The Truth about Trinity, Part 2: Questions and Answers

Greetings to one and all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Son, through the power of the Holy Spirit and to the glory of God the Father eternal, worshipped together As One God in perfect harmony, now and forever, amen.  This writing is the second part in the series discussing God as Holy Trinity.  In the first section, I provided both a definition of God as Trinity and the reason for accepting Trinity as biblically sound.  Now, I want to go one step further and encounter some of the commonly asked questions concerning Trinity and some objections from other groups that may claim to be Christian, yet are in error on essential doctrine that corrupts their understanding of God, their world view, and the plan of salvation.  The questions presented here are by no means exhaustive, and if along the way, you have questions I have not addressed, please feel free to send them along.  I will be more than happy to answer any serious questions posed from a reasonable approach to scripture.  So now, grab a cup of your favorite coffee, kick your shoes off, take yur place in your favorite chair and let's continue, with god's blessing, our exploration into Holy Trinity.

Question 1:  Is this really neccesary?  I mean all that doctrine stuff is fine for theologians and seminarians but it just creates fights in and out of the church.  Don't I just need to just love Jesus and let my pastor worry about the rest?

Answer:  On the surface, this question does seem quite reasonable.  After all, Christian doctrine does create conflict both within the family of God and, most certainly, with the outside world.  It can create tensions with those we are trying to evangelize, particularly if they have had involvement with other groups who do not share Christian understandings.

Yet, there are several reasons I will suggest that right doctrine is essential to right faith.  First, let me discuss the issue of conflict.  there are several key scriptures that speak to this issue.  First, we shall turn to the Old Testament, consider Deuteronomy 6:4 and following.  Deuteronomy 6:4 is the base doctrinal statement of the Old Testament and God's people are commanded to keep His teachings in "your heart and in your soul" (verse 6b, NKJV).  Verses 7-8 further contend that the truths are to be taught to children and that it is to be spoken of and contemplated at all times.  We are warned to observe doctrine because we are to reverence Him, serve Him, and cling to Him; marrying ourselves to His name (verse 13, taking vows or oaths, as described here, are parallel to the "vows" taken at marriage).  Further, we are warned against going after "different gods" (verse 14) "because the Lord you God is a jealous God among you (verse 15, NKJV both).

From the beginning, the people of God have existed in a marketplace of competing ideas, competing ideas, and yes, competing deities.  The difference is that there is only One True God who has genuine power and He Himself commands in the Holy Scripture against accepting false doctrines.  The consequences of embracing false doctrines, or even tolerating them to be taught unopposed with a sort of tacit acceptance are dire.  God, in verse 15b, declares that His anger will be aroused and the offenders will be utterly destroyed.  Obviously, Scripture makes it clear that right doctrine is the foundation of right relationship and that the latter cannot be obtained without the former.

In the New Testament, we receive even greater warnings concerning the marketplace of ideas.  In his enumeration of the spiritual gifts in Ephesians 4, Paul plainly states that the gifts work together for one purpose, correct doctrine.  At the least, he declares them a protection against "every wind of doctrine (verse 14, NKJV)"  and "the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting (Verse 14b).  Paul also warns in I Timothy 4:1-2 that there are those who depart from genuine faith "giving heed to deceiving spirits and the doctrines of demons (NKJV)."  He further commands in verse 7 to reject fables through Godly intellectual exercise.  In 2 Timothy 2 Paul declares against two false teachers, Hymenaeus and Philetus by name, who have a cancerous message that is spreading like a wildfire and others to depart the faith through their lies.  In Titus 2, Paul argues that sound doctrine leads to sound conduct.

The writer of Hebrews also warns in 13:9 to avoid being taken away from the truth by many strange doctrines.  Peter is the most condemnatory of false teachers, false doctrines and their consequences in the entire second chapter of his second letter.  The bottom line here is that what we believe concerning God and the things of God carries eternal weight.  If our doctrine is not correct then our entire lives may be wrongly ordered.  In the apostles own day, many falsehoods proclaiming truth had already arisen to attempt to divert the fledgling church from the genuine truth.  How much more is this true today?  We do not live, as Christians, in a vacuum.  Neither do we live in a world of competing or complimentary truths, although this is the prevalent thinking among the most "enlightened."  We live in a world controlled by the greatest liar and hater that history has ever known.  His ways are so very subtle that humanity, in their own pride and vanity, are convinced that his greatest deceptions are actually the greatest triumphs of their own intellects and "compassion."  The greatest lie is a twisted truth and the prince of this world is the father of all lies.  Genuine doctrine is absolutely essential to genuine faith and practice.  Without it, would-be disciples are vulnerable to every "new and improved" doctrine that will ultimately steal their souls.