CHURCH 13 – THE TRIUNE GOD
Introduction
- There are certain things about the Christian Faith that are hard to understand oneself (and hard to explain to others), yet they are foundational. The chief one of these things is the Trinity, the fact that God is a triune God.
- In Christian circles one has grown up with ‘talk about the Trinity’, so it doesn’t feel that foreign, but that doesn’t mean that Christians understand it very well.
- And it is our great point of conflict with Islam. In Islam the ultimate sin anyone can commit (shirk) is precisely for a man to declare himself God. Yet Jesus in so many words and actions did exactly that. How he ends up being a prophet in Islam even so, I do not understand.
- Often we find ourselves apologetic to Islam, secretly wishing God wasn’t triune, then things would make more sense. But wait.
- We will not be able to find nicely packaged, airtight definitions of the Trinity that are easily understood and explained. But:
- Everything about God is foundational for everything about man. The fact that we have a triune God is important, whether or not we understand it well. How is it important and significant for my daily life that God is triune?
- First to clarify what is meant by Trinity: God, the Father and God, the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit are one.
- Islam thinks we believe the Trinity to be God the Father, Mary and Jesus. That is not so, and all Christians would agree that this would indeed be ludicrous.
- The Trinity is already partially revealed in the Old Testament Scripture, and fully revealed in the New Testament Scripture. The Trinity is by no means a NT invention!
Traces in the Old Testament
- Gen 1:1 … In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The Hebrew word ‘Elohim’ for God is actually a plural!
- Gen 1:1 … In the beginning God created the heaves and the earth … Gen 1:2 the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters … Gen 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light” … In these first three verses we are given a glimpse of the Trinity: God (the Father), the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit), and the Word of God (a title for Jesus, see Jhn 1:1, 1:14).
- Gen 1:26 … Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image” … two unexpected plurals: ‘us’ and ‘our’!
- Gen 11:7 … Come, let us go down, and confuse their language … another plural.
- In Gen 18 Abraham sees three men visiting him, but the comment in Gen 18:1 is that “the LORD appeared to Abraham”.
- Deu 6:4 is the famous ‘shema’, the creed of the Jewish faith: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” … Actually the second part of the verse contains a plural, literally is says “they are one”. Here, at the heart of Monotheism we find a curious plural!
- Jesus uses Ps 110:1 to stun his all-too-sure Pharisee audience … “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? David. David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared: “The LORD says to my lord, ‘sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’” David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son? (Mth 22:44, Mrk 12:36, Luk 20:42)
- In Isa 6:8 God asks: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” .. another both singular and plural, three in one.
- Also: Isaiah sees angels in his vision who call out in the presence of God: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts” (Isa 6:3). The triple praise makes sense and could be tripled simply for emphasis, but could also be a picture for the Trinity.
- In the Messianic promise of Isa 9:6 is found a very curious combination of descriptions: “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named … Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” The son given is called ‘everlasting Father!
- Prv 30:4 Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is the person’s name? And what is the name of the person’s child? Surely you know!
- Isa 42:1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. God, his servant, endowed with his spirit, the three revealed.
- Jhn 1:1-14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being … 14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. John’s poetic retelling of creation identifies Jesus as the Word of God, through whom everything was created, who also is the incarnate God with us. More details from the NT will follow.
Without our permission
- The Trinity is a reality described in the Old and the New Testament whether we like it or not, and whether we can explain it or not. God did not ask for our permission to be triune. He is triune. And he has told us about this reality. And now we need to try to get our limited brains around it!
- Trinity is definitely a difficult concept. But it is also a completely un-human concept. Humans will come up with a concept of ‘gods’. Good humans may come up with a concept of a one God. But humans do not come up with the concept of a Trinity. The concept of a Trinity has not originated with man, we wouldn’t be wise enough to wish for it either. Humans have not birthed this ‘egg’. It is a divine ‘egg’.
- Although the Trinity is hard to explain, Christian believers experience the reality of the Trinity on a daily basis. We pray to God the Father, we worship Jesus, we pray to and by the Holy Spirit, and nothing in our being finds a problem with it. We just know that the Father is not offended that we pray to Jesus. The Holy Spirit reveals the Father to us, we relate to all Three, and find no check in our spirits to do so.
