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Catechism Buzz: Beyond Mere Orthodoxy

14 March 2011 by Matt Gumm

Q. 11. How does it appear that the Son and the Holy Ghost are God equal with the Father?

A. The Scriptures manifest that the Son and the Holy Ghost are God equal with the Father, ascribing unto them such names, attributes, works, and worship, as are proper to God only.

That Jesus is God is not merely doctrine—a belief that serves as a test of orthodoxy; it gives us encouragement to know that it is no mere human being who intercedes on our behalf with God. We have no need of a human priest, because we have the great high priest, who is God Himself (Thx, Hebrews).

In the same way, we understand that God lives in tents not made with hands, but He tabernacles with us by living in us. The Holy Spirit is able to dwell inside of all believers because, as God, He is omnipresent. It is for this same reason that David can testify that there is nowhere he can go to escape God's Spirit—not because the Spirit is like a bloodhound, able to sniff out a man wherever he might go—but because wherever he might go, God the Holy Spirit is already there (Psalm 139).

So it is that the teaching about the three persons of the Trinity being co-equal is not dry orthodoxy, but rather practical and encouraging to believers, as God in three persons works out His plan of salvation in the lives and hearts of His people.