MacArthur on the Holy Trinity

Excerpt from MacArthur’s commentary on 1 Jn 4.7:

“The Trinity is an unfathomable and yet unmistakable doctrine in Scripture. As Jonathan Edwards noted, after studying the topic extensively, “I think [the doctrine of the Trinity] to be the highest and deepest of all Divine mysteries still, notwithstanding anything that I have said or conceived about it” (An Unpublished Treatise on the Trinity). Yet, though the fullness of the Trinity is far beyond human comprehension, it is unquestionably how God has revealed Himself in Scripture—as one God eternally existing in three persons.

This is not to suggest, of course, that the Bible presents three different gods (cf. Deut. 6:4). Rather, God is three persons in one essence; the Divine essence subsists wholly and indivisibly, simultaneously and eternally, in the three members of the one Godhead—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Scriptures are clear that these three persons together are one and only one God (Deut. 6:4). John 10:30 and 33 explain that the Father and the Son are one. First 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 one.

Yet, in exhibiting the unity between the members of the Trinity, the Word of God in no way denies the simultaneous existence and distinctiveness of each of the three persons of the Godhead. In other words, the Bible makes it clear that God is one God (not three), but that the one God is a Trinity of persons.

In the Old Testament, the Bible implies the idea of the Trinity in several ways. The title Elohim (“God”), for instance, is a plural noun, which can suggest multiplicity (cf. Gen. 1:26). This corresponds to the fact that the plural pronoun (“us”) is sometimes used of God (Gen. 1:26; Isa. 6:8). More directly, there are places in which God’s name is applied to more than one person in the same text (Ps. 110:1; cf. Gen. 19:24). And there are also passages where all three divine persons are seen at work (Isa. 48:16; 61:1).

The New Testament builds significantly on these truths, revealing them more explicitly. The baptismal formula of Matthew 28:19 designates all three persons of the Trinity: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” In his apostolic benediction to the Corinthians, Paul underscored this same reality. He wrote, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God [the Father], and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14). Other New Testament passages also spell out the glorious truth of the triune God (Rom. 15:16, 30; 2 Cor. 1:21–22; Eph. 2:18).

In describing the Trinity, the New Testament clearly distinguishes three persons who are all simultaneously active. They are not merely modes or manifestations of the same person (as the heresies of Modalism or Sabellianism and the more modern Oneness theology incorrectly assert) who sometimes act as Father, sometimes as Son, and sometimes as Spirit. At Christ’s baptism, all three persons were simultaneously active (Matt. 3:16–17), with the Son being baptized, the Spirit descending, and the Father speaking from heaven. Jesus Himself prayed to the Father (cf. Matt. 6:9), taught that His will was distinct from His Father’s (Matt. 26:39), promised that He would ask the Father to send the Spirit (John 14:26), and asked the Father to glorify Him (John 17:5). These actions would not make sense unless the Father and the Son were two distinct persons. Elsewhere in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit intercedes before the Father on behalf of believers (Rom. 8:26), as does the Son, who is our Advocate (1 John 2:1). In the gospel of John, the apostle reports that Jesus said the Holy Spirit would abide in believers (14:16), that He Himself would abide in them (vv. 18, 20–21), and that the Father would abide in them (v. 23). Again, the distinctness of each person is in view.

The Bible is clear. There is only one God, yet He exists, and always has existed, as a Trinity of persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (cf. John 1:1, 2). To deny or misunderstand the Trinity is to deny or misunderstand the very nature of God Himself.

The doctrine of the Trinity is crucial on an infinite number of levels, since it is at the very heart of the doctrine of God. As one writer explains:

The Trinity is the highest revelation God has made of himself to His people. It is the capstone, the summit, the brightest star in the firmament of divine truths.… We must know, understand, and love the Trinity to be fully and completely Christian. This is why we say the Trinity is the greatest of God’s revealed truths. (James White, The Forgotten Trinity [Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1998], 14–15)

It is very significant that the Trinity has implications not only for what believers think about God, but also for how they relate to Him and to one another. After all, it is the truth of the Trinity that explains God as a relational being. From eternity past, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have enjoyed the fullness of interpersonal relationships. They have always gloried in the infinite closeness that they share. To put it simply, God has never been lonely, but has always been satisfied in the perfect fellowship of inter-Trinitarian bliss. As John Piper explains:

From all eternity, before creation, the one reality that has always existed is God. This is a great mystery, because it is so hard for us to think of God having absolutely no beginning, and just being there forever and ever and ever, without anything or anyone making him be there—just absolute reality that everyone of us has to reckon with whether we like it or not. But this ever-living God has not been “alone.” He has not been a solitary center of consciousness. There has always been another, who has been one with God in essence and glory, and yet distinct in personhood so that they have had a personal relationship for all eternity. (The Pleasures of God [Sisters, Ore.: Multnomah, 2000], 41)

Based on that flawless relational model and His perfect desire and purpose to have fellowship with His creatures, the triune God designed man as a relational being. Man’s creation in the image of God gave him self-awareness and the ability to think rationally, appreciate beauty, acquire wisdom, feel emotion, and understand morality. But the most significant aspect of the image of God is seen in man’s capacity to love others—as demonstrated through his relational fellowship with God and with other human beings. Though only a shadow, human love (both for God and for others) is a reflection of the perfect inter-Trinitarian love that has characterized God from before time began.”

[John MacArthur, 1, 2, 3 John, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2007), 162–164.]