The Trinity

Talking about the Trinity can sound a bit like explaining the chart above. It's common for people outside the church to mock it, while those in the church often ask, "Does it Matter?" I believe it does, and I hope to briefly explain what you need to know and how it relates to trusting the Bible.

Trinity is simply a word that means "three in oneness." Saying that God is Trinity is to describe God as one being existing in three persons. You can break this into three simple statements:

1. God is three persons.
2. Each person is fully God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
3. There is one God.

Some people object to the Trinity on the grounds that the word never appears in the Bible. This is true. However, the word "trinity" simply expresses the three concepts above. The concepts are in the Bible. The word just helps us talk about them. Using the word is not important, accepting the concepts that it refers to is.

Why does it matter? First, if you cannot accept the concept of the Trinity, than you cannot accept the Bible. Since the Bible teaches the Trinity (see below), then trusting the Bible will be impossible if you cannot accept the Trinity. Since the Bible teaches that there is one God and that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each individual persons and are fully God, a denial of the Trinity means one must reject the Bible outright or pick and choose which teachings in the Bible are good and which are bad.

Second, if you deny the Trinity, you will almost certainly deny other key teachings in the Bible as well. This is why many cults like Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses deny the Trinity and also differ from Christianity in many other ways. For example, many churches reject the idea that Jesus' death pays for sins, even though this is clearly taught throughout the Bible. If you find a church that rejects this, you will probably soon find that they have some confusion about the Trinity as well. Why is this? One example is that if Jesus is merely a created being, how could he possibly suffer the full weight of God's wrath and pay for the sins of the world? This only makes since if Jesus is fully God.

Third, the Trinity clearly separates the Christian God from all other gods. People often claim that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. Yet, Muslims are greatly offended at the concept of Trinity. They fully reject the God that Christians believe in. According to the Bible, if you are not worshipping a Triune God, then you are not worshipping the true and real God.

Does the Bible really teach this?
Yes. Consider Genesis 1:26. "God said, 'Let us make...'" Here "said" is in the singular form and "us" is in the plural form. The same is true in Isaiah 6:8 "I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?'" God is a unity and yet a tri-unity.
Matthew 3:16-17 shows the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all acting distinctly of one another at the same time. God doesn't simply change forms from one to another, like an actor changing costumes.
God is clearly one (Deuteronomy 6:4, Romans 3:30, Isaiah 45:5).
Look at Romans 8:9-11, where the Holy Spirit is said to be the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ interchangeably. And yet the Spirit himself is described as a unique person.
There are plenty of more Scriptures that I could list here, but they are easy to find in other places.

But some will object that it is impossible to believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God and yet believe there is only one God. Here we must admit that it may be impossible to understand the Trinity. However, that is entirely different from seeing that it is logically possible. We should expect a lot of things about God will be difficult if not impossible to understand. I don't understand how my iPhone works, how should I expect to understand the Triune nature of God?

However, if the Trinity is logically impossible, then that would be a problem for the Bible. Therefore, what I hope to do is demonstrate the logical possibility of the Trinity. The Bible is not saying that God is one person and that he is three persons. That would be a contradiction. The Bible says God is one being in three persons.

Let me use several illustrations to show how this is possible. An illustration is different from an analogy. Some people use analogies to show how God is like something else. All analogies fail. For instance, it is popular to explain the Trinity by saying, "God is like water. Water can be ice, liquid, or steam." But this is not what God is like. Water changes from one state to another. God is eternally Father, Son, and Holy Spirit simultaneously. Every analogy must take something from creation and try to compare it to the Creator. They all fail, but that is not surprising. The Creator is different from His creation.

Yet illustrations can help us to see the logical possibility of a three person being. Take the soul, for instance. A human being has one soul. The soul is what continues to exist after death. An animal is a being with no soul. (Now you may disagree with either of these points, but hopefully you can see how they could be true.) So you can see how there could be beings with differing numbers of souls. Humans with one, animals with none. Could there not be another type of being with two or three souls? Again, this is not to say that God is like a three-souled being, only that the concept of a three-in-one kind of being is not impossible.

Cerberus is another example. In Greek mythology he was an animal with three heads. There was only one Cerberus. Yet, he had three distinct minds and personalities in the three heads. God is clearly different from this on many levels, but there is nothing impossible about a three-person being.

The Bible gives us good news that God loves us. He offers us salvation by sending his Son to die on the cross to pay for our sins. The Bible also says that God can give us life through his Spirit (Romans 8:11). This beautiful message of the Gospel only comes together and makes sense in the context of a Triune God.


 Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. You can listen to previous programs online here: http://www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html

Forgetting What Is Behind

New Year's Resolutions may reveal that we know we really aren't good people. We want to forget the "imperfections" of our life up to this point, and a new year offers hope that we can finally live up to our potential. The fact is that we are all flawed. Well, "flawed" is the nice way of putting it. The Bible says we all sin, meaning, we fall short of God's standards. We do not meet his reasonable expectations, and therefore we deserve his condemnation. We are separated from Him because of our actions. The changing of a number on a calendar really doesn't help things, even if we renew our commitment to try harder at being better.

