Tag: Holy Trinity

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A Theology of Prayer

Every Christian should be a praying Christian. Prayer is a distinguishing characteristic of the Christian life.

What is prayer? Simply put, prayer is communion and communication with God. Christians pray because of who God is, because of what Jesus has done for us, and because of the Holy Spirit who helps us.

Jesus said to his disciples (and to us), “And I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:13-14).

Right away, we find ourselves asking if this promise is to be understood as an all-inclusive guarantee, like an Aladdin’s lamp with a magic genie inside. No, there are some built in limitations in this promise. The mention of the Father means that any request that would be granted must bring glory to God. Also the mention of the name of Jesus means that our petitions should be consistent with the character and purposes of the Lord Jesus.

The immediate context of this promise emphasizes the fact that Jesus was about to return to the Father in heaven. In preparing the disciples for this, the Lord mentions the Father twelve times in John 14:1-14. He wants us to think of God as a Father.

The Father is willing to hear us, to help us, to listen and to understand. He is strong and sympathetic. Jesus invites us to pray to him because of who he is, what he has done, and what he has promised to do. This gives us assurance in prayer.

Because we are sinners, we need a way of approaching God. We have such a way. Jesus is the Savior who died to take away our sins. He is the mediator who  intercedes for us as our representative before God. He is the one who says to believers, “You are in me and I am in you” (John 14:20). This union with Jesus makes the Father accessible to us. We may approach God with freedom and confidence in the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus gives us authority in prayer.

Furthermore, in the verses that follow, Jesus promised the disciples that he and the Father would send the Holy Spirit to them. He would indwell them and help them. One of the ways the Spirit helps believers is in prayer. Romans 8:26-27 tell us that the Spirit intercedes for us when we do not know how to pray as we ought. He helps us in our weakness. The Holy Spirit, then, gives us ability in prayer.

Robert Murray McCheyne wrote, “When we pray in private there are three persons with us: there is God the Father, whose eyes see in secret and whose ears are open to our cry; there is God the Son, blotting out our sins, and offering up our petitions with the incense of his own merit; and there is God the Holy Spirit, quickening our spirits and putting into our hearts good desires.”

Let us pray.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Do Christians Worship Three Gods?

Christians do not worship three Gods. Christians worship one God who is eternally manifested in three persons, each sharing the same divine essence or nature. If this is hard to understand, it is even more difficult to explain.

There are many facts which we accept which we cannot explain: how electricity works, the relation of “mind” to the function of the brain, the apparent infinity of an expanding universe, the origin of gravity, for example. The Christian belief in the tri-unity of God is a great mystery. It is above and beyond human reasoning. It is not the sort of belief that would have been invented by humans.

The doctrine of the Trinity is embedded in many parts of the Bible. These biblical references are the basis for confessions of faith we call creeds. When Christians recite the Apostles’ Creed, they affirm their faith by saying, “I believe in Jesus Christ, his (God’s) only Son, our Lord.” To call Jesus “Lord” is to use the same word that the ancient people of God used to refer to almighty God. This is a confession that Jesus is divine, along with the Father.

If we recite the Creed in sincerity, we do so believing that it is saying what the Bible teaches about Jesus. We should trust any doctrinal statement only insofar as it is derived from holy scripture and faithfully declares the truths of holy scripture. If we believe in the deity of Jesus Christ and in the Trinity, it is only because we find these truths in the Bible, and we do.

We find a clear intimation of this in the words of Jesus to his disciples in John 14: 15-18. He has identified himself as being one in essence with God the Father (vv. 9-11). He is about to go back to the Father after his death and resurrection (v. 12). He promises his disciples that he will ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to them (vv. 16-17). When this happens, Jesus says, “I will come to you” (v. 18). Jesus will be with them in the person of the Holy Spirit. Then he adds that when the Holy Sprit comes, both the Father and the Son will be in those who love and obey him (v. 23).

Jesus says that he, the Son, possesses the same divine nature as the Father (v. 11). He came to reveal the Father (vv. 7-10). He then says that the Holy Spirit possesses that same nature (v. 16). When he refers to the Spirit as “another Counselor” (helper, comforter, advocate, encourager), he uses a word that means “another of the very same nature” as he is.

‘You know him,” Jesus says of the Holy Spirit, “for he lives in you and will be in you” (v. 17). This is the same thing he had told them about the Father (v. 7). Just as the disciples knew the Father because they knew the Son, so they would also know the Spirit because they knew the Son. Each of the persons of the Holy Trinity is distinct from the others, yet they are one in their essential being. To know one is to know the others. What Jesus is saying is that it is impossible to know him without knowing the Father and the Holy Spirit.

