I was doing a study in a theology class and we started talking about the Trinity. What I have written here is simply a compilation of thoughts that have come from much reading and several different books. What I have discovered is that the doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most difficult and yet one of the most essential doctrines in the Christian faith. The word trinity is a Latin word meaning “tri-unity” that was most likely coined by Tertullian. Trinity is a word that cannot be found in Scripture because the word isn’t used, however, we use it today in order to describe what it means that God is three persons, and yet one God. The doctrine of the Trinity is a concept that developed to defend and portray the nature of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as revealed in Holy Scripture. It remains true that the Bible teaches us that God is three persons, each person is fully God, and there is only one God, however, the problem comes when we try to understand this or put it into words. The doctrine of the Trinity and its implications are essential to the Christian faith and to the salvation of lost sinners. The church needs to understand the nature of the trinity from the perspective of the bible, understand the danger of faulty views of the trinity, and understand how this applies to our lives.
Elements that make the doctrine of the Trinity what it is are found in both the Old and New Testaments. In the creation account of the Bible there is some indication of the existence of the trinity found in the way God refers to Himself in the plural form, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” Genesis 1:26. This is also found in Genesis 3:22 and Genesis 11:7. It is also suggested in several different passages that more that one person is called the Lord in the Old Testament. In Hosea 1:7 the Lord speaks and refers to “the Lord their God” whom he is sending to deliver them and in Psalm 110:1 David refers to two separate people as “Lord” which Jesus later identifies in Matthew 22. The Holy Spirit is seen as distinct from God himself in Isaiah 63:10 and in Isaiah 48:16 “God has send me and his Spirit”. Christ could be seen as distinct from God and the Holy Spirit when he is referred to as wisdom in Proverbs 9:1-6 and Job 28 and the Word of God in Psalm 119:89 and Isaiah 55:10.
While there are several areas that reveal God as being more than one person in the Old Testament, there is a greater understanding of this found in the New Testament. There is a distinction between Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God when Jesus is baptized in Matthew 3:16-17. Jesus is Baptized, the Spirit descends upon Christ, and God says from heaven, “This is my beloved Son”. The three distinct persons are put on the same level as each other when Jesus tells his disciples to go and baptize all nations in the name of “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19. There are numerous verses that refer to each person of the trinity separately in the same sentence including 2 Corinthians 13:14 and Ephesians 4:4-6.
In understanding the Old and New Testament accounts of the trinity the church has also confirmed through the years the truths of the doctrine of the trinity so as not to contradict or diminish Scripture. Tertullian started some of the thought on the trinity when he established God as being three persons who were complete deity and yet they have no independent existence apart from the three persons. He wrote against Praxes who believed the God head was one, but existed in three roles or modes that did not occur at the same time. This is what became known as Modalism. The problem with this view is that it denies the personal relationships within the trinity and therefore it contradicts a large part of Scripture. God who sent his Son to die and was pleased to see Him crushed now becomes simply an illusion, Jesus dying on the cross now becomes God dying and we lose the personal element of God, the Son, and the Spirit working together in unison.
Some other views that fall short of Scripture include Arainism which says Jesus was created and therefore is not divine, Subordination which assumes that the Son is not equal to the father, Adoptionism which states that Jesus was a normal man until adopted at his Baptism, and Tritheism which denies that there is only one God and sees the trinity as three separate Gods. Each of these views fall short in Scripture and affect our faith and salvation in Christ. To deny the deity of Christ is to destroy every aspect of what we believe as Christians, and to deny that there is only one God is to confuse and convolute Scripture in such a way that destroys worship, loyalty, devotion, and obedience to what the Bible refers to as the one true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. No church or group can deny the trinity and remain thought of as Christian, which makes this an important doctrine that should be taught and understood in the church.
So how do we as Preachers of the word who believe in this doctrine make clear to the lay person of the church the importance and bibical integrity of something so seeming complex and difficult? Basically if this is so important to our christianity why have we moved of away from promoting such an ideal?
My personal opinion? Many move away from such doctinral teaching in order to avoid conflict. Anything that is difficult to deal with or harder to understand we shy away from to avoid battles within. The thing is, who can truly understand the complex relationship of the trinity? No one. And yet the Spirit of God teaches and leads us to understanding and acceptance of it none the less, which makes “learning” or “accepting” such a difficult doctrine less difficult. We look at it from the perspective that the pastor has to make the congregation understand, when in fact that is not the pastors job. Preachers of the word give the information and the Spirit provides understanding.
Fortunately i agree with you on our job as preachers of the word to just be the voice God uses you speak through. I think Calvin said “God uses our voice to convey his message because if he were to speak to us directly we would be destroyed.” So i definately think we have a responsiblity to teach these things our congregations but at the same hand not to be discouraged if some don’t understand because some are just not relying on the holy spirit to teach and are trying to wrap there worldly brains around a Godly Concept. Great post I would post and comment more often if you talk more about your theology classes.
Too Bad.
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