Our Scripture meditation is based on Acts 2:32-33, part of the first reading for next week.
[32] This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. [33] Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
I have known Christians who brushed off trying to understand the Trinity. Such an attitude can leave the believer at risk for embracing false teaching.
That said, I acknowledge that the Trinity is a mystery. How can God be one yet also three persons? This is beyond our comprehension. However, God has revealed information about the different persons of the Godhead in Scripture. We should endeavor to understand what we can about the Triune God.
The three persons of the Godhead are revealed in various places in Scripture. Our text is the end of the Apostle Peter’s sermon on Pentecost. Verse 32 refers to God the Father and God the Son in the initial three words of the verse (“This Jesus God raised up…”). Then verse 33 refers to the Holy Spirit.
Each person of the Godhead has specific responsibilities. God the Father’s primary work is creation (Genesis 1:1). God the Son’s main work is earning the salvation of the world (John 3:16-17). God the Holy Spirit’s primary work is bringing individuals to faith in Jesus (1 Corinthians 12:1).
Understanding the Trinity is important enough for us to mine Scripture for even more knowledge. God can use such biblical understanding to protect us from misleading or false teaching. As early as the third century AD Christians had to contend with the false teaching of Modalism, which basically says the three persons of the Trinity are really one person understood in different ways. Such teaching is not biblical. Today religions such as Jehovah’s Witnesses continue unbiblical teaching about the Trinity.
It is right for us to kneel before God, acknowledging we cannot understand divine mysteries. At the same time, it is beneficial for us to understand what we can about God from Scripture. This is especially true of the Trinity.
Until next week, the Lord bless and guide.
Kevin Wilson 360 