The Trinity Part 2

This is part two of my notes on the Trinity that I used during Sunday School:

In some circles the Holy Spirit is seen a force that can be thrown around like a tennis ball. However, the Holy Spirit is not a impersonal force or power. The Holy Spirit is a person that uses power. A question to ask is, how do know the Holy Spirit is a person and not an impersonal force?

John 14:15-31 gives us a good understanding of the Holy Spirit. Notice verse 26, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will  teach you all things and bring to remembrance all that I have said to you." Notice, the Holy Spirit is given the pronoun He not it, but He.

 As we close this section on the Trinity the question must be asked, is this really important? Does the Trinity affect the way I live? Am I changed because of the Trinity? This should affect the way you worship our God.  

Here are six reasons for the importance of the Trinity. These are not my own thoughts but are taken from Wayne Grudem's book Systematic Theology and can be found on page 247.

 First: it is essential to the atonement. If Jesus is merely a created being and not fully God, then it is hard to see how he, a creature could bear the full wrath of God against all of our sins.

Second: If Jesus is not fully God we have no justification by faith. If Jesus isn’t God then he can’t save us. (John 14:6)

Third: If Jesus is not infinite then we shouldn't pray to him. Who, but an infinite and omniscient God could hear and respond to all the prayers of all god’s people?  Who but God is worthy of Worship? It would be idolatry to worship anything but God, yet the New Testament commands us to (Phil 2:9-11, Rev. 5:12-14). 

Fourth: If Christ is a created being and is able to save us then this begins to attribute credit for salvation to a creature and not God himself. Scripture never allows us to do this.

Fifth: If there is no Trinity then there is no interpersonal relationships within the being of God before creation, and, without personal relationships, it is difficult to see how God could be genuinely personal or be without the need for a creation to relate to.

Sixth: The unity of the universe is at stake. If there is no perfect plurality and perfect unity in God himself, then we have no basis for thinking there can be any ultimate unity among the diverse elements of the universe either. 

Justin Martyr - The Trailblazer

Justin Martyr was the first Christian philosopher and apologists. He engaged and hit the Greco-Roman culture head on. Justin did not back from sharing the Gospel and hiis book tilted First Apology was intended for the Roman Emperor. Justin was a master of knowing his audience. He would study the lingo of the different philosophers of his day, dress like them, and talk like them, with the intended purpose of sharing the Gospel. As a result, he was eventually killed for his faith. As Justin stood before the judge, the judge asked him, "Are you a Christian?" "Yes, I am." replied Justin. After a brief exchange, the judge ordered Justin to make sacrifices and worship the Roman gods. He refused. Justin was then beaten, and beheaded. The exchange during the trail, between the judge and Justin Martyr, was recorded and published decades later. Here is a paragraph from that book and can be found in Bryan Litfin's book tilted Getting to Know the Church Fathers,on page 72:

Judge:  "I admire your passionate desire for divine things. But you really ought to stick with the philosophy of Plato or somebody like that to achieve patience, self-control, and moderation. That's better than being led astray by false teachers and becoming a follower of worthless men. You put your hope in a man, what hope of Salvation is still left for you? I already think of you as a friend.But  if the Messiah has been born or exists somewhere right now, we don't know about it. Nor does he even know his own identity. But you Christians have accepted a blasphemous rumor, and so have invented for yourselves a Messiah in whose name you are rashly going to your deaths.

Justin: "My friend, I excuse you, and may you be forgiven, for you don't know what you are saying. You have been persuaded by teachers who do not understand the Scriptures, and so you blurt out whatever comes into your mind like a fortune-teller.But allow me to give you my account of Christ. I will show I have not be decieved, and taht will not stop me from confessing him even if men assail us with criticism or the cruelest tyrant tries to force us to deny Him. We hold to doctrines that are filled with the Spirit of God. They gush forth with power and are teeming with grace!"

truth to lions

I just started my third class at Liberty. So far, it is my favorite! Why? The class is Church History, from the Apostles to the Reformation. Part of my assignment is to do a book review on the book by Brian Litfin, titled Getting to Know the Church Fathers. The book is a easy read. Each chapter gives a detailed account of our church fathers. The first chapter is about a man named, Ignatius of Antioch. 

