Trinity Series - Sermon #2

If you have not been following this series, please go to the post for January 22 where an explanation of the format is given. Happy studying!

All of God: Exploring the Mystery of the Trinity
Getting the Trinity Right: What’s the Big Deal?, Week of January 25

May I ask you a personal question? Don’t worry, I am not going to ask for a show of hands! Here is the question – how do you handle conflict? Which of the following would best describe you?

A. I hate conflict and will do almost anything to avoid it
B. I don’t like conflict, but I will face it when it is necessary
C. I welcome a good challenge and if that includes conflict, so be it
D. I am looking for a fight – meet me out back after church!

I guess I fit in Category B. I really don’t like conflict, but sometimes it just can’t be avoided. If you find yourself in Category A, being a Christian is not going to be easy for you. Jesus certainly never promised an easy life! Matthew 10:34-39: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Are you looking for your purpose in life? If you are a Christ-follower, whatever He calls you to do, lose your life in Him! It will not be easy, though. In John 15:16-17, Jesus said to His disciples, and by extension, to us: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” Then, in John 16:33: “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

The life of a Christian is, in many ways, a life of conflict. The world does not understand us. The message of Jesus is particularly repugnant to the world today. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me,” to which many today would respond, “How dare he say that! How dare he say that he is the only way to heaven!” But, that is the truth we believe and it is the message we proclaim – and there is conflict with the world because of the message.

But, conflict also arises among those who seek to understand the truth that we find in God’s word. There is a fair amount of disagreement about the doctrine of the Trinity among those who claim to have a relationship with Jesus. Is it really that big of a deal to get it right? Do we have to be that precise about whether or not Jesus has always existed, or was He created, though created far more special than us? Let’s put it this way – if Jesus is going to say that our only hope of heaven is through Him, and He makes clear that it is our belief in Him that matters, well, I would think we better understand what God says in His word about Jesus.

Throughout this series, we will be talking about orthodox doctrine, or orthodox theology. In fact, there will be times when you hear something along the lines of, “this (teaching) is orthodox.” The Orthodox Church – as in Eastern Orthodox or Greek Orthodox Church – is not what is meant when the term “orthodox” is used. What is meant is the right and accepted teaching of the true, universal church. This teaching, or doctrine, has been hammered out throughout the history of the church, but most of the important issues were settled in the first five centuries, particularly in the fourth century, with regard to the Trinity. The church has lost its way from time to time and has been in need of reformation, but much of the battle for truth was fought and won early.

So, why concern ourselves with the fight for truth today if it was established back then? Because, even though the true universal church has settled on truth, teachers who are in error about who Jesus was continue to find an audience in our day. Many of their heresies are repeats of early theological mistakes, so it is helpful to gain a bit of an understanding about the issues that were so hotly debated in years gone by.

Before we read our text today, you need to know that the biggest theological battles over the Trinity were engaged over the person of Jesus Christ. Once the church accepted Jesus’ divinity and eternal existence as a person of the Trinity, it was not much of a battle to accept the Holy Spirit as God, at least among those who were orthodox. That doesn’t mean that there have not been significant disagreements in the church about the Holy Spirit, some of which we will investigate in this series, but our focus this morning is on Jesus’ deity, or His claim that He was God.

Today’s text is one of the classic texts in which Jesus declared not only divinity, but an eternal existence. In John 8, Jesus’ teachings were challenged by the Pharisees. They questioned Jesus’ credentials to teach and Jesus told them, in language that they understood, that He was God. Jesus used the same name for Himself that Exodus 3:14 tells us God had used in identifying Himself to Moses – “I Am.” It is interesting that so many people have wondered whether or not Jesus claimed to be God through the years. The Pharisees knew exactly what He was saying, as their response will show. We are going to read John 8:31-59 – a lengthy passage but an important one because of Jesus’ comments about the importance of truth, and because of His claim to be God. Please know that while Jesus was initially talking to those who had believed in Him, unbelievers quickly spoke up and challenged Him. Please stand with me as we read John 8:31-59.

