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Ask FGBC #42: What Words Aren't In The Bible But Help Protect Its Teachings?

Jim Butler · 2025-05-10 · 928 words · 7 min

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Summary

Qa

The church rightly employs extra-biblical theological vocabulary — such as Trinity and consubstantiality — because God has given language and his Spirit to articulate and defend what Scripture teaches, and the refusal to use such terms historically enables heresy rather than protects orthodoxy.

Scripture and theology regularly employ concepts that require precise extra-biblical vocabulary to guard against error and heresy. This Q&A session works through a range of theological terms — Trinity, consubstantiality, partitive exegesis, inseparable operations, and more — explaining why the church has historically coined and defended such language rather than restricting itself to bare biblical words. The discussion traces how heretics from the Arians to the Anomeans exploited the refusal to use extra-biblical terms, and why the apostolic mandate to 'earnestly contend for the faith' requires the full use of theological grammar inherited from the church's confessional tradition.

Key quotes

Words like Trinity that are given by men are usually forged within the fires of controversy.
God has given us language. He has given us his spirit and the use of our words in order to articulate what the Bible says with regards to important aspects of doctrine.
Am I justified because I believed? No, I'm justified through faith in the object believed on.

Applications

  1. Invest the time to learn the theological vocabulary the church has inherited — a 137-page introduction to the Trinity is within reach for anyone with modern conveniences.
  2. When discussing the doctrine of God or Christ, use the precise terms the church has forged — Trinity, consubstantiality, partitive exegesis — rather than retreating to bare biblical words alone.
  3. In thinking about justification, keep causes and consequences clearly distinct: faith is the instrument through which we are justified, not the ground of our justification.
  4. Earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints by mastering the theological grammar that guards it.

Questions this sermon answers

Why does the church use words like 'Trinity' that aren't in the Bible?

Extra-biblical terms like Trinity are coined to precisely articulate and defend what the Bible actually teaches, especially against heretics who exploit the bare words of Scripture to promote error.

What is consubstantiality and why does it matter?

Consubstantiality is the term affirmed at Nicaea to declare that the Son is of the same substance as the Father; it is one of the most important words in church history for protecting the doctrine of God.

What is partitive exegesis?

Partitive exegesis is the practice of interpreting statements about Christ by distinguishing whether they apply to him according to his human nature or his divine nature.

How is justification different from being saved because you believed?

Faith is not the cause or ground of justification but the instrument through which the sinner is united to Christ, the object believed on — the distinction between cause and consequence matters enormously for right doctrine.

Did the Arians oppose extra-biblical theological language?

Yes — the Arians resisted words like consubstantiality precisely because such terms closed off the dishonest handling of Scripture that their heretical position depended on.

Okay,

Introduction: Extra-Biblical Words

what are maybe six to 10 words that aren't in the Bible that help protect its meaning? And this has come up a few times in our theology study recently, right? So I thought, hey, let's record this. What are those handful of words?

For the Trinity and the discussion? Okay, okay. Yeah, I guess there's other words like inerrancy, there's canon, there's the omni words. Yeah, yeah.

Well, with that question, yeah,

Trinity

the first word that immediately comes to mind is the word Trinity. That's a word not used in the Bible, outside of the Bible, which of probably the entire list, that is probably the most important one. And, you know, it reflects the Christian Church articulating what the Bible says in order to protect what the Bible says, and usually in these sorts of cases, against error. Words like this that are given Words like Trinity that are given by men are usually forged within the fires of controversy.

And so they're faced with those who are opposing what the Bible teaches, and so they use words outside of the Bible to protect what's in the Bible. And Trinity is a perfect example in order to, it's a blessed word that reflects the reality that the Bible teaches that there is one God who does eternally exist as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And it's a very helpful word to not only positively present the doctrine of God, but also negatively, apologetically, and polemically defend the truth of the Bible, that God himself reveals in the Bible that he is one. And he is one in one sense and three in another sense.

If you're just asking for a list of words with the assumption that people are going to go find the meanings, I would say when it comes to Trinity discussion, yeah,

Trinitarian Vocabulary

inseparable operations, appropriations, missions, notions, consubstantiality, the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, Yeah. There's not a lot. You know, again, the illiteracy on the doctrine of God, it's really It's not justifiable. The Saturday morning book we're presently studying is Scott Swain's Introduction to the Trinity.

I did a page count the other day. It's 137 pages. I mean, we have all these modern conveniences. We got phones that do everything.

We got washing machines that don't happen to be our wives. We got dishwasher. We can't find time to read a 137-page book.

Partitive Exegesis

Partitive exegesis is another one. Partitive exegesis. Definitely look that one up. I haven't learned that one yet in a few years of theology.

Basically, it's ascribing to Christ, the one person of Christ in two natures. He does things according to his humanity. He does things according to his divinity. That's partitive exegesis.

So, you're familiar with the concept. You just didn't know that identifier. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, and Jim mentioned

Consubstantiality and the Arian Controversy

consubstantiality after the word Trinity. That's probably one of the most important words in the history of the church. And the use of an extra biblical term like that or a word outside of the Bible, what we have seen in the history of the church is that heretics, errorists, those who oppose truth, very often oppose the use of extra-biblical words. And one of the reasons that they oppose them is that they can't then dishonestly handle the Word of God.

Because at the time, for example, of the Nicene Creed, One of the points of opposition by the Arians was the use of words outside of the Bible to protect what was inside of the Bible. The defenders of Nicene theology, or we could simply say the defenders of Christianity, the defenders of truth of what the Bible says, very quickly learned that the Aryans, for example, and the radical Aryans, the Unomians that would follow them, were using the Bible, using the simplicity, we could say the naked words of the Bible, in order to try to articulate and defend their heretical notions of what they thought the truth was. And obviously they're mishandling the Bible in so doing and not articulating what the Bible, what God in his word is actually communicating. But the defenders of truth very quickly realized that, you know,

The Legitimacy of Theological Grammar

God has given us language. He has given us his spirit and the use of our words in order to articulate what the Bible says with regards to important aspects of doctrine. And if we just simply think about the act of preaching, if we weren't allowed to use words outside of the Bible, we would never be able to preach a sermon. We wouldn't be able to pray to God in any way other than by words which are inside of the Bible.

And so God expects and anticipates, and we might even say in the scriptures that we have apostolic command to use words outside of the Bible to protect it, earnestly contend for the faith. which was once for all delivered to the saints. And so words like this are absolutely important and we have received throughout the centuries a theological grammar that has been handed down to us by men who have vigorously defended the truth against error. Yeah. I'd say

Causes and Consequences in Justification

causes and consequences, too. When you get to justification, what's a cause? What's a consequence? Basic grammar terms.

Yeah. Basic stuff. You know, so many of our problems in theology are bypassing basic stuff. Am I justified because I believed?

No, I'm justified through faith in the object believed on. There's causes and consequences, or causes and effects, or, you know, the big stuff.

Scripture References

  • Jude 3

Study notes

Theological terms

  • Appropriations
  • Canon
  • Consubstantiality×3
  • Hypostatic Union
  • Inerrancy
  • Inseparable Operations
  • Justification×2
  • Missions
  • Notions
  • Partitive Exegesis×3
  • Sola Fide
  • Trinity×6

People cited

  • Scott Swain