Preeminent Role of God the Father in the Trinity: What about the Council of Nicea and the Nicene Creed?

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Preeminent Role of God the Father in the Trinity: What about the Council of Nicea and the Nicene Creed? - Part 1B

by Karl Kemp
7/27/2016 / Bible Studies

EARLIER PAPERS THAT DEAL WITH THE TOPIC OF THIS PAPER TO SOME EXTENT. I have dealt with the Trinity, including the preeminent role of God the Father in earlier papers. I won't repeat much of that information in this present paper, so if you want the full picture you should read those articles first. These papers/articles are all available on my internet site (Google to Karl Kemp Teaching). The first paper was "Who Do We Worship? (Oneness/Jesus-only Worship Songs)," published in 2007 and slightly revised in 2009 and 2011, 20 pages. The primary point I try to make in the first paper is that we should worship God the Father first and foremost because He has the preeminent role in the Trinity. Yes, we must worship the Son of God (and the Holy Spirit), but I believe something is wrong when most of the worship (including the words of the worship songs) is directed to the Son, the Lord Jesus, which often happens in our day in many places.

I deal with the fact that much of this has come from the influence of oneness Christians, who don't believe that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit exist as distinct Persons; they believe there is only one Person, Jesus. For one thing, as I document in this paper, many of the popular worship songs used by those who believe in the Trinity were written by oneness Christians. You cannot expect them to write songs to worship God the Father, when they don't believe He exists as a distinct Person.

I'll quote two paragraphs from the Introduction of the first paper: It is super-important for us to believe the balanced truth of what the Bible teaches on every topic, but some topics are more important than others, and what the Bible teaches about God is certainly one of the most important topics. All of us Christians need to humble ourselves before God and seek Him for the balanced truth of what the Bible teaches. It's unbelievable how many different opinions we have on essentially every topic, and (amazingly) just about everybody knows that somehow they and their group already have the balanced truth, even if nobody else does. Much theology has been done in the flesh, which includes pride, and there is a strong demonic input. We desperately need the balanced truth! Every error damages the body of Christ (some errors cause great damage) and robs God of glory, glory we owe Him. Things wrong in the body of Christ also make it more difficult for people to come to know God and His truth and salvation through the church.

It's a great blessing to learn that we have been believing and/or doing something wrong. Then we have an opportunity to make the necessary corrections, which will work for the glory of God and for our great good. We certainly don't want to learn after this life is over that we were believing and/or doing things wrong.

The third paper that I wrote on this topic (but I'll list it second) is "Who Do We Pray To?" (published in July, 2011, 33 pages). I'll quote the first six pages, which serve to introduce the topic of the paper:

This paper can stand by itself, but it was written to supplement, and to help confirm, two of my papers that have already been written, "Who Do We Worship? (Oneness/Jesus-only Worship Songs)" and "The Name Yahweh and God the Father and God the Son: The Name Yahweh and Listing of Some of the Large Number of Passages in the Hebrew Old Testament Where We Can See God the Son Along with God the Father." (We'll look at that paper next.) The information contained in those papers also supplements and confirms what is written in this paper. Also, after working on this paper, I decided that I need to write another companion paper, "More on the Trinity: Some Key Passages from the New Testament Where We See the Full Deity and Preexistence of God the Son with God the Father and Some Key Bible Passages Used to Teach a Oneness View of God." (We will discuss that paper as we continue.)

An understanding of God the Father and God the Son (and the Trinity) is extremely important. We are dealing with a topic at the very heart of Christianity. This topic is also controversial. ((I had a footnote: "For one thing, the devil does everything he can do to confuse our understanding of Christianity, very much including what it teaches about the triune God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We must humble our hearts and seek God for the balanced truth of what the Bible teaches on this super-important topic. We have to be very careful who we listen to.")) It seems to me that the Bible, though it doesn't answer every question, clearly teaches the Trinity. And this has been the orthodox view of Christianity from the beginning. (This is not to say that the early orthodox Christian writers agreed on every detail.) The Trinity was not clearly revealed in the Old Testament, but when we read the Old Testament in the light of the New Testament, we can see God the Son many places throughout the Old Testament. See the paper that is listed next: "The Name Yahweh and God the Father and God the Son." That paper and this present paper are for the most part limited to the Persons of God the Father and God the Son, but I fully agree that the Bible (especially the New Testament) teaches the full deity of the Person of the Holy Spirit.