Interesting enough, Antioch is the first place followers of Christ were called Christians (Acts 11:26). Both Peter and Paul were in Antioch. It was from Antioch that Paul and Barnabas were sent out on a missionary journey (Acts 13:2). Some say the gospel of Matthew was written in there and Paul wrote the book of Galatians from Antioch. So a lot of our church history took place in this city (which is in modern day Turkey).

It is in Antioch, where the great confrontation between Paul and Peter took place (Galatians 2:11-21). This is where we get our first glimpse at the culture of this city. Here the gospel itself was at stake, as Paul writes in 2:14, "But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel…"

What can we learn from the history of Antioch?We know that both Jews and Gentiles made up that church and there were two main enemies to the Gospel found at that church. The scary thing about legalism, is that it adds to either the Gospel, or it adds to Gods law by requiring individuals to obey rules even God does not require.Another enemy of Ignatius was Gnosticism. Gnosticism can be complicated. Yet, those followers of Gnosticism did not believe in the incarnation of Jesus. 

Ignatius was eventually arrested because he believed that Jesus was both God and man.That was a threat to the cultural beliefs of Gnosticism, the cultural norm of his day, and he paid the ultimate price. He was arrested and thrown to a bunch of hungry lions in Rome to the entertainment of many.His body was torn apart and then collected and buried by those from his church.He was literally torn apart, limb from limb, because he believed Jesus was both God and man.He could have said nothing or he could have left town, both probably would have saved his life. 

The question I ask myself is…. will I stand up for truth when it is culturally unacceptable? Will I stand up for legalism which comes inside my church? When the gospel is attacked, how do I normally respond? What are the major threats to the gospel and truth about God today? How I respond in those situations is very important. 

The Trinity Part 1

This summer, my Sunday school class is studying the Holy Spirit. I believe the Holy Spirit is one of the most misunderstood and abused persons of the Trinity.Over the next few weeks I am going to blog my notes from Sunday school.As I have been studying the Holy Spirit this summer, I have learned so much about Him and His involvement in my life. Topics we covered (and are currently covering) are; the Trinity, walking in the Spirit, being filled with the Spirit, baptized in the Spirit, Spiritual gifts, grieving the Spirit, and assurance of salvation.Below are my notes on the Trinity.

NOTE: For a good discussion on the Trinity, featuring John Piper, Don Carson, and Tim Keller click here

How would you define the word Trinity?



How is the Holy Spirit often viewed in Christianity today?



The word Trinity is not found in our Bible. My definition for Trinity is: The Trinity is one God who eternally exists as three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Spirit—who are each fully and equally God in eternal relation with each other or God is three persons, each person is fully God, there is one God.

If I say that each member of the Trinity is fully God, and that each person fully shares in all the attributes of God, then is there any difference at all among the persons of the Trinity. We cannot say for example that the father is more powerful or wiser than the sun, or the father and son or wiser than the Holy Spirit, one of father existed before the son and Holy Spirit existed, for to say anything like that would be to deny the full deity of all three members of the Trinity.  

Versus to study include Genesis 1:2, 26, Deuteronomy 6:4Isaiah 6:8, Luke 1:35, 2 Corinthians 13:14, 1 Peter 1:2, 1 Timothy 2:5

There is are no differences in deity, attributes, or essential nature between the father, son, and Holy Spirit. Each person is fully God. The only distinctions between the members of the Trinity or the ways they relate to creation. For example, they each carry out different role in relation to Salvation. 

In salvation, these are the roles of each person of the Trinity.The Father chose us before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4-5) The Son redeems those who believe in Him. (John 3:16, Romans 5:10) The Spirit Applied the Salvation that the Son purchased to those whom the Father chose (John 3:5-8, Ephesians 1:13)

The name for this post is twofold.  First, we are all born into darkness, including myself. The gospel, through the work of the Holy Spirit, awakened me my heart to the Gospel. I was dead in my sins with no hope, and could do nothing to save myself. When I became a Christian, light was in my life when I believed that Jesus came to earth, died a sinless death, and rose from the grave. The Holy Spirit changed my heart and I began to love this God and His word. 2 Corinthians 4:6, "for God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shown and our hearts to give the light the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ..

Second, the Word of God will always shine in this world. It was this phrase "after darkness, light," that captured the heart of the Reformation. I owe a lot to those Church Fathers who came before me.

My prayer is this blog will be able to encourage you and equip you to keep living for Jesus, to serve Him better, and love Him more, as He gets the Glory.