Deus Pro Nobis: Three in One

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Three in One

I’ve been following with some interest the conversation between T. D. Jakes, Mark Driscoll, and James MacDonald, over the doctrine of the Trinity. I confess I have some concerns. Having perused the material, T. D. Jakes still sounds like a modalist to me.

What is modalism? In brief, it’s a heretical movement that arose in the third and fourth centuries. Adherents maintained that God is an absolute monad without distinctions within the unity. That is to say, they affirmed that there isn’t any numerical distinction within the Godhead. God is one indivisible essence with three fundamental activities. As such, He has appeared in history under three successive aspects: (1) as the Father (the Creator); (2) as the Son (the Redeemer); and (3) as the Holy Spirit (the Divine Presence). And so, according to modalism, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit aren’t three distinct persons, who are one essence. Rather, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three manifestations of one person. God’s name – “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” – simply represents three distinctions in our experience of the one God.

Obviously, modalism is a long way from orthodox Christianity. As Trinitarians, we affirm that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three persons. We also affirm that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one essence. God is triune – He’s three (tri) persons in one (une) essence. “We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance… Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God; and yet there are not three Gods, but there is one God.” Amen.

Why should this interest us? Why should the conversation between Jakes, Driscoll, and MacDonald concern us? Let me frame the question another way: Why should we cherish the doctrine of the Trinity?

(1) It’s foundational

When we speak of God triune, we aren’t being academically picky or theologically fussy. Despite what countless people will tell us, this doctrine isn’t irrelevant or unimportant. Here’s why: if we aren’t worshipping God as He reveals Himself to be… if we aren’t worshipping God according to His name… if we aren’t worshipping God triune… then we’re worshipping an idol. There’s no other possibility. There’s no wiggle room here. Modalism isn’t a Christian belief system. There’s no such thing as a Christian modalist.

(2) It’s exceptional

The doctrine of the Trinity distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. In other words, it sets Christianity apart from all other belief systems. As Christians, we don’t have anything in common with any other religion. Why? There’s only one God, and He’s God triune. That’s why the church has traditionally stressed the Apostles’ Creed. When we recite the Creed, we affirm our belief in God, who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That’s the starting-point for the Christian faith.

(3) It’s personal

The religions of the world go in one of two directions. Some stress God as infinite and transcendent; e.g., Islam. Some stress God as personal and immanent; e.g., Hinduism. Christianity alone teaches that God is both. God dwells in unapproachable light, yet God is in relationship with Himself. And God draws His people into that relationship. “That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn. 1:3).

(4) It’s essential

Our salvation rests upon the doctrine of the Trinity. We’re “elect… according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood” (1 Pet. 1:1–2). We praise the Father for choosing us, the Son for redeeming us, and the Holy Spirit for sanctifying us. We praise God triune for the eternal covenant of redemption whereby the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit accomplish our salvation. “All non-Trinitarian formulations of the gospel message are by biblical standards inadequate and indeed fundamentally false, and will naturally tend to pull Christian lives out of shape” (J. I. Packer).

(5) It’s missional

The Father sends the Son into the world to redeem His people. The Son sends the Holy Spirit into the world to regenerate His people. God sends us into the world to proclaim the gospel. As Christians, therefore, our mission is Trinitarian. It’s an extension of the Holy Spirit, who was sent by the Son, who was sent by the Father. That gives perspective to all we do. We see our calling as an extension of the activity of God triune. We see the purpose of our calling as the glory of God triune.

(6) It’s delightful

God’s tri-unity is fundamental to a proper understanding of His love. Why? It means love is essential to His eternal self. In a word, God is the object of His love. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwell in an eternity of mutual delight. That means He’s satisfied in Himself. He doesn’t need to love us, nor does He need us to love Him. He doesn’t gain anything from loving us. That shouldn’t trouble us or offend us. It should comfort us, because that’s the kind of love we need. In a word, we need someone to love us, who doesn’t need us. That’s pure love. And God has that love in Himself. Here’s the wonderful thing: He lavishes it upon His people.

