Here's a recap so far. I am looking at what makes Christianity different than all other religions. The primary difference is the phrase, "saved by grace through faith in Christ". Having established that, I wanted to go through particular doctrines that would be necessary to maintain Christianity as a distinctive religion ... not just another among many. First I covered the inerrancy of Scripture and why it was necessary. Then we went through Man's Sin Condition -- his debt to God and his inability to repay it. From there we naturally went to the Atonement, the price Christ paid on our behalf to cover that debt. In that piece, however, I mentioned some of the conditions that would be required to make that payment valid. One was sinlessness. Another was that Christ would have to be more than a man for His payment to cover more than one man. Clearly this leads to another essential ingredient of Christianity. That is, if He was not more than a man, the payment wouldn't be valid and Christianity would be finished. So, what essential doctrine does this lead to?
Of much controversy is the doctrine of the Trinity. It shows up, in varying forms, on most lists of "essentials", but it is always under attack. Skeptics assure us that it's neither essential nor true. "It's not even in the Bible!" "Proponents" argue that it's true but not essential and then typically go on to describe a belief that is not the doctrine of the Trinity. Now, let me remind you, my goal is not to make arguments about what makes the doctrine true. The primary discussion here is about what makes it essential. Why is the doctrine of the Trinity essential to Christianity? Remember, we are looking at "saved by grace through faith in Christ." So, what part of this defining concept is modified or lost if the Trinity is modified or lost?
The part in question here is the last part: Christ. The premise of Christianity is that Christ alone can save. On what is that salvation based? Salvation is predicated on God being both just and justifier by providing His Son to pay for our sin. That payment could only cover one man's debt if Christ was only a man. Was He more? The Bible says so.
John presents an interesting, unavoidable concept. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1-2). Here we have "the Word". Whatever else we may know about this "Word", we have two solid facts: 1) "The Word was with God", and 2) "The Word was God". Both are true. This "Word" was both God and in the presence of God. In other words, this Word is both deity and in the presence of deity. Now, since all of Christianity has always maintained monotheism -- only one God -- we have an interesting premise here. This Word is both with the one God and is the one God. Another thing we know about this "Word" -- it refers to Jesus Christ (John 1:14-17). Whatever else we have going on here, this gives us a "di-unity", two in one. Given the numbers of Scriptures that give a similar view of the Holy Spirit -- assigning to the Holy Spirit attributes of God -- we're left with a tri-unity, a Trinity. Two things we know about this Trinity. 1) There is only one God, so all are God. 2) They are referenced individually and distinctly, so while they are not separate, they are all distinct. One in essence, three in persons. Despite what you may have heard, it is a unique concept. Other approaches have been things like tritheism which gives three gods (violating the first thing we know) or modalism which says that one God was first Father, then Son, then Spirit, violating the "with God" concept. (If the Son was originally the Father, to whom was Jesus praying when He prayed to the Father, and who did Jesus promise to send if the Spirit was Himself? Makes no sense.)
In the Trinity, then, we have a cohesion with Scripture that doesn't work any other way. (Without the doctrine of the Trinity, for instance, you can make no sense of John 1:1-17.) In the Trinity, we have a specific, unique character of God that is different from any other religion. Finally, in the Trinity, we have a Son who is God. He was God from the beginning, He arrived on earth as God, and He is still God today. This person of the Godhood was the only one qualified to die for our sin. Think about that. While the doctrine of the Trinity maintains that there are three persons (personas) in the Godhood, only one was qualified to pay for our sin. He had to meet very specific criteria. He had to be human because it was a human debt. He had to be God because a human could only cover one debt. No one else -- no other human, not the Father and not the Spirit -- qualified for that role.
Some people debate the Trinity. Even though it appeared to be settled centuries ago, some still arise today and twist it or toss it. They do so at their own peril. Without the Trinity we don't have a qualified Savior. Without a qualified Savior we don't have Atonement. Without Atonement we don't have salvation. Without salvation we have no hope. Or, to put it another way, no Trinity, no Christianity.
(For a expansive listing of Scriptures on the topic of the Trinity, see my blog entry here.)
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