By John A. Huffman Jr.
Now, let's get to work undergirding what we do with the prayer, "Almighty God, increase our understanding of who you are, particularly as it involves the person and the work of your Holy Spirit, throughout all history, and in our lives personally."
First, let us look at the of the progression of The Apostles' Creed that brings us to the holy Trinity.
We have already given attention to God in the person of the Father, the Creator of all that is. We have then moved on to concentrate on God in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son, whom we have seen primarily in His function as Redeemer. Now, we give our attention to God in the person of the Holy Spirit, whom we see primarily as the Sustainer of all that is.
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So what we have here in our Confession is a Trinitarian progression, addressing God as Father, God as Son and God as Holy Spirit.
This is the most difficult of all doctrines. It is quite easy to move from truth to heresy without even realizing that we are making that move.
Let me use the precise words of William Barclay to explain this dynamic tension:
The doctrine of the Trinity says that God is Three in One and One in Three. The doctrine of the Trinity steers between two dangers. On the one side there is the danger of tritheism, the danger of making Father, Son and Holy Spirit into three separate and independent entities, and therefore into three gods. On the other side there is the danger of Unitarianism, in which the Father alone is God, and the Son no more than a supremely great man, and the Holy Spirit no more than an impersonal force and power.
It might well be true to say that the doctrine of the Trinity is the most difficult of all Christian doctrines. It is easy enough to state; it is not difficult to say that God is Three in One and One in Three; it is not difficult to speak of three persons and of one substance in the godhead; but when we try to explain and interpret these statements in intelligible terms, then almost anything that one can say suffers the danger of running into some kind of heresy.
Remember, the Bible doesn't talk specifically about "the Trinity." We deduct the doctrine of the Trinity from our careful study of the Bible. You and I have to learn to be content to understand enough about the divine Trinity to live by, while admitting that we will never fully comprehend the infinite.
The Trinity describes God in three specific relationships to us.
We see God in the person of the Father, Creator of all that is. We see God in the person of the Son, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, the One who came in the miracle of the incarnation and rescued us from the consequences of sin, carrying out His atoning work on the cross. We see God in the person of the Holy Spirit, the One who turns our thoughts to God through His revelation, guidance, controlling, equipping, and direction of life.
