Jessica Fernandes

Dr. Johnson

Who Is God?

17 December 2019

Why Does God’s Triunity Matter?

I was a little 5 year old sitting in my chair at church, awaiting my turn to recite my

memorized verse, John 3:16, to my Awana cubbies leader. I had practiced the verse a hundred

times and knew it by heart. Little did I know that this verse would always be ingrained into my

mind to be the ultimate Christian Gospel verse. I always viewed John 3:16 as the simple way to

tell the Gospel message. Besides the Gospel message, we can go a step further to study what the

verse tells us about God. This verse teaches us about God’s immanent self. We get a look into

God’s triunity. We read God is loving, he has a Son, and that those who have faith in Him will

live eternally. God is love, and we know that because he sacrificed his Son for us. We know

God has a Son. God sent his Son to earth. God must be a Father who communicates with us.

John 3:16 implies God is triune; God is Father, Son, and Spirit. One of the first verses one hears

about Christianity tells them that God is triune. We can not overlook the importance of studying

the Trinity when talking about thinking about God.

In answering, ‘Who is God?’, we also have to ask why it matters that God is triune. In

this paper I will use the Trinity to explain who God is, and then further explain the practicality

and application of the Trinity in Christian living.

First, we must talk about who God is, and how we can know Him. We have to

acknowledge the Creator - creature distinction when talking about God. All of my ideas and
words about God are only from the creatures perspective, which makes thinking and speaking

about God difficult. Even though we are finite, we can still know God through his entrance into

the world as the incarnate Christ. Jesus is the image of the invisible God as stated in Colossians

1:15. We know God because He meets us where we are and gives us knowledge to know him

through revelation through the Father, Son, and Spirit. God is traditionally known as a mystery

by faith through divine revelation1. Aquinas teaches us that human language for God is not

univocal and is not equivocal2. Rather, human language for God is analogical; we can account

for similarity and dissimilarity between objects. We know God is higher than us, and we are

completely distinct from Him. God is immutable; his existence does not change and he is not

affected by outside sources3. God has divine aseity; he doesn’t need anything besides himself to

exist. God is timeless; for he does not change and is not bound. God is simple; he can not be

divided into parts. The being of God is identical to the attributes of God. For God’s essence and

existence are identical. An important distinction to make about God is that he is unoriginated;

properties of the Father are known through the Son, not through the Father’s relation to creation4.

In this section I will explain who God is through the Trinity. God is of one being and 3

persons, distinct in relation. Whenever God acts, ​God​ acts. God’s shared will operates from the

Father, through the Son, and the Spirit. There is an order, but an order without hierarchy.

Eastern and Western traditions differ modes of origins within the Trinity. The eastern tradition

starts with the Father. It believes the Father is the source, and unity comes from this Fatherhood.

1
Class notes, 9/4
2
Aquinas, Summa Theologica I.13
3
Aquinas, Classical Doctrine of God, Class notes
4
Trinitarian Controversy
The danger in this view of the Trinity is that the Father becomes supreme, leading to monarchy.

The western tradition, including Aquinas, believes in distinct relations between each person.

These distinct relations are crucial to the cross and Gospel message. My writing agrees with the

western tradition. My focus agrees with God’s oneness in being and oneness in essence. Why is

God called the Father, Son, and Spirit? God is Father because he has a Son. The Son is called

Son because he has a Father. The Spirit is called the Holy Spirit because of His relationship to

the Father and Son, and because of the Bible referring to God as the Spirit. We see examples of

Father, Son, and Spirit in the Bible. “Scriptures are clear that these three Persons together are

one and only one God (​Deuteronomy 6:4​). ​John 10:30​ and ​33​ explain that the Father and the Son

are one. 1​ Corinthians 3:16​ shows that the Father and the Spirit are one. ​Romans 8:9​ makes clear

that the Son and the Spirit are one. And ​John 14:16​, ​18​, and ​23​ demonstrate that the Father, Son,

and Spirit are one5.” Jesus calls God the Father, Father, and the Spirit, Spirit. The Bible uses

patriarchal names when God is called “he,” “Son,” “Father,” and “King.” Using male pronouns

and patriarchal language is not used to show dominance over women. God refers to himself in

the Bible using male pronouns. God the Father’s being does not have a gender for he is not

human. However, when Jesus came to earth, he was a man. Father and son language is used due

to their relationship and because that is the language God uses.

Theologians have written thousands of pages and books to describe who God is. I will

focus on a few attributes of God that show God’s immanent trinity. Firstly, God is one. The fact

that God is triune does not contradict that God is one. For, God exists in one nature, having one

5
​MacArthur, J. (2016, August 18). Our Triune God. Retrieved from
https://www.gty.org/library/articles/A215/our-triune-god.
will6. The classical doctrine refers to the Triune God as having, “one mind, one will, one energy7

.” It is important to believe God has one will because without that oneness, subordination,

hierarchy, and disunity could result. The Trinity’s persons are each of the same existence and

essence. Only God is called eternal, holy, and pure love, thus the Father, Son, and Holy are one.