History of the definition of the Trinity
- Early church fathers affirmed Jesus’ deity and speak of “Father, Son & Holy Spirit”
- Ignatius of Antioch provides early support for the Trinity around 110 AD, exhorting obedience to “Christ, and to the Father, and to the Spirit”
- Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) also writes, “in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit”.
- Theophilus of Antioch (around 150-200 AD) defined the Trinity as God, His Word (Logos) and His Wisdom (Sophia).
- Tertullian, the Latin theologian who wrote shortly after 200 AD, is credited as being the first to use the Latin words “Trinity”, “person” and “substance” to explain that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are “three persons but one in essence—not one in Person”. He defended the Trinitarian theology against the “Praxean” heresy.
- Rome in 220 AD condemned the false teaching of Sabellianism (the belief that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are essentially one and the same, the difference being only verbal, describing different aspects or roles of a single being).
- The Synods of Antioch in 269 AD condemned the false teaching of Adoptionism (the belief that Jesus was an ordinary man, who only became the Christ and Son of God at his baptism).
- Church council of Nicaea in 325 AD condemned the false teaching of Arianism (the belief that Jesus was just the first “being” that God created and that was granted the dignity of becoming ‘Son of God’). The council declared Jesus to be fully God.
- Nicean Creed … “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father”
- Athanasius of Alexandria (296-373 AD) developed the doctrine of the divinity and the personality of the Holy Spirit. He defended and redefined the Nicene formula.
- Church council of Constantinople in 381 AD condemned the false teaching of Apollinarianism (the belief that Jesus never had a human spirit). The council declared Jesus to be fully human, while reaffirming him to be also fully God. Also the doctrine of the Trinity was declared, especially that the Holy Spirit is also God.
- Church council of Ephesus in 431 AD condemned the false teaching of Nestorianism (the belief that Jesus was just a form with God inside, but not fully human. The council declared that Jesus was a unified person, having no division within himself of human and divine.
- Church council of Chalcedon in 451 AD condemned the false teaching of Eutychianism (the belief that Jesus stopped being human when the Holy Spirit came upon him at baptism, making him divine). The council declared that Christ is a unified person, having one nature and being fully human and fully divine.
- Church council of Constantinople in 553 AD condemned the false teaching of Monothelitism (the belief that Jesus had no human will, only a divine will). The council declared that Jesus is a unified person, both human and divine, neither replacing the other.
Scriptures describing the relationship within the Trinity
Father to the Son
Mrk 1:11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Mrk 9:7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice “This is my beloved Son, listen to him!”
Jhn 12:27-28 Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say – ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.”
Jhn 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Jhn 5:19-20 Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for what ever the Father does, the Son does likewise. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.
Jhn 3:35 The Father loved the Son and has placed all things in his hand.
Jhn 16:15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Eph 1:3-7 Blessed be the God and Father … who blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world … 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ … 7 In him we have redemption through his blood …
Son to the Father
Jhn 11:41-42 Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe…”
Luk 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, yet, not my will but yours be done.”
Jhn 5:22-23 The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to his Son, 23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
Jhn 5:30 I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Jhn 5:36 But I have a testimony greater than John’s . The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf.
Jhn 6:45-46 Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God, he has seen the Father.
Jhn 7:16-17 My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. 17 Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God.
Jhn 8:29 And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.
Jhn 8:55 though you do not know him. But I know him … I do know him and I keep his word.
Jhn 17:4-5 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 So now, Father glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
Father to the Holy Spirit
Jhn 3:34 He whom God sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.
Son to the Holy Spirit
Jhn 14:17-18 This is the Spirit of truth … You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphaned
Jhn 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit … will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.
Jhn 16:12-15 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears … 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Jhn 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
Father Son Holy Spirit
Jhn 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.
Mth 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Eph 2:17-18 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Relationships within the Trinity
- The three persons of the Trinity mutually respect each other, recommend each other, glorify each other, represent each other, explain each other, obey each other, submit to each other, trust each other, depend on each other.
- There is complete unity of will, mind, emotion between them. They work complementing each other. They work in complete unity for the identical goal.
- All three are God, all three are one, and also represent each other.