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples,
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that You say, ‘You will become free?’”
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.
35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill Me because My word finds no place in you.
38 I speak of what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
39 They answered Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did,
40 but now you seek to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.
41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to Him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father – even God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love Me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of My own accord, but He sent Me.
43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear My word.
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
46 Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I tell you the truth, why do you not believe Me?
47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
48 The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right in saying that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
50 Yet I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks it, and He is the judge.
51 Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”
52 The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste death.’
53 Are You greater than our father, Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do You make Yourself out to be?”
54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. It is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
55 But you have not known Him. I know Him. If I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know Him and I keep His word.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”
57 So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
59 So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

There were quite a few important words being exchanged in the
debate that we just read. It is easy for us to simply write the Pharisees off as being spiritually proud and blind. You would be right is saying so, but we must at least acknowledge that their objection to Jesus’ claims of divinity were rooted in their understanding – or, misunderstanding, as the case turned out to be – of the God of the OT. God said unequivocally, that He is one God in Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one.” So, when Jesus claimed to come from God, they shot back quickly, in essence, that they worshiped one God, not two.

We all understand, from the OT, that God is one. Did our understanding change when Jesus came and claimed to be God? No. The NT makes it clear that we worship one God, not three. Romans 3:29-30 is only one NT text that clearly states that God is one: “Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of the Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles, also, since God is one – who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.”

How does that jibe with Jesus’ claim that He is absolutely God? That was the question that the early church felt compelled to answer. They were forced to do so by using extra-biblical language – like, “Trinity.” Why was it necessary to explain God using language that was not in Scripture? It would seem easy enough to say, “All they needed to do was to go to Scripture and quote verses, like John 8:58 where Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” The response to such a contention is to recognize that people can use Scripture erroneously. Isn’t that what the Jews did when they told Jesus, in so many words, “You can’t be God – we serve only one God, and no one has seen Him?”

So, what was the church to do with Jesus’ clear statements that the Father and Son were one? The debates were quite intense, and quite interesting. They were also incredibly technical. I am going to give you just about the simplest version possible, and even then you must understand that though very precise language was used, people on different sides of the issues used the same terms but meant something entirely different from their opponents. Orthodox teaching about the Trinity is only clear to us, though, because of the tedious work of theologians of the first five centuries.

Speaking of theologians, if you are a Christ-follower, then you are a theologian! Contemporary theologians, from Bart to Sproul to J. I. Packer sound the cry for all believers to become theologians and study Scripture in order to better know the God of the Bible. Are you going to study the Trinity at the level that some of us are doing, now? Of course not! That is why the Lord gave teachers to the church. Every Christian, though, has a responsibility to study, to learn, and to be as accurate as possible when determining what he or she believes about what the Bible teaches. It is one of the answers to the question of today’s message, “What’s the Big Deal about Getting the Trinity Right?”

Theologians in the first three centuries, like Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen all made strides at a Trinitarian belief, but they were not terribly precise and when viewed in light of later understanding, may seem a bit suspect. One reason for their lack of precision was that they were not forced to be. Our precise understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity today came in response to false ideas that arose as people began to think about the implications of one God, three persons. By the way, Irenaeus’ big contribution to the church was to fight Gnosticism, which was as much or more philosophy than theology and was a far greater threat to the church than the heresies we will discuss in this series. Some go so far as to suggest that Gnosticism was a threat to Western civilization because of its popularity and its absolute disdain of procreation. But, that’s another study.

One of the earliest heresies about the Trinity that developed in the third century was a belief known as modalism, which is the belief that God is not three persons, but rather one person who manifests Himself in three different modes, or, ways – as Father, Son, and Spirit – but, He is only one of the three manifestations at a time. Basically, He was Father in the OT, Jesus in the Gospels, and the Holy Spirit after Pentecost. This was an attempt to deal with both realities that God is one and God is three.