We must have a biblical understanding of the Trinity. We cannot define the Trinity to fit our ideas, as it often happens in our day. I'm often amazed when Christians tell me what they think the Trinity means. We must avoid the idea of three Gods, for one thing, but we must also understand that the Bible (especially the New Testament) clearly teaches three distinct Persons who speak to one another, and about one another, and interact with one another in various ways. All three Persons always existed (before our world and time were created), and they always will exist. God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are fully deity with God the Father, not having been created. Each of the three Persons has different roles, and God the Father is clearly preeminent in His role, as this paper [and all of these papers] demonstrate. For one thing, the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit both intercede for us before God the Father. What a blessing!

When I speak of God the Father being eternally preeminent in His role, I mean the same thing as when I speak of God the Son being eternally subordinate to God the Father in His role. For the Lord Jesus to be eternally subordinate in His role does not mean that He is inferior. The fact that God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are eternally subordinate to God the Father in their roles helps explain why Christians don't think in terms of three Gods. Three Persons, Yes! Three Gods, No! The preeminent role of God the Father is strongly emphasized in some verses. See, for example, John 14:28; 17:1-5; Rom. 16:26, 27; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; 11:3; 15:27, 28; Eph. 4:4-6; Phil. 2:5-11; 1 Tim. 1:17; 2:5; 6:13-16; and Jude 1:24, 25. These passages (and there are quite a few more similar passages) are all quoted in this paper. In 1 Tim. 1:17, for example, God the Father is called "the only God." The apostle Paul is not denying the full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ (or the Holy Spirit) in 1 Tim. 1:17, but he is emphasizing the eternal preeminent role of God the Father, as he (and other writers of the New Testament) does on occasion. We don't have to deny the eternal preeminent role of God the Father to believe in the full deity of God the Son (and the Holy Spirit). We desperately need the balanced truth of what the Bible teaches!

It is important for the reader to understand (to believe) that I am not writing this paper to attack anyone. Quite the opposite! I very much want this paper to be a blessing to all the people of God. I'm praying that many (as many as possible) will be blessed by this paper and (anywhere it is required) will come to a more balanced view of what the Bible teaches on this super-important topic. It is a great blessing to come to a more balanced view of what the Bible teaches on every topic. For one thing, it is far better for God to correct us now than when we stand before Him at the end of this age. We desperately need the balanced truth of what the Bible teaches on every topic, and the topic of this paper is very important. For some, this paper will serve to confirm what they believe already. First and foremost I want this paper to please God and to accomplish His purposes, by His grace, and for His glory. In Jesus' name! Thanks be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit! Anywhere I am missing the balanced truth I want to be corrected.

The New Testament teaches, as I will demonstrate in this paper, that Christians should typically pray to God the Father in the name of Jesus. The primary reason we should typically pray to God the Father is because of His eternal preeminent role in the Trinity. We are exhorted to look to God the Father for everything we need, including our asking for things in prayer, through our saving union with God the Son, in and by the indwelling Spirit of God. Even when we don't say the words "in the name of Jesus," and that is very common in the New Testament, it must be understood that our relationship with God the Father and our access to Him as His born-again children has come to us, and is maintained for us, through the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning death. Of course, there could not have been an atoning death if not for the salvation plan of God the Father and the incarnation of God the Son through the virgin Mary and by the Holy Spirit. Our salvation also required His resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of God the Father, His receiving from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, and His pouring forth the Spirit, starting on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2:33, for example).

We desperately need unity in the body of Christ (which embraces all true Christians), but it must be unity in the truth. We cannot unite to any significant or satisfactory extent unless we unite in the balanced truth of what the Bible teaches on the basic doctrines of Christianity. I am not saying, however, that we should remain aloof from other Christians until we fully agree regarding the Trinity, for example. But the Trinity is a very important topic because our God is a very important topic. Many (or most) of us Christians need to humble ourselves and seek God for the balanced truth of what the Bible teaches. I have observed over the years that many (or most) Christians have the mistaken idea that they already are holding the balanced truth on all the basic Christian doctrines, and they have closed their minds. We should not assume we have it right because we have been taught a certain view and we have a few verses that seem to back up what we believe on a topic. We could be misinterpreting those verses (that often happens with true Christians), and we desperately need the BALANCED truth of ALL that the Bible teaches on each topic. Furthermore, we should not assume that we have everything right just because God has blessed us and used us. He is merciful, for one thing.

