First, the Doctrine of the Trinity in a nutshell: There is just one true God, and his name is the Lord (YHWH). The Lord is one God in three Persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is fully God; the Son is fully God; the Holy Spirit is fully God.
Since this Sunday is "Holy Trinity Sunday" in many churches, it seems good to consider why the Doctrine of the Trinity matters. Three reasons immediately come to mind (feel free to add your own in the comments):
1. Because God is Love
Frequently quoted is 1st
John 4:16: “God is love.” Less frequent is the recognition that this statement could
not be true without the Doctrine of the Trinity. How so? Briefly put, in order
for God to be love, there must first
be someone or something for Him to love. There can be no love without a
beloved.
Before He created the world, who or
what was there for God to love? That is, who or what was God’s beloved? The Doctrine of
the Trinity answers: The Father has loved the Son for all eternity, the Son has
loved the Father for all eternity, and the Holy Spirit is the eternal bond of
love between them. God is - always has been, and always will be - love.
If God were not triune, then love
would not be his eternal nature. But since He is triune, it can be said without reservation or logical contradiction: God is love. And why
does that matter? Because this divine Fellowship of Love is the fellowship into
which a Christian is baptized – “in the Name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit” – meaning the truly Christian life is the one lived in God's everlasting love.
2. Because Denying Divinity Has Logical Consequences
If Jesus Christ is not God,
then those who believe in Him are not saved. Why? Because only God can save. No
mere man can overcome the unholy trinity of sin, death, and the devil. Jesus Christ is not merely a man. He
is God, and that means He can save.
Likewise, if the Holy Spirit is not God, then we are not saved. (Again, only God can save.) If, in having the
Holy Spirit, we do not have God himself, then we are still separated from God. However,
because the Holy Spirit is God, having Him inside is having God inside. It can
be said that the Spirit is salvation Himself, living within.
Frequently the New Testament
admonishes us to entrust our lives to Jesus and to receive the Holy Spirit as
our guarantor of salvation. If Jesus were not God, and if the Holy Spirit were
not God, this would be foolish advice. However, the lived experience of many
Christians is that entrusting one’s life to Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit
brings salvation. Is this not a sign that Jesus and the Spirit are indeed God?
3. Because It’s True
Maybe this is obvious, but
it should be stated nonetheless. The Doctrine of the Trinity matters because it is
true. Perhaps this is offensive to those with post-modern sensibilities, but truth
matters. It has consequences for how we live, and living contrary to the truth
never works.
To use a mundane example, someone
looking for a tropical vacation would be foolish to book a flight to
Antarctica. Antarctica might be a very lovely place, but the truth is that it
won’t provide much in the way of balmy weather and drinks on the beach.
Just so, someone looking for God
would be foolish to look for Him outside of Christ Jesus and outside of his
Holy Spirit. The truth is that God has revealed Himself as the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. One whose desire is for God (and truly, everyone’s ultimate desire
is for God) should be told to cling to Christ Jesus, and to receive and live by
the Holy Spirit. Only then will God be found and the human heart satisfied.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Three Benefits of Weekly Communion
1. Holy Communion can shape the sermon.
It is all-too-easy for preachers to turn Christianity into something we do for God, rather than something God does for us. Celebrating weekly Communion fights against that. It is a frequent reminder that the gospel is about Jesus and his work, not about us and ours.
Yes, there are implications and imperatives for how the faithful are to live in response to the gospel, but those imperatives are rooted in and flow from what Christ has already done: “This is my body, given for you…my blood, shed for you.” That gospel message, conveyed so concretely in Holy Communion, can and should shape every sermon.
*Note: While Holy Communion can shape the sermon, that does not guarantee it will. And yet even if Communion does not shape the preacher’s message, it will always shore-up his deficiencies. Said differently, Communion proclaims the gospel even when the preacher doesn’t.
2. Holy Communion can kill self-righteousness.
A weekly reminder that Christ died because of your sins is a great antidote for self-righteousness. Indeed, it can be severely deflating to the ego when coming to the altar of Jesus not as spiritually elite and morally magnificent, but as a repentant sinner in need of grace.
