Underneath the words in the book of Numbers we see an awesome crystal: the Divine Trinity; the Triune God refers mainly to God Himself, and the Divine Trinity refers mainly to God’s being Triune.
When we come to this matter of the Divine Trinity and the Triune God we may think, Why does it have to be so complicated? Isn’t it good enough for me as a believer to know that God loves me and that Christ lives in me?
When we speak of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, how they co-exist and coinhere…we may get confused…But throughout the years, as we enjoy the Lord and read His word, we come to appreciate and enjoy the Triune God in His Divine Trinity, and we realise how crucial and tremendous the matter of the Triune God with His Divine Trinity is.
The Divine Trinity is the bedrock of the entire divine revelation; it is the life source of the Lord’s ministry on the earth. It is not merely a “hobby” of brother Lee or something deep that brother Nee spoke of, but rather, it is something deep, wonderful, and for us to experience and enjoy.
However, there may be some amount of resistance or callousness in us when we come to the matter of the Triune God and the Divine Trinity, because we may feel that we don’t have to get too technical or doctrinal, thinking that this may not have to do anything with us in the church life.
We may think that such terms as “co-exist” and “coinhere” and “the Divine Trinity” are just for the seminary students or the theologians, not for you and I as a believer in Christ…but we are very much mistaken to think so!
As those who are in the Lord’s recovery, we need to be well versed and thoroughly saturated with the matter of the Divine Trinity, otherwise we are not qualified, we are not up-to-date, and we’re not up-to-standard with what the Lord’s recovery stands for.
We need to realise that there is no economy of God or dispensing of the Triune God without the Divine Trinity!
When we come to the matter of the Divine Trinity, we are touching the eternal economy of God, which is the central subject of the whole Bible.
Therefore, we need to exercise ourselves to have a sober mind and a clear understanding before the Lord in His word in coming to this matter, for without us seeing the Divine Trinity, we have no idea what God’s economy is all about!
God’s economy is not just some arrangement or idea that God has…God’s economy is a matter of a wonderful Person who is three-one, the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
The Father is embodied in the Son and the Son is expressed and realised as the Spirit reaching man to dispense Himself into man to be his life and his everything, so that the Triune God would mingle with man and man would mingle with Him to become one entity.
The eternal economy of God is matter of this wonderful Person who is Triune, three-one, to carry out such a great plan, to dispense Himself into us.
This is not merely something for Bible seminary students to understand or for those who have a good mind to discuss things, or for the academics…rather, if we see what the intrinsic significance of the Divine Trinity is, we will realise that it is altogether for our participation, enjoyment, and experience of the Triune God, so that we may participate in His wonderful economy!
If we don’t see the matter of the Divine Trinity, the book of Numbers is empty; the numbering, encamping, and fighting are all empty, no different from something organised by human beings.
May we receive light from the Lord, may we be constituted by Him with the truth in His word, and may we hold fast to the matter of the Divine Trinity, never compromising or trading off this matter with our desire to do things for God or have activities in His name.
The matter of the Divine Trinity is central in the Bible and it is a life-or-death matter to us; if we take this matter from our study of the Bible, we merely have a Bible study with much knowledge, but when we touch God’s divine dispensing, we are involved in His economy, and we cooperate with Him in His move on earth to defeat His enemy and bring in His kingdom.
The Triune God refers to God’s Person; the Divine Trinity refers to God being Triune
When we speak of the Triune God, we mainly refer to God Himself the divine person; when we speak of the Divine Trinity, we refer mainly to God’s being triune, which is the primary attribute of the Godhead (see Matt. 28:19; Rev. 1:4-5).
Do we know what is the difference between the Triune God and the Divine Trinity? Many times we use these terms fairly loosely, and we speak of the Triune God and the Divine Trinity as if they refer to the same thing; but they are not the same thing, for when we speak of the Triune God, we mean the person of God.
There’s no such term, the Triune God, in the Bible, but the fact is all over the Bible; in the Bible we clearly see that God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. When theologians and Bible students came to a matter like this, they coined this term, the Triune God, to describe the fact that God is Triune.
Triune means Three-One; not “three in one” but “three-one, one yet three, three yet one”.
When we speak of the Divine Trinity, this mainly refers to God’s being triune, to His attribute. God has many attributes such as love, light, holiness, righteousness, etc, but the first, strongest, and primary attribute of God is His being triune. Trinity is an attribute of the Godhead.
God is a Triune God; this is His person. But His attribute is Trinity – Father, Son, and Spirit. When we speak of God’s dispensing Himself into man, it is more accurate to say that God is dispensing Himself in His Divine Trinity into man; this is a more particular, specific, and correct way of saying that God is dispensing Himself into man.
Actually, the whole Bible is constructed with the Divine Trinity, and there are at least eight main verses – four in the Old and four in the New Testament – to show us this.
We need to read the Bible and have a clear understanding of the Triune God and the Divine Trinity, and we need to know the crucial portions in the word of God that speak of God being triune, revealing to us His Divine Trinity.
- Gen. 1:26 – God said, Let Us make man in Our image… – God’s name here is Elohim (plural), and though there’s one God, it says, Let Us…here we see an indication of God being triune.
- Exo. 3:14-15 – when God came to call Moses, He said, The I AM has sent you…I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob… This indicates that He is Jehovah, the God who has a relationship with man, and He is also the Triune God – the God of Abraham (pointing to God the Father), the God of Isaac (pointing to God the Son), and the God of Jacob (pointing to God the Spirit).
