Theological Musings: The Trinity

At church this weekend a brief conversation came up about the Trinity. Here is something I wrote during seminary on the Trinity and its Biblical basis that might be helpful for us all.

While the doctrine of the Trinity remains a mystery, it is an essential element of Christianity. Examination of the Bible leads to the conclusion that there is only one God. The Shema attests that God is one (Dt 6:4) and the 10 commandments prohibit the worship of any other God (Ex. 20:2-3).

Various authors of the New Testament reaffirm the uniqueness of God (1 Cor 8:4-6; 1 Tim 1:17, 2:5; Jam 2:19). While the Bible is clear on God being one, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all deemed deity. The deity of the Father is the least disputed of the three and his divine activity is seen throughout Scripture (Ps 89:26, Mt 6:26-32; 1 Cor 8:4-6). Jesus’ proclaimed his identification with God the Father (Jn 14:9-11). Other statements he made were considered blasphemous because it implied his equality with God (Mt. 26:63-65).

Further, Paul and the author of Hebrews attest that Jesus’ nature is that of God himself (Phil 2:5-11, Heb 1:3). Evidence for the divinity of the Holy Spirit exists in the charge against Ananias when the Holy Spirit is later interchanged with God (Acts 5:3-4). Further, it is the Spirit of God who knows the very thoughts of God and dwells in Christians making them the temple of God (1 Cor 2:10-11, 3:16-17).

Clearly the Bible affirms the unity of the deity and yet distinct persons who comprise this single God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not individual gods (tri-theism), nor is there only a single person who is playing multiple parts (modalism). Instead, there is a diversity within unity. While all three members of the Trinity can be seen throughout the Old Testament, the New Testament more clearly affirms the unity and diversity of the Godhead. Jesus’ charge to the disciples to baptize all people in the name (singular) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit shows the unity and yet distinct persons (Mt. 28:19).

In addition, many of the New Testament writers offer greetings, blessings, and prayers that call on the different persons of the Trinity to act in Christians lives (2 Cor 13:14; Eph 1:3-14, 3:14-19; 1 Pet 1:2; Jude 20-21). While it is difficult to fully comprehend how three individual persons can be one, the Bible clearly points toward this reality and it has strong implications on how Christians worship and minister. The Trinity reminds us that not all members of the Body of Christ need to function in the exact same role or capacity, but that individuality can be expressed. While individuality is present within the Body of Christ, Christians must strive to maintain unity much as exists in the Trinity and as desired by Jesus (Jn 17).

Preaching the Gospel on Death Row

From Justin Taylor:

John Piper writes about the opportunity to preach the gospel to prisoners in Louisiana’s Angola Prison, the largest maximum-security prison in America. Pray for those who heard the Word–especially for four of the men who were on death row. Piper personally preached the gospel to “G.B.,” who is scheduled to be executed soon.

The story of Angola is a fascinating and encouraging one. In the 14 years since Warden Burl Cain has been at the helm, it has gone from the bloodiest prison in the US to one with a virtual church and seminary within its walls.

For more on the story, see this profile in Decision Magazine, and/or the following book: Cain’s Redemption.

Ray Ortlund on "sharing in Christ's sufferings."

Peter denied Jesus, to preserve himself physically (Mark 14:66-72). Later he denied the gospel, to preserve himself socially (Galatians 2:11-21). But by the time he wrote his first letter, his heart had been set free: “I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it” (1 Peter 5:12).

What is “the true grace of God”? Not survival, physical or social, but the privilege of sharing in Christ’s sufferings that we may also rejoice when his glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:13). Whatever life thrusts upon us, the true grace of God is to stand firm in that hard place and embrace identification with Jesus.

Treasure

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field (Matt. 13:44).

Do you notice that the man in this verse not say his motivation was simple duty or obligation, but rather JOY? It is not out of compulsion that we serve, give, and let go of things for Jesus. It is because that is where more joy than anything else in the universe lies.

Seek your joy today in Jesus and his Kingdom. And in doing so you will find greater joy and pleasure than anything this world has to offer.

Watson on Prayer

“When the arrow of a saint’s prayer is put into the bow of Christ’s intercession it pierces the throne of grace.”

—Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1997), 183

The Goal Of Parenting

The Gospel Coalition blog has an excellent post on what Biblical parenting and its end is. I would recommend all of us read it and think about it for our lives.

Please know that even if you are not a parent right now, odds are you will be one day and that you play a key role in the lives of all the children at Calvary and are a part of their training in maturity.

What is your goal in parenting? Is it to have well-behaved kids? Is it to produce good citizens? Is it to make sure your kids get a great education so that they may do well in school and land a great money-making job and have a fulfilling career?

Perhaps you have a noble, Christian goal like seeing your children profess faith in Christ. What does the Bible teach us regarding the role of biblical parenting and its goal? Allow me to answer this question by first addressing two other related issues. Before we can even talk about the goal or purpose of biblical parenting, we must understand a specific pre-requisite.

