Second Corinthians 3:17 says that “the Lord is the Spirit.” The creeds have neglected this point. The proponents of tritheism say that “the Lord” here is actually “God,” who is generally referred to as “the Lord.” However, if we read 2 Corinthians chapters one through four, we must admit that “the Lord” mentioned in 3:17 is the Lord who died and resurrected and who has been made both Lord and Christ. The sentence “the Lord is the Spirit” was written as a continuation of “the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” Now the Lord, who died, resurrected, and ascended to heaven, is the Spirit. This point has not been mentioned in any of the creeds. Yet in the New Testament, in particular in the Epistles written by Paul, it has been thoroughly disclosed (Rom. 8:16, 23, 26-27; Gal. 3:2, 5, 14; 6:8).
The third shortcoming of the creeds is that they do not mention the seven Spirits. Revelation 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; and 5:6 all mention the seven Spirits. We cannot blame the Nicene Creed for not referring to the seven Spirits, since the book of Revelation had yet to be recognized at that time. However, after the recognition of Revelation in A.D. 397, the point concerning the seven Spirits was not added to either the Chalcedonian Confession of Faith or the Athanasian Creed. This indicates either that the people at that time did not see it or that they did not value or understand it and therefore did not dare to touch it or speak about it. However, this is a matter of great significance because it is mentioned in the last book of the Bible as a conclusion. In this conclusion, the Spirit of God has become the seven Spirits.
Isaiah 9:6 says, “For a child is born to us, / A son is given to us;... / And His name will be called... / Mighty God, / Eternal Father.” The orthodox Bible expositors all acknowledge that the “child” here refers to the Lord Jesus, whose name would be called the Mighty God, and that the “son,” of course, refers to the second of the Divine Trinity, yet His name would be called the Eternal Father. This item is of great importance in settling the truth concerning the Divine Trinity, yet it is also omitted from the creeds.
In the text of five verses in John, the Lord Jesus repeatedly said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me” (14:10, 20; 10:38; 17:21, 23). This shows that the Son coinheres with the Father. In John 8:29 the Lord said, “He who sent Me is with Me.” Also, Luke 4:1 says that “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit.” These verses prove that when the Son was living on the earth, the Father and the Spirit were with Him; the three were coinherent and not separated. This item, which is crucial to the truth concerning the Divine Trinity, is only implied but not clearly mentioned in the creeds.
Hebrews 1:3 says that the Lord Jesus is “the effulgence of His [God’s] glory and the impress of His substance.” Colossians 1:15a and 2 Corinthians 4:4 both mention that Christ, the Son of God’s love, is the image of God. Since the Son is the image of God, how can we say that the image of God is one person and the Father is another person? Are your image and you one or two? Can you say that a certain brother’s face and the brother himself are two? That the Lord is the Spirit, that the Son is called the Eternal Father, and that the Son is the image of the Father-all these truths are extremely important yet they are lacking in the creeds.
In Zechariah 3:9 and 4:10 and in Revelation 5:6 we can see that the “stone” and the “Lamb” both refer to the Lord Jesus and that the “seven eyes” upon the stone and of the Lamb refer to the seven Spirits of God; hence, the Spirit is the eyes of the Son.
The proponents of tritheism assert that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three persons, each One standing alone. The Bible, however, says that the Son is the image of the Father and the Spirit is the eyes of the Son. This is too marvelous. It is true that the image and the person are distinct, but they cannot be separated; likewise, the eyes and the person are distinct but inseparable. The image is for expression, and the eyes are for transmission. The Son as the image of the Father expresses the Father; whereas the Spirit as the eyes of this “image” transmits the Son. Hence, the three-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-are distinct, just as a person himself, his image, and his eyes are distinctly three. Yet the three are one and cannot be divided. This is where the mystery of the Triune God lies.
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