In the charge and commission which our Savior gave to his
disciples--Matthew xxviii, 19--he said: "Go and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost." The Gospel was a covenant or conditional offer of
salvation to men. Baptism was the appointed ordinance by which men
were to be admitted into that covenant, by which that offer was made
and accepted. This being to be made with God himself, the ordinance
must, of course, be made in his name; but Christ directed that it
should be performed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost, and therefore we conclude that God is the same as the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Since baptism is to be performed
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, they
must be all three persons. And since no superiority or difference
whatever is mentioned in this solemn form of baptism, we conclude that
all three of these persons are of one substance, power, and eternity.
The Apostolic benediction teaches the same doctrine. Paul uses this
language: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and
the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you." The manner in which
Christ and the Holy Ghost are here mentioned clearly implies that they
are persons, for none but persons can confer grace or fellowship, and
these three great blessings of grace, love, and fellowship being
respectively prayed for by the inspired apostle from Jesus Christ, God
the Father, and the Holy Ghost, without any intimation of disparity,
we conclude that these three persons are equally divine. This solemn
benediction is certainly a clear proof of the doctrine of the Trinity,
since it acknowledges the divinity of Jesus Christ and of the Holy
Ghost.
THE TRINITY.
1. GOD'S NAMES HAVE, IN HEBREW, PLURAL FORMS, _and are connected with
plural modes of speech_.
GEN. I, 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
GEN. III, 22. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one
of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and
take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.
GEN. XI, 7. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language,
that they may not understand one another's speech.
2. THREE PERSONS, AND THREE ONLY, ARE SPOKEN OF UNDER DIVINE TITLES.
NUM. VI, 24. The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
25. The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
ISAIAH VI, 3. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy,
is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
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