A Moment of Trinitarian Truth Outsiders have attacked the doctrine of Trinity, the central, all-encompassing doctrine of our Faith for centuries, positing that its origins are un-biblical. Unitarians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Oneness Pentecostals, and even liberals calling themselves Christians advocate that the doctrine of the Trinity arose due to the profound influence of Greek Philosophy, also referred to as Hellenization, in the Christian church since the time of the second century. Nowhere, they say, can the doctrine of the Trinity be found in the pages of Scripture. The Trinity, though indeed a mystery, is not a contradiction. There is no contradiction in a belief of a divine essence shared by three co-equal, co-eternal persons. Again, it is truly a mind-boggling mystery, but it is not a contradiction. Now, if a person follows the line of thinking by those who don’t believe in the Trinity, then yes, they will see that it is a contradiction. Those who have been shaped by a theology rooted in the wisdom of man, as those cults are, will only see a tainted and marred picture of the beautiful doctrine that we Christians cherish. The world is a reflection of the Trinity. It is because of the Trinity that we understand and know that the most treasured aspect of life for human beings—personal relationships—are only that way because of the Trinity. The Trinity reveals to us that God is love (1 John 4:8). And that love is reflected in the relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit. God can only be love if there is a personal relationship to demonstrate love through. We know that God is not contingent on anything outside of himself, so he did not need man to demonstrate love in order to be love. The Trinity is the means for God to be love, not contingent on anything outside of the Godhead. And love is shared between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Love, the love deeply rooted that we yearn for and is in us, requires a Triune origin. The Trinity, Broughton Know says, is “other-person-centered.” He continues, “Eastern religions popular in the Western world today have the same concept of reality. Their followers are invited to ‘mediate on yourself, worship yourself, repeat the mantra going on within you; God dwells within as you.’ The doctrine of the Trinity contradicts and corrects these modern thoughts and attitudes. It teaches that reality seeks the welfare of the other person. Reality is good, it does not serve itself but serves others. And since this is ultimate reality, any philosophy of life or any social theory which contradicts this reality will certainly be running into the shadows” (The Everlasting God, pp. 62-63). I so often encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ to be reading the pages of Scripture with Trinitarian lenses, looking at the different roles of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in God’s plan of redemption. Now, while there are plenty of stand-alone texts speaking of the deity of Christ and the Spirit, I truly enjoy the moments when God reveals to me texts that I have not seen before, revealing and strengthening the truth that the Trinity is a doctrine directly and only from Scripture. I am indebted to Broughton Knox for this ‘moment of Trinitarian truth’ in which he points to three verses from three different Gospels in which each author records the inerrant word of Christ speaking about the future persecution Christians will face. Matthew writes, “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (10:20). Mark writes, “ And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit” (13:11). Luke writes, “ for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict” (21:15). What do we see in these texts? We see that in the future time of persecution, the Spirit of the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus will speak words of wisdom through God’s children in their time of persecution. The writers of Scripture, recording the words of Jesus, are all attributing the same action to each person of the Trinity. Up to this moment, I had not made the correlation yet. Some of you may have already made these connections, but for me it was a new refreshing, invigorating moment to see another testimony in Scripture of the unified yet distinct work of our Triune God. Praise be to God—Father, Son, and Spirit—the blessed Trinity.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 03:22:35 +0000
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