Holy Spirit as Chief Witness To Christ
Absolutely staggering stuff in Ferguson's Holy Spirit book...
"Trials in our Lord's culture weren't like ours:
a.) Not by jury but judge eliciting truth from witnesses
b.) advocate/defense counsel sought by an accused person was not a highly-trained professional, but someone who would vindicate him or her by telling the truth. An eye-witness and/or a character-witness was what was required; someone whose relationship to the accused enabled him to speak with authority; an intimate friend rather than a person professionally trained in the law."
So you have HS as chief witness for Christ, and He is an intimate friend who has been with Christ. Strangely warmed when i think of the Holy Spirit being an intimate friend of Jesus'.
back to Ferguson...
"Against this background, the Spirit is ideally suited to be the CW for X b/c He was the intimate companion of Jesus throughout his ministry.
The Holy Spirit was Christ's inseperable companion . . . all the activity of Christ was unfolded in the presence of the Holy Spirit. . .
--Basil of Caesarea (c.330-379)
That is why His witness is so important, potent, and reliable. From womb to tomb to throne, the Spirit was the constant companion of the Son. As a result, when He comes to Christians to indwell them, the Holy Spirit comes as the Spirit OF CHRIST in such a way that to possess him is to possess Christ himself, just as to lack him is to lack Christ. --end ferguson
womb to tomb to throne
bring home smallman on what is reformed?
"It is a good rule that the works of the blessed Trinity are undivided . . . So we may say that whatever things the Father does the Son does likewise, and those things the Holy Ghost does also"(Love, Grace, 157).
CHRISTOPHER LOVE
4. While each is fully divine, the three persons of the Godhead are related to each other in a way that implies some differences. Thus, it is usually said in Scripture that the Father (not the Spirit) sent the Son into the world (Mk. 9:37; Mt. 10:40; Gal. 4:4), but that both the Father and the Son send the Spirit (Jn. 14:26; 15:26; 16:7). We don't know fully what such a description of relationships within the Trinity means. But usually it is said that the Son is subject to the Father, for the Father sent him, and that the Spirit is subject to both the Father and the Son, for he is sent into the world by both the Son and Father. However, we must remember that when we speak of subjection we do not mean inequality. Although related to each other in these ways, the members of the Godhead are nevertheless "the same in substance, equal in power and glory," as the Westminster Shorter Catechism says (Q. 6).
5. In the work of God the members of the Godhead work together. It is common among Christians to divide the work of God among the three persons, applying the work of creation to the Father, the work of redemption to the Son and the work of sanctification to the Holy Spirit. A more correct way of speaking is to say that each member of the Trinity cooperates in each work.
One example is the work of creation. It is said of God the Father, "Of old thou didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands" (Ps. 102:25); and "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). It is written of the Son, "For in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible" (Col. 1:16); and "All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made" (Jn. 1:3). It is written of the Holy Spirit, "The spirit of God has made me" (Job 33:4). In the same way, the Incarnation is shown to have been accomplished by the three persons of the Godhead working in unity, though only the Son became flesh (Lk. 1:35). At the baptism of the Lord all three were also present: the Son came up out of the water, the Spirit descended in the appearance of a dove and the voice of the Father was heard from heaven declaring, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Mt. 3:16-17). All three persons were present in the atonement, as Hebrews 9:14 declares. "Christ... through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God." The resurrection of Christ is likewise attributed sometimes to the Father (Acts 2:32), sometimes to the Son (Jn. 10:17-18) and sometimes to the Holy Spirit (Rom. 1:4).
We are not surprised, therefore, that our salvation as a whole is also attributed to each of the three persons: chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood" (1 Pet. 1:2). Nor are we surprised that we are sent forth into all the world to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt. 28:19).
Threefold Redemption
Again let me note, although we can say meaningful things about the Trinity (on the basis of God's revelation of them), the Trinity is still unfathomable. We should be humble before the Trinity. Someone once asked Daniel Webster, the orator, how a man of his intellect could believe in the Trinity. "How can a man of your mental caliber believe that three equals one?" his assailant chided. Webster replied, "I do not pretend fully to understand the arithmetic of heaven now." The doctrine of the Trinity does not mean that three equals one, of course, and Webster knew that. It means rather that God is three in one sense and one in another. But Webster's reply nevertheless showed a proper degree of creature humility. We believe the doctrine of the Trinity, not because we understand it, but because the Bible teaches it and because the Spirit himself witnesses within our heart that it is so.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Foundations of the Christian Faith. James Montgomery Boice. Inter Varsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515. 1978. Pages 113 to 116.