One reason I decided to write this paper is that I see more and more Christians praying to Jesus most of the time, if not all of the time. And I'm speaking in large part about Christians who would say they believe in the Trinity. Does it make any difference who we pray to? (Does it make any difference who we direct our worship to?) Does it really make any difference what the New Testament has to say on this topic? Based on what the New Testament teaches, I have to believe it makes a very significant difference. We should typically pray to God the Father because this is the pattern established in the New Testament, as I demonstrate in this paper. And, significantly, this pattern is based (at least to some significant extent) on the fact that (even though the full deity of God the Son and God the Spirit is clearly taught in the Bible), God the Father has an obvious preeminent role in the Trinity, according to the Bible (very much including the New Testament).

This paper strongly confirms what I said in my paper, "Who Do We Worship? (Oneness/Jesus-only Worship Songs)." This present paper, by itself, should suffice to demonstrate that God the Father and God the Son (and the Holy Spirit) are distinct Persons in the Trinity and that God the Father has the preeminent role. (For one thing, in most of the passages that are quoted in this study, God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are mentioned as distinct Persons.) It seems clear to me that the Bible shows that, even as we should typically pray to God the Father, we should worship God the Father first and foremost, including in our worship songs. The more we are in divine order, the more God (and His Son and the Holy Spirit) will be glorified and His will will be accomplished in us and through us.

I am not suggesting that if we don't make it a top priority to deal with this problem that everything is going to fall apart, but I believe this is a serious problem that we need to HUMBLY and PRAYERFULLY deal with. For one thing, this problem seems to be getting worse all the time. We have to start somewhere. I am not the judge, and I didn't write this paper (or any of my papers) to attack any Christians, including Christians who deny the Trinity (and who say, for example, that Jesus [one Person] is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). I wrote this paper to exhort every true Christian, and especially ministers, to seriously consider the balanced truth of what the Bible teaches on these super-important things.

Clearly this topic is controversial, but we cannot afford to ignore such important topics. We aren't competent to fully understand the Trinity, and especially not during this present age before we are glorified, but there is no excuse for the large amounts of error, confusion, and controversy that exist in our day among true Christians. All of us, and especially ministers, need to humble ourselves and seek God for the balanced truth of what His Word teaches on this topic, and on every topic.

This article is limited, for the most part, to what the New Testament teaches regarding "Who Do We Pray To?" My procedure was to read through the New Testament (most of it twice) and list the passages that seemed relevant to the topic. I didn't list every passage that mentions prayer addressed to God the Father, but I listed most of them, except for in the Gospels and the book of Revelation. I don't believe I missed any passages where prayer was addressed to the Lord Jesus. (If I missed any it was not on purpose.) For this study, I'm using the word prayer in a full sense that includes addressing thanks or praise or glory directly to God the Father or God the Son.

I skipped many of the prayers in the Gospels for this study. Many of those prayers are prayers of Jesus to God the Father, and apart from the glorious words of the apostle Thomas to the resurrected Christ in John 20:28, "My Lord and my God," there aren't any prayers addressed to Jesus in the Gospels. Also, I didn't include any passages from the book of Revelation. I didn't notice any passages that are especially relevant to this study. For one thing, so much of the worship in the book of Revelation addressed to God the Father, and sometimes to God the Son, comes from the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders (who are high-level angelic beings), multitudes of angels, etc.

In this paper I'll typically quote the passages I list, often with some discussion, always aiming for the balanced truth of what the New Testament teaches. You might argue about my interpretation for a few of the passages I listed, but most of the passages are so clear that I don't think there is much room to argue. The New Testament is quite clear on this topic, for which I am thankful.

