Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God. And we are those who are named for him. We are those who are being brought into his family. Our baptism is a naming ceremony. We have a natural name, but now we are being given a new name, the name of the family of God. We need to be careful as we articulate the doctrine of the Trinity. It can be very easy to fall into heresy, as you'll hear today.
So why bother? Well, the doctrine of the Trinity is not a doctrine that is for the realm of academics only. To quote Sinclair Ferguson, it is an intensely practical doctrine. So stay with us today on Renewing Your Mind as Dr. Ferguson explains. This week, you're hearing messages from his brand new series, Theology for All.
If you missed yesterday's message, be sure to go back and listen or watch wherever you get your podcasts or on our official YouTube channel. We have a growing community there from all around the world. Well, here's Sinclair Ferguson on God the Trinity. We have thought a little about the way in which the way we think, biblically, theologically, doctrinally, is going to influence the way we live.
And we're going to come today to what I think is perhaps the most profound doctrine of all in the Bible, the doctrine of the Trinity. I wonder if you've ever noticed when Moses encounters God, he essentially asks two questions. They're actually the two most fundamental questions of all. The first one is, who are you? And the second is, who am I?
And I've already hinted that these two questions belong together, that we can never know who we really are until we know who God really is, because we're made as His image. And later on, we'll have to give more concentrated attention to what does it mean that we're made as the image of God. But Christian theologians have always understood that these two questions belong together.
John Calvin, the great Genevan reformer, at the beginning of his wonderful book, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, says that the sum total of our wisdom can be boiled down to this, the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves. And these two knowledges belong together.
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Chapter 2: What is the significance of the Trinity in our lives?
Who is God and who am I? And what we're going to think about in a little more detail is especially who then is God. But before we do that, I want to fast forward from Moses to Jesus. You remember the way in which Jesus spoke to the apostles just before his ascension, gave them what we call the Great Commission. And often we hear it preached when a missionary is going overseas.
Sometimes we hear it preached at a baptismal service because Jesus spoke about baptism. What we don't always hear preached is that these verses at the end of Matthew chapter 28, 18 to 20, are fundamentally about God the Trinity. Jesus says, baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
And although we don't often think about it this way, those words tell us as Christians both who God is and who we are. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, and we are those who are named for him. We are those who are being brought into his family. Our baptism is a naming ceremony. We have a natural name. but now we are being given a new name, the name of the family of God.
And so, in a sense, from the very beginning of the Christian life, we know the answer to these two questions Moses asked. Who is God? He is God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And who am I? I am a member of his family. I am a child of God. I belong to him, and I live for him.
And yet, of course, when we read through the Bible, we realize this is actually the very first time in all history, from the beginning of time until the ascension of Jesus, this is the very first time, if I can put it this way, when God's name has been pronounced fully. No one has ever said before, When you call God, God, remember that He is Father and Son and Holy Spirit.
And we recognize that when we say this, we're talking about one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith. But we also realize that although it's only in Matthew 28 that we learn what's sometimes been called God's Christian name, There have been all kinds of indications all the way through the Bible that God is, in fact, yes, one God, but He exists mysteriously indeed in three persons.
So, for example, when we go back to the story of creation, how does the world come into existence? It comes into existence because the Father, through the Word, and by the operation of the Spirit, brings the world into existence.
The Father speaks, and through the Word, the world comes into being, and that world is without form and void, but the Ruach of God, the Spirit of God is hovering over the waters and beginning to create form out of that formlessness. and the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are putting content into that empty, original creation. And yes, it's only true eventually as we look back
that we see, oh, we see there the working of God, the Trinity, although the word Trinity is not used there. The words Father and Son are not used there. But we see right from the very beginning, the God who has created all things is the Trinity God, and He has done it as the Trinity God. And then sometimes in surprising ways, we see the same thing. Take, for example, the Exodus.
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Chapter 3: How do the questions 'Who are you?' and 'Who am I?' relate to understanding God?
And then what does it mean when we say that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and proceeds from the Son? Well, perhaps we can think about it this way. We use a kind of analogous language, and the Bible does too. A situation arises, and we might use a slightly different language, but we might say, my heart really went out to him. Well, substitute spirit there. My spirit really went out to him.
And what seems to be captured in the Bible's language is that, as it were, with the Father and the Son, there is this third person who goes out from the Father and the Son. Their hearts go out to him. And in response, his heart goes out to them. The marvelous thing is that these are three different names, aren't it? Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
And yet we can see in those three different names that we're not talking about three different gods, but we are talking about the mysterious unity of this one God who exists in three marvelous ways. Now, the place I think where we get the most helpful teaching on this is actually in the teaching of our Lord Jesus.
I wonder if you remember what Jesus says to the disciples in the upper room in his farewell discourse. He says, the Father is in me and I am in the Father. Well, what's he saying there? He's saying He dwells in such close communion personally with the Father because He and the Father are one. It's a marvelous statement Jesus makes, isn't it? I and my Father are one.
My Father dwells in me, and I dwell in Him. And then he says this amazing thing. He says, I'm going to send you the Holy Spirit, this third person of the Godhead. I'm going to send you the Holy Spirit. And when he comes, listen to this amazing thing Jesus says. When he comes, the Father and I will come and make our home with you. You see what he's saying?
He's saying the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are so bound together in one, so mutually engaged with each other, that when the Holy Spirit comes to indwell Christian believers, then it's true we are indwelt by the Spirit, but that means we're also indwelt by the Son.
And that also means that our lives, as Jesus says, have become like a home for the Father and the Son and the Spirit, if I can put it this way, to be at home with us and for us to be at home with them. And of course we find, as some of the ancient fathers of the church used to say, we tend to think about the one. but when we think about the one, we must never forget the three.
Or we tend to think about the three, but we must never forget about the one. We recognize, of course, our minds aren't capable of taking in, of understanding the way God understands his own Trinitarian being. We can't take that in. And so sometimes our avenue of thought is going to be through one person or another person of the Trinity.
And sometimes we're going to be thinking about the whole of the Trinity, the one God. But what we're being encouraged to do by Jesus and the Scriptures is always to be reflecting on the fact that the one is three and the three are one. And when we begin to grasp that, and I think this is the wonderful practical implication of this, it can have very profound effects on our Christian lives.
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Chapter 4: What does Jesus' Great Commission reveal about the Trinity?
And instead of worshiping God as though He were like a single block, we learn what it means to worship God as the blessed Trinity. And we praise Him for all He has done and is as Father and as Son and as Holy Spirit. And that makes a great difference at the end of the day to the pleasures and joys of the Christian life. And this, at least in brief, is the doctrine of the Trinity.
the doctrine of the Trinity, intensely practical and making a great difference to the pleasures and joys of the Christian life. That was Sinclair Ferguson, the Vice Chairman of Ligonier Ministries, on this Wednesday edition of Renewing Your Mind. This brand-new series is called Theology for All, and it's 36 messages.
And we'll give you quick access to all 36 when you make a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind at renewingyourmind.org or when you call us at 800-435-4343. In addition, you'll have access to the study guide, so consider using this for a forthcoming Bible study or small group study. Plus, we'll send you a Renewing Your Mind journal for all your notes.
All this to thank you for making this daily podcast possible. Thank you for your generosity. Well, we serve a Trinitarian God, as we heard today, and this God is Lord. And that's what Dr. Ferguson will help unpack tomorrow here on Renewing Your Mind. Thank you.