THE ESSENTIAL AND ECONOMICAL TRINITY
In church history certain terms were invented in order to describe the relationship between the three of the Divine Trinity. The term essential Trinity describes the oneness which exists among the three of the Divine Trinity. The term economical Trinity describes the distinction between the three of the Divine Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are absolutely one in essence. This is the essential Trinity. But in God’s economy to carry out His purpose of dispensing Himself into His chosen people, He is three. This is the economical Trinity. In His economy, the Divine Trinity is distinctly the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father planned, the Son redeemed through His vicarious death, and the Spirit seals the redeemed ones (Eph. 1:4-14).
AFTER THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST,
THE SPIRIT OF GOD, THE THIRD OF THE DIVINE TRINITY, BECOMING THE LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT
After the resurrection of Christ, the Spirit of God, the Third of the Divine Trinity, has become the life-giving Spirit as the aggregate of the Divine Trinity, the consummated, compound Spirit of the processed Triune God, even the consummation of the processed God (1 Cor. 15:45b; John 7:39; Matt. 28:19b; Phil. 1:19b; Rev. 22:17). The life-giving Spirit is too great. He is the aggregate, the totality, of the Divine Trinity. The aggregate of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is the life-giving Spirit. He is the consummated, compound Spirit of the processed Triune God.
The life-giving Spirit as the compound Spirit is composed of a number of elements compounded together. This compound Spirit is typified by the compound ointment in Exodus 30:23-25. A hin of olive oil, which was the base of the ointment, was compounded together with the spices of myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia. The oil typifies the Holy Spirit, and the four spices typify Christ’s humanity and divinity with His death and resurrection. The life-giving Spirit includes many elements just as many modern medicines are compounded with different elements in order to heal certain illnesses. The life-giving Spirit has been compounded with the Holy Spirit as the base, and the humanity, divinity, death, and resurrection of Christ as the elements.
Today the Holy Spirit, the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, is the consummation of the processed Triune God. If we would experience God today as the consummated God, we have to experience the Spirit. Day by day, morning until evening, our Christian life, our Christian walk, and our Christian experience are all a matter of enjoying the consummation of the processed Triune God, who is the life-giving Spirit. From the day that I saw this, my whole Christian life was revolutionized.
In Genesis 1 the Divine Trinity is indicated (vv. 1, 26), but the Bible does not give a clear word concerning the Trinity until the resurrection is consummated. In resurrection the Triune God was fully processed. As the consummated Triune God, He is available for people to be baptized into Him (Matt. 28:19). As the life-giving Spirit, He is also the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19). Today the Spirit of Christ is the bountiful supply of the divine-human person of Christ, the cross of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ. Eventually, the Bible closes with a declaration from the consummation of the processed Triune God, the Spirit, and from the perfection of the transformed tripartite man, the bride (Rev. 22:17). The consummated Triune God and the perfected tripartite man are married. They become the unique couple in the universe.
(The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man, Chapter 15, by Witness Lee)
