Chapter 5: Puritans on the Trinity
Pages 90-95
Mutual indwelling
"Among the three persons there is eternal communion and mutual delight" (90). There is a "community of Deity" in which the Three are a "delight to themselves" (Leigh - 90), and a "society among themselves" (Goodwin - 90). Proverbs 8:30 says wisdom was with God and a delight to Him daily. I was surprised they didn't quote John 17:24, that "You [Father] loved Me [Jesus] before the foundation of the world."
Works of God outside Himself are not divisible among the Persons of the Trinity. Who raised Jesus from the dead? Father (Rom 4:24), Son (John 2:19; 10:17-18), and Spirit (Rom 8:11)! There may be distinctions, or operative emphases. The Father is the source, the Son carries on the work planned, the Spirit completes. The Incarnation happens to the Son. But all of God is involved in His every act.
Eternal Generation
There are works of God within Himself that CAN be assigned to specific Persons of the Trinity. The eternal generation of the Son by the Father is one, and the proceeding of the Spirit from the Father and Son is another. God the Father has eternally given to the Son the divine essence - see Psalm 2:7; John 5:25-26; 17:5. This is from eternity into perpetuity, so there never was a time when the Son did not exist.
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