The Three Words of God (i)

Introduction

It niggles. There you are listening to a preacher, and something niggles you about them. Yes, they are preaching the text. Yes, they are passionate about it. Yes, it is well applied. But there is something that is not quite right, and you are not quite sure what it is. On the one hand, you could ignore it, dismiss it, inoculate yourself against it, telling yourself they are a faithful Bible teacher. Or you could explore it further.

That has been my increasing experience. I have visited various churches over the last few months, online and in person. Some sermons have made my heart sing: They may have been deeply challenging but they have left me rejoicing in Christ. But other sermons talked about grace and preached about love and joy, and yet some-how they seemed to have the opposite effect on my soul. How can that be? And is it just me? And is it just because I am tired, weary and reeling from covid and controversies?

I was talking to a good friend who had listened to two different sermons from two different preachers, but on the same Old Testament passage. One preached a sermon about God’s unstoppable plan which you and I need to get with. The other preached God’s faithfulness to his gracious promises despite our failings. One passage, same text, two very different sermons.

I was sitting under a preacher the other day. He had worked so hard at the Old Testament Bible passages. He covered every verse. His communication was ever so enthusiastic. He was applied and challenging. And yet… and yet… as it went on, I just couldn’t shake the feeling something was not quite right. And yes, there may have been something not quite right with me (it was a bad day). But also, I think there wasn’t something quite right at the other end.

As the evangelical world grapples with the storms of identity politics, covid and spiritual abuse, and as we find our churches confused and perhaps exhausted, I have been thinking a lot about Scripture. As I have done so, I am thinking that we need to have a Trinitarian understanding of Scripture. As that is developing, it has helped me to see some issues that are lurking beneath the surface, not only in my own preaching and pastoring, but also within my wider constituency.

So, in this article I want to offer a Trinitarian understanding of Scripture, and then in the next two parts reflect on how it can help us especially as we read, listen, lead and preach.

The Bible as the word of God about the word of God about the word of God

I want to suggest that the Bible is the word of God about the word of God about the word of God. What I do mean by that? I mean that the Bible is the Holy Spirit’s words about the Father’s message of grace about his Son.

Let me explain how I think this understanding itself arises from Scripture and as I do, please note, there is no particular significance in the order in the next few paragraphs. Also, please note that some of the arguments, especially in the first and second paragraphs, are well rehearsed by others elsewhere.

So, why is the Bible the word of God about the word of God about the word of God?

First, Scripture sees itself as God-breathed. The words in our Bibles are more than human words. They are words breathed out by God. And God’s ‘breath’ is his Spirit. Every word, the tenses of verbs and even the letters themselves, come with God’s authority. If we treat it as such, we are rightly following in the footsteps of our Master, his Apostles and the Holy Spirit.[1] The Bible is the Holy Spirit’s words.

The second ‘word of God’ is the Second Person of the Trinity. The eternal Word is the eternal self-communication of the Father. This self-giving love of the Father overflows into creation and redemption. All of creation was made through the Son and for him. The title ‘the Word’ indicates that he is always the person of the Trinity who reveals within creation the invisible God (see John 1:1-14 and v.18). God the Father brings us back to himself through revealing himself fully in the self-giving of his Son for us. So, the Son is the beginning and end of creation and the beginning of the new creation. One day every knee will bow at the name of Jesus. Jesus himself says that Scripture centres on him.[2] So, Scripture centres on the Son of God.

The third “word of God” is the message of the Father. In Acts 8:4, we are told that the believers who were scattered in the persecution ‘went about preaching the word’ {ESV}. They were not giving expository sermons on the Old Testament. Although it could be argued “the word” means “the incarnate Word”, in the context of Acts it most naturally means “the gospel message”. This is clear when we get to Acts 8:14. News reaches Jerusalem that “Samaria had received the word of God.” This is the message of God, which as Paul describes in Romans 1 is “the Gospel of God”. It belongs to God and is from God. Paul likewise in 2 Timothy 2:9 describes his gospel message as “the word of God”. This “word of God” is the message of the Father. [3]

A crucial point for us here is that this message of the Father is fundamentally all of grace, as Paul makes so clear (e.g. in 2 Timothy 1). It is grace from first to last. “God so loved the world he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” In Christ are “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). The Father “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3). This grace of course includes, fulfils and surpasses the grace of the law (John 1:16). This third “word of God” is the entirely undeserved loving revelation of the Father in his Son that comes to us and does everything to bring us into the fullness of the family of the Trinity so that all that is Christ’s becomes ours. All this is made real and living by the work of the Spirit.

Much more could be said for each of the paragraphs above, but I hope you can see why I believe Scripture is to be understood Trinitarianly. It is the Holy Spirit’s words about the Father’s message of grace concerning his Son – preincarnate, incarnate, crucified, raised, ruling and returning. This fits with what Jesus himself said. Jesus treats God’s word as authoritative (for example at his temptation), he declares that the Old Testament and New Testament (by the Spirit through his Apostles) all points to and centres on him, and that he has come to reveal and do his Father’s will. The Bible is the Holy Spirit’s words about the Father’s message of grace about his Son.

In the next article we will think about how I have found this understanding so helpful. But for now, it is worth reflecting on each of those aspects of a Trinitarian understanding of Scripture. Many of us will talk about the Bible as “God’s word” or “the word of God:” to what extent have we connected it with our doctrine of the Trinity? And if the Bible should be understood Trinitarianly, which aspects do you naturally gravitate towards and which are you more likely to neglect?

[1] See 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; John 14:26; Hebrews 3:7; Ephesians 6:17; Matthew 5:19; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22.

[2] See John 5:46; Luke 24:26-27 cf. Mark 8:31; John 5:39-40; John 1:1; 1:2; 1:14; Revelation 1:17, 18; Revelation 1:7; Philippians 2:10-11; John 1:14; 1 John 5:20

[3] See John 5:37-39; Revelation 1:2; Romans 1:1; Deuteronomy 29:29; Matthew 4:4 quoting Deuteronomy 8:3; 1 Peter 1:23; Acts 4:31; 1 Peter 1:25; Romans 10:14; Acts 12:24; Ephesians 1:7; Zephaniah 3:17.