- They exercise different functions and take different roles, yet all can take the same function and have the same goal. Example: The Father comforts, Jesus comforts, but the Holy Spirit is called the Comforter.
- They are not identical, they are not the same, but they are one. Christianity fully remains Monotheistic. Jesus affirms this consistently: for example by quoting Deu 6:4 in Mrk 12:29 ‘the Lord our God, the Lord is one’ or by affirming the 10 commandments in Mth 19:18-19 with the first commandment being (Deu 5:6-7) ‘I am the LORD your God, … you shall have no other god before me’. Paul affirms this ‘For there is one God’ (1 Tim 2:5).
- Are all three persons of the Trinity eternal? Is there a time difference between them? This question can arise from a quote like Col 1:15 ‘He (Jesus) … is the firstborn of all creation’. ‘Born’ sounds in our ears like having a beginning (thus not being from eternity past), like a being derived from something else.
- The immediate context helps how to understand the passage (Col 1:15-19): ‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created … all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell’
- Jesus has no beginning, he is the beginning; he is the Creator of all things, the Reason for all things, the Causing agent for the beginning of all created things. He is sharply distinguished from creation. “Firstborn” here does not have the connotation of ‘time’ or ‘being caused’ but of ‘preeminence’. God – and Jesus as God – is preeminent, eternal, un-caused. Yet – because he once became part of creation (became human) – he could be confused with a created thing. This text makes it clear he is not, he is in a totally different category from all things created, he is first, before all things, above all things, beyond all things.
- Another text that could confuse is Heb 1:5, quoting Psa 2:7, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you’, a famous Messianic passage. This cannot refer to a ‘creation’ of Jesus before the world began, but refers to the moment God lets Mary fall pregnant by the Holy Spirit: ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you … therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.’ (Luk 1:35).
- Basically: to say Jesus is God but ’caused’ is a contradiction in terms. To be God precisely means to be uncreated, un-caused, before all things, eternal.
- Another question is about a hierarchy in the Trinity. This is typically thought of as God the Father being supreme, and God the Son being submitted to him, and then God the Spirit being submitted to Jesus.
- If we read the Bible with our normal, human, sinful, competitive, power-hungry eyes, we often read a hierarchy into the Trinity. But does this really have a basis?
- The picture arising from the New Testament is one of mutual submission, not hierarchy, each person in the God-head honoring and supporting each other, even submitting to each other.
- The Spirit does come to earth as Jesus said. The Father does send him as Jesus requested and promised. The Father does raise Lazarus upon Jesus’ request. Jesus does leave in order to make room for the Spirit. Jesus does submit to the Father in Gethsemane, knowing that there is no other way to save us than to die.
- To say it with humor: The decision to send Jesus to earth was not made by the Father and the Spirit making an political alliance and over-voting Jesus 2:1!
- This picture is also what Gen 1:26 presents us with, which is like a window of insight into the decision making process of the Trinity: “Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image”. This is not a top down command, it is communication, suggestion, openness, discussion and consensus decision.
Applications from the Trinity
- One way to understand the concept of God being a Trinity better is by seeing just how foundational it is for our lives and the reality around us as we know it.
- Here are some examples:
1. Trinity: the foundational reality of creation is relationship
- When asking “Who is God?” The Westminster declaration, a foundational document for the protestant church, answers as every Muslim would answer: The first thing to say is: God is Almighty.
- God is Almighty indeed. No doubt about it. But is that the most foundational thing to say about God?
- Seen from the reality of God being a Trinity we have to first say another thing: God is relationship. God within himself always was relational, the three persons of the God-head have been in relationship since eternity past, and will be till eternity future.
- God was not ‘alone’, relation-less before creation. God did not ‘need’ to create humans to be able to have relationship with somebody (though he desires that). Relationship was not invented at creation. Relationship has been the fundamental reality since eternity.
- On a side note: God does nothing to ‘get something’. He is fullness. He is everything. He needs nothing. But out of his fullness and bounty he creates things other than himself, among that humans. The Trinity opens its circle of relationship to include us humans … not from need, but from utter generosity to us.
- What quality of relationship is then a reality from all eternity past? A supremely high quality of relationship: respect, love, commitment, unity of purpose, representation.
