When we speak of God in the pulpit, we should speak of the Trinity. When we speak of the Father, Son or Holy Spirit, we should speak of God. We have a responsibility to teach the whole counsel of God, and to leave out the Trinity from our pulpit ministries is to leave out the New Testament/New Covenant revelation of God’s identity. Whether we’re teaching children, youth or adults, when we speak of God, we should speak in Trinitarian language (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit). Here are four reasons why:
1. The Trinity, He is God. There is one God who exists in Three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; same substance, but distinct in subsistence. These Three Persons are coequally and coeternally God. All things are from the Father, through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. The Father alone possesses fatherhood. The Son is begotten of the Father, but not of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son. These Three Persons are One God.
2. He is the Foundation of Christian doctrine. Eliminate the Trinity, and you either eliminate monotheism (by embracing tri-theism) or you worship a god who ontologically can become better or worse or has needs (Partialism). If there are more gods than one, then the distinct monotheism found in the Old Testament that distinguished Judaism from the surrounding nations is lost, and the god of the New Testament is different than the God of the Old Testament. On the other hand, if you affirm a god who has parts, you affirm a god who has needs, and who might not be able to keep His promises, fulfill His prophecies or even answer your prayers (or hear them for that matter).
3. He is the True One who reveals all counterfeits. If you commonly reference the Trinity in your pulpit ministry, your hearers will naturally pick up an orthodox view of the Trinity, which will provide them with a foundation on which to answer the various false gods, false religions and cults in their surrounding communities. The Trinity is one of the most essential distinguishing doctrines of orthodox Christianity. Neither Muslims, Mormons nor Jehovah’s Witnesses affirm Him. I am unaware of any false religion that affirms the Trinity.
4. He is the Foundation of all human relationships. The Trinity should not be some obscure doctrine you dust off and bring out when you’re speaking against other religions. The Trinity should be the foundational example for all human relationships. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit perfectly love and fellowship with one another from eternity past; always have and always will. The Son, although in submission to the Father, does not rebel, balk or scoff at His authority. The Holy Spirit, although in submission to the Father and the Son, does not rebel against or scoff at the Father or Son. Christians — since we are created in God’s image and are being conformed to Christ’s image — must love one another in the likeness of God’s example. Furthermore, consider the coequal and coeternal reality of the Three Persons of the Trinity, yet the submission of the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Son submits to the Father, and the Holy Spirit submits to the Son and the Father. Now, consider how Christian wives are to submit to their husbands (Eph. 5:22-24), or Christian employees are to submit to their employers (Eph. 6:5-8), or Christian citizens are to submit to their governing authorities (Rom. 13:1-7), etc. Submission does not always mean “less valuable than,” for the Son submits to the Father, and the Holy Spirit submits to the Father and the Son, and yet, these Three Persons are coequal.
The list of application can go on and on.
What are your thoughts? Do you often speak of the Trinity in your ministry?