(7) It’s fundamental

By this, I mean the doctrine of the Trinity is fundamental to the cross. As Christ hangs upon the cross, He cries with a loud voice: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). We must be clear here. (1) Christ doesn’t cry with a loud voice, because of what men do to Him. They reject Him, assault Him, ridicule Him, betray Him, and desert Him. But those things never cause Him to cry with a loud voice. (2) Christ doesn’t cry with a loud voice, because of His physical suffering. In terms of His physical pain, we must admit that others have suffered as much and perhaps more than Him. (3) Christ cries with a loud voice, because of His sense of His Father’s displeasure. As He hangs on the cross, there are two eclipses. The first is external: it hides the light of the sun. The second is internal: it hides the light of the Father’s countenance. Christ is in complete darkness (external and internal). Why? His Father has forsaken Him. The Father withdraws the light of His countenance from His Son. The Father strikes the Son. The Father does not spare His Son (Rom. 8:32). Christ submits to desertion – that which we deserve for deserting God.

Quotable: “When we have said these three things – that there is but one God, that the Father and the Son and the Spirit is each God, that the Father and the Son and the Spirit is each a distinct person – we have enunciated the doctrine of the Trinity in its completeness” (B. B. Warfield).

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Just for Preachers

"The pulpit ministry is largely a hidden work of the heart" (Al Mohler).

"A video-drowned and educationally-challenged culture, and a church bent on accommodating herself to the dominant communication theories of the day, challenge the minister committed to the 'foolishness of preaching'" (J. Ligon Duncan III).

"We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy" (R. C. Sproul).

"Remember you are only accountable for your labor, and not for your success. So still toil on!" (C. H. Spurgeon).

"All churches either rise or fall as the ministry doth rise or fall in knowledge, zeal, and ability for their work" (Richard Baxter).

"Do not seek to preach what you do not feel; seek to feel deeply your own sins, and then you will preach earnestly... Preach as fellow sinners" (Charles Simeon).

"We must study as hard how to live well, as how to preach well" (Richard Baxter).

"The work may be God's, and yet we may do it, not for God, but for ourselves" (Richard Baxter).

"We no longer give ourselves to the ministry of the Word and prayer, because we have become professional counselors, fund-raisers, administrators, committee members, referees, politicians, and media personalities" (Don Carson).

"Piety must first burn in the individuality of our own hearts and lives. If there is no cultivation of personal piety, the fervour and effectiveness of our ministry will be stulified" (John Murray).

"Do not tie your joy, your sense of well-being, to power in ministry. Your ministry can be taken from you. Tie your joy to the fact that you are known and loved by God" (D. A. Carson).

"Christian leaders will frequently discover that their ministry is simply not acceptable to some of those they seek to serve, and this opposition can be extraordinarily destructive" (D. A. Carson).

"When the people see that you unfeignedly love them, they will hear anything and bear anything from you" (Richard Baxter).

“The most laborious and carefully prepared sermon is likely to fall unctionless on the hearers unless it has been born out of travail of soul before God” (A. W. Pink).

“There are three things which go to the making of a successful preacher: supplication, meditation, and tribulation” (Martin Luther).

"There are preachers who so loudly declare their love of preaching that it is unclear whether it is their own performance and their love of power that has captured them or their desire to minister to the men and women who listen to them" (Don Carson).

"Mature Christian preachers will not construct sermons whose primary purpose is to gain renown for their erudition, humor, oratorical skill, or exegetical finesse. They will construct sermons that are designed to help people - to nurture them, instruct them, admonish them, rebuke them, encourage them, challenge them" (Don Carson).

“The high calling of the ministry and the battle with worldliness can leave us feeling greatly defeated and discouraged… Our work is too important to let the world distract us from it, or allow worldliness to under cut it” (Joel Beeke).

“Ministers who lack sober-mindedness and convey no attitude of seriousness about life, the judgment to come, and eternity, create around themselves an atmosphere that quenches the fear of God” (Joel Beeke).

“Indolence, self-indulgence, fickleness, flesh-pleasing, have eaten like a canker into our ministry, arresting the blessing and marring our success” (Horatius Bonar).

“We are to diligently pray for them in private, preach to them from our pulpits, and counsel them in our homes” (Joel Beeke).

"Satan knows what a rout he can make of the troops if he can make the leader fall before their eyes. If Satan can ensnare your feet, your hands, your tongue, and make you fall, your troops will scatter" (Richard Baxter).

"Preaching is the mirror of a pastor’s relationship with God. Woe to the minister whose congregation is lulled to sleep by stale and wooden messages from a pastor who is not growing in acquaintance with his Master" (Joel Beeke).

