Scratch that. Yeah. I'd say leave it. I'd say leave it too.
Leave it, yeah. Okay. Pushing on that a little bit, do you want to speak to inseparable operations and missions appropriations? I don't know if it's going to come up in the conference, but it fits the background.
Yeah,
Inseparable Operations Explained
inseparable operation simply means that every work external to God is done by the living and true God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As Cam said, it's not parceled out amongst the persons of the Trinity, but everything that happens external to God is done by one God. So it's not Yeah, there's no God Inc., there's no divvying out assignments.
Appropriations and the Persons
Appropriations are when we appropriate certain works to certain persons of the Trinity, not to show that there's a parceling out, but to show the glory of that person and the glory of God Most High as He is triune. So, appropriations are a helpful tool. or a strategy that comes from reading the Bible, we see things appropriated specifically, God as Creator, Son as Redeemer, Spirit as Sanctifier. But that doesn't mean that the Spirit isn't involved in creation or the Father isn't involved in redemption. They're just appropriated to shine the light on that person, and as well to shine the light on something that is true of God in Himself.
The Father is unbegotten, the Son is begotten by the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. So, appropriations give us sort of a window by which we can look into God. Not exhaustively, not everything there is, but that order does affect how these appropriations are beneficial to us. And then I don't remember your third one.
Jeremy Mishins. Mishins.
Missions of Son and Spirit
Mishins speak concerning the Son and the Spirit in terms of their historical work in the salvation of sinners. Galatians 4, for instance, speaks about the Father and the fullness of the time God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born unto the law. That's the temporal mission of the Son from the Father to save His people from their sins. And then on the heels of that, Paul speaks concerning the Spirit being sent by the Father, and as those who affirm the filioque, we would say, the Father and the Son.
So, the Spirit comes in that temporal mission most vividly seen on the day of Pentecost to do the work of salvation, sanctification, and those sorts of things. Which, if you get a few of these things down, as we've said at the Saturday morning as well, seriously, 6 to 10 concepts, that, you know, it's not 60 to 100. This is why ignorance concerning these truths is really, it really... isn't good, because nobody's asking you to split the atom, nobody's asking you to explain the innermost thoughts of God. But with six to ten helpful concepts that the church has recognized and utilized via their own hermeneutic throughout the history of the church, Not everybody's going to be James Dolezal, but you can certainly have a basic response to a Jehovah's Witness at your door that's questioning you about the doctrine of the Trinity.
To just simply say, well, I think it's in the Bible, or my pastor says it's biblical, that's not legit.
Defense of Trinitarian Doctrine
Peter tells us we need to be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks us, and I take that broadly. For a Jehovah's Witness, for an Arian, for a modern-day denier of the Trinity, we should be able to give some expression and definition to what it is that we believe. And
Creeds as Exegetical Guardians
once you jump into these creeds and confessions, and once you jump into classical theism, you will see and be convinced this was not an innovation of man. This was good exegesis of Scripture. When you read in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and that Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Nicaea doesn't make that up.
Nicaea helps protect what John writes under the inspiration of the Spirit.