The Harmony of the Trinity in Salvation

There is likely nothing that can humble us more than to think deeply about the Trinity. The study of theology proper, particularly the concept of One Living and True God in Three Persons, requires us to come in the posture of worship and with the utmost humility. Even though we merely scratch the surface of this glorious subject, what we are able to know and understand should compel us to burst into doxology to the Triune God like the Apostle Paul in Romans 11:33-36. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” Speaking of the awe and reverence we should have in approaching this subject, Donald Macleod said, “Theology has lost its way, and indeed its very soul, if it cannot say with John, ‘I fell at his feet as dead’ (Rev. 1:17).”

The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith gives a succinct primer on the doctrine of the Trinity in chapter 2, paragraph 3: “In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided: the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son; all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on Him.”

While these truths cannot be fully and completely comprehended, the doctrine of the Trinity is central to all Christian doctrine, worship, and life as stated in the last sentence of paragraph 3. The harmony of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit can perhaps be most clearly seen in the sameness of purpose but distinction of role in the salvation of sinners. Every aspect of our salvation involves the agency of God, and yet the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit act in distinct ways to bring about the purpose of the living and true God in salvation. Therefore, the good news of our salvation, the gospel, is necessarily interconnected to a proper understanding of the Triune God. In Galatians 4:4-6 we read about the work of the three Persons of the Trinity in salvation. “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” God the Father elects and sends the Son, The Son atones for the sins of those given to Him by the Father, and the Spirit applies the sacrifice to all those redeemed by the Son.

God the Father foreknew and predestinated a chosen people to be conformed to the image of His Son. Ephesians 1:3-6 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

God the Father chose the elect in Christ before the world was made, and this choice was the effect of the everlasting love of God for His people. God loved His people, and purposed that we would be holy and blameless before Him. This is an amazing statement if we consider the truth of the first two letters of the TULIP acronym we use for the Doctrines of Grace. The T stands for total depravity and teaches us that man is spiritually dead in trespasses and sins (Romans 3:10-12). The remainder of the letters in the acronym show us how the Triune God saves His people from this lost condition. God the Father elected, God the Son redeemed, and God the Holy Spirit called and preserved His people to salvation and restored fellowship with Him. The U stands for the biblical doctrine of unconditional election. Romans 9 emphasizes that this choice is unconditional and not based on anything other than the free and sovereign purpose of God (Rom. 9:10-15). The purpose of God will stand not because of any foreseen deeds, and not because of any foreseen faith, but simply because God is God. Paul says in verse 15, “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” This is simply saying that God is free and sovereign. God is not influenced or coerced by anything because He is sovereign, with the power and ability to accomplish everything He intends, ensuring His plans and purposes will come to pass. God the Father also sends the Son to redeem those he has chosen to be holy and blameless before Him. Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.” It was necessary for the Son to be sent to atone for our sins, and he readily and heartily agreed because of His love for us. God the Father chose a people, and sent the Son to redeem them.

God the Son is sent by the Father “to redeem them that were under the law” according to Galatians 4:4-5. The atonement of the chosen people of God is the very heart of the gospel! All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and the law convicts us as guilty sinners before a righteous and holy God. Payment for sin must be made, and a perfect righteousness must be provided for sinners to be adopted into the family of God. Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, eternally begotten of the Father, “was made flesh and dwelt among us… full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). God the Son took upon Him the form of a servant, made in the likeness of men, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil. 2:7-8). The L in the TULIP acronym stands for limited atonement or particular redemption. Jesus, by His perfect obedience and sacrifice has fully satisfied the justice of God, procured reconciliation, and purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father has given unto Him. Jesus took the place of those whom God the Father chose in love before the foundation of the world, bearing the sin of all the elect children of God, taking our sin away and nailing it to His cross. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Double imputation means that our sin was imputed to Jesus, and His righteousness was imputed to us. Christ lived a perfect and holy life without sin, and His perfect righteousness is imputed to all that are given to Him by the Father. As the old hymn by Edward Mote says, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.” We rejoice in hope because of the finished work of Jesus Christ!

God the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. He is sent to apply the redemption purchased by the Son to all those chosen by the Father and given to the Son to redeem. Galatians 4:6 says, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”  In the TULIP acronym, this would include the I for irresistible grace, and the P for perseverance and preservation of the saints. The Holy Spirit’s work in the application of redemption begins with effectual calling, and more specifically, the regeneration of spiritually dead sinners. W.E. Best says, “The sinner is not dying; he is spiritually dead. Every faculty of his being is completely ruined. He cannot see (John 3:3), understand (1 Cor. 2:14), receive (John 14:17), come (John 6:44), cease from sin (2 Peter 2:14) call (1 Cor. 12:3; Rom. 10:9,10,13), please God (Heb. 11:6), or enter the kingdom (John 3:5). Man’s only hope of spiritual life is in the life-giving power of God’s Spirit.

Regeneration is not accomplished by the preaching of the gospel or other external means. Regeneration is the sovereign act of God by which He imparts spiritual life and ability through the immediate operation of the Holy Spirit. It is the creative act of God the Holy Spirit and free of any and all means. II Cor. 4:6 says, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” In creation God spoke light into existence and it is the same creative power of God that speaks spiritual life into a spiritually dead sinner! In Ephesians 1:19 and 20, Paul says that it takes the same power to give us spiritual life that he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead. This means that regeneration precedes the sanctifying influence of the gospel. However, the Holy Spirit also continues His work in the application of redemption through conversion. Conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit, with the use of means, in calling the elect to faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God, and true repentance. “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:9-10) The spiritual life created in us by the Holy Spirit in regeneration is “brought to light” through the gospel by coming to Christ in faith and repentance. While the distinctions we have noted are important between regeneration and conversion, we must not dismiss the connection between these two important aspects of the application of redemption. Conversion is as natural to the regenerated man as motion is to a living body. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). The Spirit of God also continues His sanctifying work in the lives of the people of God “who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). Paul teaches us in Philippians 1:6 that we can be confident “that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” The Holy Spirit does not abdicate His role in the salvation of the chosen people of God. Ultimately, the work of the Spirit will result in our glorification, when our vile bodies will be fashioned like unto his glorious body! For now, we “groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom. 8:23).

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit work in perfect harmony for the salvation of the people of God. The Father electing and sending the Son; the Son redeeming those chosen and given to Him by the Father; and the Spirit applying the atoning work of the Son. Soli Deo Gloria!