God is relationship. The persons within the Trinity are only distinct from each other

because of their relationship to one another. This relationality proves God is a relational God.

God is understood and loved by himself. God is pure act, and love. In order to be “love,” one

has to have an object of love, and that object of love is Himself. Some may think creation is the

object of God’s love, but this cannot be. God does not need us in order for him to be God. He

created us out love, glory, and redemption, but he did not need a relationship with us. God’s

relationality is complete because of the relationships that makeup the triune self. God’s

relationality is different from human relationality. Humans are unable to imitate the innate

selfless love of God. Humans are under conditions of the fall.

God can only act to give, not to gain. We see this through the Father’s giving of the Son

to die in our stead, and through the gifting of the Holy Spirit to believers. God’s being can only

act out of his goodness. He acts for the sake of his creatures out of his goodness, wisdom, and

love. He simply created to give and to give freely. God is pure act, for he will never exercise

potential or change. The fact that God is triune allows us to understand how he is giving and

pure actuality because it was always the plan that God the Father would send his Son to die in

our stead. God’s triunity is essential to his being.

6
Aquinas, Compendium of Theology, p. 50
7
Class notes, 9/25
 God has divine aseity. This means he does not need anything other than himself to be

himself. God has divine self-sufficiency. God does not need creation to be loved, for he is love.

God is a non-contingent being, for we do not have to exist since God does not need us. God has

himself and is perfectly fulfilled through the love and goodness his triunity consists of.

The Trinity can be studied through a few different lenses. The economic trinity and

immanent trinity describe the relationships between Father, Son, and Spirit. The economic

describes triune relationships in history and the immanent describes relationships in the inner life

of God. Rahner’s Rule states that the economic trinity is the immanent trinity and the immanent

trinity is the economic trinity, for we can know God’s actions and know who he is by looking at

history. Further, there are two analogies of the Trinity; psychological and social. The

psychological analogy is the traditional view that God has one will and is loving and relational.

The social modern analogy looks at how people relate to the Trinity and describe the Trinity in

analogous ways. This paper will specifically examine social trinitarianism.

In this section I will explain the practicality and application of believing in the Trinity

through the critique of social trinitarianism. Social Trinitarians believe the Trinity can be a

model for human relationships. They “draw a correlation between the triune relationships and

human relationships on the basis of the assumption that the triune persons exist and work in the

same way that human persons exist and work8.” Opposite of social trinitarianism beliefs, I

believe humans are unable to imitate Triune relationships. Imitation of the Trinity’s relationship

may seem like a practical way to explain the relevance of the Godhead, but imitation is

impossible. The “persons” of God are unlike humans persons, so how can we even begin to

8
Dr. Johnson’s outline, ​Is the Trinity a Model for Human Relationships, 1​ 0/9
understand how to imitate a being we don’t fully comprehend? Kathryn Tanner further explains

the distinction between God and humanity: “The difference between God and humans stands in

the way. Many of these differences that prevent a direct application have to do with the essential

finitude of human beings.9” Besides our fallen nature, our finitude inhibits our understanding

and application to live out the Trinitarian relationships. We cannot imitate a transcendent, holy,

eternal being who we do not understand fully.

Ephesians 5 calls us to be “Imitators of Christ... ​and (to) walk in love, as Christ loved us

and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” We are called to imitate

Christ and the love given us. We are not called to imitate the immanent life of God. We are not

able to comprehend, let alone imitate the exact inner workings of God’s relationship with

himself. Tanner claims a proper imitation of the trinitarian life is to look at Jesus’ life. We are

able to see how God relates to humanity through Jesus’ incarnation. Jesus does not command his

followers to imitate the Father and Son relationship, but rather calls us to imitate His love for us10

as stated in John 15:12. We do not have to imitate in immanent life of God in order to follow the

Triune God.

We are able to know the Triune God through the commands to pattern our lives after

Christ. This imitation is described as a life of love, service, and hope. We can know God’s love

through Jesus’ death on the cross in 1 John 3:16. We know God’s forgiveness by his forgiveness

and grace given to us explain in Colossians 3:13. We know to be humble through the incarnation

in Philippians 2:8. We know to be servants to one another as commanded in Ephesians 5:2111.

Human relationships are not able and are not called to imitate trinitarian relationships.

9
Tanner, ​The Trinity and Politics.​ 137.
10
Dr. Johnson’s outline, ​Ibid.
11
Verses from 10/9 outline.
 In addition to the belief that humans can imitate trinitarian relationships, social

trinitarianism assumes each of the triune persons possess a distinct mind and will. Bruce Ware

says, “The three members of the Godhead work together in harmony… ‘Harmony’,

communicates the idea of unified expressions but only through differing yet complementary

parts.12” Unity of the Trinity occurs when these distinct wills join together in a common activity

in a particular order13.

