by Brandon D. Smith
The Son of God took on flesh and dwelt among us (John 1). He lived a perfect, sinless life and was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. In his resurrection and ascension, he secured our resurrection and intercedes for us in the heavenly realm. This is all true — and yet he does not do any of this work alone. Throughout the New Testament, he describes his unity with the Father as the sent Son, the purpose of the Holy Spirit as the one sent from the Father and Son, and so on. We know from a cursory reading of Scripture, then, that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are always at work in an inseparable way. In theological terms, we call this the Trinitarian doctrine of inseparable operations.
The Trinitarian doctrine of inseparable operations is a helpful tool for understanding the Trinitarian unity between the three persons as described in the biblical text. This unity and distinction is most clearly shown in the triune God’s activity in creation and salvation. When one person of the Trinity acts, it is a unified act between all three. Because the Son and Holy Spirit are sent from the Father in salvation—primarily the Son becoming incarnate and the Holy Spirit being poured out at Pentecost—the personal distinctions are still maintained. For example, the Father doesn’t put on flesh and dwell among us, the Son does.
This doctrine of inseparable operations, then, offers a category to talk about how Father, Son, and Holy Spirit always act with one divine power, authority, and will. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons but not divided persons. Salvation, for instance, is the work of the one God, and that one God acts distinctly and yet inseparably as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And even when a biblical passage might only emphasize one or two persons acting, this doesn’t mean that the unnamed person of the Trinity is off taking a heavenly nap. Instead, we understand the biblical affirmation that God is never divided or separated, and thus the persons are always at work.
The resurrection is a good place to see inseparable operations in action.
Who Raised Jesus from the Dead?
When we consider the scope of New Testament data about Christ’s resurrection, we run into inseparable operations without trying to. If you were to ask who raised Jesus from the dead and then search the Scriptures for an answer, you’d find passages like these:
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. — John 2:19-21
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father. — John 10:18
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you. — Rom 8:11
Paul, an apostle—not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. — Gal 1:1
Through him you believe in God , who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. — 1 Pet 1:21
He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit. — 1 Pet 3:18b
Like many passages related to the doctrine of inseparable operations, rarely is a divine action said about all three persons in the same verse. Nonetheless, a responsible reading within particular books and within the larger canon bring together a more unified picture. In this case, we see that the answer to our question—who raised Jesus from the dead?—is answered by naming all three persons.
Did the Father raise Jesus from the dead? Yes. Did the Son raise himself from the dead? Yes. Did the Holy Spirit raise Jesus from the dead? Yes.
The doctrine of inseparable operations gives us a grammar for speaking about this type of biblical claim. Though there is one resurrection of the Son, nonetheless it is an action of all three persons.
Trinitarian Unity and Christ’s Resurrection
Now that we have shown briefly and clearly the doctrine of inseparable operations in the resurrection, a set of parameters can help us make sense of it (as best we can, finite as we are):
1. There is one divine nature. There are not three Gods, but one God (Deut 6:4). As such, the doctrine of inseparable operations is tied to the affirmation that there is one God with one power, authority, will, and so forth who acts in history.
2. There are three persons who subsist in the one divine nature. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God but they are not each other. As such, we have to recognize their personal distinctions, that is, that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons who are in real relations with one another—the Father is unbegotten, the Son is begotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from them.
3. Jesus the only-begotten Son was raised from the dead. The Bible never indicates anywhere that the Father or Holy Spirit took on flesh and dwelt among us. This is only applied to the person of the Son. This personal distinction is crucial; Scripture describes each person as fully God and acting in one accord, but never indicates that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are merely “masks” of the one God, rather than real distinct persons.
4. The triune God raised Jesus from the dead. Because there is one God who acts inseparably—he’s not divided or confused—all actions of God are actions of the divine persons. Nonetheless, within this unity, there are distinct persons who act with that same divine power, authority, and will because they are each fully and truly God. As such, we can say that the resurrection was an act of the triune God, while also affirming that the Son is truly a distinct person who alone was raised from the dead.
Theological Tools for Right Reading
Given Scripture’s breadth and depth and beauty, theological tools help us summarize or conceptualize large chunks of biblical data. The doctrine of inseparable operations is one tool that helps us affirm the unity and distinction of the triune God that is present in the biblical text. This tool is not an imposition on right reading of Scripture, but rather helps make better sense of the Bible’s portrayal of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as the one God.
We have a perfect and sovereign triune God who mysteriously and graciously works all things for his glory and our good. As we read the Scriptures and plumb their depths, we can be comforted and encouraged by the hope of the resurrection, enacted and secured by our triune God. “Salvation is the Lord’s,” says the psalmist (3:8), and that Lord is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
