IV. Of the Holy Trinity.

This one God (Deuteronomy 6:4) is more definitely revealed in Holy Scripture (John 1:18) and distinguished as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 17; Isaiah 48:16; Matthew 3:16, 17; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6), yet with the added declaration that these three are one.

The Father is presented to us as the author (John 5:26; 17:5, 6) and source of all things (1 Corinthians 8:6), of whom, in an inscrutable manner, the Son is begotten (Psalms 2:78) from eternity (John 1:1, 2), before all creatures. Colossians 1:15,16.

The Son is the Father's eternal word and wisdom (John 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:24; Colossians 2:3), through whom all things are (Colossians 1:15, 16), the effulgence of the Father's glory and the very image of his being. Hebrews 1:2, 3.

The Holy Spirit belongs, as a divine entity, to the essence of God. He is as well the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20) as of the Son (Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:9), and proceeds from the Father and from the Son (John 15:26) as the mighty worker of all divine and spiritual things. Philippians 1:19.

We profess that these three are not divided or separated from one another, but united and one (John 10:30) in essence as well as in will and operation, since the same names, attributes and works are predicated of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, so, too, the same divine regard, as the Saviour so explicitly commands to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), and as also every believer has need of the grace, love and communion of these three (2 Corinthians 13: 14), for which reasons equal honor and equal service are due them (see of the Son - Luke 24:52; John 5:23; 14:23, 24; Philippians 2:10, 11; Revelation 5:12. Of the Holy Spirit Ephesians 4:30; 1 Corinthians 3:16).

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