Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Ordination #2, Art. 2a: Theology Proper, Trinity

I'm starting to get to work on my ordination paper now. I'm doing this thing called "Gateway" with the Free Church District we're in. I probably won't crank it out all at once, but I'll be a little more steady than I've been. The first two articles are due to be dissected by my peers on Friday. I did Article 1 several months ago - check the "Ordination" tab below if you're into reading amateur theology. This is the first post of Article 2. The official statement of faith reads as follows: "In one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit." What follows is my expansion on this truth. In this first one it is just hte Trinity. There will be two more to follow in this Article.

We believe in a triune God, one God, but this God exists in three persons. Scripture is uniformly clear that God is one (Ex. 20.4; Dt. 6.4; Jas. 2.19). This one God exists in three persons. The Father is routinely equated with “God” (1 Cor. 8.4; 1 Tim. 2.5-6; Mt. 6.26, 30), Jesus is likewise considered God (Phil. 2.5-11; Heb. 1.3), as is the Holy Spirit (Acts 5.3-4). The unity of God in Dt. 6.4 (echad) is the same unity used for man and woman’s union in Gen. 2.24, indicating a unity with distinctions. The NT develops this compound unity by linking the three persons together as equal units on several occasions (Mt. 28.19-20 – singular name, three persons; 2 Cor. 13.14; Mt. 3.16-17 – all three persons present simultaneously; Acts 2.33, 38; 1 Cor. 12.4-6; Jn. 16.13-15). The eternality, greatness, and perfection of God demands that, while the Trinitarian members at times subordinate to one another for the purpose of mission, there is no inferiority. The Truine God is co-equal in its members.

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