Let's start with an affirmation of the doctrine of the ontological Trinity, which states that God exists in three persons and one essence. This is a careful way of conveying the following truths: 1) there is only one God; 2) the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all God; and 3) the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are different persons. With the possible exception of a couple technical attributes generally ascribed only to one or another person of the Godhead, and which are aspects of the way God exists in three persons, all those attributes native to God's being are shared equally by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In his divine nature, Jesus the Son of God is fully God (John 1:1; Tit. 2:13; 2 Pet. 1:1), possessing all the attributes native to God in his essence, that is, all the attributes that God possesses just because he exists as God. Omniscience and omnipotence are of this category, so that Jesus possesses both, making him equal to the persons of the Father and of the Holy Spirit in knowledge and power.
However, Jesus also has a human nature. Because omniscience and omnipotence are infinite by definition, and because man is finite, man cannot possess these attributes. Thus, in his human nature, Jesus the Man cannot be equal to any of the persons of the Godhead in knowledge or in power. Generally, the Bible speaks of Jesus from the perspective of his human nature, as in the passages you stated. Granted, the distinction between what Jesus knows in his human nature and what he knows in his divine nature is a difficult one to fathom. It is one of the mysteries of the hypostatic union (the union of a divine nature and a human nature in the one person Jesus Christ) that is beyond our experience and normal patterns of thinking.
The question of authority is more complicated. It involves issues related to the hypostatic union, the economic Trinity, and the ontological Trinity. The economic Trinity describes the way in which the persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit interact with and relate to one another, as opposed to the ontological Trinity which describes the way they exist. Authority is often described in terms of right and power. Inasmuch as Jesus is divine, he possesses equal power to the Father and the Holy Spirit. His divine right over creation is absolute as well. Moreover, his authority even in his human nature is now absolute over creation. This, I believe, is what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians 15:28 -- the context specifically refers to Jesus' human nature (1 Cor. 15:21). I believe this is also the perspective expressed in Mark 10:40. It is safe to conclude that all members of the Godhead hold equal authority over creation.
But is there an inter-Trinitarian authority heirarchy? Yes. In the economic Trinity, the Son willingly submits to the Father's authority, and the Holy Spirit submits to both the Father and the Son. Most people would understand this to demonstrate that the Father's economic inter-Trinitarian authority is greater than the Son's and the Holy Spirit's, and that the Son's is greater than the Holy Spirit's. I suppose there might be some who argue that all persons of the Trinity are ontologically equal in authority, while being economically unequal, but I am unfamiliar with anyone who actually makes this case. Equality of authority is not something generally asserted in statements of faith, creeds or confessions.
Answer by Ra McLaughlin
Economic Trinity: When we describe the acts of the triune God with respect to the creation, history, salvation, our daily lives, etc, we describe the Economic Trinity. Refers to how the Trinity operates within redemptive history as we think of the roles or functions performed by each of the persons of the Trinity.
The ontological Trinity, on the other hand, speaks essence (John 1:1-2), nature or attributes of the Trinity. Or more simply - the ontological Trinity (who God is) and the economic Trinity (what God does). The economic reflects and reveals the ontological.
There be three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one true, eternal God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory; although distinguished by their personal properties.
- WESTMINSTER LARGER CATECHISM #9
Subordination of the Son and Spirit to the Father
Loraine Boettner
In discussing the doctrine of the Trinity we must distinguish between what is technically known as the "immanent" and the "economic" Trinity. By the "immanent" Trinity we mean the Trinity as it has subsisted in the Godhead from all eternity. In their essential, innate life we say that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the same in substance, possessing identical attributes and powers, and therefore equal in glory. This relates to God's essential existence apart from the creation. By the "economic" Trinity we mean the Trinity as manifested in the world, particularly in the redemption of sinful men. There are three opera ad extra, additional works, if we may so describe them, which are ascribed to the Trinity, namely, Creation, Redemption and Sanctification. These are works which are outside of the necessary activities of the Trinity, works which God was under no obligation or compulsion to perform.
In the political realm we may say that the president of the United States is officially first, the governor of a state officially second, and the private citizen officially third. Yet they are each equally possessed of human nature, and in fact the private citizen may be a better man morally and spiritually than either the governor or the president. Also, two men of equal rank in private life may join the army, one to become a captain, the other to become a private soldier in the ranks of this captain. Officially, and for a limited time, one becomes subordinate to the other, yet during that time they may be equals in the sight of God. In the work of redemption the situation is somewhat analogous to this,-through a covenant voluntarily entered into, the Father, Son and holy Spirit each undertake a specific work in such a manner that, during the time this work is in progress, the Father becomes officially first, the Son officially second, and the Spirit officially third. Yet within the essential and inherent life of the Trinity the full equality of the persons is preserved.
