The Trinity and the Gospel
The Trinity and The Gospel
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
As I said last time, in church right now, we are working our way through Romans. And something happened that always seems to happen when I read a familiar book of the Bible again. I saw something I never noticed before. Which is why it is not only vitally important to read God’s Word…but it is also vitally important to read these letters again and again. Simply put, when we do that we absolutely will see things we have missed before. It is inevitable which is why it is so important. Let me share with you what I saw.
Even though it is just the first 7 verses of the first chapter of Romans, it is packed with information. If you’re not familiar with these opening verses, let me give a quick recap. Paul is about to write a very complex letter containing the details of salvation. And where does he start? With the Gospel, of course. The Gospel should always be the preeminent element of our lives. It is the reason we exist and the reason we do anything in service to God. It is what saved us and gave us forgiveness of sin. It is THE focal point of Christianity which is why Paul starts out this masterpiece by giving us an overview of what the Gospel actually is. And he does something neat.
He subtly but clearly introduces the role of the Trinity in salvation. He mentions the triune nature of God as it relates to the Gospel. I never noticed that before. Even though I had read this many times, I never saw the inclusion of the Trinity and specifically how it relates to salvation. Now, some time back I wrote a post talking about the Trinity so I won’t rehash all of that here…but I did want to point out Paul’s inclusion of it and its connectivity to the Gospel. He deftly weaves in references to all of the Persons of the Trinity and as such we need to ask two important questions. First: What is God saying here? Second: Why is He saying it? If we can answer those two questions, we will be in pretty good shape. So, what is Paul saying (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit)?
Paul mentions the Gospel and then says that “he” promised it and that it concerned “his” Son. He then later says that the Son was “declared to be the Son of God”. So, since Paul is referring obviously to Jesus as the Son of God and that is was “his Son”, we can clearly see that Paul is referring to the Father. And specifically that Jesus was “declared” to be the Son of God. Declared by Whom? The Father, of course. So here in just a few verses we see references to two of the Persons of the Trinity (Father and Son). But Paul doesn’t stop there. Later in verse 4 Paul writes that the Son was declared by the Father “according to the Spirit”. Before Paul even begins talking about the specifics of the Gospel itself…he tells us something vital. Salvation is not possible apart from the Trinitarian nature of God. If God is not 3 in 1, then the Gospel is not possible. And that’s why Paul is telling us what he’s telling us. Take a look.
He tells us that one of the primary functions of the Father is to declare that Jesus is the Son of God. What the news media would call: A very reliable source. It is the Father Who reveals to us Who Jesus is. He does so throughout Scripture, but interestingly enough, on two occasions, actually speaks aloud to people this very same declaration. In fact, He does so twice using practically the same verbiage. At Jesus’ baptism and at the Mount of Transfiguration, people standing around Jesus actually heard the voice of the Father declare: “This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5). This is no mere neat circumstance, this is the Father Himself openly, verbally declaring Jesus as His Son and affirming, of course, everything that He would do to execute the Gospel. This is one of the primary roles of the Father…to declare and show His people Who the Messiah is…Who His Son is…which is essential in believing the Gospel.
Then later in verse 4 Paul writes of “His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord”. This, of course, is the crux of the Gospel. It is, in fact, the Gospel. And so Paul here is describing and reminding us of the work of the Son culminating in the Gospel. This is the reason for the Son. While it is necessary for God to be the One Who pays for our Sin, the Father cannot die. However, the Son, due to His unique status as all God and all human can, in fact die. Jesus’ humanity was no different than ours (except, of course, for our sinful nature). Jesus got hungry. He got tired. He was tempted. He was injured. He could bleed. He could feel pain. He could die. So obviously, just like the Father…the Son is vital to salvation. And so is the Holy Spirit.
In John 17 when Jesus is praying for future Christians who will come to believe, He says something fascinating. He prays to the Father, “I in them and you in me, that they may be perfectly one” (John 17:23). Here Jesus says that when someone comes to faith that He would be “in them”. He means that literally, of course. However, as the Son, this is physically not possible. Jesus still has a physical bodily form even after His resurrection. In fact he still has His scars from the crucifixion. The Father in His Person also could not literally be in us. That leaves the Holy Spirit. He is the One that literally takes up residence in our bodies…and He is, of course, God. Paul mentions this in 1 Corinthians 6:19. He writes: “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God”. And if God does not live within us, then we are lost. And He cannot live within us unless He is the Spirit.
Why is Paul talking about the Trinity in these opening verses of Paul’s letter to the Romans? Because he is talking about the Gospel. And there is no Gospel without the Trinity. And he wants us to have a complete overview of the Gospel before we move on to the rest of the letter. And so, he neatly weaves into this discussion of the Gospel exactly how it works and how it is directly linked to the triune nature of God. I never saw all of this before in this way. But now, I cannot unsee it. That’s how His Word works. And how cool is that?