However, the good news is that God offers us a real chance at a fresh start. If we turn to Jesus, we find in him a righteousness that is freely available to us. We cannot earn it or get there ourselves, he gives it to us! Our lives suddenly have a perfect score in God's sight, and nothing we ever do can subtract or add to it.

This doesn't mean we stop sinning. But Jesus also walks with us to help us overcome sin. Really, as a Christian, every day is like New Year's Day. We truly can forget what is behind and start every new day fresh. Without Christ, this is just pretend, a fantasy that will be proven false in time. With Christ, it is real, every new day we are perfectly clean and righteous in his sight. This is why Paul is able to write: "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 3:13-14.

How do we go about straining toward what is ahead? Let's say I want to get better at forgiving others from now on. How do I do that? Do I simply focus my mental powers on the problem, thinking in my mind repeatedly "Forgive more, forgive more, forgive more...." Of course, that won't work.

The Bible gives us the key in Joshua 1:8:"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

Let's use this verse and work backwards.
1. I want to be prosperous and successful, particularly in the area of forgiveness.
2. Therefore, I must be careful to obey everything the Bible says about forgiveness. I need to have a clear understanding about what forgiveness is according to the Bible, why we need to do it, and what God has done to enable us to do it.
3. In order to do that, I must not let the Book of the Law depart from my mouth, I need to meditate on it day and night.

The key to success in life then is to have a steady focus on the Bible. We must read it and memorize key verses. We can read in our personal life and by attending church and listening to good Bible teaching. I recommend everyone also have a personal plan to read and memorize. Without a plan, you may not develop or maintain the right habits.

I highly recommend two apps:
Scripture Typer: https://scripturetyper.com/
and ReadingPlan: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/readingplan/id336984707?mt=8
I also think Megaverses, http://www.megaverses.com/ provides a great way to memorize and meditate on the Bible through music.

These can help you stay organized and hold you accountable. I pray God's blessings for you in the New Year!
 

What's Wrong with "It's a Wonderful Life?"

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. -Proverbs 14:12.

What could possibly be wrong with this Christmas classic? To put it quite simply, it teaches a message contrary to the Bible, and on a very important issue. If we are to "Trust the Bible" as our source of truth, as Jesus taught, then anything contrary to the Bible's message is false. And no, I'm not talking about what the movie teaches about angels. While bells obviously have nothing to do with angels getting wings, that's pretty harmless fiction compared to the real message of the movie.

Nor would I say that everything in the movie is wrong. We could say that George Bailey is an example of the principle of Proverbs 11:25, "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." George was generous with others throughout his life, and they came through and helped him out when he was in trouble in the end.

However, consider the main teaching of the movie on the purpose of life. George Bailey was questioning whether he should continue living because of a financial mess he was in. Clarence the angel teaches George that he is not correct. He shows him what the world would be like if George had never been born. George then learns how much worse the world would be without him. This gives him a new love for life and a feel good ending to the movie. He learns that he really is a hero and the world needs him. The movie encourages viewers to have "Christmas spirit" and help others out.

Not that there's anything wrong with helping others out, but the Bible teaches something very different about the purpose of life. Notice that George never turns to Jesus in his crisis, nor does Clarence point him in that direction. Our satisfaction in life should not come from the pleasure of knowing we have helped others, but from our desire to glorify God. We are not to be the hero in the script of our life story, God is. The first and primary prayer on our lips should be, "Hallowed by Thy name." We are not good. We have all sinned against a holy God. If the purpose of life is to be a good person like George, we will fail. My encouragement to George as he contemplated suicide would not be primarily, "Think how much worse the world would be without you." Rather, it would be, "Think how much your life is worth to God, because he sent his Son to die on the cross in your place, paying for your sins. Now go live to bring glory to Him."

Ultimate success in life is not determined by you and your abilities. God tells us we must place our faith in what Jesus has already done. We must count on His good works, not our own, to begin a relationship with God. Then He will empower us to live for Him, love others, and find true joy and satisfaction in Him. Only a God-centered, Christ glorifying life of faith in Christ will matter.

Clarence summarizes the message of "It's a Wonderful Life," at the very end of the movie. He writes a note to George saying, "Remember no man is a failure who has friends." But Jesus says, "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." Not that we don't have friends among believers or that we aren't friendly with unbelievers, but Jesus says that a relationship with Him is more important than anything else. You could say, "No man is a failure who has Jesus as a friend." That comes through repentance and faith in Jesus, not through a life of trying to do good works.

 Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. You can listen to previous programs online here: http://www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html

The Bible and Santa

I am not talking about Santa on the radio program because of who may be listening :), but it is probably the most important Christmas tradition to know some things about. I believe Christmas as a whole can be a wonderful application of the Biblical commands to celebrate the great acts of God each year, and to create traditions that give an opportunity to teach children about God (see Exodus 12:26-27). Some Christmas traditions help do this. Other Christmas traditions fall into the category of harmless fun. When it comes to Santa, I believe he can fall into the category of harmless fun, but there is potential for some harm as well. I will explain what we do with our children in our home as it relates to Santa, but I recognize there is plenty of room for Christians who believe the Bible to disagree about things like this. My hope is to encourage some thoughtfulness in how you do Santa. You don't have to do things my way, but you don't have to do Santa the way everyone else does either.

First, let's look at the background of our Santa traditions. Saint Nicholas lived in the early 300s AD. He was a Bishop in modern Turkey. For many centuries, the church celebrated him on December 6th. Some have said he gave gifts to children, or helped the poor, but little is known for sure. Many countries in Europe still celebrate him on December 6th with a bigger celebration than Christmas. By the 1500s, the Dutch were saying that Saint Nicholas came by boat on December 5th and traveled on a flying horse to bring treats to children. This was probably related to an older tradition about the pagan god Odin, who was said to go on a hunting party each December. He had a horse that could leap incredible distances. Children would leave boots with treats for Odin's horse near the chimney and would get treats in exchange.

In America, few thought much of Saint Nicholas. Those who did were a small group of social elites in New York City who celebrated him on December 6th. Up until 1822, no one thought of "Santa Claus" as having ties to Christmas. That is when Clement Moore wrote, "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The origins of the Santa tradition in America are this poem. He was not writing about traditions observed in America at the time, but wrote the poem in order to begin a new tradition. He borrowed from and recreated the Dutch traditions and moved his day from December 6th to Christmas Eve. Over time, other elements were added to the "Santa Claus" story, but the main parts were an invention of Moore's poem.

One interesting fact is that Moore's poem sounds a lot like an earlier poem written by a preacher about Jesus coming to judge the world. In 1662 Michael Wigglesworth published, "The Day of Doom." The opening lines read:

Still was the night, Serene and Bright, when all Men sleeping lay;
Calm was the season, and carnal reason thought so 'twould last for ay

Whereas Moore's poem reads:
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

There are many other similarities throughout the poem. I will not go into all of them. The point is that the real origin of Santa Claus seems to be a remaking of the coming of Christ into a story about the coming of Santa.

Think of the comparisons between Jesus and Santa. Like Jesus, Santa knows if your are being good or bad, he is omniscient. Like Jesus, he can be everywhere at once (omnipresent). He has a book with wish lists and one for who is naughty and nice. Revelation talks about books with the names of the righteous in it. Santa seems capable of receiving wish lists almost like Jesus can hear prayers. Both come in judgment. Santa rewards good children and puts others on the naughty list.

I don't think these things naturally arose over time, they were intentionally created this way. The trouble is there are key differences. Jesus offers his righteousness as a gift. He gives grace. Santa, on the other hand, rewards only the good kids. The Bible says "There is no one righteous, no not one." Santa offers gifts to fulfill the material desires of children, Jesus offers himself as the one we should desire.

So Santa really is a being similar to Christ, but with key differences. Is it really helpful to present someone like this to our children? Many young children have a more developed faith in Santa than they do in Jesus. Should it be any surprise that their view of Santa will in time influence the way they see Jesus? I suggest that however you do Santa, don't emphasize that a divine being will reward only good children. Rather, teach children that all of us deserve to be on God's "naughty" list but that God gives goodness to those who trust in Jesus. Jesus is the one we should desire above all material things.

Then there is the issue of tricking our children into belief. Our children trust us as parents. If we tell them Santa can do certain things, they will usually believe it. But should we take advantage of their trust? I'm all for pretending. I go on rocket adventures to Mars under the blankets on my bed with my children all the time. But they know we are pretending. If we go to great lengths to make our children think everything about Santa is really true, does that really benefit them? I'm not saying that if you did or are doing Santa with your children that it will greatly harm them. Obviously almost all children growing up in our country have believed in Santa and many are fine. However, is it not possible that for some children who have grown up they have a distorted view of God now in part because of their view of Santa then? For those who no longer believe in Jesus, could the seeds of doubt have begun when they realized they were foolish to believe in Santa?

I'm not against all things Santa. We watch movies with Santa in our home. I have no problem getting a picture of my kids with Santa. At Christmas time, we joke around about what Santa is going to bring or if we will see him in the sky. I often say, "It's Santa!" When a UPS truck shows up at our door with a delivery during the month of December. But I also know my kids are aware he's not real, and I don't tell them they have to be good to get presents. I don't tell them he's not real, we've just never tried to convince them that he is. And I repeatedly urge them not to talk to other children about Santa. That's what we do in our house.

 Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. You can listen to previous programs online here: http://www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html