- Humans, having been created by God is his image, are made for relationship, indeed cannot live without relationships. This should not surprise us. An experiment has been made with babies: If they are fed and cleaned well but not cuddled, loved or spoken to, they die, without exception.
- Humans can only exist, live, thrive, develop, learn if they are in relationship. With God, and with each other.
- God wants us in relationship, with Himself, with each other. We cannot do his will unless we are doing well in relationships. We cannot even understand his will, unless we are in relationship: ‘the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.’ (Prv 9:10)
2 Trinity: the model for relationships in church
- If humans are made in God’s image and if God’s people are meant to be like him “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (Eph 5:1-2), then there needs to be the same quality of relationship between us believers as there is within the Trinity.
- Said differently: the quality of relationship within the Trinity is to be the standard of relationships among the believers. Not hierarchy “whosoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all” (Mrk 10:44), not selfishness but mutual respect, love, submission, representation, unity and oneness of heart and mind are what God requires in his church … “so that they may be one, as we are one … so that the world may know that you have sent me” (Jhn 17:22-23).
- This, and nothing less, is the high calling of the church. The Trinity has lived this quality or relationship since eternity past. He doesn’t require of us what he is not willing to do himself. The triune God wants us to participate in the depth and riches of what he has.
3. Trinity: the reason for gender in humankind
- Another basic question that is often asked: Why did God create two genders? ‘So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’ (Gen 1:27).
- The typical answer given is: two genders are needed for procreation, and procreation is clearly commanded by God (Gen 1:28).
- This answer is not wrong, but is it the main answer? In nature we see many species that procreate and multiply but not by means of two genders, rather in different ways. So God created many ways of multiplication without gender. Gender is not in principle necessary for procreation.
- Why then did God create two genders? The deeper answer is by understanding the link of being in the image of God and gender, as it is shown in Gen 1:27.
- Why is one gender not enough? What can one human alone not reveal about God? In whose image is man?
- Answer: man is in the image of a Trinity. God is three. Man must at least be two, to reveal something of the reality and nature of the Trinity, which is foundationally about relationships.
- One man alone cannot reveal God like two people in relationship can. The attributes of God – his love, his justice, his mercy – all are attributes that only can be shown in relationship with somebody. One man alone on an island cannot show what respect, mercy, love or justice is. These things are only shown in the way he treats another person.
- The foundational reason for us humans being two genders is that we are in the image of a Trinity.
4. Trinity: the model for the marriage relationship
- If human genders are in the image or the Trinity, then very clearly human marriage is also in the image of the Trinity. It could be said that the clearest revelation of the Trinity on earth is the husband-wife relationship.
- This should bring the fear of God on us: How am I treating my spouse? Who am I to represent in the way I treat my spouse? The very Trinity! God himself.
- Therefore again: the quality and nature of relationship that is in lived out within the triune God is the model and standard for the marriage relationship.
- Again: Not hierarchy “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:21), not selfishness but mutual respect, love, submission, representation, unity and oneness of heart and mind are what God requires in marriage. We are quick to require this of the other. God equally requires it of each.
5. Trinity: the foundation for unity and diversity
- The fact that God himself is a Trinity affirms two important things: Unity and Diversity. For the three persons in the God-head are diverse, they are not the same and not replaceable … yet they are one, so much so that they are rightly called One God. Christianity is Monotheistic after all.
- Is diversity a good thing? Does God love diversity? A look at nature should overwhelmingly convince us that God loves, celebrates and wants diversity: 30’000 types of trees, not two snowflakes or fingerprints alike … rich diversity within the species, unbelievable diversity of species. Nature is an overwhelming cataract of colors, forms, shapes, tastes, smells, spices and textures. Looking at the celebration of diversity in nature should convince us, – if nothing else – of the reality of the Trinity.
- Often in religions diversity is considered a threat: We want everybody to believe the same, say the same, do the same, wear the same, then we are sure we are okay, orthodoxy prevails. … Yet even though there are basic truths we must insist on, there is no such thing as a ‘universal believer’. God’s followers – just a look at Jesus’ disciples will do – are as distinct, diverse and divergent as anything.