"Trials in our Lord's culture weren't like ours:
a.) Not by jury but judge eliciting truth from witnesses
b.) advocate/defense counsel sought by an accused person was not a highly-trained professional, but someone who would vindicate him or her by telling the truth. An eye-witness and/or a character-witness was what was required; someone whose relationship to the accused enabled him to speak with authority; an intimate friend rather than a person professionally trained in the law."
So you have HS as chief witness for Christ, and He is an intimate friend who has been with Christ. Strangely warmed when i think of the Holy Spirit being an intimate friend of Jesus'.
back to Ferguson...
"Against this background, the Spirit is ideally suited to be the CW for X b/c He was the intimate companion of Jesus throughout his ministry.
The Holy Spirit was Christ's inseperable companion . . . all the activity of Christ was unfolded in the presence of the Holy Spirit. . .
--Basil of Caesarea (c.330-379)
That is why His witness is so important, potent, and reliable. From womb to tomb to throne, the Spirit was the constant companion of the Son. As a result, when He comes to Christians to indwell them, the Holy Spirit comes as the Spirit OF CHRIST in such a way that to possess him is to possess Christ himself, just as to lack him is to lack Christ. --end ferguson
womb to tomb to throne
bring home smallman on what is reformed?
"It is a good rule that the works of the blessed Trinity are undivided . . . So we may say that whatever things the Father does the Son does likewise, and those things the Holy Ghost does also"(Love, Grace, 157).
CHRISTOPHER LOVE
4. While each is fully divine, the three persons of the Godhead are related to each other in a way that implies some differences. Thus, it is usually said in Scripture that the Father (not the Spirit) sent the Son into the world (Mk. 9:37; Mt. 10:40; Gal. 4:4), but that both the Father and the Son send the Spirit (Jn. 14:26; 15:26; 16:7). We don't know fully what such a description of relationships within the Trinity means. But usually it is said that the Son is subject to the Father, for the Father sent him, and that the Spirit is subject to both the Father and the Son, for he is sent into the world by both the Son and Father. However, we must remember that when we speak of subjection we do not mean inequality. Although related to each other in these ways, the members of the Godhead are nevertheless "the same in substance, equal in power and glory," as the Westminster Shorter Catechism says (Q. 6).
5. In the work of God the members of the Godhead work together. It is common among Christians to divide the work of God among the three persons, applying the work of creation to the Father, the work of redemption to the Son and the work of sanctification to the Holy Spirit. A more correct way of speaking is to say that each member of the Trinity cooperates in each work.
One example is the work of creation. It is said of God the Father, "Of old thou didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands" (Ps. 102:25); and "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). It is written of the Son, "For in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible" (Col. 1:16); and "All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made" (Jn. 1:3). It is written of the Holy Spirit, "The spirit of God has made me" (Job 33:4). In the same way, the Incarnation is shown to have been accomplished by the three persons of the Godhead working in unity, though only the Son became flesh (Lk. 1:35). At the baptism of the Lord all three were also present: the Son came up out of the water, the Spirit descended in the appearance of a dove and the voice of the Father was heard from heaven declaring, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Mt. 3:16-17). All three persons were present in the atonement, as Hebrews 9:14 declares. "Christ... through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God." The resurrection of Christ is likewise attributed sometimes to the Father (Acts 2:32), sometimes to the Son (Jn. 10:17-18) and sometimes to the Holy Spirit (Rom. 1:4).
We are not surprised, therefore, that our salvation as a whole is also attributed to each of the three persons: chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood" (1 Pet. 1:2). Nor are we surprised that we are sent forth into all the world to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt. 28:19).
Threefold Redemption
Again let me note, although we can say meaningful things about the Trinity (on the basis of God's revelation of them), the Trinity is still unfathomable. We should be humble before the Trinity. Someone once asked Daniel Webster, the orator, how a man of his intellect could believe in the Trinity. "How can a man of your mental caliber believe that three equals one?" his assailant chided. Webster replied, "I do not pretend fully to understand the arithmetic of heaven now." The doctrine of the Trinity does not mean that three equals one, of course, and Webster knew that. It means rather that God is three in one sense and one in another. But Webster's reply nevertheless showed a proper degree of creature humility. We believe the doctrine of the Trinity, not because we understand it, but because the Bible teaches it and because the Spirit himself witnesses within our heart that it is so.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Foundations of the Christian Faith. James Montgomery Boice. Inter Varsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515. 1978. Pages 113 to 116.
