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Trinity part 4 - Why does this matter?

It's really easy, when we've been studying such complex and deep matters as the Trinune nature of God, to wind up thinking, "Why does this matter?" It's all very intellectual, and difficult. Isn't is better to just love Jesus and obey His commandments?

Studying the Trinity is very much about our lives. In this article I'm going to seek to persuade you that the Christian doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most essential, important and relevant doctrines to the entirety of the Christian faith.

The Trinity is about Knowing God rightly

We shouldn't seek to know God in any other way than in the way His word reveals Him to be. To not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity means that you are not a Christian; because you believe in a God other than the God of the Bible, as He has revealed Himself therein. The Bible teaches God to be the only God in all existence, one eternal essence, and three distinctive persons. If you understand God other than this, you are not understanding Him rightly, and truly, and therefore you cannot know Him, or be saved by Him. God has made Himself plain in His word, the text of scripture, and the Bible very clearly teaches there to be only one God, and yet within the Godhead, there are three different persons, each of one essence, but each called God, each able to say to the others "I", "You" and "We". The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is one of those doctrines that you can't deny and still be a Christian.

The Trinity is about Worshipping God Truly

An understanding of the Trinity must, and should impact the way in which we worship Him. A classic forumlation of the way in which we worship God is that we "Worship the Triune God - Thanking the Father, in the name of the Son, by the power of the Spirit." This statement contains three important realities that the Trinity teaches us:

The Authority within the Trinity

Within the Trinity, there is a hierarchy. The Father is authoritative to the Son, and the Son and the Father to the Spirit. Each is equal in divinity, power, glory and majesty, yet the distinction of their roles and activities creates a hierarchy within the Godhead. Evidence for this is, for example, the Father is the one given responsibility and authority in the coming of the Son to earth (Jn. 1:14, 3:17, 6:28, 6:32, 6:57). Equally, the Father and the Son are given the reponsibility and authority in the sending of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:16, 16:7, 16:14). It is stated that the Son Himself, though being of course fully divine (Rom. 9:5) and being equal with the Father (Jn. 5:18), will Himself one day be 'in subjection' to the Father (1 Cor. 15:24-28). 

For Christ's sake, we are called Christians

The Christian is so named because they are a follower of Christ. We are not called "Fatherians". We follow Jesus Christ; not because we do not worship the Father, as the eternal God from whom all things come, but that God has placed all things under Christ's feet (1 Cor. 15:27). Christ is the head of the Church (Eph. 1:22, 5:23). Jesus Christ Himself is the content and message of the Gospel - His person, resurrection and work (Jn. 3:16, 1 Cor. 1:23, 2:2, Acts 11:20). As such, our following of Christ, as our "God and Saviour" (Tit. 2:13) does not detract from the right worship of the Father; for we worship The Trinity, but in the name of the Son.

God indwells the Christian believer

The Bible teaches that God the Holy Spirit has come to live within (or "indwell") every Christian, as a guaruntee of the their salvation (Eph. 1:14, 4:30, 2 Cor. 1:22, 5:5). He is the root of our Christian assurance of salvation (Rom. 8:16), the one who produces growth in godliness (Gal. 5:22-23), and He ever lives to point us to Jesus Christ (Jn. 16:14). He is the one who alone regenerated us (Jn. 3:3-7), He keeps us (Eze. 36:27) and He will one day bring us to completion and consummation in the faith (Gal. 3:3).

Those are just a few examples of how our understanding the Trinity should impact the way we worship and know God, as His Word has revealed Him to be. Who are we, I ask, to worship God in a way other than according to His Word? I do not refer here to the way in which we sing songs and pray, but the very core of our understanding who exactly He, the Great Triune God, is. Let us not be like Nadab and Abihu, who offered worship to God in an unauthorized way, and were thus consumed in the fire of His Holiness (Lev. 10:1-2).

It's been really great exploring the Trinity together. Please feel absolutely free to print these articles off, copy and paste them, re-distribute them, whatever you wish - I'm not a great believer in copyright regarding Christian material. Conduct yourself with a God-honouring conscience, and I'm sure you'll use what little I have to offer to His glory.

All my love in Christ Jesus,

Arron