Why do the current reformers get upset when I say the Trinity is God revealing himself in three different ways or modes? They reject that as modernism and heresy, yet they refer to Trinity as three Persons who are one. It seems to me that the three persons description of the Trinity sounds much like three gods.
Let me begin by saying it is not just “reformers” who reject your view that “God reveals himself in three different ways or modes”; this “heresy” is rejected by all true born-again believers in Christ who believe the true doctrine of the Trinity. We (who believe in the Trinity) believe that “God is ONE God who at the same time subsists in THREE Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I could quote many verses which confirms this truth, but the clearest verse is Matthew 28:19 where Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the NAME of the FATHER and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT” (NKJV). Notice, Jesus used the word NAME in the SINGULAR for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit because they are ONE GOD who is made up of THREE PERSONS.
Before I prove that each of these three Persons are God (NOT “three gods”), I want to give a definition of the doctrine that you hold, which has been called either the “Oneness Doctrine” or “Modalism.” If you Google the word “Modalism” it is says, “Modalism….is a theological view that God is one person who revealed himself in different ‘modes’ or ‘manifestations’ rather than three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) as understood in Trinitarianism. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not separate and eternal persons within the Godhead, but rather different roles or aspects that God takes on at different times.” It goes on to say that God is one being, but that this one being manifests in different ways, such as God the Father in creation, God the Son in redemption, and God the Holy Spirit in sanctification. They strongly deny the existence of three distinct persons, arguing that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not eternally co-equal and co-existent.
Let’s consider scriptures that teach that each Person is ETERNAL and CO-EQUAL (sharing the same Divine Attributes of OMNISCIENCE and OMNIPRESENCE):
1) Each Person is ETERNAL. Psalm 90:2 states, “…. from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” Hebrews 1:8 says, “But to the Son He (the Father) says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” And in Hebrews 9:14 we read, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through THE ETERNAL SPIRIT offered Himself without spot to God.”
2) Each Person is OMNISCIENT (all-knowing): It is said of the Father in 1 John 3:20, “God is greater than our heart, and KNOWS ALL THINGS.” It is said of the Son in John 16:30, “Now are we sure that YOU KNOW ALL THINGS.” It is said of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 2:10-11, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God…No one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Each Person is OMNIPRESENT (present everywhere): The Father says in Jeremiah 23:23-24, “Am I a God near at hand…and not a God far off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth? The Son says in Matthew 18:20, Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” And of the Holy Spirit we read in Psalm 139:7, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I fell from Your presence?”
I will close by asking questions which reveal the absurdity of not seeing that God is made up of distinct Persons. When Jesus (the Son) was in the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed, “O My FATHER, if it is possible, let this cup pass from ME; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” The Oneness/Modalism Doctrine teaches that God can only take on ONE FORM AT A TIME, so how could Jesus be “the Son” and “the Father” at the same time? Later, Jesus (the Son) prayed to the Father on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Was the Son talking to Himself and if so, then He was in TWO FORMS at the same time! And moments later we read in Matthew 27:46-47, “And about the ninth hour Jesus (the Son) cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?’” Did the Jesus FORSAKE HIMSELF and then ASK HIMSELF WHY HE DID? This is absurd, to say the least. This is why the ONENESS/MODALISM DOCTRINE is HERESY and all who believe it will be damned. “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 John 22-23). (DO) (688.3)