Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Trinitarian Application

As you all know, the standing on the last poll went as follows
Who is most God?
a. The Father
b. The Son
c. The Spirit
d. they are all equally God
e. none of them are God

Well, I am happy to report that everyone who voted chose d. "they are all equally God." Some may think that the poll was too basic of a question to be asking on a "Christian" blog site, however we need to realize that not everyone has all of these issues nailed down in their heads. The main reason I asked this question is because I have come across quite a few people in the last year or two who have been surprised by the thought that the Holy Spirit is just as much God as the Father.
For some reason, although we tend to (in theory) believe that the three persons of the Trinity are all equally God, we do not act like it.

-A practical trinitarian question for my baptistic friends: Do you cherish the work of the Holy Spirit as much as you cherish the work of the Son? Do you live your everyday life as if the Trinity was a mere Duinity? Does the Spirit have anything to do with your everyday life, or is He an active member of the Godhead only in theory? Have you turned the Scriptures into a mere wooden theological book, or are you depending upon and communing with Christ through the Spirit?

-A practical trinitarian question for my Lutheran/liturgy-driven friends, do you cherish the work of the Son and the Spirit as much as you cherish the Holiness of God the Father? Is the ministry of the Son and Spirit a reality in your life?

-A practical trinitarian question for my charismatic friends: Have the Father and Son died? I appreciate the emphasis on the Holy Spirit (much needed), however do you live as if the Father and Son are just as much of a reality as is the Holy Spirit? Have you gotten over forgiveness and now need something new--some new work of the Spirit--to give you what forgiveness can't? Are you always pursuing something new? If so, some practical changes might need to take place.

You see, having a correct view of the Trinity effects our everyday lives. You need more than a correct understanding of the Trinity, you need a correct application of the Trinity. Christianity suffers when any one of the members of the Trinity are forgotten or neglected (not just in teaching, but in practice).

3 comments:

Jessy said...

I am prone to neglect the Holy Spirit because I didn't realize that every thought in me that wasn't evil-minded was a direct doing of His teaching and sanctifying. I was reading today in Ephesians about how the angels are up there watching God's plan of redemption unfold through the Church and how they marvel at sinners who are learning about God and turning from the old self into the new. Obviously, this is not of our own doing, so Who's doing it? It can only be God, the Spirit revealing it to us; enlightening us. What a thought! As the hymn says, "sometimes a light suprises."
Thank you for this entry. It makes this truth ever more defined for me and my 'finite'ness.

Luke said...

Absolutely critical...thanks Jimmy!

Jessy said...

oops! sorry - it was 1Peter 1:12 that I read...just to be clear ;-)