and share a meal with him, and he with me. 21 I will grant the one who conquers permission to sit with me on my throne, just as I too conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches’” (Revelation 3:14-22, emphasis mine).

As our Lord invites the lukewarm Laodiceans to repent and return to intimate fellowship with Him (as symbolized by eating a meal with Him), so the writer to the Book of Hebrews warns his readers of the dangers of drifting, and exhorts them to draw near to Jesus.

The Hebrews were not to look back to Judaism, nor to the Old Covenant, nor even to great men like Moses. They were to look to Jesus, the author and finisher of the faith (Hebrews 3:1; 12:2). The last thing our author wants is for us to look to ourselves; his goal is to get us to look to Jesus. The “if passages” are intended to call our attention to our spiritual condition. And, whether good or bad, the exhortation is the same.

Are you lost in sin, under divine condemnation, and headed for an eternity in hell? Look to Jesus! He is the only solution. He is not only God; He also took on humanity, so that He could die in the sinner’s place, bearing his (or her) punishment. He rose from the dead and is ascended to the right hand of the Father, and in so doing, He restores all who are in Him, by faith, to the glory and dignity that was once ours, before the fall.

Are you drifting from God, negligent about studying His Word, spasmodic about your church attendance and fellowship with the saints, apathetic about the peril of those who are without Jesus? Look to Jesus! He is the One who saves, sanctifies, and keeps. It is abiding in Him that we need.

Are you troubled, in need, fearful, discouraged? Look to Jesus!

Our author does not want us to look to mere men, even those as great as Moses. And he certainly doesn’t want us looking to ourselves, as though we are able to keep our souls. We are to look to Jesus.

The Lord will protect you from all evil;

He will keep your soul (Psalm 121:7, NASB95).

Video of the Week – LOUIE GIGLIO – on PENTECOST

A Trinitarian revolution of the heart

Louie Giglio  is Lead Pastor PassionCity Church, Atlanta Georgia and Founder of Passion Conferences. Here he is speaking at the ASPIRE Conference.

Jesus is doing, on every continent, what He said, “I will build My church”. He orchestrates history, He is God and there’s no one like Him. If you signed Jesus up to help you build YOUR church, you’re in trouble. But if you are having Jesus order you around to build His church, you are on to something.

We do not have tiny power, we have the same power that God used to raise the crucified Lord from the dead. The kind of power that can change cities and crack history, that is the kind of power we have.

Ephesians 3:20

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

I’d like to talk about a Trinitarian revolution of the heart. God is always at work and is wanting to do more (not just in the sense of the measurable increments) …but in what we can do. He is always wanting to show up in a way, to move in a way that makes it clear to everyone that these people did not do this on their own and when that happens, glory comes to God. God gets the glory in the church.

Talks about people who are afraid of the third part of the trinity- the Holy Spirit. He makes 2 points – People don’t speak or celebrate Pentecost (even though around the world people count the 50 days from Easter and praise God for the day when the Holy Spirit came and blew the church away. You remember that it is a trinitarian thing that empowers the church’s ministry. The Holy Spirit leads us to truth (John 14) And, He will testify  to Jesus. And, by the way, the Holy Spirit is a Person. He is not an “it”.  When the Holy Spirit comes, he doesn’t make much about the Holy Spirit, he’s gonna make it all about Jesus. The Holy Spirit loves to testify about Jesus. In a Spirit filled church you are talking all about Jesus. And when the city hears Jesus’ name and not your (church) name big things are going to happen.

Related articles

• Louie Giglio –  How Great is our God – Ce mare e Dumnezeu (subtitrare in Limba Romana)
•  Louie Giglio – Stars and Whales Sing – Stele si Balene Canta (subtitrare in L. Romana))
• Louie Giglio – Indescribable tour & How Great is our God (subtitrare in Limba Romana) Ce Mare e Dumnezeul Nostru (Prezentare a Universului si Galaxiilor)
• Louie Giglio – Passion 2012 at the Atlanta Dome (closing sermon)
• Louie Giglio - The Global God Who Gives the Great Commission Desiring God 2011 National Conference
• Louie Giglio - Amazing fingerprint of God
• Louie Giglio – At Lee University

LOUIE GIGLIO – on PENTECOST at ASPIRE (Southern Baptist Convention) Conference 2011 – Video of the Week – scroll down for newer posts

A Trinitarian revolution of the heart

Louie Giglio  is Lead Pastor PassionCity Church, Atlanta Georgia and Founder of Passion Conferences.

Jesus is doing, on every continent, what He said, “I will build My church”. He orchestrates history, He is God and there’s no one like Him. If you signed Jesus up to help you build YOUR church, you’re in trouble. But if you are having Jesus order you around to build His church, you are on to something.

We do not have tiny power, we have the same power that God used to raise the crucified Lord from the dead. The kind of power that can change cities and crack history, that is the kind of power we have.

Ephesians 3:20

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

I’d like to talk about a Trinitarian revolution of the heart. God is always at work and is wanting to do more (not just in the sense of the measurable increments) …but in what we can do. He is always wanting to show up in a way, to move in a way that makes it clear to everyone that these people did not do this on their own and when that happens, glory comes to God. God gets the glory in the church.

Talks about people who are afraid of the third part of the trinity- the Holy Spirit. He makes 2 points – People don’t speak or celebrate Pentecost (even though around the world people count the 50 days from Easter and praise God for the day when the Holy Spirit came and blew the church away. You remember that it is a trinitarian thing that empowers the church’s ministry. The Holy Spirit leads us to truth (John 14) And, He will testify  to Jesus. And, by the way, the Holy Spirit is a Person. He is not an “it”.  When the Holy Spirit comes, he doesn’t make much about the Holy Spirit, he’s gonna make it all about Jesus. The Holy Spirit loves to testify about Jesus. In a Spirit filled church you are talking all about Jesus. And when the city hears Jesus’ name and not your (church) name big things are going to happen.

Related articles

• Louie Giglio – The Global God Who Gives the Great Commission Desiring God 2011 National Conference Finish the Mission: For the Joy of All Peoples

Dr. R.C. Sproul – The Birth via Ligonier Ministries

image – www.kingdominstituteintl.org

This is the (free) first part of Dr. R.C.Sproul’s teaching series titled ‘”The Life of Jesus” . The other 3 parts are available for download here at www.ligonier.org

R.C.Sproul:

On the subject of Christology there is a difference between the person of Jesus and the work of Jesus. Who He is. What He did. …we understand that who Jesus was and is, had considerable influence on what it was He did. And by the same token, if we want to understand who He was, we have to look at what He did. So, even though we may distinguish the two, they must ultimately be held in unity.

(Note: please be patient, it may take the player a couple of minutes to load)

Lecture 1, The Birth from The Life of Jesus Tea…, posted with vodpod