Now, modalism is not always an eternal-damnation heresy, though it can be. It was not a big deal, though, as the early church quickly rejected this belief. How could Jesus pray to His Father in the garden? How could all three persons of the Trinity be represented at Jesus’ baptism with the Father speaking and the Spirit descending like a dove? Modalism proved to be untenable, so it was permanently put to rest, right? Nope. Modalists are on the scene today. United Pentecostal Churches and United Apostolic Churches are modalists, and so are some singers that some of you know – Phillips, Craig, and Dean.

A far more problematic belief in the early years was introduced by an Alexandrian priest named Arius, though he ended up not being a terribly big player in the debate that some of his ideas generated. Arius stated that the three persons of the Trinity were distinct from one another – more about that in just a moment. Arius’ ideas garnered a significant following, so much so that the Council of Nicea, in modern day Turkey, was called for by the Emperor Constantine to deal with the controversy.

Have you ever heard people say that when Christianity was made the state religion by decree of Constantine, the church was corrupted? That is true. It is also true that the recognition of Christianity allowed the kind of theological work that was done at the councils of the fourth century. All Christ-followers are the beneficiaries of the work that was done then.

Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, was the primary opponent of Arianism. He was a young man at Nicea and would lead the battle against Arianism throughout a good bit of the fourth century. The heresy remained surprisingly strong for years after Arius died. Again, Arius was not the primary spokesman for his ideas – indeed, he was dead before the debate grew white-hot in the middle of the fourth century.

It would not be accurate to say that Arius challenged orthodox doctrine and Athanasius defended it. There was no orthodox doctrine at the beginning of the fourth century. It would be more accurate to say that Athanasius helped to formulate orthodox doctrine. The popularity of Arius’ beliefs about Jesus made a statement of orthodox doctrine a necessity.

Arius believed that God was one, and thus, the idea of a Trinity was problematic. We have seen this problem before. Arius’ problem was that he made Scripture accommodate his beliefs rather than the other way around. He reasoned that if God is one, then Jesus had to be created. His famous statement, “There was a time when He (Jesus) was not,” sums up his thoughts about Jesus. And, herein lies the problem with using specific verses to be precise about doctrine. When we say that Jesus was begotten by the Father, we mean that Jesus was sent by the Father. When Arians say it, they mean that Jesus was created by the Father. It is no problem for them to say that Jesus came from the Father – but, what do they mean? Not what we mean when we say that.

If Jesus was created by the Father, said Arius, it only stands to reason that he was distinct in nature from the Father. In fact, Arius claimed, if it is necessary to use a different name to describe different persons, then they must be different entities. Since Arius believed that Jesus was created, he did not believe that Jesus was capable of remaining perfect apart from God’s determination and power.

You can see why these beliefs had to be dealt with and why it was necessary to call these beliefs heresy. The orthodox position that was established declared that the Trinity is three persons of the same substance, or essence. Arians believed that the Trinity consisted of three persons with similar substance. This debate was far, far more technical than I am making it sound. Much clarification was needed after Nicea. It was not until 381 at the Council of Constantinople that many of the finer points were clarified.

So, why is this important enough for us to take a Sunday morning to discuss when we could be looking directly at Scripture? For starters, it is important to know that the work done in the early church laid a foundation for us that makes it possible for us to drink deeply from the riches of God’s word without having to deal with fundamental truths about Scripture. More importantly, as we will discuss in coming weeks, groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons that embrace beliefs that are Arian in nature are having quite a negative impact on our family members, neighbors, and co-workers and many of us have no idea how to battle false beliefs.

We have to stop – and, this is not a great place to stop. If we had time to read John 8 again, we would – but, you will do that this week in Home Fellowships. By the way, I will post both the sermons and HF lessons, with notes, on my blog, but it will be a week behind what we are doing here. You can get to my blog from our church website, and you can find the address for that in the bulletin.