Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– John Wesley
Devotional: 5 Ways the Trinity Reveals God’s Love
The Bible is clear. God is love. If you are a Christian, you have to understand that fundamental fact. Love is the core of God’s divine essence.
This is a very important truth to understand because the Trinity is one of the most confusing and misunderstood concepts of Christianity. According to John Wesley, it’s a very hard concept to wrap your mind around. It’s like asking a worm to comprehend a human being. It’s almost impossible.
But the good news is that the more we think about the Trinity, the more God’s character is revealed. In fact, there are five ways the Trinity reveals God’s love.
God can’t be love if God isn’t made up of three persons
According to Corinthians 1, the Apostle Paul was saying that love is never self-seeking. Logically, love is always seeking others. The definition of love is when you look out from outside of yourself to the cares and needs of another person. If God isn’t made up of three persons, then he would always be self-seeking. This can’t be true because God is love, which by definition is others seeking. Love is always putting the needs of other before you. Love is always seeking others instead of yourself. To sum it all up, God can’t be love if God isn’t made up of three persons.
In the beginning, the Bible is clear that God uses the word “we,” the plural form when he was creating the world. He always uses the word “we.” And even if you study Hebrew, the Hebrew usage of that word is never used as a royal “we” like the English do and the usage of the name of God is in plural form Elohim.
The gospel would be impossible without the Trinity
In practical terms, the whole idea of the gospel which is God sending his son into the world so that we can be saved by believing in his son will not be possible without the Trinity. To save man from sin, God can’t just send an angel or a regular man because sin is so profound. It’s a violation of God’s character, which is his law. From a logical perspective, the only antidote to violation of the law is somebody who personifies the law; in other words, God himself.
This is why God had to come in form of the Son, which is why the Trinity has to be true.
Becoming a new creature is impossible without the Trinity
According to Corinthians 2, once you accept Jesus Christ; we become a new creature. Our old selves are completely gone. This is part of the renewing power of God’s grace.
This is impossible without the Trinity. Why? First, you need to be convicted that you’re a sinner. You have to realize that you need a savior. Otherwise, there’s no need to be saved because you don’t feel that anything is wrong with you. In other words, you need the Holy Spirit to convict your heart. The Holy Spirit is only possible if it’s a member of the Trinity.
Second, for you to become a new creature and to be reconciled with God, you have to ask that Jesus’ blood cover you. In other words, Jesus’ nature covers us and this brings forth the renewal of the spirit.
Again, this is not possible without the Trinity because an angel’s blood cannot cover you. An angel’s sacrifice will not suffice. So without the Holy Spirit and without Jesus, there is no Trinity. This all ties in together in the whole dynamic of becoming a new creature in Christ.
God can’t draw us to himself without the power of Trinity
Did you know that according to Hebrews, God is the author and perfecter of our faith? The mere idea that we should seek, believe, and have faith in God originated with God. This should not be a surprise because the human heart is by nature sinful and is corrupted. It’s not capable of faith, love, or seeking salvation.
The genesis for the whole project of trying to be saved has to originate from God himself. The problem is without the Trinity this is not possible. Why? He draws us to the Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit that convicts us of our sinfulness. It’s the Holy Spirit that tells us that we need to be saved and points us in the way with which we are to be save, which is through Jesus Christ.
This is of course impossible without the Trinity because the Holy Spirit is part of the godhead. That level of power cannot be designated to an angel nor can it be designated to a mere man.
Overcoming sin would be impossible without the Trinity
The great project of Christian conversion is to overcome sin. Obviously we will never be sinless but Christians should strive to be more and more like Jesus every day. However, without the Trinity this is impossible because Jesus is clear that only through the help of Holy Spirit can we overcome the power of sin.
This is going to happen if the Holy Spirit is not a member of the Trinity. Put all together, the Trinity exists, and we can see it in how God’s love operates in our lives.
