Three Persons: One God

One of the biggest obstacles to overcome in reaching people of various faiths with the Gospel is the biblical teaching of a triune God: One God, three persons. To followers of many religions, this is equivalent to polytheism. In other words, much of the world believes that Christians worship three gods. No wonder they recoil at the idea. Maybe, if we understood the biblical concept of trinity better, we would be more able to share confidently and accurately when the opportunity arises.

We know, of course, that the word Trinity is not found in the Bible – not even in its original Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic. However, the concept of a Trinitarian God is inferred in the Old Testament and is clearly found throughout the New Testament. One example is from Romans 15:30, when Paul refers to all three Divine Persons when he asks for fellow believers to pray for him, “I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf.” There are benedictions and teachings in the epistles that include reference to all three persons of the godhead as well (see Ephesians 2:18, 1 Corinthians 12:4, Revelation 1:4-5 for examples). And Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are clearly seen in the accounts of Jesus’ baptism and in His commission to His disciples in Matthew 28:19.

With that in mind, we thought it might be helpful to include some teaching about the Trinitarian nature of the God of the Bible and, in so doing, help us to be prepared when someone of another faith wants to talk seriously with us about the one true God.

We will close this post with a prayer that Anglican pastor-teacher-author-leader John R. W. Stott prayed every morning before he got out of bed. It’s full of good theology, but also glorious worship and inspiration:

“Good morning heavenly Father.

Good morning, Lord Jesus.

Good morning, Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, I worship You, Creator and Sustainer of the universe.

Lord, Jesus, I worship You, Saviour and Lord of the world.

Holly Spirit, I worship you, Sanctifier of the people of God.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, I pray that I may live this day in Your presence and please You more and more.

Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow You.

Holy Spirit, I pray that this day You will fill me with Yourself and cause Your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three persons in one God, have mercy upon me. Amen.”*

*https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/trevinwax/2010/03/21/john-stotts-morning-trinitarian-prayer/

Also found in the Basic Christian: The Inside Story of John Stott, by Roger Steer

Taught by the Trinity

How do you learn best? For some of us, it is by reading what someone else has written. Others will retain the most by hearing someone say it out loud. And then there are those who learn best by watching someone else do it. Some of us need all three ways of teaching in order for concepts to penetrate our minds and hearts.

Puritan writer John Owen points out that the Trinitarian God we serve provides, in the three persons, various ways of teaching us about Himself and how He wants us to live. Let’s take a look:

The Father: He is the one who sent the prophets with specific teaching for specific times in history: Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea, Amos, to name a few. He is also the person of the Trinity who developed a special relationship with humans beginning with Adam and Eve at creation and continuing through history with Abraham and his offspring. The teaching of many of the prophets as well as the history of creation, the fall, and God’s unique relationship with His chosen people are found in the Old Testament writings which have been provided and preserved by God Himself.

The Son: When Jesus came, He was a further revelation of the Father. He told His disciples that He and the Father were one. There was no division between them. But now, as the writer of Hebrews says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by his Son . . .” The second person of the Trinity had actually entered time and space to live with and teach everyone who was willing to listen about who God was, what He was really like, and what His plan was to redeem humans and restore His fallen creation.

The Holy Spirit: After Jesus died, was raised, and eventually ascended to the Father, He sent the third person of the Trinity to live within the true disciples of Jesus. One of His roles, Jesus says in John 14, is to teach us. In fact, He describes Him as “the Spirit of truth” (v. 1w7). It is the Holy Spirit who says to us “This is the way, walk in it.” (from Isaiah 30:21). His the one who reminds us of what we have been taught and who illumines Scripture so we can understand it more completely.

The truth does not change, but our understanding of it can and does if we have a humble and willing spirit. When we are reading God’s Word, learning from Jesus’ life and teaching, and listening to the Spirit within us, we will be taught and we will be changed.

Note: We are going to present a series of short devotionals based on the book Communion with God: Fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, written in 1657 by Puritan author John Owen. The book was selected by Reach the Nations because of the importance of understanding Trinitarian doctrine when working in world evangelism and leadership training, but, more than that, because of the loving call it gives to all Christ’s followers to experience genuine, sweet communion with all three persons of the Godhead. We pray you will be blessed by this series.

Pakistani Pastors in Need

There are many men in Pakistan who feel called of God to work in small churches in impoverished areas. They are paid week-by-week with whatever comes in the offering that day - usually not very much.

Then there can be complications. Like pregnancy. The man above pastors a fledging congregation and now his wife is pregnant and medical costs will need to be covered. Add to that the COVID-19 quarantine which has not allowed churches to meet for several months (now that restriction has been lifted), so income was non-existent during that time.

And then there is the pastor pictured above with Shakeel who was very ill and spent an entire month in the hospital. He is still having health problems, but we are hopeful he will be back with his congregation soon so he can serve as God has called him and, at the same time, some income will be coming to him and his family.

In addition to the pastors pictured above, Manzoor and his team were able to help eight pastors in Islamabad and Rawalpindi who likewise are struggling because they have not been able to meet with their congregations for more than two months. It is a privilege to be able to provide help to God's servants and their families

Pray for the men of God in Pakistan who are serving small congregations instructing them in the Bible and teaching them to know and follow Christ.

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:10