Doxology Doctrine: Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided: the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on Him.
-Second London Baptist Confession, 2.3, Of God and the Holy Trinity
Introduction
The final declaration of praise in the beloved Doxology extends from God the Father to include God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in this “all of creation” adoration. This final and climactic line of song brings a foundational doctrine to the hearts and minds of the worshiper. Although the doctrine of the Trinity is just as beautiful as it is foundational to Christianity, it is also easy to muff (or handle clumsily). Therefore, as God’s children offer praise to their Triune God while singing the Doxology, let them also firmly grasp and possess the scriptural meditations of the doctrine’s origins.
The Great Shema and John 10:30
This Hebrew instruction derives its name from its first word, shema, which means “hear.” Moses writes, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4). Many scholars today affirm this passage as the Jewish confession of faith. In fact, this verse so transcended the Jewish faith that when Jesus, over 1,000 years after Moses, was asked, “What commandment is the foremost of them all?” Jesus began his reply by stating, “Hear O Israel, The Lord Our God is one Lord” (Mark 12:28-29).
On another occasion, Jesus also spoke of the oneness of God the Father. In John 10:30, Jesus states, “I and the Father are one.” There is perhaps no more explicit passage of scripture than John 10:30 to derive a conclusion that God the Son must receive the same magnitude of praise as God the Father in worship. Furthermore, the Jews standing near, who most assuredly knew the Great Shema, “picked up stones again to stone him” (John 10:31). These Jews knew of the oneness and unity of God, however, they did not believe in God’s oneness and unity with His only begotten Son. This rejection comes despite Christ’s plain and direct proclamation in John 10:30. However, by coupling Christ’s affirmation of the Shema with his declaration of Divinity in John 10:30, one concludes that “Yahweh is a plurality in unity – or to put it another way, Yahweh is the triune God.”[1]
The Holy Spirit
John’s Gospel also testifies to the Holy Spirit’s inclusion within the Trinity. In chapter 14, John writes, “Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (v. 23). How is it that God the Father and God the Son make their abode with those who keep their Word? Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!
Romans 8:9-10 states, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.”
First, notice that Paul contributes to a Trinitarian understanding by using the phrases “Spirit of God” and “Spirit of Christ” interchangeably. Next, take note that Paul uses the phrases “God dwells in you” and “Christ is in you” interchangeably. These verses display the means by which God and Jesus make their abode with believers as taught in John 14:23. Lastly, these verses testify to the inclusion of the Holy Spirit within the Trinity.[2]
Additionally, in John 15:26, Jesus once again testifies that Yahweh is the triune God, stating, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me.” The Second London Baptist Confession summarizes this relationship as follows, stating, “the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, all infinite, without beginning” (2LBC 2.3, Of God and the Holy Trinity).
Application
When the people of God cry out, “Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,” they have the blessing of meditating on the Great Shema to reinforce the unity of Yahweh. God’s people can also rewind and rehearse the words of the Savior in John 10:30, who declares, “I and my Father are one.” And lastly, the public and private worshiper rests in the comfort of knowing they belong to God because the very Spirit they worship is the One who indwells them (Romans 8:9-10). These examples of how scripture and doctrine inform our worship serve as one application of what it means to “worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).
Series Conclusion
This series aims to bring God glory by providing His people with rich doctrinal content to meditate on when they sing the Doxology. Hopefully, when you sing line one, you praise God for the blessings of salvation, sustenance, and suffering. Lord willing, when you sing line two, you transition your heart from a declaration of praise to a summons upon all of creation to worship their Creator. Perhaps, when you sing line three, your heart will echo the seraph in Isaiah 6, who declares that the Lord of hosts is “Holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3). Lastly, may your heart stand in awe as you worship God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit who delight in receiving praise from all who would sing these words before the throne of grace:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
Notes:
[1] Rhett Dodson, “The Significance of the Shema,” Tabletalk Volume 47, No. 7 (July 2023): 64.
[2] Sinclair Ferguson’s article titled Union with God the Trinity helped iron out my initial thoughts on the scriptural basis for the Holy Spirit’s belonging within the Trinity. The article can be found at https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/union-with-god-the-trinity.
