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Anniversary Service – The Holy Trinity.
It’s a little like one of those detective novels, where all the evidence is included in the story and the reader will reach the right conclusion if they can find it all and put it together. I’m talking, of course, about the Holy Trinity, the Holy Three-in-One.
You see, nowhere in the Bible will you find the word ‘Trinity’ – you can read it from start to finish, or search through the concordance, and you’ll discover it doesn’t feature at all. Yet the evidence for the Holy Trinity is plain for all to see, if we keep our eyes open and our minds focussed as we read through the New Testament.
This morning, I chose to read two New Testament passages – one that appears in pretty much the same form in three of the Gospels and the other from the end of Matthew’s Gospel. Both have the three members of the Godhead in view, without ever mentioning the word ‘Trinity’.
First, we read the account of Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. Jesus joins the queue of those waiting to be baptised and John, knowing that Jesus is the divine Messiah, is understandably reluctant to do it – after all, how can he offer a baptism of repentance to the sinless Son of God? But he is persuaded by Jesus that it is the right thing to do.
And so Jesus is dipped – fully immersed in the waters of the Jordan – and, when he comes up again, the Holy Spirit descends upon Him like a beautiful dove and, from heaven, His Father says that this is His Son with whom He is delighted. And so, if we freeze frame this instant, we see God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit together – the Holy Trinity in all but name.
But doesn’t the notion that God is three go against what the Old Testament teaches? After all, doesn’t it say in the Book of Deuteronomy. “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one”? How can the Lord be one if there’s Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
The verse in Deuteronomy is stating that the Lord, the God of Israel, is unique – there is no other like Him in the nations surrounding Israel – and He is totally consistent – He is unchanging and of one purpose. Indeed, the Book of Genesis speaks of both God and the Spirit of God without any difficulty.
Over the centuries, there have been several illustrations to try to explain the nature of the Trinity – God in three persons, yet essentially the same. There has, of course, been the idea of water, ice and steam; and St Patrick is credited with using the three-leaved shamrock as a picture. But I like the Old Testament image of the three-braided cord, which appears in Ecclesiastes:
“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”
Whilst this isn’t written of God, it got me thinking: the cord is made of three different braids, each of the same material, interwoven and giving tremendous internal strength – three braids, one cord. Father, Son and Holy Spirit – three persons, one God by the name of Yahweh.
In the second passage, we hear the risen Jesus sending out his friends to make disciples of all nations, baptising them “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Notice how He says in the ‘name’ – one name, not three – the three have one name, Yahweh. Again, we have the Holy Trinity in view, yet there is clearly only one God, not three.
Today we celebrate the 176th anniversary of this church and it is a time to give thanks to God for all He has been and is to us, and for all He has done in the life of the church. And so we say thankyou to the Father who made us, to the Son who saved us, and to the Spirit who energises us – God in three persons, blessed Trinity. Amen.
It’s a little like one of those detective novels, where all the evidence is included in the story and the reader will reach the right conclusion if they can find it all and put it together. I’m talking, of course, about the Holy Trinity, the Holy Three-in-One.
You see, nowhere in the Bible will you find the word ‘Trinity’ – you can read it from start to finish, or search through the concordance, and you’ll discover it doesn’t feature at all. Yet the evidence for the Holy Trinity is plain for all to see, if we keep our eyes open and our minds focussed as we read through the New Testament.
This morning, I chose to read two New Testament passages – one that appears in pretty much the same form in three of the Gospels and the other from the end of Matthew’s Gospel. Both have the three members of the Godhead in view, without ever mentioning the word ‘Trinity’.
First, we read the account of Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. Jesus joins the queue of those waiting to be baptised and John, knowing that Jesus is the divine Messiah, is understandably reluctant to do it – after all, how can he offer a baptism of repentance to the sinless Son of God? But he is persuaded by Jesus that it is the right thing to do.
And so Jesus is dipped – fully immersed in the waters of the Jordan – and, when he comes up again, the Holy Spirit descends upon Him like a beautiful dove and, from heaven, His Father says that this is His Son with whom He is delighted. And so, if we freeze frame this instant, we see God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit together – the Holy Trinity in all but name.
But doesn’t the notion that God is three go against what the Old Testament teaches? After all, doesn’t it say in the Book of Deuteronomy. “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one”? How can the Lord be one if there’s Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
The verse in Deuteronomy is stating that the Lord, the God of Israel, is unique – there is no other like Him in the nations surrounding Israel – and He is totally consistent – He is unchanging and of one purpose. Indeed, the Book of Genesis speaks of both God and the Spirit of God without any difficulty.