Believing in separate wills and roles within the Godhead has severe implications for the

doctrine of the Trinity, for the Nicene tradition is brought into question if the Godhead does have

separate wills and roles. The Nicene doctrine stands by the economy of salvation which reveals

“an ordered and irreversible relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: when the

triune God acts in history, the will of God proceeds from the Father, through the Son, by the

Spirit14.” The Godhead must have one will for God to be indivisible. This ordered relationship is

crucial because we are able to retain an understanding of the distinction between the persons

even though “we still affirm every action of the persons is the act of the one God15.”

The Trinity starts to look like a community if each person has their own will. Different

wills working in this ‘harmony’ implies authority and submission. The persons of the Trinity

cannot be defined by their roles, because the persons act inseparably. If there are multiple wills

acting, then there cannot be one God. God would be split into 3 Gods, which unorthodox. I find

that the 2 key rules of the Trinity help us understand the triune relationship; the actions of the

triune God in history are indivisible, and the doctrine of appropriations. God’s acts in history are

12
Ware, ​Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, ​42.
13
Dr. Johnson’s outline, ​Ibid.
14
​Ibid.
15
​Ibid.
one, he wills what will happen. The doctrine of appropriations is when one feature common to

the whole Godhead is assigned to one of the divine persons. For example, creation is assigned to

the Father, and salvation assigned to the Son. This allows us to understand how the will of God

proceeds from the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit; the Godhead has one will and that will

is enacted through each person. We cannot imitate the immanent life of God, but we can strive

to practically live out the Trinity in our daily Christian walk, for the Trinity does not have to be

imitable for it to be practical in human relationships.

The doctrine of the Trinity matters because God matters16. We have to study the Trinity

because God’s being is Triune. You cannot separate the Godhead from who God is. The Triune

God is the God who has always been and ever will be. The triune God is the God who created.

John 1:1 says, “​In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was

God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing

was made that has been made.” The word, ​logos, i​ s Jesus. In the beginning, was God the Father,

and God the Son. We read how God was with himself, as triune, from the beginning. He has

always existed as a triune God. John 3:16 talks about the Father sending His Son to save us.

The most well known verse in the Bible talks about God’s triune personhood. If we want to

know the God who saves us, we must believe in the Trinity. God saves us through the Son then

gifts us the Spirit to indwell in us. If we are to know the salvation story we must believe in the

God who is able to love us recklessly, and sacrifice his Son so we might be in relationship with

him. Pastor Justin Dillehay explains the importance of believing in the trinity:

16
Dillehay, J. (2018, August 8). Two Reasons the Trinity Matters. Retrieved from
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/two-reasons-trinity-matters/.
 Is the Trinity practical? Let me ask you—what kind of salvation does your gospel give

you? A judge who forgives your sins? Not bad. But not good enough. The triune gospel is

better by far. It’s God giving ​himself​ to you in creation and redemption. The same Son

who was begotten by the Father before all worlds was sent by the Father into this world,

to live and die for us and our salvation. And the same Spirit who proceeded from the

Father and the Son from all eternity was sent by the Father and the Son into this world, to

live inside us and bring us to Christ—and through Christ to the Father—so that we might

be taken into his family, surrounded by his life and love, to glorify and enjoy him forever.

God is not defined by practicality or comprehensivity. God is defined by his incomprehensible

faithfulness, love, grace, and much more for his creation. One practical and evident way we take

part in the triunity of God is when we pray. We reflect on God’s saving work through Jesus, we

ask the Spirit to enable us, and we talk and experience the Father as a loving, relational being.

Trinitarian doctrine is crucial to the Christian faith because God is who ​He is; ​he ​is

triune. Believing in the Gospel means that you believe in a triune God, for God sent his Son into

the world and gave the Holy Spirit to indwell in us. We experience God’s triunity through the

filling of the Spirit through the mediating of Jesus, thus the Father can love the redeemed me and

I reflect creation17. The Trinity is a beautiful picture of relational love that we get invited into. I

never understood the importance of the Trinity when growing up. I never understood the

importance of the Trinity when growing up. The importance of the Trinity is easily lost because

of its complex understanding. I wrote this paper because I did not grasp why God’s triunity

matters even after all of my years in the church and Christian schooling. I find the beauty of the

Trinity is how God chose to take on human flesh and suffer; not because he had to or because He

17
Class notes on Aquinas’ Compendium
is indebted to us, but because God wanted to be the ultimate physician. God creates us knowing

we would fall and knew he would redeem. God fixed our fallen relationship by suffering as a

subject. Our story as children of God can only occur because of God’s triunity. We are able to

participate in a relationship with the Triune God where we can witness his work in our lives and

share it with others.