On the one hand, a model of the “Immanent Trinity” (sometimes called the “ontological,” “psychological” or “individual” model) describes who God is in His oneness, as triune being. Focusing on the Godhead’s essential nature, His inner dynamics shared by three persons apart from creation underscore God’s freedom and graciousness of salvation. This model stresses the transcendent nature of God, who is independent of humankind yet created humankind in His “own image.”

On the other hand, a model of the “Economic Trinity” expresses how God in three persons has revealed Himself in the story of creation — in the act of creation itself and through the events of incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and Pentecost. By stressing the relationality and participation of God’s three persons in human history, it laid foundations for a “Social Trinity” model that was developed later. This understanding of God’s continuing involvement with human action has become highly influential today. One important word associated with this doctrine is perichoresis.

Advertisement

To preserve both the unity of the one God and the individuality of the three persons, perichoresis describes how the persons of the Trinity do not function distinctly from each other, but that they dwell inside each other (John 10:38; 14:8-11), mutually inhering, drawing life from one another and therefore are only to be experienced because of their relationship to each other. Because of their mutuality, no divine person acts apart from the others. For example, in Creation, the Father is Creator, but Jesus is involved (John 1:3), as is the Spirit (Ps. 104:30). Or, in Eph. 1:3-14, the Father elects (vv. 4, 5, 11), the Son redeems (vv. 3, 7, 8) and the Holy Spirit seals the outcome (vv. 13, 14).

PARTICIPATION

When preachers think as Trinitarians, the key word is participation. Participation is defined as the act of taking part, of sharing in something with others. With mutually responsible sharing, different parties join to work together and so relate to the whole. Astoundingly, though the three persons of the Trinity belong together in divine community apart from creation, they have freely chosen to involve themselves in the human story, graciously enabling humans to partic­ipate, join and share in communion with them. Stunningly, all human response to God, including preaching and worship, may actually participate in fellowship, in joining in, with God in three persons.

I described in my last article how ortho­dox preachers may unwittingly practice forms of worship that are unitarian, because they are closed to Christ’s contin­uing work and to the Holy Spirit. When sole emphasis is placed upon what Christ has done on the cross for personal salva­tion, responsibility for consequent worship and discipleship is often thrust onto human shoulders. The divine dynamic is one-way only. God is responsible for the God-human movement, but we are responsible for the human-Godward movement. In one-way worship, every­thing depends on us doing our best.