The Forgotten Trinity (23 page)

The single most popular passage cited in defense of modalism,
however, is one that is often cited in defense of the deity of Christ:

"I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).

In this context, the assertion would be that the Father and the Son
are one person. Yet this is not what the passage says at all. In fact, the
simple citation of the passage, without due regard to its context and
meaning, neither proves the modalistic viewpoint nor the deity of
Christ! Its witness to the truth about Christ comes from the context,
which is most often ignored.

Literally, the passage reads, "I and the Father, we are one." The verb
translated "are" is plural in the Greek. Jesus is not saying, "I am the
Father." The distinction between the Son and the Father remains even
in the verb He uses. And in context, He is making specific reference to the oneness He shares with the Father in the redemption of His
sheep:

"And I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and
no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given
them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them
out of the Father's hand" (John 10:28-29).

This is the context of Jesus' statement, "I and the Father are one."
They are one in giving eternal life, they are one in protecting the sheep,
they are one in the covenant of redemption. All this must be said simply to be honest with the passage. And once we see what Jesus is speaking about, we can understand how this passage does, in fact, teach the
deity of Christ, for no creature could claim this kind of oneness in
redemption with the Father. Eternal life is divine life, and Jesus gives
it to His own. God's people are in the Son's hand and are likewise in
the Father's hand (cf. Colossians 3:3), and hence are safe and secure
in their almighty grip. The Father has given a people to the Son and
will not suffer any of them to be lost (cf. John 6:37-39). Here is the
oneness that exists between the Father and the Son-a oneness in redemption. Yet since redemption is a divine act, here we have the testimony to the deity of Christ, for no apostle, no prophet, can be said
to be "one" with the Father in saving believers in the way announced
here. No mere creature can have this kind of perfect unity of purpose
and action. No, Jesus Christ must be perfect deity to be able to say of
himself in reference to redemption, "I and the Father are one."

JESUS CHRIST: ONE PERSON WITH TWO NATURES

If Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, we are tempted to begin
asking all sorts of questions concerning just how the "God-man" could
exist. Thankfully, the Scriptures safeguard this unique and special act
of the Incarnation and do not bow to our inordinate desire to know
things God has not chosen to reveal. Instead, we are only given certain
guidelines, certain truths that help us to avoid wandering off into error.
We can say that the early church was correct in coming to the conclusion (at the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451) that Jesus Christ is one person with two natures, divine and human. He is not two persons,
nor are His natures somehow mixed together so that He is not truly
divine or truly man. He is both, concurrently, because He has both
natures.

As we noted above, the prayers of Christ are very important in recognizing the separate person of the Son from the Father. Jesus was not
"talking to himself" in His prayers, but was talking to the Father. In
the same way, the Scriptures do give us at least some indication of the
unipersonality of the Son while at the same time revealing to us His
two natures. I briefly note one passage that is often referred to at this
point, from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians:

... the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified
the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:8)

This passage represents a group of Scriptures that instructs us to view
Jesus as one person with two natures. How so? Because of the phrase
"crucified the Lord of glory." Obviously the "Lord of glory" has reference to the divine nature of Christ, yet Jesus was crucified as a man.
Crucifixion is only meaningful with reference to his human nature
(you cannot crucify the divine nature). When Paul speaks of the crucifixion of the Lord of glory, he is speaking of Christ as one person
with two natures. The one action of crucifixion is predicated of one
person though that person had two natures, divine and human.

Just as it is with the Trinity, so it is with the one act of revelation,
wherein the Trinity is the most clearly revealed, the Incarnation of
Christ: both present to us unique truths about God that defy our creaturely categorization. Just as we cannot present any one analogy that
"grasps" the Trinity (due to the absolutely unique way in which God
exists), so, too, the Incarnation defies our attempts to wrap our limited
minds around all it means. God only became incarnate once in the
Son; therefore, there is nothing else in the created order to which we
can compare either the Incarnation or the resultant God-Man, Jesus Christ. Instead of fretting over questions the Triune God has not chosen to answer in His revelation in Scripture, we should stand amazed
at the motivation that brought the eternal Son into human flesh: His
tremendous love for us!

The biblical verdict is clear: the three foundational truths we
presented at the beginning of this work are definitely the teachings of
Scripture. We can now see how richly this truth is found in the very
fabric of Scripture itself. Take a moment to slowly read through the
following passages, and in light of what has come before, consider what
they communicate:

... constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of
love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God,
His choice of you; for our gospel did not come to you in word
only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among
you for your sake. (1 Thessalonians 1:3-5)

But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith
in the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:13)

For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear
and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were
not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:2-5)

Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were
sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there
are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties
of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. (1
Corinthians 12:4-6)

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed
us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts
as a pledge. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

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

For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this
way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. (Romans 14:17-18)

... to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering
as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles
may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. (Romans
15:16)

... which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is
constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace
of God in truth; just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved
fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit. (Colossians
1:6-8)

For through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the
Father. (Ephesians 2:18)

... that He would grant you, according to the riches of His
glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the
inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
(Ephesians 3:16-17)

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called
in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one
God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
(Ephesians 4:4-6)

Do you see how the faith of the New Testament is an implicitly
Trinitarian faith? None of these passages say, "Now, the doctrine of the
Trinity is this ..." Nor do they need to. When you write to a friend,
you don't start every letter by introducing yourself and going back over
every shared experience you've had. No, there is an entire body of
shared experiences and beliefs that form the background of such a letter to a close friend. In the same way, the early believers spoke easily
of Father, Son, and Spirit without giving the slightest indication that
they found anything strange in joining these divine persons in the one
work of salvation and in the edification of the church. It was simply
natural for them to speak in this way. That is why B. B. Warfield wrote,
"The whole book is Trinitarian to the core; all its teaching is built on
the assumption of the Trinity; and its allusions to the Trinity are frequent, cursory, easy and confident."'

THE REVELATION OF THE TRINITY

Warfield, one of my favorite theologians, had an insight into this
subject that few have ever shared. In his article on the Trinity, he dis cusses how the Trinity has been revealed to us. Some of his insights
simply cannot be phrased any better, so I draw heavily from him in
attempting to communicate a very important element of how we are
to understand the Trinity.

When we ask, "How was the Trinity revealed to us?" many answers
are given. Some would assert that it is revealed in the Old Testament
in the scattered allusions to the deity of Christ or the use of the plural
pronoun "us" with reference to God (Genesis 1:26). But Warfield was
right in noting,

The Old Testament may be likened to a chamber richly furnished but dimly lighted; the introduction of light brings into it
nothing which was not in it before; but it brings out into clearer
view much of what is in it but was only dimly or even not at all
perceived before. The mystery of the Trinity is not revealed in the
Old Testament; but the mystery of the Trinity underlies the Old
Testament revelation, and here and there almost comes into view.
Thus the Old Testament revelation of God is not corrected by the
fuller revelation which follows it, but only perfected, extended and
enlarged.'

So when was it revealed? Many insist it developed over time "in
the consciousness of the church," so that the Trinity does not become
"doctrine" until well into the church age. But this is to confuse men's
knowledge and understanding of God's revelation with the revelation
itself. The Trinity as a doctrinal truth has always been true. But when
did it become knowable to men? What "revealed" it to the human race?