Translate

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Happy Trinity Sunday 2015!

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

Isaiah 6:3 "And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

2 Corinthians 13:11,14 "Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all."

Introduction:
Today Christians the world-over are celebrating what is called on the Christian calendar year: "Trinity Sunday". Fred Craddock, John Hayes, Carl Holladay and Gene Tucker explain the purpose of Trinity Sunday on page 300 - their book: "Preaching through the Christian Year - Volume A""Trinity Sunday was introduced into the liturgical cycle of the church as the celebration of a doctrine. The texts for the day enable the church at worship to reflect upon doctrine, but, more than that, they direct attention to the reality that called forth the doctrine in the first place."

Inasmuch as Baptist people are right to assert the unique authority of the Bible over any creed or confessional statement (including our own Baptist Faith & Message), to ignore the rich Christian heritage of the past 2,000 years hinders more than helps. Furthermore, any opportunity we can take in focusing more on the God of the Bible ought to be done. Finally, as a pastor of a church called "Trinity Baptist Church", it just seems to make sense to have a post today of all days that celebrates the Trinity! With those thoughts in mind, the point of today's post is to simply express what Southern Baptists believe about the Trinity, with the hope of showing how awesome God is and how much we, along with all other Trinitarian Christian bodies, affirm this most precious of truths. Below is the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 article on the Trinity, with army-loads of scripture for those desiring to dig further into exploration of the Trinity. The entire Baptist Faith & Message can be found at http://www.sbc.net/bfm2000/bfm2000.asp To God be the glory and happy Trinity Sunday!

The Southern Baptist belief in the Triune God, as taken from Article 2 of the Baptist Faith & Message 2000

1. One God
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

A. God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

B. God the Son
"Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord."
Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:1453Matthew 1:18-233:178:2911:2714:33;16:16,2717:52728:1-6,19Mark 1:13:11Luke 1:354:4122:7024:46John 1:1-18,2910:30,38;11:25-2712:44-5014:7-1116:15-16,2817:1-521-2220:1-20,28Acts 1:92:22-247:55-569:4-5,20Romans 1:3-43:23-265:6-218:1-3,3410:41 Corinthians 1:302:28:615:1-8,24-282 Corinthians 5:19-218:9Galatians 4:4-5Ephesians 1:203:114:7-10Philippians 2:5-11;Colossians 1:13-222:91 Thessalonians 4:14-181 Timothy 2:5-63:16Titus 2:13-14Hebrews 1:1-34:14-157:14-289:12-15,24-2812:213:81 Peter 2:21-253:221 John 1:7-93:24:14-15;5:92 John 7-9Revelation 1:13-165:9-1412:10-1113:819:16.

C. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.