We Worship the Triune God (33mb)

This is a sermon regarding the doctrine of the Trinity. It is the second sermon in a ten-part series on the attributes of God.

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Written Excerpts:

Introduction: I know that I will not be able to answer all of our questions on this topic. I merely want to give a basic foundation for the faith we confess and the doctrine we accept.

I.   Why do some people reject the belief about the Trinity?

A. The term "trinity" does not appear anywhere in the Bible.

Trinity is a "man-made" word that has been coined in an attempt to explain a difficult theological concept. This is a very common practice in theology. For example, when theologians chose a word to represent the fact that God is always present everywhere at the same time, they coined the word "omnipresent." This is a word that also does not appear in the Bible, but is still represents concepts and ideas that are taught in the Scripture.

B. The concept is too difficult to explain or understand.

I have read explanations and comments by various critics who argue that the doctrine of the Trinity cannot possibly be true because God wants us to present a clear and understandable message to the world about who He is, and since no one can present a clear and understandable description of the concept of Trinity, then it must not be correct.

There are many truths about God that I can never fully comprehend and I certainly cannot present a message that clears up all the misunderstandings for others if I don’t even fully grasp it all myself.

For example, I have studied many times about the tension that exists between the justice of God and the mercy of God. I will discuss this later on in our series of messages, but I cannot adequately explain how that God remains totally just while He demonstrates mercy and he remains totally merciful while He demonstrates judgment. It will always remain a mystery to me.

C. It is too similar to pagan beliefs

This is an objection that some have raised claiming that there are some pagan religions that have beliefs about “three-headed gods” etc. The assumption is that because of the pagan beliefs, some church leaders incorporated similar concepts into Christianity in order to make it more acceptable in the pagan world.

The mere existence of an idea in another religion doesn’t necessarily mean that Christians borrowed the concept from them.

For example, historians have recorded that there are a number of ancient cultures, societies and religions that have stories about a great flood that took place in the distant past. Depending on their presuppostions and biases, some historians assume that the biblical record of the flood must also be a myth. Others, however, believe that this widespread reference to the flood is evidence that it actually happened.

D. Some Bible verses clearly distinguish between Jesus (the Son) and God (the Father).

I have read many arguments against the doctrine of the Trinity based upon verses in the N.T. where Jesus and the Father are mentioned in the same verse and in such a way to imply a definite distinction between the two.

For example, passages where Jesus prays to His Father. Or passages where Jesus states He does not know something, only the Father knows.

Some have said that this matter has more to do with the mystery of the incarnation than it does with the mystery of the Trinity. It falls under the category of issues that arise when we try to explain how two natures (divine and human) are inseparably joined into one person, Jesus.

Just because we may not be able to adequately explain the mystery of Jesus being both God and man, does not automatically mean that the Trinity cannot be true.

It simply means that we have two mysteries rather than one!

II.   What does the doctrine mean?

A. There is only one God.

There is no doubt in both the Old and New Testaments that the Bible teaches there is only one God. Neither the Jews nor the Christians were polytheists.

B. Father is God; Son is God and Spirit is God.

The same Bible that declares there is only one Lord or one God also provides verses that clearly attribute divine qualities to the Son and the Spirit.   (e.g. Jn. 1:1-14; Acts 5:3-4)

There are verses that describe the Son with the same terms used elsewhere to describe the Father. And so it is with the Spirit.

C. There is either a contradiction or they are all true at the same time.

If the Bible teaches that there is only one God, yet it teaches that the Son and Spirit are also divine, then there are only two possibilities…

One possibility is that the Bible contradicts itself; i.e. there are really three gods instead of one; or perhaps the Son and the Spirit really are not divine when it says they are. This raises a lot of new questions regarding the reliability of the Bible, which is a separate issue one must resolve in order to truly have faith.

The other possibility is the Bible is not contradicting itself and there is a way that “one-ness” and “three-ness” can both be true at the same time.

You say, “How can that be possible? I don’t fully understand how it’s possible. But we’re talking about God here. Anything is possible with God!”

III. What does it matter?

A. Faithfulness to all of Scripture.

I truly believe that the theologians who have formulated the doctrine of the Trinity and defended it down through the years have done so because they wanted to be faithful to all of Scripture.

Yes, it is difficult to explain some passages and concepts in the Bible. But when you put it all together, it seems that this is the only logical and most consistent biblical explanation.

I also believe that the doctrine was formulated to defend against some of the heresies that were developing in the early centuries of church history because some were not fully committed to the correct understanding of the incarnation.

B. Understanding the plan of redemption.

I also believe that this doctrine matters because it directly impacts the whole concept and teaching of redemption.

If the Son of God is not also divine in His nature, then that carries serious implications about whether He is truly worthy to be the substitutionary sacrifice for all our sins.

Every member of the Trinity was intimately involved in planning, accomplishing and communicating our redemption.

If you take away the divinity of either the Son or the Spirit, it greatly changes the message of redemption and salvation as explained in God’s Word.

Conclusion:

God is so wonderful! God is far beyond our ability to comprehend. He is greater than my mind can imagine.

The next message in this series is: Our Absolutely Awesome God - Part 1 (link is available in the blog archive on the right)