"Love is wanting (lacking), deep love, love strong as death, love such as made Jeremiah weep in secret places for the pride of Israel. In preaching and visiting, in counseling and reproving, what formality, what coldness, how little tenderness and affection!" (Horatius Bonar).

"The heartbeat of a godly life for any believer, but especially a pastor, is personal acquaintance with God… a minister who spends his days communing with God and with Christ will preach sermons that are scented by that communion" (Joel Beeke).

"The great majority of professing Christians in this evil day wish to hear only ‘smooth things,’ and resent that which searches the conscience, rebukes worldliness, and condemns carnality" (A. W. Pink).

"There are two things which I have always judged chiefly requisite in a pastor, as he standeth related to his people - viz. labor and love... both together are the whole of a minister" (George Swinnock).

"The ministry is not an easy and indulgent exercise, but a hard and severe warfare, where Satan is exerting all his power against us, and moving every stone for our disturbance" (John Calvin).

"You cannot break men's hearts by jesting with them. And Satan will not be charmed out of his possession. We must lay siege to the souls of sinners, and lay the battery of God's ordinance against them" (Richard Baxter).

"It is a favorite device of Satan's to drive us from one extreme to another. One element of truth must not be pressed to such an extreme that another be denied, but each given its due and distinctive place" (A. W. Pink).

"God's order to his servants remains unchanged: 'Thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear' (Ezek. 2:7). May the Lord enable us to do so unto the end!" (A. W. Pink).

"Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must in the church of the living God. Without it, no church can be a NT church in any strict meaning of that term. But exposition may be carried on in such a way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment whatever, for it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself" (A. W. Tozer).

"Where light is given and it be not walked in, where great privileges are granted and there be no corresponding fruit, the Holy Spirit is grieved and quenched, and further blessings are withheld" (A. W. Pink).

"Surely we may then safely triumph over our enemies when we are assured of having the call of God to the office which we hold, or the work in which we are engaged" (John Calvin).

"We are busy these days proving to the world that they can have all the benefits of the Gospel without any inconvenience to their customary way of life" (A. W. Pink).

"It is always more pleasant to soothe and to comfort than to cause pain and to arouse unpleasant reactions" (Martyn Lloyd-Jones).

"Continue with double earnestness to serve your Lord when no visible result is before you" (C. H. Spurgeon).

"Failing to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17), is the primary reason why there are so little unction and conviction in most preaching today" (Joel Beeke).

"All our libraries and studies are mere emptiness compared with our closets. We grow, we are mighty, we prevail in private prayer" (C. H. Spurgeon).

"The denial and disappearance of this truth [Calvinism] has been accompanied by a decay in godliness, and a decline in powerful preaching" (Iain Murray).

"To preach the Word and not follow it with constant and fervent prayer for its success is to disbelieve its use, to neglect its end, and to cast away the seed of the gospel at random" (John Owen).

"Perhaps thy heart feeds on the applause of men, this will make thee afraid to be evil spoken of, as those who shuffled with Christ" (William Gurnall).

"The most holy minister on earth, while he is feeding others with the one hand, hath need to put into his own mouth with the other" (Thomas Boston).

"Prayer is one-half of our ministry; and it gives to the other half all its power and success" (Charles Bridges).

"God's Word is His supernatural power for accomplishing His supernatural work... Preaching the content and intent of God's Word is what unleashes the power of God on the people of God" (Mark Dever).

"There's only one thing that's biblically necessary for building the church, and that's the preached Word of God" (Mark Dever).

"The Word of God is the means by which God accomplishes his saving work in his people, and this is a work that no evangelist and no preacher can do. This is why the dearth of serious, sustained biblical preaching in the Church today is a serious matter. When the Church loses the Word of God, it loses the very means by which God does his work" (David Wells).

"I have been unwearedly trying to preach Jesus, but have not yet risen to that state of holy zeal and evangelical knowledge, that I have been longing after" (John Leland).

"No man can fulfill his ministry without frequently alluding to the justice of God in the punishment of sin. He must seek to alarm the fears of the unconverted by a representation of the consequences that will follow a state of final impenitence" (John A. James).

"Unless the message comes fresh from God, issues warmly and earnestly from the preacher's heart, and is delivered in the power of the Holy Spirit, it will neither reach the heart of the hearer nor minister that which will cause him to grow in grace" (A. W. Pink).