- Num. 6:24-26 – in the blessing of the Divine Trinity for the people of God we see how God wants to bless us, make His face shine upon us, and lift up His countenance upon us. This blessing shows the Divine Trinity – the Father’s blessing, the Son’s face shining, and the Spirit’s countenance is lifted up.
- Isa. 6:8 – The Lord asked Isaiah, Whom shall I send; who will go for Us? The “I” becomes the “Us”, referring to the Triune God.
- Matt. 28:19 – we are charged to baptise people into the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; there’s one name yet three persons, one God called Father-Son-Spirit. All the saved ones are baptised not into three Gods but into one God bearing one name, and His name is Father, Son, and Spirit.
- 2 Cor. 13:14 – in this verse we see the love of God the Father, the grace of Christ the Son, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit; here we see the revelation of the Divine Trinity for the enjoyment of His believers.
- Eph. 3:14-17 – in this portion we see Paul’s prayer for us to experience the Father strengthening us through His Spirit with power into our inner man so that Christ, His Son, may make His home in our heart through faith. The Father, Son, and Spirit are all mentioned for the believers to experience the strengthening for Christ to make His home in their heart.
- Rev. 1:4-5 – here we see the Father as the One who was, is, and is to come; Christ the Son as the faithful Witness; and God the Spirit as the seven Spirits before the throne.
Lord, we give ourselves to You to know You and enjoy You as the Triune God who is dispensing Himself in His Divine Trinity into us for our enjoyment and experience. Grant us a clear understanding and a sober mind with an exercised spirit and a prayerful attitude as we come to the matter of the Triune God and the Divine Trinity. Lord, we want to know You and experience You according to the revelation in Your holy Word. Save us from merely having a doctrinal understanding; bring us into the enjoyment and experience of the Triune God in His Divine Trinity!
It is Worthwhile to Spend Time in Prayer and Study of the Divine Trinity in God’s Word
It is altogether worthwhile for us to spend our time and energy, with a spirit of prayer, to exercise our entire being to conduct a thorough and exhaustive study of the Divine Trinity as revealed in the holy Word of God (Matt. 28:19; Rev. 1:4-5).
In the last two thousand years there have been many debates and arguments among the church fathers, theologians, and Bible students concerning the matter of the Triune God, whether He is three or one, three yet one and one yet three.
Many of these one tried to systematise God, thus creating principles and doctrines that are more confusing than enlightening.
We need to realise that the Divine Trinity as revealed in the holy word is not meant to be studied mentally or systematized for some sort of academic debate; rather, the Divine Trinity is for us to experience, enjoy, and participate in what God is to us.
There have been many debates about God being on the side of three, and some became “Tritheists”, those who emphasise the three-sideness of God.
Such a concept is very prevailing among Christians, for many unconsciously believe there are three Gods.
They may not say it out loud because it sounds crazy, but many genuine Christians believe deep down, subconsciously and unconsciously, that there are three Gods; therefore, when they pray, they pray to the Father God, with the help of the Spirit, and through the Son. Even their own prayer implies that there are three gods, and all three need to be mentioned.
Others, however, argue on the side of God being one, and this is Modalism; they stress that God exists in three “modes” – when the Father is done with His stage, the Son comes in, and when the Son finishes, the Spirit is here.
Modalism is the Triune God existing in three modes or stages.
We shouldn’t argue about these things but simply come back to the word of God and dedicate much time to prayerfully study and enjoy the Triune God in His Divine Trinity.
We have to come back to the holy word of God with a pure heart, in a spirit of prayer, exercising our whole being to have a deeper study of the Divine Trinity.
Then we will realise that, although the Bible contains many explicit teachings (such as the teaching concerning sanctification, regeneration, holiness, etc), the Scriptures do not contain any direct teaching or doctrine concerning the Divine Trinity.
All the mentioning of God being three yet one, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, is not in a doctrine form but always in the way of experience.
If we read the word objectively and clearly, we have to admit that we do not understand, we cannot systematise or formalise the Triune God and His Divine Trinity…and this is what God intends – He doesn’t want us to systematise or formalise the Triune God but enjoy the Father, the Son, and the Spirit!
The Divine Trinity is only indicated throughout the Scriptures in many narrations of divine and spiritual facts such as those in Eph. 3:14-17 and Eph. 4:3-6, and all these are related to our experience.
The fact that the Bible contains no doctrines concerning the Divine Trinity indicates strongly that the Divine Trinity is for God to work Himself into us so that we may partake of, experience, and enjoy Him; this is fully proved by Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14. Hallelujah!
Amen, Lord, we want to spend much time in prayer and study of Your word concerning the Divine Trinity so that we may enter into a deeper and fuller enjoyment of the Triune God in His Divine Trinity! Lord, save us from trying to understand, systematise, or formalise the Triune God; bring us into the enjoyment, experience, and participation of the Triune God in His Divine Trinity! May we and all the believers in Christ be saved from any heresy on the side of God being three or one, and may we be brought into the enjoyment and experience of God in our daily life!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1983, vol. 3, “The Divine Trinity as Revealed in the Holy Word,” pp. 207-209, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallisation-Study of Numbers (1), week 6, The Divine Trinity as Revealed in Numbers.
- Hymns on this topic:
# What mystery, the Father, Son, and Spirit, / In person three, in substance all are one. / How glorious, this God our being enters / To be our all, thru Spirit in the Son! (Hymns #608)
# From my spirit within flows a fountain of life— / The Triune God flowing in me; / God the Father’s the source, Christ the Son is the course, / And the Spirit imparts life to me. (Hymns #1191)
# The Triune God is not for doctrine. / The Trinity is for dispensing. / He’s now dispensing / And we’re enjoying, and we’re enjoying Him. (Song on, The Son with the Father by the Spirit)