- God loves diversity, he makes every human unique, with different giftings, abilities, personality, interests etc. God is not ‘evening out things’, neither is he committed to ‘equal distribution’. Humans are equal before God, but by no means ‘in-distinguishable’, rather each one is accountable for what he is given.
- Yet at the same time God is never the God of unaccountable individualism (‘each man unto himself’) cut loose from relationships. God made us to want and need relationship and unity.
- Do not demand unity by curtailing diversity. Do not champion diversity to the point of losing relationship.
6. Trinity: the model for government
- Already we made the point that Gen 1:26 presents us with, which is like a window of insight into the decision making process of the Trinity: Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image”.
- What are the implications of this for government? How does God rule? How does God decide?
- Again: This is not a top down command, it is communication, suggestion, openness, discussion and consensus decision.
- It suggests the government process: not domineering, not coercion, not control, but rather a participatory process, a common consensus decision, an ownership of all.
- This is one aspect. There is another: in a sense we can say that the Trinity teaches us the division of power. Power should not we wielded by only one. Power always needs to be shared and held accountable.
- Lord Acton’s famous words “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely” do not apply to God. God is full of integrity, one hundred percent principled, yet Almighty. But for fallen humans power is definitely corrupting. And if even in the holy and incorruptible Trinity power is held together, how much more does there need to be a division of power in human government.
- Another aspect is that in the Trinity, none ‘clings to power’, rather there is a clear giving and releasing to the other, mutual reverence and honoring.
- For example: “For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man” (Jhn 5:26-27). … “I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge … what I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father had told me.” (Jhn 12:47-50)
7. Trinity: the model for the principle of division of labor
- In the triune God we find a division of labor. The three persons of the Godhead fulfill different functions or roles at different times, though always in unity of purpose.
- But in the Trinity we do not find a hierarchy of labor, or a segregation of labor, or varied value to different labor. When considering the Trinity it is non-sensical to say: the Father’s work is more important than Jesus’ work. Or to say: the Holy Spirit wasn’t willing to go to the cross, so Jesus had to.
- This lays the foundation of division of labor among humans: There are different jobs, different functions, different roles, different ministries, different abilities and gifts.
- But: all work is needed, worthy, worth doing and important. No work is inherently higher or lower, more or less worthy than other work. All humans need to be willing to do all types of work, but some will do better at certain types of work.
- One more point: The Trinity is working in this world and for this world, do we therefore call the Trinity ‘worldly’? Of course not. Neither are we if we work according to God’s will in this world and for this world. There is no such thing as worldly work.
Summary
- Though we cannot easily understand or explain the Trinity, God has told us that he indeed is triune.
- The reflection of God as Trinity is visible in the reality around us: a furiously diverse nature, relationship-orientatedness of humans and in many more aspects.
- The concept of the Trinity is foundational to understanding who we are as humans, what God wanted with gender, what marriage and church and governemnt is meant to show.
- The quality of relationship within the Trinity – mutual respect, love, submission, representation, unity and oneness of purpose – is the model for all human relationships, especially marriage and the church.
- The affirmation and celebration of diversity – and with it freedom! – as well as the commitment to unity is all rooted and grounded in the Trinity.
- Let’s engage with the fact that God is triune, let’s understand the importance thereof better. Let us not apologize but celebrate who God is!
Some further thoughts (based on Christian A. Schwarz)
- Within the worldwide community of believers, sometimes more importance has been laid on one person of the Trinity.
- Following is a table trying to recognize these tendencies and show the resulting emphases. This is not a criticism but an attempt to show just how much we need all three persons of the Trinity:
| God the Father, Creator | God the Son, Jesus | God the Holy Spirit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place most importance on this person of the Trinity | Liberals, Catholics | Evangelicals | Charismatics |
| Source of knowledge is trusted most | Science History | Revelation, Witness, Word of God | Personal experience |
| Type of God’s work that is stressed most | Creation | Salvation | Sanctification |
| What is derived from this person of the Trinity | Principles | Motivation | Empowerment |
| Where is God thought to be found? | God above us | God among us | God in us |
| If not placing importance on the other two persons of the Trinity, where does this tend to drift towards? | Danger of syncretism | Danger of dogmatism | Danger of dpiritualism |