Over the centuries, there have been several illustrations to try to explain the nature of the Trinity – God in three persons, yet essentially the same. There has, of course, been the idea of water, ice and steam; and St Patrick is credited with using the three-leaved shamrock as a picture. But I like the Old Testament image of the three-braided cord, which appears in Ecclesiastes:
“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”
Whilst this isn’t written of God, it got me thinking: the cord is made of three different braids, each of the same material, interwoven and giving tremendous internal strength – three braids, one cord. Father, Son and Holy Spirit – three persons, one God by the name of Yahweh.
In the second passage, we hear the risen Jesus sending out his friends to make disciples of all nations, baptising them “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Notice how He says in the ‘name’ – one name, not three – the three have one name, Yahweh. Again, we have the Holy Trinity in view, yet there is clearly only one God, not three.
Today we celebrate the 176th anniversary of this church and it is a time to give thanks to God for all He has been and is to us, and for all He has done in the life of the church. And so we say thankyou to the Father who made us, to the Son who saved us, and to the Spirit who energises us – God in three persons, blessed Trinity. Amen.
2 comments:
Greetings
You said:
"You see, nowhere in the Bible will you find the word ‘Trinity’ – you can read it from start to finish, or search through the concordance, and you’ll discover it doesn’t feature at all. Yet the evidence for the Holy Trinity is plain for all to see, if we keep our eyes open and our minds focussed as we read through the New Testament."
With all due respect,
nowhere in the Bible will you find the doctrine of the ‘Trinity’ either!
Whether the OT or NT!!
You can indeed read it from start to finish,
yet you will find nothing about
the ONE GOD supposedly being Three-in-One or 3 persons!!
For example, concerning the NT:
"Theologians agree that the New Testament also does not contain an explicit doctrine of the Trinity"
(Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 15, p. 54).
"The New Testament writers...give us no formal or formulated doctrine of the Trinity, no explicit teaching that in one God there are three equal divine persons....
Nowhere do we find any Trinitarian doctrine of three distinct subjects of divine life and activity in the same Godhead"
(Fortman, The Triune God, pp. xv, xvi, 16).
"Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament"
(The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 1985, Vol. 11, p. 928).
"The New Testament does not contain the developed doctrine of the Trinity"
(The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Colin Brown, Zondervan, 1976, Vol. 2, p. 84).
"The Bible lacks the express declaration that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are of equal essence"
(Karl Barth, cited in the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, above).
There's more, please see:
Is the Trinity in the New Testament?
Also see:
Is the Trinity in the Old Testament?
At Jesus' Baptism, there is nothing about
GOD being 3-in-1!?!
Rather, the ONE GOD is anointing His human Son, with His spirit;
whilst declaring audibly that the man Jesus of Nazareth, is indeed, His Son!!
So we have ONE GOD, the Father.
His human son in the water.
(Note, GOD is not a man!
Num 23.19)
And GOD's spirit coming upon Jesus.
GOD's spirit is no separate person, anymore than our spirit is a separate person from you & I!!
(Compare: 1 Cor 2.11)
As for the Jewish Biblical Creed, the Shema, Deut 6.4ff.
This was affirmed by Jesus in Mark 12.28ff;
it is his creed, and it clearly designates that GOD is ONE person ... a single person!
Note the scribe's response:
(Mark 12:32) And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
Obviously then, neither Jesus nor the scribe were trinitarian!
So neither should we be!!
Therefore,
On the subject of the Trinity,
I recommend this video:
The Human Jesus
Take a couple of hours to watch it; and prayerfully it will aid you to reconsider "The Trinity"
Yours In Messiah
Adam Pastor
Thanks for your comment, Adam, but I still beg to differ. Whilst I happily agree that the doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the NT writings, it is undoubtedly implicit.
At the end of Matthew's Gospel, the risen Jesus instructs His followers to make disciples from all nations, baptising them "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ..." - why would Jesus have put it in this very precise way if He were not indicating that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are together the Godhead?
I would argue that Jesus is speaking here of one divine name, rather than three separate names (i.e., 'Father', 'Son' and 'Holy Spirit'). So, what is that name for Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit? It is surely YHWH. One divine name for three persons - the Holy Trinity!
In Philippians 2:9 we're told that "God exalted [Jesus] to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow ..." - what is the name that is above every name? It must surely be YHWH - there can be no other name that is higher than that one. So, there is very good reason to believe that Jesus is to be known by the name of YHWH - and, that being the case, He is God and nothing less.
With every blessing,
David.
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