Pete's Blog

I've been thinking about how pretty much any orthodox statement of faith includes a good chunk concerning the doctrine of the Trinity. Since statements of faith usually exist in order to make explicit where an organization (church or para-church) draws the line on where it extends the hand of fellowship and where it extends a hand holding the Four Spiritual Laws. So, the natural question is, why is the Trinity on those statements of faith. Because without holding to that doctrine there is no Christian fellowship. But I wonder, is it a Gospel issue?

At this point I'm worried that I'll be lumped in the same category as heretic Rob Bell. (Rob Bell, while claiming to affirm the virgin birth of the Lord, says that it is not an essential tenet of the faith.) I am not, at this point, saying that Trinity deniers can be saved. I am simply asking the question.

Obviously the hypostatic union (i.e., the dual nature of Christ - God and man) is essential to the Gospel. If Christ weren't man He couldn't have been our Mediator, our Representative, our Perfect Offering. And if He wasn't perfectly divine, if He were created, He wouldn't have been able to resist sin, and the sacrifice would have been meaningless (imagine me killing someone, then carving from wood a manikin and letting it serve the sentence).

Now, for full disclosure, the way things work out, the Holy Spirit regenerates people (Jn. 3:6-8) so that they can see that they are sinners (1Th. 1:5) in need of Christ, and God the Father is the Head of the plan of man's redemption (Ep. 1:3-14). So, realistically, after you've read the Bible, even if you come to the conclusion that you can be saved without believing in the doctrine of the Trinity, you would quickly come to the conclusion that it is true and you would have a very difficult time avoiding it.

I simply wonder whether that doctrine is necessary to have faith in at the time of rebirth since I don't see the whole Trinity (explicitly) at work on the cross. What was the Spirit's part at the cross? I don't know. I think that I'm wondering about the importance of the Trinity because I don't see what the Spirit's work at the cross was. This probably requires more study to know that He was taking part in it. That will be enough to convince me that the Trinity is a doctrine essential to salvation.

All that make sense? Oh, and I do affirm the doctrine of the Trinity (Mt. 28:19; Pp. 1:2; Ti. 2:13; 2Co. 3:17).

Update: I've kept thinking about this. We read in 1 Peter 3:18 that Jesus died to bring us to God ("For Christ also suffered once for sins...that he might bring us to God"). If we are to have faith in the cross, we probably need to have faith in the true accomplishment of the cross. If the cross brought us to God, then we probably need to know who He is in order to have faith in what Jesus did. Still not done thinking about this in general, and still trying to figure out where the Spirit was in the act of redemption at the cross.

Labels: Bible, Resources, WARNING