One Triune God
I John 5:1-13
John 10:30; Matthew 28:19
This morning, I will show my Irish roots by using an illustration used by Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick, was raised in a Christian home, but never gave his heart to God as a child. At age 16, he was taken captive to be a slave in Ireland. He remained a slave for about 6-10 years. It was during this time that he remembered what he had been taught about God and gave himself to Him. The druids who were his captors practiced human sacrifice and were constantly waging tribal fights. Eventually, Patrick escaped and returned home. He then studied and prepared to return to Ireland as a missionary. He eventually went back to win his former captors to Christ. During his time as a missionary to Ireland, he used the following illustration to explain the trinity to a pagan people. This morning, I will borrow Saint Patrick’s object lesson, as it is a way for us to try to understand our infinite God with our finite minds.
The Shamrock has 3 leaves, yet is one leaf. Each leaf is distinct yet the three together make up one leaf. God is three separate individuals, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, yet all three together make up our One and Only True and Living God! God is One yet made up of three. The doctrine of the trinity is one of the hardest for us to ever grasp, because we look at things with our finite minds. John 10:30 We have trouble understanding the infinite God of Heaven. How can the three be one? That is something we have to accept by faith whether we understand it or not. How can 3 leaves be one leaf? Well since we can see a Shamrock, we can understand that, but when we can’t see something we must take it by faith. Our relationship with God is established by faith. Ephesians 2:8,9 Faith is at the core of our salvation.
Let’s look at the role that each member of the Trinity plays in our salvation. First, God the father. Ephesians 1:3-5 God the Father before the foundation of the world, put the plan of salvation in place and predestinated us to salvation. We are saved not by our will, but by the will of God the Father. We think we chose God, but in reality He chose us. John 15:16 God chose us before the foundation of the world. There are a couple reasons for doing so. First, God loved us so much and He knew that we would need a Redeemer, so He was willing to give His only begotten Son. John 3:16 Out of love for us He put the plan of salvation in place. He did it before the foundation of the world, so that we could not legitimately take any credit for it. As we were not yet born when Christ died for us. Thus salvation hinges totally on God and His Sovereignty. God gets all the honor, glory, and praise in our salvation, because He is the One Who did all the work. God the Father does the choosing, we just merely receive the gift He has given us.
God the Son Who is Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior is also God. Jesus stepped off the throne of heaven and became a man. Jesus is both God and man incarnate in One Flesh. He left His throne above out of love for us to give Himself as a ransom for sin. He was born in a lowly manger, grew up, was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin. He was persecuted, beaten, and then crucified. He paid for our sins in His own body on the cross of Calvary. He died not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. He was buried and three days later He arose again from the dead. Forty days after that, He ascended to heaven having defeated death and the devil. To God be the glory! All who accept His free gift of salvation will be saved. He died so that we might live! Jesus gave His life and paid for our salvation. John 6:40, 2nd Cor. 5:21 All we have to do is repent of our sins and be converted. We just have to accept the free gift of salvation.
The Holy Spirit, is the One Who calls us out to salvation. If God has been speaking to your heart, He has been doing it through the Holy Spirit. John 6:44 The word translated here draw is the same word translated dragged in Acts 16:19. When God brings us to salvation he has to drag us. Why? because a dead man can’t walk. Prior to salvation we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Romans 3:23, 6:23 Before we are saved we are dead and unable to do anything on our own. In order to move a dead person they must be dragged. If I wanted to move a dead person from one side of this room to the other, then I would have to drag them. I could tell them all I wanted about how to walk, but they wouldn’t be able to move on their own. The same is true of us before salvation, God has to initiate our moving. He drags us out to salvation. The Holy Spirit is the One Who seals us to the day of redemption Ephesians 1:13 When we are saved the Holy Spirit comes in and lives within us. He seals us unto the day of redemption. We are saved by faith. Without the Holy Spirit we would never have the faith needed to be saved. Galatians 5:22,23 Even the faith needed to be saved is a gift from God. Our salvation hinges totally on God. The Holy Spirit is symbolized as wind in many instances. The word Pneuma means breath or wind and is used to describe the Holy Spirit. Pneuma is the base word for our word pneumonia, an illness that affects our ability to breathe. Literally, the Holy Spirit is our breath. He is the One Who breathes the breath of life into us at salvation.
God the Father in His perfect wisdom chooses us out to salvation, we are saved through the Blood of Jesus Christ and we are drawn out to salvation and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Our salvation hinges totally on God and thus He deserves all the honor, glory, and praise! Every part of the Trinity is active in our salvation as He is in every part of our walk with Him after salvation.
Colossians 2:6 As we received Christ so we should walk in Him. We received Christ by faith even so we should walk by faith. Galatians 6:8, Romans 8:1,2,6 We need to live our lives by faith which can only be done as we yield to the Holy Spirit. In order to yield to the Holy Spirit we must confess our sins. I John 1:9 The Blood of Jesus washes away all our sins. The Holy Spirit then produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, and through yielding to the Holy Spirit we end up doing the will of God the Father. Our salvation and our walk with Christ are totally dependent on God and Him as the Three in One!
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