"Surely there is far more danger of making too much of man and too little of God, than there is of making too much of God and too little of man" (A. W. Pink).

"If it be so 'tis the work of the Holy Ghost thus to convince men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, then we learn where ministers should have their dependence in their endeavors, even upon the Holy Ghost" (Jonathan Edwards).

"For drowsy formality and customariness do but stupify the hearers, and rock them to sleep. It must be serious preaching which must make men serious in hearing and obeying it" (Richard Baxter).

"Many become ministers merely to acquire popular applause. Fame is their motive and their aim... The service ended, this bosom idol returns with them to their own abode, and renders them restless and uneasy to know how they have succeeded. If they are admired, they receive their reward; if not, the first prize is lost" (J. A. James).

"You will always find that the men whom God has used signally have been those who have studied most, known their Scriptures best, and given time to preparation" (Martyn Lloyd-Jones).

"Many a minister is so loth to get the ill will of his people, that he lets them alone in their sins, or only tells them of it in public, or at the most but in an easy, ineffectual way, and so falls in danger of perishing with them for company" (Richard Baxter).

"Preaching Christ with winsomeness and grace was the greatest burden and most essential task of the Puritan evangelists... They extolled Christ to the highest, and abased man to the lowest. They were not worried about injuring the self-esteem of listeners" (Joel Beeke).

"An anti-intellectualist gospel will spawn an irrelevant gospel that does not get beyond 'felt needs'" (Joel Beeke).

"When God raised up preachers, animated with a burning zeal, who laboured faithfully to convince their hearers of their ruined condition, and of the necessity of a thorough conversion from sin, the opposition to them was violent" (Archibald Alexander).

"Let your life speak even louder than your sermons. Let your life be the life of your ministry" (Robert M. McCheyne).

"Distinguish between a minister and a mere preacher. His end [is] to save himself and his hearers" (John Newton).

"These foolish builders [preachers] do but strengthen men's carnal security by their soft, selfish, cowardly discourses. They have not the courage, or honesty, to thrust the nail of terror into sleeping souls" (Jonathan Edwards).

"Overlong sermons break in upon family concerns and often call off the thoughts from the sermon to the pudding at home that is in danger of being overboiled... Perhaps it is better to feed our people like chickens, a little and often, than to cram them like turkeys till they cannot hold one gobbet more" (John Newton).

"Unless he has spent the week with God and received Divine communications, it would be better not to enter the pulpit or open his mouth on Sunday at all" (Jonathan Edwards).

"True expository preaching is doctrinal preaching, it is preaching which addresses specific truths from God to man" (Iain Murray).

"The most successful method of preaching is that which aims at thorough and radical convictions of sin. The law must be applied with power to the conscience, or the preciousness of grace will be very inadequately known" (Jonathan Edwards).

"Many good sermons are lost for lack of much prayer in study" (Robert Traill).

"We are not sent into the pulpit to show our wit and eloquence but to set the consciences of men on fire" (Solomon Stoddard).

"Scripture makes a sharp distinction between speaking 'words of man's wisdom,' and preaching 'in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.' The latter is essential in order that 'faith should not stand in wisdom of men, but in the power of God' (1 Cor. 2:4-5)" (Iain Murray).

"It is quite possible for you and me to make this [preaching] a worldly business, that it may become so formal as to create in us no more concern that any common business of life" (William Bramwell).

"Preach the law in the strongest, the closest, the most searching manner possible" (John Wesley).

"Our work is of such importance that I frequently tremble exceedingly before entering the pulpit; yea, I wonder how I ever dared to engage in such a work. Yet when I am labouring to speak a little, I am frequently so much overpowered with the sense of the Divine presence, that I would not leave my work for all the world" (William Bramwell).

"The old power can be obtained by three things: experimental consistency with our own teaching of truth; freedom from the manners, maxims, and spirit of the world; and passion for souls" (Thomas Collins).

"Be a preacher, not a reciter. Admit no anxiety about mere words. Sound doctrine, godly unction, manly reasoning, and free speech answer all evangelical ends. Whatever else you be, be holy" (Thomas Collins).

"The Christian teacher will succeed more by piety in prayer than by gifts of oratory" (Augustine).

"Say strong things, but let your edge be smooth" (William Bramwell).