The following “Question” was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and “Answered” by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Anjela Paje of Spokane, WA, from the tape, GC 70-24, titled “Questions and Answers Part 52.” A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. ©2003. All Rights Reserved.
Questioner
I’m a new believer. So, I kind of have a complex question. The Trinity. I
understand the Holy Ghost. I understand God, our Father. And, then, I get to
Christ. And, there are references in the Bible that He’s the Lord. There’s
references that He is the Son of God, that He is Son of Man, and, that He also
takes care of the earth. But, we also are praying to God, Father. So, I’m
confused.
John MacArthur's Answer
Well, you’re not really confused. You’re just right on target. And, you’ve
recognized the mystery of the Trinity. And, the mystery of the Trinity is, that
the Spirit is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. The Spirit is the Spirit of
Christ as well.
You have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in you. You have the Spirit of God
dwelling in you, and, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. God is the
Creator, and yet, all things are made by Christ. And, yet, it was the Holy
Spirit who moved over the face of the waters and brought creation into
existence. You pray to God, and yet, you can pray to the Son of God, and you can
also pray to the Spirit of God, and you have indications of that all throughout
scripture.
You see particular responsibilities that members of the Trinity have, but, as far as the person is concerned, you cannot draw hard lines between them. We do know that God is the Creator, the Old Testament talks about that. He is the Creator. And, thus, He bears the name Father as the Source, as it were. But, we also know that nothing was made without Christ. That’s the way the gospel of John begins. “All things were made by Him and nothing was made that was not made by Him.” And so, we do understand that, while the Father was doing the creation, as identified in the Old Testament, He was not apart from the Son, nor was He apart from the Spirit.
You have, in the Trinity, an indivisible oneness, and yet, specifically, there are duties that members of the Trinity are stated to have been given. The Father, as we understand, is primarily viewed in scripture as The Creator and The Source of Life. The Son is primarily viewed as The Savior and The Redeemer, but God is also the Redeemer: “God our Redeemer”, the Old Testament says. And, so, I understand the confusion, but it’s not really confusion. It is simply an awakening, recognition of the mystery of the Trinity. God and Jesus are the same. God and the Holy Spirit are the same, and yet, they are distinctly three persons. Now, that is paradoxical, apparently, to us, that is contradictory, apparently to us, and that is inscrutable. You have one God, and that one God has always had three persons within the one God.
There are old heresies that say, “God is the Father”, then he changes his mask, and He becomes the Son, then He changes His mask and becomes the Holy Spirit. That’s heresy. God is one, and yet, three distinct persons. And, yet, we cannot distinguish them completely.
For example, God is portrayed in the Bible as Judge many, many times. God sits on a throne as the judge of the earth. And, yet, it tells us in the gospel of John that He has committed all judgment to the Son. At the end of human history, when the Son comes to glory with all of redeemed humanity, He gives us all, as it were, as a love gift to the Father who gave us all as a love gift to the Son.
You’re just awakening to the fact that this is an impossible reality to explain. But it’s no more impossible than infinity or eternity. Can you think of endless, something that’s endless? No. I mean, you can understand the concept, but you can’t fathom it in your mind. You can’t comprehend eternity. It’s a concept that’s beyond our capability as space/time creatures. Nor can we understand the nature of God as eternal and, as one, and yet three distinct persons.
So, what we say about that is, you can’t figure it out. You simply take it as
it comes in scripture. And, clearly, there are three members of the Trinity.
There is the Father, there’s the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Why is the son called
the Son? For one primary reason, and that is because He bears the same nature as
the Father. It is to make sure that we understand. It’s a concession to us as
human beings because the Father didn’t create the Son. There never was a time
when there was only a Father until He had a son, and there was never a mother.
Those are simply terms to identify, and they did so for the Jewish mind, "shared
nature." A son bears the nature of His Father. And, that is simply a way for God
to establish that the nature of Jesus Christ is the same as the nature of God.
When you’re in the Old Testament and there is a text or passages about God, when
you see Him as Father in the Old Testament, you see Him as Father of the nation
Israel because He brought the nation into existence. Or, you see Him as Father
of mankind because He created mankind. But, when you come to the New Testament,
God is identified as the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, not to
indicate that God created Him, or brought Him into existence, like He did Israel
and the human race, but to indicate that He is of the same nature. And, Jesus
defined that very clearly when he said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the
Father. I and the Father are one. I work and the Father works, and there’s no
difference.” So you can read books on the Trinity. There’s some wonderful things
that have been written on the Trinity. There are some big books and some little
books that do their best with the Trinity, and at the end of the day, you know
what happens? All you can do is take the passages about the Father, line ‘em up
and explain ‘em. Take the passages about the Son, line ‘em up and explain ‘em.
Take the passages about the Spirit, line ‘em up and explain ‘em. And, you find a
lot of overlap because when one works, the other works, and it still will never
explain the impossible mystery of how He can be one and three at the same time.
Questioner
So, the last part of this is then, why is it necessary to come through
Jesus into heaven, if they’re one and the same?
John MacArthur's Answer
Because God says so. I’ll explain a little more. Not a lot, but a little more.
God determines everything with regard to creation and redemption. And, God has
determined that He will save sinners through the sacrifice of the second member
of the Trinity who becomes flesh. There is no way to answer the question, why
did God choose to do it that way? Except to say, that’s what He chose to do, and
those are the terms. And, apart from Christ, there is no salvation, “No man
comes to the Father, but by me.”
In the broad sense, taking it one step further, why did God do what He did? You can look at it this way, why did God allow evil in the first place, so that He had to set out to redeem man? Answer: Because God’s nature is gracious. God’s nature is merciful. God’s nature is forgiving. God’s nature is kindness and tenderness. God’s nature is compassion. And, if He’s going to put His nature on display for the Holy Angels to see and glorify Him, then, there has to be an environment in which grace and mercy and forgiveness and compassion function. And, if you don’t have a fall, then you don’t have any kind of environment where God can manifest the glory that is revealed in those attributes. And, so God, ultimately, for the sake of His own eternal glory, created and allowed a fall, both of Angels and of humans. And, thereby, can display His grace and mercy and love and forgiveness.
On the other hand, God is a God of justice and judgment and vengeance and wrath and Holy righteous anger. He is a God of punishment. And, those things would never be on display if there were not sinners, and there was not judgment and there was not eternal punishment.
The big answer to all the questions is: God chooses to do what He does. God allows for what is the way it is in order that in the end He might demonstrate the fullness of who He is.
And, when you asked the question about why is Salvation through His Son, what greater demonstration could God ever make of His love than to give up a member of the Trinity whom He loved with a perfect love? What greater love could ever be demonstrated than that a sinless one would become sin for a sinner? So, you talk about a display of love. That is the ultimate display of love for which we will forever and ever and ever praise and glorify God, without which we wouldn’t be able to do that. We wouldn’t understand that.
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's “MacArthur's Questions and
Answers” by:
Tony Capoccia
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