Some fragmentary thoughts regarding the nature of God. The divine nature of GOD eludes the grasp of our finite language and mental frameworks; GOD exists so far beyond our comprehension, surpasses all human expression and understanding. How can the mind even begin to comprehend the boundless nature and existence of ONE who has no beginning and no end? How can we explain the mystery of GOD becoming man? How can the eternal ONE who fills all things be confined to time and space, yet lose nothing of His infinite essence? God’s truth is boundless and infinite, perceived but dimly, and only as “it is given” in sacred flashes of divine revelation, “to know” – that which alone is worth knowing, Luke 8:10 – “that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” I John 5:20.
That which is known in theology as traditional trinitarianism, (which I’ve not fully embraced in over 30 years,) though almost universally swallowed by nearly all of Protestantism and Romanism alike, as a system formulated under the guise of fidelity to Scripture and adherence to divine revelation, has perhaps done more to obscure “the record that God gave of his Son,” I John 5:10, than to define it within the parameters of that which has been revealed. “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29.
Before I make the few remarks that I hope to, let me preface this with these thoughts. There seems to be a real danger of interpreting scripture through the lens of creeds and confessions, or historical and ‘reformationial’ movements of the past, whereby we unwittingly bind ourselves to the theological conclusions of men (treating the doctrinal insights of fallible men as infallible truth) rather than to the living voice of God in His Word. This can result in a rigid mindset that automatically filters out anything that comes in conflict with our perception of truth, which if delved into in any measurable sense, might just devolve the fact that often it’s not “our” perception at all, but that of another, which may come in a way of a ‘gospel’ teacher, ‘church’ affiliation, historical persuasion, &c., and thus what we hold as ‘sacred’ may in fact be secondhand, borrowed convictions, II Kings 6:5, only explored in a copyist sort of way, as the mind becomes a vault of inherited opinions rather than an empty vessel desiring to be filled. “O send out thy light and thy truth, let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.” Psalm 43:3. We all tend to settle in and rest in the ‘safety’ and conclusions of others that we esteem are “over us” in the Lord, but this ‘bed’ may perhaps be a tad shorter than what we can stretch ourselves on? Isaiah 28:20. The inherited persuasion or doctrinal confidence that we may receive from a gospel teacher, no matter how highly regarded or seemingly sound they may be, may not be sufficient to warrant the idea that this person is correct on every ‘essential’ point of doctrine. Let’s not presume that simply because a messenger of the gospel is shod with gospel shoes, Ephesians 6:15, that he is therefore infallible in the scripture, nor should we suppose that our own grasp of truth is flawless as we ‘construct’ our confession of faith.
With that brief introduction, and another reminder that GOD exists so far beyond the limits of our debilitated comprehension, and the fact that attempting to comprehend the manner of His existence would be like trying to gaze into the light of the sun of ONE, Malachi 4:2, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see, to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” I Timothy 6:16. In fact, I believe it’s a true thing that the more we attempt to gaze upon “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” II Corinthians 4:6, the more we’re instantly overcome by the infiniteness of that glory having only been given such small glimpses of that which sometimes overwhelms our thoughts as our eyes are opened to the scriptures, Luke 24:32, and “the Revelation of Jesus Christ,” Revelation 1:1, “who is the image of the invisible God.” Colossians 1:15. This makes every truth He has chosen to reveal about Himself in the Scriptures exceedingly precious as we are left with no alternative but to recognize that divine revelation sets the boundary for all true knowledge of God, and underscores the necessity of humbly abiding within the framework and bounds of that sacred revelation, lest we darken counsel by “words without knowledge.” Job 38:2.
Historically and according to their confessions, textbook trinitarians, those adhering to the classical formulations of Nicene and post-Nicene orthodoxy, affirm that the one true God exists eternally as three distinct persons. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three are said to share fully and equally in the one undivided divine essence or substance, in a manner that each person is fully God, yet not three gods, but one God. The persons are distinguished not by essence or nature, but by eternal relations of origin. The Father is unbegotten, the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. I think that would be a fair and honest evaluation of their belief system, which I believe was mostly designed to safeguard both the unity of the Godhead and the full deity of each “person,” and additionally functions as a theological line of demarcation, marking the bounds of orthodoxy within the historic traditions of both Protestantism and Catholicism. For some, a failure to conform to this trinitarian formulation is tantamount to heresy of the worst sort. Those who dare to dissent are instantly branded as heretics, excommunicated, and consigned to the outer margins of what they deem as “the true church.”