-Dr. Danny Purvis
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
As I said last time, in church right now, we are working our way through Romans. And something happened that always seems to happen when I read a familiar book of the Bible again. I saw something I never noticed before. Which is why it is not only vitally important to read God’s Word…but it is also vitally important to read these letters again and again. Simply put, when we do that we absolutely will see things we have missed before. It is inevitable which is why it is so important. Let me share with you what I saw.
Even though it is just the first 7 verses of the first chapter of Romans, it is packed with information. If you’re not familiar with these opening verses, let me give a quick recap. Paul is about to write a very complex letter containing the details of salvation. And where does he start? With the Gospel, of course. The Gospel should always be the preeminent element of our lives. It is the reason we exist and the reason we do anything in service to God. It is what saved us and gave us forgiveness of sin. It is THE focal point of Christianity which is why Paul starts out this masterpiece by giving us an overview of what the Gospel actually is. And he does something neat.
He subtly but clearly introduces the role of the Trinity in salvation. He mentions the triune nature of God as it relates to the Gospel. I never noticed that before. Even though I had read this many times, I never saw the inclusion of the Trinity and specifically how it relates to salvation. Now, some time back I wrote a post talking about the Trinity so I won’t rehash all of that here…but I did want to point out Paul’s inclusion of it and its connectivity to the Gospel. He deftly weaves in references to all of the Persons of the Trinity and as such we need to ask two important questions. First: What is God saying here? Second: Why is He saying it? If we can answer those two questions, we will be in pretty good shape. So, what is Paul saying (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit)?
Paul mentions the Gospel and then says that “he” promised it and that it concerned “his” Son. He then later says that the Son was “declared to be the Son of God”. So, since Paul is referring obviously to Jesus as the Son of God and that is was “his Son”, we can clearly see that Paul is referring to the Father. And specifically that Jesus was “declared” to be the Son of God. Declared by Whom? The Father, of course. So here in just a few verses we see references to two of the Persons of the Trinity (Father and Son). But Paul doesn’t stop there. Later in verse 4 Paul writes that the Son was declared by the Father “according to the Spirit”. Before Paul even begins talking about the specifics of the Gospel itself…he tells us something vital. Salvation is not possible apart from the Trinitarian nature of God. If God is not 3 in 1, then the Gospel is not possible. And that’s why Paul is telling us what he’s telling us. Take a look.
He tells us that one of the primary functions of the Father is to declare that Jesus is the Son of God. What the news media would call: A very reliable source. It is the Father Who reveals to us Who Jesus is. He does so throughout Scripture, but interestingly enough, on two occasions, actually speaks aloud to people this very same declaration. In fact, He does so twice using practically the same verbiage. At Jesus’ baptism and at the Mount of Transfiguration, people standing around Jesus actually heard the voice of the Father declare: “This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5). This is no mere neat circumstance, this is the Father Himself openly, verbally declaring Jesus as His Son and affirming, of course, everything that He would do to execute the Gospel. This is one of the primary roles of the Father…to declare and show His people Who the Messiah is…Who His Son is…which is essential in believing the Gospel.
Then later in verse 4 Paul writes of “His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord”. This, of course, is the crux of the Gospel. It is, in fact, the Gospel. And so Paul here is describing and reminding us of the work of the Son culminating in the Gospel. This is the reason for the Son. While it is necessary for God to be the One Who pays for our Sin, the Father cannot die. However, the Son, due to His unique status as all God and all human can, in fact die. Jesus’ humanity was no different than ours (except, of course, for our sinful nature). Jesus got hungry. He got tired. He was tempted. He was injured. He could bleed. He could feel pain. He could die. So obviously, just like the Father…the Son is vital to salvation. And so is the Holy Spirit.
In John 17 when Jesus is praying for future Christians who will come to believe, He says something fascinating. He prays to the Father, “I in them and you in me, that they may be perfectly one” (John 17:23). Here Jesus says that when someone comes to faith that He would be “in them”. He means that literally, of course. However, as the Son, this is physically not possible. Jesus still has a physical bodily form even after His resurrection. In fact he still has His scars from the crucifixion. The Father in His Person also could not literally be in us. That leaves the Holy Spirit. He is the One that literally takes up residence in our bodies…and He is, of course, God. Paul mentions this in 1 Corinthians 6:19. He writes: “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God”. And if God does not live within us, then we are lost. And He cannot live within us unless He is the Spirit.
Why is Paul talking about the Trinity in these opening verses of Paul’s letter to the Romans? Because he is talking about the Gospel. And there is no Gospel without the Trinity. And he wants us to have a complete overview of the Gospel before we move on to the rest of the letter. And so, he neatly weaves into this discussion of the Gospel exactly how it works and how it is directly linked to the triune nature of God. I never saw all of this before in this way. But now, I cannot unsee it. That’s how His Word works. And how cool is that?
-Dr. Danny Purvis
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