Bruce Ware on the Importance of Trinitarian Doctrine

In his book, Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Relationship, Roles and Relevance, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Professor Bruce A. Ware makes the foundational observation,

"God cares that we know who he is and he longs for us to understand him rightly, according to what he has revealed in his Word." (23)

Previous to the quote above, Dr. Ware begins his book by listing 10 reasons why it is important to study and rightly understand the Trinity. Two of these reasons are:

· Worship of the true and living God consciously acknowledges the relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (17)

· The triune relationships of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit cause us to marvel at the authority-submission structure that exists eternally in the three Persons in the Godhead, each of whom is equally and fully God. (21)

For Scriptural proof of the first point quoted above, Ware cites Ephesians 1:3-14,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (ESV)

Of this passage, Ware points out that (among other things) we are predestined by “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” “according to the purpose of his will,” “through Jesus Christ,” and we are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”

In regards to the second point cited, Dr. Ware quotes 1 Corinthians 11:3,

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. (ESV)

This passage demonstrates that our understanding of the equality yet submission found in a wife’s relationship towards her husband is based upon the pre-existing equality yet submission found in Christ’s relationship towards God. This relationship between Christ and God, I may add, has existed from eternity, as seen in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” and in John 17:5, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

My prayer is that everyone reading this blogpost will be stimulated to further study the eternal relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that the truth of God’s Word will vitally impact the way in which You glorify God and serve others in Jesus’ name.