According to both our present understanding and what we have thus far seen in the scriptures, this confession undermines the Bible’s clear affirmation to both the absolute oneness of God and the full, undiminished deity of Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly and unquestionably teaches the doctrine of the oneness of GOD and the absolute deity of Jesus Christ with decisive clarity and force. “I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” Isaiah 44:6. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Revelation 22:13.
Nicene Trinitarianism by introducing eternal distinctions of “persons” within the Godhead, inevitably compromises the fundamental biblical truth that God is one, not merely in essence, but in undivided identity. “The Lord our God is one Lord.” Deuteronomy 6:4. This is not a unity of three persons, but a singular, indivisible Being. By asserting that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are co-eternal, co-equal persons with distinct centers of consciousness or will, Trinitarianism introduces a form of plurality into the divine nature that the scriptures nowhere supports. This division of persons risks implying a committee of divine beings rather than the one, solitary, and sovereign LORD revealed in Scripture. Moreover, this framework undermines the true deity of Jesus Christ. Instead of affirming that the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ, Colossians 2:9, Trinitarianism often presents the Son as a second person within the Godhead, subordinate in role, and, in practical emphasis, sometimes viewed as derivative or lesser in majesty. This depersonalizes and obscures the glory of the incarnation by suggesting the Father sent another divine person, but Scripture says God came Himself. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh.” I Timothy 3:16.
Christ is not merely a divine person among others; He is the express image of the invisible God, Hebrews 1:3, the Alpha and Omega, Revelation 1:8, and the full embodiment of the Godhead in bodily form, Colossians 2:9, in whom dwells all the fullness of Deity, making Him not a part of God but the very revelation of God Himself. Any doctrine that draws eternal lines between Father and Son as separate persons inherently clouds this glorious truth and risks relegating Christ to a partial or representative deity, rather than fully affirming Him as the one true God. “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” Isaiah 43:11. “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.” Isaiah 45:5. ”And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.” John 20:28.
Creedal Trinitarianism claims to uphold the full deity of Christ, yet it does so at the cost of distinction, placing Him as the “second person” of the Trinity, subordinate in role if not in essence. This introduces confusion, contradiction, and unnecessary complexity into the doctrine of God. Is Christ truly and fully God in Himself, or is He always dependent upon another divine person to define His deity? Christ does not merely represent God, He is God incarnate. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” John 1:1,14. To say that God is Three is simply to affirm what He has revealed of Himself. He is as truly Three as He is One. Attempts to systematize this mystery using unscriptural terms and philosophical distinctions only lead to confusion, pride, and division. God is not to be dissected by human logic, but worshiped in the light of what He has made known. Let us therefore hold fast to the testimony of Scripture, where God is revealed as eternally ONE, and yet distinctly as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These are not three gods, but the one true GOD revealing himself in a threefold manner.
Overall we cannot but believe that in some ways traditional trinitarianism divides the Godhead, weakens the fullness of Christ’s deity, and imports philosophical categories foreign to the Scriptures. It offers a mystery not grounded in biblical revelation, but in the post-apostolic attempts to explain God through human categories. The Bible reveals one indivisible God who has made Himself known as Father in creation, Son in redemption, and Holy Spirit in illumination, not three eternal distinctions, but one true God revealed fully in Jesus Christ, the express image of His person and the only Saviour.
Just in case anyone is wondering, yes, I wholeheartedly believe in the Holy Spirit, but not as regulated to a third independent person that somehow eternally proceeded from the Father, but as GOD Himself. This describes what God is, John 4:24, as it emphasizes God in action or God’s own divine essence in active expression. The Spirit is not a distinct person within a triadic committee, but the very breath of God, Genesis 2:7, the power of God, Luke 1:35, the mind of God, I Corinthians 2:11, and the presence of God in and among His people. John 14:17,23. To assign the Holy Spirit a separate “personhood” as defined by these confessions is to fragment the indivisible oneness of the only true God. The Spirit is the Lord Himself at work, and wherever He is, God is. “Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” II Corinthians 3:17. This is not a third party; this is God. The Scriptures know nothing of a tritheistic hierarchy where the Spirit is cast as a coequal being beside the Father and the Son. He is the extension of God’s being, not a division within it. Just as our spirit is not another person apart from us, so the Holy Spirit is not a third divine individual, but the living, active self-expression of the one true God. To speak of the Spirit is to speak of God Himself, not another, but the same divine essence by which God accomplishes His will. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Colossians 2:8-9. MPJ