A SERMON ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY

 Introduction: Dear Friend, today we will try to understand the Doctrine of the Trinity, an important Deep theological understanding of the existence and the works of God within the Trinitarian understanding. Before that we need to understand the attributes of God. This is a complex subject to understand, but if we try to learn, we can do a mastery over it. It all begins with the Names of God. The incommunicable attributes of God that God takes care of his nature, and there are biological as well as non-biological things happening in the world we live in, and we need to understand the deeper aspects of God who silently does the work within the universe. Is 62:3-5; Ps 102:25-27.God is both infinite and Personal/unchangeable/God is timeless in his own being/Eternal / God sees all time equally Vividly/God sees Events in time and Acts in Time/ God will exist in time/He does not have a special dimension/God can be present to punish, to sustain, or to bless.

Communicable attributes:  God being spiritual/Invisible/ominisent/wisdom/Truthfullness/moral attributes/Goodness/Love/Mercy/Holiness/Peace/jealousy/Wrath/perfection/Blessedness/Beauty/Glory.

 

1.      God in Three Persons, the Trinity: Now, after knowing the attributes of God, this may not be sufficient only to know, but now we need to understand God in a complete sense, that is, we try to know our Blessed Lord as the Trinity. It may be defined as God, who exists eternally as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; each person is fully God, and there is one God. 

2.      The Doctrine of the Trinity is Progressively Revealed in the Scriptures. In OT, the word trinity does not exist, but it reveals the triunity or three in oneness. It summarized that God is three Persons yet one God. Genesis 1:26 let us make man in our own image in our likeness. Ps 45:6-7. Ps110:1 “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your feet a footstool for your feet.   

3.      We fine more complete Revelation of the Trinity in the New Testament. Matthew 3:16-17: This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Isa 63:10 God’s People rebelled against God and grieved the Holy Spirit. In Hosea 1:7 the lord will deliver them, and I will send my Spirit. ( Me and his Spirit) Is 48:16 reveals that the son of God refers to the Trinity, three persons of one God.

4.      The more complex revelation is found in the NT-Text

a)      God is three persons

b)     Each person is fully God

c)      There is one God.

Father is not the Son/Son is not the Father/ Holy Spirit is not the Jesus. There are several references in the bible to support this statement.  John 1:1;17:24 shows the distinction between the Father and the Son. John 14:26: The Father and the Son are one. 1cor 12:4-6 Ephe 4:4 father and Son are one and the Holy Spirit is a person also, and the grammar is that they are written in Mascular Pronouns. ( EKEINO/ PARAKETOS)

In John 15:26/16:13-14 to bear witness and reveal the depths of God 1 Cor 2:10 Rom 15:13 1Cor 2:4

So, each person Father/Son/Holy Spirit, they are distinct in their attributive works but stand same in oneness in their complete divinity. These distinctions are scripturally proved; one can refer to the Bible for this understanding, reading several scholars who have worked on this subject. Just to be reminded that John 20:28-29, you have seen me, that's why you believe, blessed are those who have not seen me yet they believe in me. (Jesus Talking to Thomas).

The Holy Spirit is fully God. Matthew 202:19 baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Also, Ref Ps 139:7-9, where shall I go from the spirit of the lord, so this passage gives the divine attributes of the Lord, the omnipresence of the Lord God Almighty.

Ex 15:11 Who is like you, oh lord among the gods? Isa 45:21-22;44:6-8 I am the lord God, there is no other besides me, there is no God. Simplistic solution: God is three person/. Each person is fully God/There is one God. (take an analogy of Tree/Roots/leaves).

DOCTRINES FOUND IN THE WORLD AROUND:

a)      Moralistic Monarchism: John 10:30 I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE.

b)     ARIANISM: Denies the full Deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Arianism derives from Arius, Bishop of Alexandria, whose views were condemned at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 and who died in AD 336. God the Son, one point created by God the Father, and at that time, the Son did not exist nor did the Holy Spirit, but the Father only.

c)      Subordinationism: The Son was not created and was not divine as the Father, so that the attributes of the Son were inferior to the Father.

d)     Adoptionism: In this view, Jesus lived as an ordinary man until his baptism, but then God adopted Jesus as his son and conferred on him supernatural powers.

e)      The Filioque Clause: From the Son what is not included in the Nicene Creed. This led to the division of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

f)        We as the Methodist Church, hold the Full Deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Distinctions between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Father created the world. Son gave Eternal words, and the Holy Spirit is the Sustainer of all created things. Ps 139/ John 1:3/Col 1:16. The redemption all comes to us in the trinitarian function, only one interdepended to the wisdom of God for the redemption of the entire humanity. So there is interdependence in the trinity by the virtue of the work of God in the creation Order, one cannot say there are three Gods who function differently. John 3:16 gives us this understanding more clearly and explicitly. Nicene Creed has the subordination of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

So the Trinity is whole in whole no distinction in very essence of their nature, but can differ in their interaction with the creation and humanity. So the each person in the trinity has all the attributes of God and no one person has any attributes that are not possessed by the others.

 God’s being is not divided into three equal parts belongs to the three members of the Trinity

The personal distinction in the Trinity are not something added onto God’s Real Being.

The persons of the Trinity are not just three different ways of looking at the one being of God.

There are three distinct persons, and the being of each person is equal to the whole being of God.

Genesis 2:24 Marriage is the first thing we find in the Bible where God created man in his own image. God did not create them as isolated individuals,but male and female. 1Cor 11:3 Father’s authority over the son this is a primary model of the marriage. So the driving force in the relationship is the work of the Holy Spirit.  So there is unity in diversity in the roles played by God.

Because of this distinction all the races of the world have come together. Remembering that the doctrine should not be misused in the given context. It stand firm within itself.