Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

8. The Names of God and the Holy Trinity 

Lloyd Jones says, “A name, stands for who the person really is; his character, his propensities, and perfections” (80). Through the names of God, we are able to know the character of Him. 

a). The first category of God’s names describes “God as a transcendent God, great and high and mighty and uplifted in His glory” (81). For instance: * El: “This means being first, being supreme. It carries the idea of strength and of power—mightiness” (80). * Elohim: it “is plural in form. This again carries the idea that God is someone who is to be feared as well as someone who is powerful, and this is the name that God generally uses when He is speaking of Himself in terms of creation” (80). * Elyon: it means “the high and exalted One. * Adonai: it means “the mighty Lord, the Ruler to whom everything is subject and to whom people are related as servants. . . . used by God when addressing the children of Israel” (81). 

b). The second category of God’s names is “designed to show the relationship of that exalted, eternal, almighty being to His creatures and His creation” (81). * Shaddai: “this describes God as possessing all power in heaven and in earth. . . . emphasises his great and mercy ” (81). * Yahweh (Jehovah): the best name of all; it means that “God describes Himself as I am that I am” or “I shall be what I shall be” (81). This describes God’s “unchangeableness, and especially His unchangeableness in His relationship to His people” and “God is the self-existence One” (81). This is “the great covenant name of God” (81). * Jehovah-sabaoth means “the Lord of hosts” (1 Sam. 1:3)—the angelic hosts (82). * Jehovah-jireh: “the Lord will provide” (Gen. 22:14). Jehovah-ropheh; the Lord that heals (Exod. 15:26). * Johovah-nissi: the Lord my banner (Exod. 17:15). * Jehovah-shalom: the God of peace (Judges 6:24). * Jehovah-ro’eh: the Lord my shepherd (Psalm 23). * Jehovah-tsidkenu: the Lord our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6). * Jehovah-shammah; the Lord is present: “the Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35). * Emmanuel: “the greatest name of all”; this means “God with us, the mighty ruler, the eternal God, who has come down among us and into time” (83). 

The other section of this chapter is about the great doctrine of the Holy Trinity. First of all, Lloyd Jones brings up the concept about the eternal God as love. Lloyd Jones expounds, “if the eternal God is love, then He has always loved, before creation, before time”; that is, “the three blessed Persons in the Trinity have loved one another perfectly from all eternity” (85). It is affirmed in the Bible that there is only one true and living God (See Deut. 6:4; John 10:30; Jas. 2:19). While God is one, “He nevertheless exists as three Persons” (86). (See John 1:1; Romans 9:5; Colossians 2:9 ). Furthermore, it is found that the “attributes are ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ which can only be ascribed to God” (87). For instance, “His eternity” (John 8:58), “His holiness; also His life” (John 5:26 & 17:2), “His immutability” (Heb. 13:8), “His omnipotence” (Matthew 28:18), “His Omnipresence” (Matthew 28:20), “His omniscience” (John 2:25 & 1:48, 5:27). 

In addition, the Holy Spirit is God. The Bible tells us that Ananias was put to death because he lied to the Holy Ghost (Acts 5:34), and the Bible tells us that “[e]very sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven” (Matthew 12:31). Also, through reading the baptismal formula (Matthew 28:19) and apostolic benediction (2 Cor. 13:14), it is certain that the Bible asserts that the Holy Spirit is God. 

There are also some implications of the Holy Trinity in the Old Testament: for instance, the name Elohim is a plural term. In the following verses, we can see that when they refer to God, they use a plural term which implies that there are three Persons in One. (Genesis 1:26 & 3:22, 11:7, and Isaiah 6:8). 

The relationship between the three persons is this: “They are co-eternal” and “there is no subordination” (90). Lloyd Jones brings up a term to describe the co-equal and co-eternal God who is actually three Persons in One: that is, economic God—“The Son has put Himself at the disposal of the Father, and the Spirit has put Himself at the disposal of the Father and the Son. The Spirit does not speak Himself, but testifies the Son. The Son did not speak of Himself, but received His words and His works from the Father, though He was equal and eternal—the economic Trinity” (91). 

Lloyd Jones reminds us that the doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery; it is beyond us, but it is true. We must receive this truth humbly as the little children receive the truth.