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The Persons of the Trinity

 One of the more difficult theological issues is understanding the Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?  They are not three God, but the persons of the Trinity.  How do we understand their relationship?  The early church spent years trying to sort through this issue and finally came to a resolution that still stands today.  The trinity of the Godhead is One in Essence (substance, from the Greek word "hypostasis"), but three in Persons.  

Besides the theological orthodox understanding of the Trinity, there is also the personal implications for us as believers in Jesus Christ.  Here's a short Charles S Spurgeon note that will help us keep it straight in our head.

"Beloved in God the Father... Sanctified in Christ Jesus... In the sanctification of the Spirit."  (Jude 1:1)

Consider the union of the Three Divine Persons in all their gracious acts. How unwisely do those believers talk who make preferences in the Persons of the Trinity, who think of Jesus as if He were the embodiment of everything lovely and gracious, while the Father they regard as severely just but destitute of kindness. Equally wrong are those who magnify the decree of the Father and the atonement of the Son so as to depreciate the work of the Spirit.

In works of grace none of the Persons of the Trinity act separately from the rest. They are as united in their works as in Their essence. In their love toward the chosen, they are one, and in the actions that flow from that great central source, they are still undivided.

Notice this especially in the matter of sanctification. While it is right to speak of sanctification as the work of the Spirit, yet we must make sure that we do not view it as if the Father and the Son were not involved. It is correct to speak of sanctification as the work of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit. Still, God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,”1 and so we are “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”2

See the value that God sets upon real holiness since the three Persons in the Trinity are represented as co-working to produce a Church without “spot or wrinkle or any such thing.”3 And you, believer, as the follower of Christ, must also set a high value on holiness—upon purity of life and godliness of conversation. Value the blood of Christ as the foundation of your hope, and never speak disparagingly of the work of the Spirit. This day let us live in such a way as to manifest the work of the Triune God in us.

1) Genesis 1:26

2) Ephesians 2:10

3) Ephesians 5:27

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