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Writer's pictureOld Things Pass Away

The Trinity in the Epistle to the Galatians

I read the book of Galatians twice last night (it is now 7/26/22 as I am writing this). As I was reading, it dawned on me that I could actually make an argument for the Trinity from this book of the Bible. Here I will show this argument laid out. First, there is this all-important concept in the book:

Galatians 3:11 ESV ““The righteous shall live by faith.”” So what does that mean to have faith in this context? There is this verse:

Galatians 3:14 ESV “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” "In Christ" we receive "The promised Spirit through faith." Alright, so what does it say about the Spirit? Galatians 4:1–7 ESV

“I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”


It says, "God [the Father] has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts." So it follows that the Spirit is linked to the Son who is linked to the Father, all through faith.

The interesting thing about Galatians 4:6 is that it is ascribing a kind of Fatherhood to Christ in that we are sons of God, but Christ is THE SON and we cry "Abba! Father!" about Christ, who is for us our Father, whom for Christ is as the Son of the Father. So we are crying out to Christ who in the same way Christ calls out to the Father. So then, Christ is higher than we are and He is on the level of God as He is the single offspring of God seen here: Galatians 3:16 ESV “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.” Now, naturally, we see "Spirit" is in the definite article as it is written,


Galatians 4:6 ESV

“God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!””


As said it is "the Spirit" and not "a Spirit" thereby ascribing to it a singularity and the noteworthiness of this is in relation to the Spirit that gives faith. It is by the Spirit that one has faith in Christ. For if Paul is talking about the Spirit of the person, then he would have said "a Spirit" but instead, he says, "the Spirit."


Also, it is reasonable to say it has a definite article because as Christ is "The offspring," "The Spirit" is "The promise of faith." So it is not as though the book of Galatians talks about the promises of God as the three persons of the Trinity as being equal in what their manifestation is, but rather that they are described as different persons as God in the Trinity. For the essence is what the promises are for the heirs of Abraham which is the same in essence as it has to do with faith, but the manifestation of those promises are different. For it says: Galatians 2:15–16 ESV “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” We are justified "through faith in Jesus Christ."

And would it be right to say we place faith in anything less than the deity of God? For goodness sake, no! We have faith in God, not an angel or "a god," but THE God, for it is written, Galatians 3:20 ESV “Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.”


As it says, "God is one." But clearly Galatians 3:20 says there are "more than one, but God is one." So, these that are intermediaries are more than one, but God is one. But we must speak of the promises as it says, Galatians 3:16 ESV “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.” For there are more than one promise given to Abraham. So we see the different promises given to Abraham. It is written, Galatians 3:18 ESV “God gave it to Abraham by a promise.” And this promise was given by the Father, as it is written, Genesis 12:1–2 ESV “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” So it is YHWH who is Giving the promise of the singular offspring, which is the promise of faith in Christ by the Spirit. For it is written, Galatians 3:22 ESV “the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” And the promised Spirit of faith, as it is written, Galatians 3:14 ESV “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”


So we have "received the promised Spirit through faith."


So to conclude, the Father is the director of the promise, and that promise is Christ whom we have faith in not by any works we might do, but through the promised Holy Spirit. Now, the promise given to Abraham was pertaining to faith, and that faith is in the Son, by the working of the Spirit who is an entity in Himself. So the three promises manifest themselves as equal in their essences which is of our faith, but they manifest themselves differently pertaining to that faith. Then, God the Father, is the source of the promise, God the Son is the content of the promise, and God the Spirit is the experience of the promise by which the Spirit has a reality of its own, and all of this is in relation to faith in the One true God. And that is my justification for the Trinity in the epistle to the Galatians. God Bless you! Until next time!

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