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The Trinity Describes How God Relates to Humans

(A column written for the Wisconsin Dells Events by Pastor John Torgerson - 5/30/09)

Let's see if you can pass this four-question multiple-choice test on the Trinity.

            The number of god’s that Christians acknowledge is:  A) one;  B) two;  C)  three   D) many.  

             In the New Testament we see God relating to human beings in _______ ways.   A) one;  B) two;  C)  three.   

             In expressing the "threeness" of God, the best English description is "One God in  three ________."   A) animals   B) persons  C) forces   

             The Trinity God is A) Spock, McCoy and Kirk; B) Larry, Moe, and Curley; C) Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

             The answers are A, C, B, C.

             Getting all four answers right would keep you from being branded as a heretic in most Christian circles. 

              Thankfully, the test was multiple-choice.  All you had to do is pick a best answer.  You didn't really have to understand the Trinity. 

But the Trinity is important, even though we don't understand it very well.  It's like the physics concepts of space, time, energy, and electric charge.  We don't understand what any of these are either, but we can describe how they relate to each other to make a "natural" universe that is ideal for humans to inhabit.

Likewise, we cannot understand God from God's point of view, but we can describe how He relates to us.   If God is a Father, then we are unconditionally loved children.    If God the Son participated in human life then we humans participate in God's life - starting now.  If God is Holy Spirit, who is present everywhere, then we humans are the ones God wants to be present with.

From God's point of view, the Trinitarian God is mysterious to us.  From our point of view, the Trinitarian God is just the God that we would want - a God who loves us, a God who participates in human life and makes it possible for us to participate in His life - a God who likes to be with us.

             God's highest hope for us is that we get to know Him.  (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Philippians 3:8)  In a marriage, a healthy relationship begins with knowing our partners.  Likewise, it is in knowing God that we can have right relationships with God and with one another.   And knowing God begins with understanding what the Trinity means to us.

Material on Trinitarian Theology for Personal Study or Small Group Study

  1. I particularly recommend the four half-hour Gary Deddo interviews on the Grace Communion International web site.  Dr. Deddo is Senior Editor at InterVarsity Press. He is also founding President of the T.F. Torrance Theological Fellowship, and an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church. He is author of numerous articles and books including Karl Barth's Theology of Relations and George McDonald: The Devotional Guide to His Writing. And he has a keen interest in the integration of faith and everyday life.   Click here to go directly to the page that offers these interviews in many different formats (including text).  Other related interviews are offered on that page as well.

  2. For small group study I have edited section headings into the Deddo videos and have developed notes sheets that go with each of the videos as an aid to watching in a small group setting.    You can download these notes sheets as PDF's below.   For the specially edited videos on DVD you can e-mail your mailing address to me and I will send them out to you free of charge.  (You may make a donation to cover materials and shipping if you wish.)  Or call the Grace Fellowship office, 608-253-2087.

| Video 1 notes | Video 2 notes | Video 3 notes |  Video 4 notes |

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We believe…

  • In one holy, loving, all-powerful, and gracious Creator God who exists in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  • That the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God, fully authoritative for all matters of faith and practice. · That Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary, fully God and fully human, is both Lord and Savior.
  • That Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross for human sin, that he was raised bodily on the third day, and that he ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father.
  • That Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead and to reign over all things.
  • In the Holy Spirit, who brings sinners to repentance, who gives eternal life to believers, and who lives in them to conform them to the image of Jesus Christ.
  • That Christians should gather in regular fellowship and live lives of faith that make evident the good news that humans enter the kingdom of God by putting their trust in Jesus Christ.
  • In the spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • That salvation comes not by works, but only by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
  • In the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

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