The Holy Trinity, Part 3

Mama and I stayed home from church this morning to keep an eye on Granddaddy. The poor man is out of his head. Anyway, between ups and downs to help him with particular things, I managed to finish Chapter 4 of Authentic Christianity this morning!

Picking up where we left off last week: The Holy Trinity and Our Salvation.

In the Bible we find that the plan of salvation takes the form of a covenant, not only in history between God and His people in Christ, which we call the Covenant of Grace; but also in eternity between the three Persons in the Trinity, which we call the Covenant of Redemption. (See Larger Catechism Questions 30f.) In this Covenant of Redemption the three Persons agreed upon a “division of labor” in the gracious salvation of sinners, each Person voluntarily agreeing to a particular aspect of this redemptive work. In this Covenant the Son agreed to become subservient to the Father, and the Spirit agreed to become the agent of the Father and the Son in the work of redemption. (374)

God the Father agreed to the work of election, creation and effective calling. God the Son agreed to the work of accomplishing redemption for God’s elect as the incarnate Mediator, acting as prophet, priest and king, to satisfy God’s offended justice and to reconcile sinners to God by His own substitutionary life and death in
their behalf. And God the Holy Spirit agreed to the work of applying redemption to God’s elect by means of revelation, regeneration, sanctification and glorification. (374)

As with most doctrines (if not all), some folks raise objections against them. The three Dr. Morecraft notes are roughly as follows: 1) The doctrine of the Trinity is illogical, 2)"John 17:3 suggests that only the Father is God to the exclusion of the Son and the Spirit.", and 3) 'In John 14:28, Jesus says “for the Father is greater than I,”'--thus meaning there is some sort subordination or degrees of deity. He responds to all three objections:

[1] As a matter of fact it is NOT logically contradictory, for in order for that to be the case the same thing would have to be affirmed and denied at the same time, which is not the case with reference to the doctrine of the Trinity. God is one essence
subsisting in three persons.

[2] This verse cannot be used against our doctrine of the Trinity, because its focus is on the fact that God the Father is the only true God, not in exclusion of the Son or the Spirit...

 [3] In Christ’s deity, He is equal with God the Father (Phil. 2:6), and one with the Father; however, Jesus’ statement in John 14:28 has reference to His humanity and to His office as Mediator, in which capacity the Father calls Him “My servant” (Isa.
53:11). (376)

Dr Morecraft then talks about the Athanasian Creed (found on pages 377-380).

“God then means the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and no two Persons of
the Trinity are greater together than a third, nor are all three Persons together anything greater than each severally.” 120. Rushdoony, The Foundations of Social Order, 90. (380)

The creed defines the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity; the humble believer is required to believe it, not to understand it in all its implications. (380)

He then goes on to discuss the dangerous heresy of subordination.

"Subordinationism places one or two persons in the Godhead on a lower level than another. ....Usually, it is the Son or the Spirit or both who are subordinated to the Father. ...In any and all cases, subordination undermines and finally destroys Biblical faith.

We have already noted one form of this, i.e., placing grace, law, and love on different levels and as supposedly contradictory. Very commonly, subordinationism treats God’s law or justice as somehow a lower attribute and
grace as a higher one.

The Trinity in God’s own being is without subordination. The Trinity at work…can see differing persons of the Trinity, depending upon the context of history, taking priority, as in creation, atonement and Pentecost….

Subordination of persons or attributes means a limited religion also. Thus, those who see grace as basic and subordinate the law and other attributes to grace, will stress mainly salvation. The broader requirements of God’s word are bypassed. Politics becomes almost a non-Christian or anti-Christian concern…" 122. R. J. Rushdoony, Systematic Theology, 2 vols. (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1994), 1:174– 176. (381-382)

The effects of subordinationism on the early church were two:

(1) It treated God the Father as the true God, but gave a lesser status to the Son and the Holy Spirit...(2) As a result the revelation of God in the Bible took a lesser place, a “back seat,” to the creation and its order of power, the state. (383)

Dr. Morecarft then addresses another creed: The Nicene Creed. This creed was formulated to state orthodoxy against the Arian heresy. Arianism believed: 1) Christ was created, 2) Christ was not eternally existant, and 3) Christ was not of the same essence as the Father.

It was because of this belief that the framers of the Nicene Creed added in what is called the filioque clause. (Filioque means, in Latin, "and the Son".)

This “double” procession follows from two Biblical truths: (1) The Father and the Son are of the same essence; and (2) The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and
the Spirit of Christ. (385)

"The Arian and generally heretical depreciation and subordination of Jesus Christ was the depreciation of revelation. To the degree that revelation was slighted, to that degree nature was asserted as the primary and basically self-sufficient order."
128. Rushdoony, The Foundations of Social Order, 122–123. (385)

Finally then, we come to the practical application of the doctrine of the Trinity.

In God, all three, individual Persons are perfectly related to each other. The one, living God is fully expressed in each person; and God made life to reflect His glory, the way He is (Ps. 19; Rom. 1:19f). All aspects of life are equally created by God,
dependent upon God, and significant in themselves and in their relation to each other, as determined by God. (387)

In God’s being, there are no individual persons not perfectly related to the one God; and there is nothing in the whole being of God that is not fully expressed in the three, distinct persons. Therefore, since all creation has God’s signature imprinted on it, and since God’s glory is revealed in it, then all aspects of created reality are equally created, and no one aspect of reality may be regarded as more ultimate than any other. ...The material and physical aspects of creation are not to be debased for the sake of the nonphysical, immaterial aspects f creation, anymore than the nonphysical, immaterial aspects of life are to be neglected because of a love for the material and the physical. (387-388)

The implications of the doctrine of the Trinity offer a remedy for socialism (collectivism) and individualism (libertarianism). (388)

A Christian Trinitarian perspective on life and society stands above and over against these views, for it believes neither in the sovereignty of the state nor in the sovereignty of the individual, but in the sovereignty of the Triune God. It exalts neither the group to the exclusion of the individual, nor the individual to the denial of the group. (388)

If there were no Trinity, there could be no incarnation, no objective redemption, and therefore, no salvation; for there would be no one capable of acting as mediator between God and man. ...The doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of salvation stand or fall together. ...God the Father planned salvation in eternity (Eph. 1:3–14). God the Son accomplished salvation in history, Hebrews 9:12. God the Holy Spirit applies salvation throughout history, John 3:6. (390)

To these three Persons we are surrendered in holy baptism, and in their name the covenant of grace is confirmed to us. 134. Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, 1:176. (391)

The doctrine of the Trinity is a “mystery,” in the Biblical sense of the word. ...The doctrine of the Trinity, therefore, is an object of faith... (391)

And there are my notes, puncuated by mulitple unseen trips into the other room and a veriety of hand-washing details...perhaps I shall begin Chapter 5 later today.

        Racheal