Perhaps this would be better communicated if our confession of sin before Communion were more prominent, less rote, and more personal. (One of the many reasons I’m an advocate of private confession.) But even so, hearing “Christ died for you” and receiving weekly his body and blood for the forgiveness of sin should change one’s self-perception. It's hard to be self-righteous when there's a weekly reminder that you crucified Jesus.
Ultimately, Christians are to think of themselves not more highly than they ought to think, but with sober judgment. (Romans 12:3) Weekly Communion can help with that.
3. Holy Communion can calm troubled hearts.
When I first became Christian, I attended non-denominational churches wherein the celebration of Communion was infrequent and, even when observed, downplayed to the point of insignificance. Moreover, most of the sermons were focused on living a Christian life. As a result, I became genuinely worried about the state of my soul. Was I saved? I wasn’t so sure anymore.
Holy Communion offers the assurance of salvation that no sermon on “Christian living” can. Jesus Christ – given in, with, and under the consecrated bread and wine – is confirmation of the fact that God is love. Communion declares that God will save anyone who comes to Him. Wounded sinners, take heart: Salvation is by grace, not works. (How easily that is forgotten and trampled underfoot!)
“Then shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? By no means!” (Romans 6:1-2) But even so, neither shall we continue in fear and worry as if our lives are irredeemable. The God of Israel is gracious and merciful. Christ came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32) Nowhere is that more clearly stated than in Communion.
A Final Question
The weekly celebration of Holy Communion is a good and salutary thing. The question I will leave for anyone with ears to hear is this: What “more important” things are preventing churches from receiving this gift more often?
It is all-too-easy for preachers to turn Christianity into something we do for God, rather than something God does for us. Celebrating weekly Communion fights against that. It is a frequent reminder that the gospel is about Jesus and his work, not about us and ours.
Yes, there are implications and imperatives for how the faithful are to live in response to the gospel, but those imperatives are rooted in and flow from what Christ has already done: “This is my body, given for you…my blood, shed for you.” That gospel message, conveyed so concretely in Holy Communion, can and should shape every sermon.
*Note: While Holy Communion can shape the sermon, that does not guarantee it will. And yet even if Communion does not shape the preacher’s message, it will always shore-up his deficiencies. Said differently, Communion proclaims the gospel even when the preacher doesn’t.
2. Holy Communion can kill self-righteousness.
A weekly reminder that Christ died because of your sins is a great antidote for self-righteousness. Indeed, it can be severely deflating to the ego when coming to the altar of Jesus not as spiritually elite and morally magnificent, but as a repentant sinner in need of grace.
Perhaps this would be better communicated if our confession of sin before Communion were more prominent, less rote, and more personal. (One of the many reasons I’m an advocate of private confession.) But even so, hearing “Christ died for you” and receiving weekly his body and blood for the forgiveness of sin should change one’s self-perception. It's hard to be self-righteous when there's a weekly reminder that you crucified Jesus.
Ultimately, Christians are to think of themselves not more highly than they ought to think, but with sober judgment. (Romans 12:3) Weekly Communion can help with that.
3. Holy Communion can calm troubled hearts.
When I first became Christian, I attended non-denominational churches wherein the celebration of Communion was infrequent and, even when observed, downplayed to the point of insignificance. Moreover, most of the sermons were focused on living a Christian life. As a result, I became genuinely worried about the state of my soul. Was I saved? I wasn’t so sure anymore.
Holy Communion offers the assurance of salvation that no sermon on “Christian living” can. Jesus Christ – given in, with, and under the consecrated bread and wine – is confirmation of the fact that God is love. Communion declares that God will save anyone who comes to Him. Wounded sinners, take heart: Salvation is by grace, not works. (How easily that is forgotten and trampled underfoot!)
“Then shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? By no means!” (Romans 6:1-2) But even so, neither shall we continue in fear and worry as if our lives are irredeemable. The God of Israel is gracious and merciful. Christ came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32) Nowhere is that more clearly stated than in Communion.
A Final Question
The weekly celebration of Holy Communion is a good and salutary thing. The question I will leave for anyone with ears to hear is this: What “more important” things are preventing churches from receiving this gift more often?
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