Let's start with an affirmation of the doctrine of the ontological Trinity, which states that God exists in three persons and one essence. This is a careful way of conveying the following truths: 1) there is only one God; 2) the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all God; and 3) the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are different persons. With the possible exception of a couple technical attributes generally ascribed only to one or another person of the Godhead, and which are aspects of the way God exists in three persons, all those attributes native to God's being are shared equally by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In his divine nature, Jesus the Son of God is fully God (John 1:1; Tit. 2:13; 2 Pet. 1:1), possessing all the attributes native to God in his essence, that is, all the attributes that God possesses just because he exists as God. Omniscience and omnipotence are of this category, so that Jesus possesses both, making him equal to the persons of the Father and of the Holy Spirit in knowledge and power.
However, Jesus also has a human nature. Because omniscience and omnipotence are infinite by definition, and because man is finite, man cannot possess these attributes. Thus, in his human nature, Jesus the Man cannot be equal to any of the persons of the Godhead in knowledge or in power. Generally, the Bible speaks of Jesus from the perspective of his human nature, as in the passages you stated. Granted, the distinction between what Jesus knows in his human nature and what he knows in his divine nature is a difficult one to fathom. It is one of the mysteries of the hypostatic union (the union of a divine nature and a human nature in the one person Jesus Christ) that is beyond our experience and normal patterns of thinking.
The question of authority is more complicated. It involves issues related to the hypostatic union, the economic Trinity, and the ontological Trinity. The economic Trinity describes the way in which the persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit interact with and relate to one another, as opposed to the ontological Trinity which describes the way they exist. Authority is often described in terms of right and power. Inasmuch as Jesus is divine, he possesses equal power to the Father and the Holy Spirit. His divine right over creation is absolute as well. Moreover, his authority even in his human nature is now absolute over creation. This, I believe, is what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians 15:28 -- the context specifically refers to Jesus' human nature (1 Cor. 15:21). I believe this is also the perspective expressed in Mark 10:40. It is safe to conclude that all members of the Godhead hold equal authority over creation.
But is there an inter-Trinitarian authority heirarchy? Yes. In the economic Trinity, the Son willingly submits to the Father's authority, and the Holy Spirit submits to both the Father and the Son. Most people would understand this to demonstrate that the Father's economic inter-Trinitarian authority is greater than the Son's and the Holy Spirit's, and that the Son's is greater than the Holy Spirit's. I suppose there might be some who argue that all persons of the Trinity are ontologically equal in authority, while being economically unequal, but I am unfamiliar with anyone who actually makes this case. Equality of authority is not something generally asserted in statements of faith, creeds or confessions.
Answer by Ra McLaughlin
Economic Trinity: When we describe the acts of the triune God with respect to the creation, history, salvation, our daily lives, etc, we describe the Economic Trinity. Refers to how the Trinity operates within redemptive history as we think of the roles or functions performed by each of the persons of the Trinity.
The ontological Trinity, on the other hand, speaks essence (John 1:1-2), nature or attributes of the Trinity. Or more simply - the ontological Trinity (who God is) and the economic Trinity (what God does). The economic reflects and reveals the ontological.
There be three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one true, eternal God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory; although distinguished by their personal properties.
- WESTMINSTER LARGER CATECHISM #9
Subordination of the Son and Spirit to the Father
Loraine Boettner
In discussing the doctrine of the Trinity we must distinguish between what is technically known as the "immanent" and the "economic" Trinity. By the "immanent" Trinity we mean the Trinity as it has subsisted in the Godhead from all eternity. In their essential, innate life we say that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the same in substance, possessing identical attributes and powers, and therefore equal in glory. This relates to God's essential existence apart from the creation. By the "economic" Trinity we mean the Trinity as manifested in the world, particularly in the redemption of sinful men. There are three opera ad extra, additional works, if we may so describe them, which are ascribed to the Trinity, namely, Creation, Redemption and Sanctification. These are works which are outside of the necessary activities of the Trinity, works which God was under no obligation or compulsion to perform.
In the political realm we may say that the president of the United States is officially first, the governor of a state officially second, and the private citizen officially third. Yet they are each equally possessed of human nature, and in fact the private citizen may be a better man morally and spiritually than either the governor or the president. Also, two men of equal rank in private life may join the army, one to become a captain, the other to become a private soldier in the ranks of this captain. Officially, and for a limited time, one becomes subordinate to the other, yet during that time they may be equals in the sight of God. In the work of redemption the situation is somewhat analogous to this,-through a covenant voluntarily entered into, the Father, Son and holy Spirit each undertake a specific work in such a manner that, during the time this work is in progress, the Father becomes officially first, the Son officially second, and the Spirit officially third. Yet within the essential and inherent life of the Trinity the full equality of the persons is preserved.
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