Why Theology Matters: Adopting a Trinitarian Culture

by Marilynn Chadwick

The “Doctrine of the Trinity” is a powerful tool to refute many heresies. Now you know why the Apostles Creed, with its strong affirmation of the Trinity, was written in the second century to combat the rise of false teaching in the early church.

The scope of God’s created order is a mystery too great to fathom. But in a paradoxical way, the Trinity helps us know God more intimately. In the Trinity we see the unity of the triune God—One God in Three Persons. We begin to comprehend God in relationship with the Trinity, with the world, and with us. The Trinity also helps us understand the realities behind the names of God—"God the “Father,” “God the Son,” and “God the Holy Spirit.” The influential 13th century theologian Thomas Aquinas tells us the name “God” refers to the whole of the Trinity.

Teaching the doctrine of the Trinity helps us embrace what theologians refer to as a “Trinitarian culture.” The early Church developed a vibrant Trinitarian culture which influenced their reading of Scripture, their prayer life, and their worship. Simply put, the Trinity helps us understand the interplay of the Trinity. When we pray, we are praying to the Trinity. When we worship, we are worshiping the Trinity. When we witness, we are emboldened and animated by the Trinity.

The Good News of the Gospel is carried forth into the world in word and deed as we learn what it means to walk in the Spirit. A Trinitarian-culture-in-action invites us to pray, study God’s Word, worship, and serve God in the world. Our works should naturally flourish when this doctrine is rightly taught, contemplated, and practiced. Might we see a resurgence in the miracles of Pentecost—healings, miracles, and redeemed souls—like those which occurred in the early church and are manifested in the Global South and Far Eastern churches even today?

Our cultivation of “Trinitarian wisdom” helps us better understand One God in Three Persons. A robust Trinitarian faith enlivens our understanding of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through the creative and multiplying work of each—in the world, in the universe, and in our small souls. We see God is not simply a mysterious mixture of three Beings. Rather, each has a personality—separate, yet One. Prayer becomes prayer to the Trinity. We worship the Trinity. We are saved by, through, and in the Trinity. Life in the Spirit is life in the Trinity.

Thoughts of a triune God slow us down. The doctrine of the Trinity prods us to humbly contemplate these matters, “too wonderful for us” (Ps 131:1; 139:6). The Trinity is a mystery, a “simple yet difficult” doctrine and one which points to realities beyond our ability to understand. We are invited to enter into the experiential knowledge of the Trinity. Aquinas called the Trinity a “gift of God” which prepares us to contemplate him in the joy of heaven. Much fruit has been born out of Trinitarian wisdom in the historical church. Might we pray for this wisdom, along with a vibrant Trinitarian culture, to become more present in ours?

Why Theology Matters: Trinitarian Wisdom

by Marilynn Chadwick

We’ve seen how the “Doctrine of the Trinity” is a weapon against false teaching. Sound doctrine prepares believers to defend their faith. The doctrine of the Trinity is powerful and necessary because the teaching—and whatever we know of the Trinity—springs straight from God’s Word. Its origins are revealed in Scripture, lived out in the Incarnate Christ, perpetuated, and poured out by the Holy Spirit into his bride, the church—you and me.

We cultivate a “Trinitarian wisdom” through worship and the study of God’s Word. Training believers in healthy doctrine has multiplication as its ultimate purpose. We grow stronger as we pour out to others that which we’ve received. A disciple is simply a “learner.” The purpose of all discipleship is “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13 NRSV).

Effective discipleship is based on biblical teaching. Theology, done rightly, is a study of Scripture. Christian Theology seeks to understand the God revealed in the Bible. It’s the study of God's revelation of himself. Sound doctrine creates balanced believers (Titus 2:1; Eph. 4:14). Healthy teaching helps us stand strong against the lies of the enemy and the forces of culture which are contrary to Scripture. Mature disciples are not “tossed to and fro...by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14 ESV). Sound doctrine, or “healthy teaching,” equips believers to keep a sound mind even when the world around us seems to be losing theirs.

We’ve seen how the major creeds of our faith were based on Scripture. Each one was written to combat a particular heresy. Since that fateful day in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose to be their own gods, there seems to be no end to the way humans get off track. When we seek our own wisdom instead of relying on God’s truth, we are vulnerable to the enemy’s lies. No wonder Scripture points us to the fear of the Lord as “the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10 ESV).

The doctrine of the Trinity increases our wisdom as we grow in our awe of God. Spiritual insight comes when we grapple with the mystery of the triune God. The Trinity is beyond our ability to comprehend. We must contemplate with humility—the only posture with which to approach the doctrine of the Trinity.

Let’s face it. False teaching can distort our thinking and make us sick, fearful, or anxious. Heresies such as Antinomianism or Gnosticism, both addressed in 2 Peter and Jude, often led to extreme license on one hand or harsh legalism on the other. Heresy does not create healthy saints.

Simply put, the Trinity helps us know God better. In it we see the unity of the triune God—One God in Three Persons. The doctrine of the Trinity is found at the very center of the Gospel and is the greatest of all mysteries, one which theologians throughout the centuries have called the “fountain and origin of them all.”

Why Theology Matters: The Trinity, Gateway to Wonder

by Marilynn Chadwick

God’s work of salvation requires the interplay of all three Persons of the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity calls to mind the staggering wonders of our Creator. Through the lenses of the Trinity, we learn of God as Father. He is the Providential Creator and Savior in the Old Testament, as well as the Father of Jesus in the New Testament.

Creation itself bears witness to the majesty of God as “Father and Origin” of our world and all worlds. The Trinity invites us to contemplate the magnitude of God’s handiwork in the universe. For an example into the majesty of God as Creator, click here to view a stunning glimpse into space from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20 NIV).

The Trinity also compels us to reflect upon the second Person, Jesus Christ. When Jesus referred to God as his “Father,” he was speaking as “God the Son.” In the Cross, we see God’s enormous love—God on a cross—astounding! We must humbly contemplate the cost of God emptying himself. Jesus, “God the Son,” assumed humanity’s garb to suffer and die for our sins, making himself “nothing” and taking on the “nature of a servant, being made in human likeness...and obedient to death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8).

By calling him “Father,” we see Jesus’s relationship with God. He uses a startling term, calling God “Abba,” an Aramaic expression akin to “Daddy” (Mark 14:36). It is only through Jesus that we can call God our Father. The Trinity refutes the argument that Jesus was simply the firstborn of equals. Jesus was the first of all who are raised from the dead, never to die again. But the Sonship of Jesus is superior to those who come after him because he is their Source. “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12 NRSV).

Finally, the doctrine of the Trinity turns our attention to God the Holy Spirit—God at work in us, among us, around us, and through us. Walking in the Spirit means walking in the Trinity. The work the Holy Spirit accomplishes—the work of God—defines him as God. The principal work of the Holy Spirit is the confession of Jesus and to provide the way for a saving relationship with God. Our newly born relationship with God as our Father is made possible only because he gave his Son (John 3:16) and sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts (Galatians 4:6).

Paul referred to this relationship as the “Spirit of adoption” (Romans 8:15). Perhaps this explains John Wesley’s Aldersgate experience, after which he is said to have gone from “the faith of a slave to faith of a son.” Those who accept Jesus as Savior are immediately brought into this same wondrous intimacy with the triune Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.