How much time over the past week have you spent contemplating the mysteries of the Trinity? How about over the past month or year? Christians all over the world affirm this foundational doctrine of the Christian faith, that we worship one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But because we assume this to be true, we may not spend a lot of time thinking about it.
The early church, on the other hand, spend the first 400 years of its existence thinking about it. Because the doctrine of the Trinity came under attack from so many different directions, the early church fathers devoted enormous amounts of time and energy to clarifying this doctrine and proclaiming its importance for the Christian life. We would do well to step into their world more often.
As we study the ministry of the Holy Spirit, it is paramount that we understand that He is the third person of the Trinity, who is equal in power, substance, and glory with the Father and the Son. This Sunday we will look at two passages where the Father, Son, and Spirit are named together as equal persons in the Godhead. The first of these, Matthew 28:18-20, is the proclamation of our mission as a church. We are to make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, our mission is to make disciples who will identify themselves with the Triune God, and live in relationship with Him!
The second passage we will study on Sunday is 2 Corinthians 13:14, which shows the blessings we receive from all three persons of the Godhead: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit…”
In both of these passages the Holy Spirit is treated as equal to the Father and Son. We also see that the three persons of the Trinity are working together in a kind of divine conspiracy of love for our salvation. The Father’s love is made known to us in Christ, and applied to us by the Holy Spirit.
Everything God is and does flows out of His nature as a three-in-one God! In fact, the declaration of 1 John 4:16 that “God is love,” can only be true if He is a triune God. Love could only be a part of God’s essence through all eternity if He is a relational God. He can only be a relational God in His very essence, if He is more than one person.
Therefore, it is very important that we understand the deity of the Holy Spirit, and the relationship that the Father, Son, and Spirt share with one another. So come this Sunday and dig into this with us!