This agrees with other New Testament passages which bring out the idea of the Trinity. A few examples are the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17), his ascension and Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), Paul’s theology of salvation in which the Father chooses, the Son redeems and the Spirit seals believers (Ephesians 1:3-14), and the closing words of John’s epistle, “And we are in him who is true — even in his Son Jesus Christ. He (Jesus) is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).

In one of his hymns, Isaac Watts wrote: “Almighty God, to Thee be endless honors done, / The undivided Three and the mysterious One. / Where reason fails, with all her powers, there faith prevails and love adores.”

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). 

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Certainty and the Holy Spirit

One of the great certainties offered by the Christian faith is the certainty of the Holy Spirit and his active ministry. Whenever people recite the Apostles’ Creed they affirm their belief in the Holy Spirit of God. The New Testament testifies repeatedly to the role of the Spirit in accomplishing the good work of salvation.

For example, in Ephesians chapter one we are told that believers are chosen by God the Father (v.4), redeemed by God the Son (v. 7), and sealed by the Holy Spirit (v. 13). “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance . . . .” (vv. 13-14).

If someone asks, “How do I know the Holy Spirit is living in me?” a simple response might be, by the same way you know there is music on your digital playlist. You cannot see the music, but you can believe the message on your screen that there is music in your smart phone. A second way you can know is by playing the music and hearing it.

We can know the Holy Spirit works for us and in us because of the words of scripture. We believe in the Holy Spirit as we exercise faith in the promises of God’s Word. In addition, we may experience the benefits of the Holy Spirit’s ministry as we prayerfully trust him to guide, instruct, comfort and strengthen us, as our Lord Jesus promised that the Spirit would do.

That is what had happened to the people to whom Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians. Acts 19 gives the history. The people of Ephesus had not even heard of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-2). Paul stayed there and taught boldly in the Jewish synagogue for three months (v. 8). Then he moved to a lecture hall and continued his ministry in Ephesus for two more years (v. 9). From that base the entire region was evangelized (v. 10). “In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power” (v. 20). Through the teaching and miracles they observed, the people came to understand and experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit (v. 6).

To these people Paul wrote, “you heard the message of truth” (Ephesians 1:13). “You believed” the gospel. When that happened you were “included in Christ” and “marked with a seal,” a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The object of their belief was the message of the cross where the Lord Jesus shed his blood to secure the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7). The confirmation of their belief was the Holy Spirit.

Paul used the familiar imagery of a seal to illustrate the Holy Spirit because in the ancient world a seal was a mark of ownership, identification, and authenticity. It may be compared to the computer chip embedded in your passport. The chip can be read by a scanner at U.S. Customs portal when you reenter the country from overseas. It identifies you as a citizen of the United States.

The Holy Spirit in the believer is God’s way of validating and confirming the believer’s identity in Christ. The discovery of the DNA molecule led to ways for scientists to prove physical identity. DNA carries genetic information that sets individuals apart from each other and can prove their association in families. This illustrates the role of the Holy Spirit in establishing and sealing an individual in the spiritual family of God.

In Romans 8:9 we are given  a test of whether a person is a real Christian or not. “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ , they do not belong to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 13:5 recommends that we examine ourselves to make sure we are in the faith. Here is a simple self-examination, based on what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit. It is intended to give certainty, not to foster doubt and anxiety.

Ask yourself, do I believe the gospel of Christ (Titus 3:5-7)? Have I experienced the guidance, assurance and encouragement of the Holy Spirit through the promises in the Bible (Ephesians 1:17-19, 3:16-17)? Do I have love for others, and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? Do I regularly fellowship with God in prayer (Romans 8:26-27)? Do I love God’s word and is its truth clear to me (John 16:13-15)? Do I seek to live in a way that pleases the Lord (Ephesians 4:17-30)?

If these things are true in your life it is evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work in you. If this is not a description of your life, but you want it to be, that may indicate the Holy Spirit is drawing you to surrender yourself in faith to Jesus. He offers certainty of a new life. “The mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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The God-forsaken Savior

It has been called the “cry of dereliction” or of “desolation.” Amid the unnatural darkness that fell over his crucifixion, Jesus cried out in the language of his people, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). He was quoting scripture, Psalm 22:1. It was a prophecy being fulfilled.

Angels had supported Jesus when he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. They helped him as he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. The New Testament tells us a voice from heaven spoke approvingly of him on several occasions.

But on the cross no angels attended him. There was no voice saying, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). Instead there was the pall of darkness at noon and the consciousness of being abandoned.

Jesus’ cry was not one of unbelief, despair or cowardice. At the last Supper and in Gethsemane Jesus had expressed his intention to  fulfill the Father’s will through his death. He had repeatedly predicted to his disciples the death he would die in Jerusalem. This cry of dereliction was a fulfillment of another prophetic word: “We considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4).

