More Joy Ministries
Full Bible Study
WHEN A GROUP DEPARTS FROM THE TRINITY:
The dividing line between historic Christianity and movements outside of it is not style of worship, church structure, or even secondary doctrines.
The dividing line is the nature of God.
Historic Christianity has always affirmed the doctrine of the Trinity. One God in essence. Three distinct Persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The word Trinity is not found in Scripture, but the doctrine is drawn from Scripture.
Deuteronomy 6:4 declares, “The LORD our God is one LORD.” Christianity is monotheistic.
Yet the Father is called God. The Son is called God. The Holy Spirit is called God.
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 20:28 records Thomas saying to Jesus, “My Lord and my God.”
Acts 5:3–4 equates lying to the Holy Spirit with lying to God.
At the same time, the Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Spirit. The Spirit is not the Father. They are distinct Persons who relate to one another.
The early church wrestled deeply with these truths and formally articulated the doctrine at councils such as First Council of Nicaea and First Council of Constantinople. These councils did not invent the Trinity. They defended what Christians already believed from Scripture against distortions.
When a movement denies the full deity of Christ, reduces Him to a created being, or denies the personal deity of the Holy Spirit, it steps outside historic Christian orthodoxy.
This is why the Trinity is not a minor issue. It defines who God is.
If Jesus is not fully God, then His atonement is not of infinite value. If the Spirit is not fully God, then He cannot be the divine agent of regeneration. If the Father alone is God, Christianity collapses into something else.
Every group must be evaluated at this point.
Not by emotion. Not by popularity.
By their doctrine of God.
- More Joy Ministries - Tony Campbell
#MoreJoyMinistries