The Pre-requisite of biblical parenting: The truths of God must first be on our hearts.

We cannot pass on to our children what is not first in our own hearts (Deut. 6:6). This means that moms, dads, grandparents, teachers, ALL of us must saturate ourselves in the Word of God. We must seek God and thirst after God as in a dry and weary land (Psalm 63:1). And where has God revealed Himself but in His Word? We must continually listen to and receive God’s instruction in His Word as illuminated by the Holy Spirit of God. When we stand firm in God and His Word, when we are saturated in the Word of God, when we are embracing His will, then we can share that with others; only then can we practice biblical parenting.

The Practice of biblical parenting: We must pass on what we know about God, His Word, His work, and His ways to the coming generations.

God has established His testimony; He has given us His word; and He has commanded that we teach these truths to our children (Psalm 78:5). As a matter of fact, we are to teach these truths to our children with great diligence, taking advantage of every opportunity the Lord grants us (Deut. 6:7).

Just what exactly should we be teaching our children? The psalmist answers: we are to teach our children God’s Word, work, and ways not just for the sake of Bible knowledge but for the sake of a personal knowledge of a powerful God. We are to share with our children the praises of God; we are to remind them of His strength in delivering us from death and for daily struggles; we are to tell them of His wondrous works from creation to redemption to personal answered prayers! Do you share with your children the wonders of God’s glory and might? When we show and teach and tell our children of the awesome God of Scripture who is alive and at work in our meager lives, we are practicing biblical parenting and approaching its goal.

The Purpose of biblical parenting: That the coming generations might put their hope in God.

The goal or purpose of biblical parenting is not mere Bible knowledge or well-behaved kids; the true goal of biblical parenting is that the coming generations may not forget God but instead, set their hope in God (Psalm 78:7). We should be painting such a large picture of God in our homes as we talk about Him and His strengths and His wondrous works and His glory, that our children would have confidence in God, not in this world or the things of this world. Note this well, our goal is not simply that OUR children would hope in God, but that the coming generations would hope in God-our grandchildren and great grandchildren. Can you imagine what a legacy we would leave if we passed on such truths to our children and their children.

Grace

“Only two things have ever changed the human soul: the fall and grace, the power of Satan and the power of God. And God is infinitely more powerful. Nothing is stronger than grace. Satan doesn’t have any. God is defined by it.” Larry Crabb, Connecting.

Where Does Right And Wrong Come From?

I have long been a geek for all things apologetic. I think it is not only the calling of Christians to be able to give an explanation for their faith, but it is deeply beneficial to your faith and your affections for Jesus to understand that Christianity is true and rational.

Stand To Reason, a Christian apologetic ministry, is in my opinion the best out there for equipping the average Christian to understand the reasons behind their faith.

Today on their blog they have an excellent post on how evolution is unable to rationally explain where morals come from. It is worth your time to read.

Dinesh D'Souza does a good job critiquing attempts to explain morality in Darwinist terms. Morality, along with consciousness, remains one of the stubborn features of reality that we all know intuitively, which cannot be explained in purely naturalistic terms. The lack of explanatory power in Darwinism is called "the grounding problem."

One key point about the catalog of evolutionary arguments D'Souza cites is that evolutionary explanations always change the definition of what we're talking about in morality. D'Souza notes one way this is done by pointing out that the morality we want explained is prescription; but any scientific explanation, by the very nature of science, will be descriptive. Science can only observe and explain what occurs in nature. It doesn't have the capacity to explain why morality has a prescriptive incumbency on us that the laws of nature don't have. We have moral duties that are quite different in nature than the law of gravity, for example. We follow the law of gravity, but we don't have a prescriptive moral duty with the subsequent moral guilt if we don't obey it.

Here's another way the terms are changed in evolutionary explanations. Note in the article that each and every attempt to give an evolutionary account for morality has to change any self-sacrificial and altruistic act a selfish explanation because that's the only way evolution works. Survival of the fittest produces "selfish genes," as Richard Dawkins coined it. But if so-called self-sacrificial and altruistic acts actually have a selfish explanation for how they evolved, then they really aren't sacrificial or altruistic, are they? The definition has been changed because evolution can't explain morality.

Free Desiring God Audio Book!

Desiring God, by John Piper, is a book that has had a profound impact on my understanding of the character of God and how we as humans are called to live in relationship with Him. This month you can download the Desiring God audio book for free from Christian Audio.

I would highly recommend this resource for your own growth and edification.

It Is Well With My Soul

This week in worship we sang one of my favorite worship songs; "It Is Well." Mark did an excellent job of drawing out the deep emotions that are tied to the song and its origins.

Please watch this video about Horatio Spafford who wrote the song after immense suffering and tragedy in his life. I can think of nothing more amazing then to see Calvary be a body of believers who could joyfully be lovers of God, like Horatio was, in the midst of even the darkest times of life.



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