Without something resembling classical Trinitarian theology and a Chalcedonian understanding of Christ, the entire gospel narrative will assume a different character. The Creator will not be allowed to exceed His works and the deity of Christ, a truth revealed through the gospel narrative, will be radically constrained by His human nature. The economic and immanent distinction and the distinction between Christ’s human and divine natures exist to protect the integrity of creation and salvation as realms of God’s free self-revelation, rather than His necessary being. If we abandon these distinctions on account of an anti-speculative Biblicism, the very gospel narrative that we seek to uphold may begin to unravel. If Jesus of Nazareth is truly divine, then his human nature, and the obedience that is proper to it, would seem to be freely assumed, rather than definitive of His divine nature. The biblical revelation of the deity of Christ compels us to engage in the sort of theological reflection that the creedal tradition has pursued.

Alastair Roberts, “ARID SCHOLARS” VS. THE BIBLE? A THEOLOGICAL AND EXEGETICAL CRITIQUE OF THE ETERNAL SUBORDINATION OF THE SON” in God of Our Father’s: Classical Theism for the Contemporary Church, ed. Brad Littlejohn, 118.