J.C. Ryle of England explained it this way, “There is a deep mystery in these words which no one can fathom. They express the real pressure on his soul of the enormous burden of the world’s sin.” His suffering was not merely physical, but spiritual. He was forsaken by God because he was bearing our sin.

The famous hymn of Isaac Watts describes it: “Well might the sun in darkness hide and shut his glories in/ when Christ the mighty Maker died for man the creature’s sin.” This is Jesus becoming a curse for us to redeem us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Until then, he could always say, “My Father is with me” (John 16:32). But now he is absolutely alone, abandoned, forsaken.

Why? Because “We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). In suffering the abandonment of the Father, Jesus endured the very sufferings of hell. “God made him who knew no sin to be made sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Yet despite the desolation, we recognize his belief that the essential unity of the Trinity was not broken. Jesus never lost the knowledge that God was his God. Fellowship was broken by our sin, but not his relationship. Not long after these dreadful words were spoken, Jesus would call God his Father again, praying, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).

This season of the year is an annual reminder of what our Lord endured for us in dying for our sins. As we meditate on his words from the cross, let us humble ourselves in grateful worship, deep faith and confident witness. He was forsaken so that we might be accepted. This is good news.

Years ago I wrote these lines: “How the glory once was muted/ when upon a tree, accursed/ in the terror of earth’s darkness/ Jesus took God’s wrath for us.”

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Did the Apostle John Believe in the Trinity?

Did the Apostle John Believe in the Trinity?

The secretary told me the caller wished to speak with a pastor. He had told her he had some questions about the Bible. I took the call hoping I could be helpful. Right away I could tell that the man was argumentative. His purpose in calling was to try to draw me into a dispute about the doctrine of the Trinity.

Belief in the tri-unity of God is not something that would be invented by humans. It is beyond reason. It is the teaching, based on many biblical texts, that God is one, eternally revealed in three co-equal persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This teaching, as mysterious as it is, is an essential Christian doctrine.

When it became clear that nothing I could say would influence my caller’s thinking, I ended the conversation kindly, but firmly. 1 Timothy 6:3-4 warns us about people who do not “agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching…. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels….”

If he had been willing to have a calm discussion of some of the great New Testament passages on the deity of Christ, we might have read Colossians 1:15-20, and corresponding verses in Philippians 2, Hebrews 1, Revelation 1, and John 1. I might have taken him to the famous benediction at the end of 2 Corinthians, or the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 3:14-19, or the baptismal formula in Matthew 28:19.

There are also intimations of the Trinity in 1 John. But not where you might think.

For more than three centuries readers of the venerable Authorized Version (dedicated to King James of England in 1611) read 1 John 5:7 as irrefutable proof of the Trinity. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

Some readers are surprised to discover that these words are omitted from virtually all contemporary translations of 1 John. This is not because of anti-Trinitarian bias or theological liberalism. It is because the words are not found in any Greek manuscript of 1 John dating before the fourteenth century. None of the early church fathers quote these words (which they certainly would have done in their debates with heretics, if they had had them).

The translators of the King James Bible did not have available to them the trove of Greek manuscripts that have been discovered since they did their work. Some of these New Testament manuscripts date back to the second and third centuries. They do not contain the reading of 1 John 5:7 cited above.

It is important to note, as many Bible scholars remind us, that no Christian doctrine rises or falls with any minor textual variation, such as the one cited above. The Trinity is not called into question because some zealous scribe inserted the words into an early Latin version that was later translated into Greek which formed the basis for the early English translations of 1 John 5:7.

Well then, did John believe in the Trinity? Here are two strong intimations of the Holy Trinity from 1 John. They point to the divine nature of the Spirit of God, as well as the Son of God, along with our Father, God.

John wrote in 1 John 2:27, “The Anointing is real… remain in him.” Who or what is the “Anointing?” He is the Holy Spirit who “teaches you about all things.” This is important in light of what John had written a few lines before. “You also will remain in the Son and in the Father” (2:24). Just as Christians are to remain in close fellowship with God the Father and God the Son, they are to remain in close fellowship with God the Holy Spirit. Compare 1 John 4:13, “We know that we live in him and he in us: he has given us of his Spirit.”

A second evidence that Trinitarian theology permeated the writings of the apostle John is found in 1 John 5:6, “The Spirit is the truth.” Then John says in 5:20, “The son of God has come…so that we may know him who is true,” an obvious reference to God the Father. Then he refers to the Son as the one who is true: “We are in him who is true — even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

So what? Are we playing word games just to win theological debates? Why is this important? Consider this: “The Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). This is the good news of the gospel. Furthermore, “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (Galatians 4:6). This is the good news of the comforting, guiding, assuring ministry of the Spirit of God in the hearts of those who believe. God sent his Son. God sent his Spirit. This is the good news of the Trinity.

Yes, John believed in the Holy Trinity and so do I.

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner

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