The closing section of this second chapter of the Confession contains a statement regarding the triune nature of God. "In the unity of the Godhead," it states, "there be three persons..." The statement is a simple one, and one which has been reinforced in the minds of generations of children through the teaching of the Shorter Catechism, that "There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one God..." Yet the familiarity of the words belies the fact that it took the church almost six hundred years to formulate a biblical doctrine of the Trinity.

It was as a result of theological controversies in the church that such doctrine was codified and systematized. The two factors at the root of much conflict and debate, and which contrib­uted to discussion of the issue were, on the one hand, the unity of God, and, on the other, the deity of Christ. The ancient confession of the church had been "Jehovah, our God, is one Jehovah" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Yet even in the Old Testament, in, for example, the plural form of the name for God, and in pas­sages like Isaiah 61:1 ('the spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me…') there are clear traces of a more-than-oneness in the Being of God.

A full discussion of the historical evolution of this doctrine, and the implications of it, can be found in Berkhofs The History of Christian Doctrines or Cunningham's Historical Theology. As far as the Old Testament revelation is concerned, B.B. Warfield's words adequately summarise the position:

The mystery of the Trinity is not revealed in the Old Testament; but the mystery of the Trinity underlies the Old Testament revelation, and here and there almost comes into view. Thus the Old Testament revelation of God is not corrected by the fuller revelation which follows it, but only perfected, extended and enlarged.'The Biblical Doctrine of the Trinity' in Biblical and Theological Studies, p.30

And as far as the position undergirding the writings of the New Testament is concerned, Warfield goes on to say that "The God of the Old Testament was their God, and their God was a Trinity, and their sense of the identity of the two was so complete that no question as to it was raised in their minds" (pp.31-32).

The confessional doctrine is that there is one God, on undivided and one indivisible divine Being. At the same time, there is plurality in God; specifi­cally, there is tri-unity. There is distinc­tion between the Persons of the Godhead, so that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God, but the Father is not the Son or the Spirit, the Son is not the Father or the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father or the Son.

These distinctions are not just pedantic peculiarities of theological thought. Various aspects of our salvation are ascribed to the Persons of the God­head: the Father gave the Son, the Son died to redeem, the Spirit applies the redemption. At no point is there depend­ence on the creature. It is God who saves, with a salvation all of grace. So Prof. Finlayson has it: "To faith God appears, not as a being in isolation, unfeeling, unthinking, uncaring, the personification of selfishness, but as a Trinity of co-equal Persons in the fellowship of eternal love" (Reformed Theological Writings, p.242).

God the Father⤒🔗

In order to do justice to the grand theme of the fatherhood of God, we must appreciate the various senses in which fatherhood is ascribed to God.

Creational Fatherhood←↰⤒🔗

In a unique, controlled sense, which must be guarded and carefully defined, we can speak of a fatherhood which is universal. Paul quotes the pagan poets to demonstrate that 'we are his offspring' (Acts 17:28). In the provision of care and of supply for his creation every day, God bears a relationship to His world analo­gous to that of a father.

Theocratic Fatherhood←↰⤒🔗

In another sense, God was Father to Israel. This He states explicitly at Jeremiah 31:9: "I am a Father to the house of Israel", and at Hosea 11:2: "When Israel was a child, then I loved  him, and called my son out of Egypt".

It is a question of debate as to whether, or to what extent, this relation­ship still stands. God has not cast away His people (Hosea 11:2), and the bless­ings foretold for the Jewish people do give us a warrant to support evangelism among those who at present still have a vail over their understanding in the reading of the Old Testament.

Adoptive Fatherhood←↰⤒🔗

In a unique, gracious sense, God is Father to His people. The captain of salvation will bring sons to glory. The apex of their spiritual privileges is the possession of an inalienable sonship.

The blessings attached to this unique relationship include the privilege of addressing the holy God as 'Father'. They include intimacy, fellowship, access, provision, education and discipline. They bring an obligation of love into the Christian life, so that by coming out and being separate God's sons and daughters the more enjoy the blessings of his fatherly love (2 Corinthians 6:17).

Eternal Fatherhood←↰⤒🔗

It is this aspect that is particularly in view in our study of the First Person of the Godhead - the relationship He holds to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), and who "hath begotten us again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3).

The doctrine of the eternal Father­hood is clearly revealed in the earthly ministry of the Son. As Warfield puts it, "He has much to say of God His Father, from whom as His Son He is in some true sense distinct, and with whom He is in some equally true sense one" (Biblical and Theological Studies, p.37).

It is interesting that it was the unbe­lieving Jews of Christ's own day that fully appreciated the implications of His claim to equality with God the Father: "the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5:17). This puts paid to the claims of many modern sects that the sonship claimed by Christ in some way speaks of inferiority and subordination. In fact, divine Father­hood and divine sonship speak of equality, not of disparity.