This study confirms that it is biblical to pray to Jesus (which serves as a very strong confirmation of His deity), but that most of our prayers should be addressed to God the Father. I found five prayers addressed to the Lord Jesus in the New Testament, and two prayers that were addressed to both God the Father and the Lord Jesus, for a total of seven prayers addressed to the Lord Jesus. (Actually, as I'll explain below, I found eight prayers addressed to the Lord Jesus, but since two of those prayers are different because of the context I'll just count them as one prayer for the purposes of this study.) Seven prayers is ten percent of the total number of prayers I listed (sixty-eight). Sixty one of the prayers, ninety percent of the total number of prayers, are addressed to God the Father. It really isn't very important for this study whether eighty-seven percent, or ninety percent, or ninety-three percent of the prayers are addressed to God the Father. I am not looking for scientific precision in this study. (If I counted eight prayers addressed to the Lord Jesus that would yield twelve percent of the prayers being addressed to Him.)

Five of the prayers that are addressed to Jesus are found in Paul's epistles to the Thessalonians, and significantly, both of those epistles confirm the eternal preeminent role of God the Father. Another prayer addressed to Jesus is found in a brief, but important, doxology in 2 Tim. 4:18. I also included the prayer that Stephen prayed to the glorified Lord Jesus, who appeared to him in a vision while he was being stoned to death (in Acts 7:54-60). And I included the glorious words that Thomas spoke to the resurrected Lord Jesus in John 20:28, which can be considered a type of prayer, using the word prayer in a broad sense. Because the resurrected Jesus appeared to Stephen and to Thomas it was very natural that they would pray to Him, rather than to God the Father, I thought it would be reasonable to count those two prayers as one prayer for the purposes of this study.

The results of this study are about what we should expect since the Bible makes it clear that the Lord Jesus Christ is eternally subordinate to God the Father in His role as Son; in His role as the One through whom God the Father created all matter, beings, and things; in His role as our great high priest at the right hand of God the Father, etc. As I mentioned, this paper also confirms that God the Father and God the Son (and God the Holy Spirit) are distinct Persons in the Trinity. And we can learn a lot about prayer from the passages that are quoted in this paper.

A comment on the Use of the Words "God" and "Jesus" in the New Testament: The name Jesus is used 911 times in the New Testament. The name is always used of God the Son. (The name Jesus is used for another man in Col. 4:11.) It is never used for God the Father, or the Holy Spirit, or the Trinity. The Greek noun "theos" is translated God or God's 1,294 times in the New Testament. Out of all those uses there are some five to ten uses (depending on how a few verses are interpreted) where the word is used of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man. We are very thankful for those few verses that powerfully demonstrate the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. We should also be thankful for the fact that those verses typically make it clear that He is a Person distinct from God the Father. (Maybe there is a better word to use than Person, but I don't know of any better word to use.)

I'll also quote three paragraphs from "Some Concluding Summarizing Comments": I don't believe we would have any problem if ten percent of the prayers in our day were being addressed to the Lord Jesus Christ, or probably not even if it were twenty percent. We do have a problem, however, when most of the prayers, if not all of the prayers, in many circles are being addressed to the Lord Jesus. We can't do better than follow the pattern established by the Word of God, which is based (at least to some significant extent) on the rather strongly emphasized preeminent role of God the Father taught in the Bible. I should also mention that if we should pray to God the Father first and foremost, which we should, we should also worship Him first and foremost too. God the Father has an eternal preeminent role in the Trinity, and I am totally convinced that the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit say Amen! to that.

I suspect that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the Person most concerned about His being in the spotlight that God the Father should be in. And although God the Father is certainly concerned for the glory of His unique Son, I am sure that He cannot be satisfied when things are out of divine order.

I am very thankful for the verses that demonstrate that it is biblical for us to pray to Jesus. For one thing, as I mentioned, those verses serve to further confirm the super-important deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is so often challenged by the devil and those who listen to him in our day, and throughout the history of Christianity. This is the end of what I'll say here regarding my paper "Who Do We Pray To?" I recommend you read the paper, and all of the papers on the super-important topic of God.

We will finish Part 1 of this paper with Part 1C.

Copyright by Karl Kemp

http://www.karlkempteachingministries.com Karl Kemp worked as an engineer in the space field throughout the 60s. He became a born-again Christian in 1964. He received an MA in Biblical Studies in 1972. He has been a Bible teacher for 45 years. See the website for more info on his books, papers, etc.

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