DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY IS AN ESSENTIAL TRUTH OF CHRITIANITY

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After His resurrection from the dead, Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). 

God consists of three Persons in One God. The doctrine of the Trinity is not a secondary doctrine, but an essential truth of the Christian faith. The Scottish theologian Thomas Torrance (1913-2007) wisely wrote, “The doctrine of the Trinity is the central dogma of Christian theology, the fundamental grammar of our knowledge of God.” Any other definition of God is false. 

Some recent research sadly revealed that only 11% of Americans believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. This statistic is truly alarming. After all, God’s nature is a foundational component of Christianity 101. 

Christian baptism is always administered in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Oxford theologian Alister McGrath said, “The doctrine of the Trinity wasn’t invented — it was uncovered.” And of course, the place where this glorious doctrine was uncovered is Holy Scripture. When Jesus was baptized, we see all three Persons of the Godhead in action. “As soon as Jesus was baptised, He went up and out of the water. At that moment, Heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from Heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:13-17).

Any religious group that rejects the doctrine of the Trinity is clearly outside of Christianity. After all, anyone who rejects the true nature of God is walking in spiritual darkness (see John 1:5) and without the guidance of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 2:14). You see, it is a different spirit that leads people to reject the Trinity. The Apostle John wrote, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

Two such false prophets were Joseph Smith, who invented the Mormon religion, and Charles Taze Russell, who started the religious sect known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Both men rejected the doctrine of the Trinity, and both men manufactured “another Jesus” (2 Cor. 11:4) and “a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6). Millions of Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses have been led astray by the terribly flawed teachings of these two false prophets. (This excellent resource reveals the heretical doctrines of these two religious organizations and how to respond with the truth.)

United Church of God and Oneness Pentecostalism are two religious groups that rejects the doctrine of the Trinity. They teach that the Trinity is a product of pagan mythology and Greek philosophy.” Oneness Pentecostals maintain that “the only real ‘person’ in the Godhead is Jesus. Thus, this religious group is often referred to as the ‘Jesus Only’ movement.” They baptise only in the name of Jesus, rather than the way Jesus instructed His disciples to baptise. 

Mike Barden is a former Oneness Pentecostal who said, “I realizsd that I had fully embraced ‘another gospel’ than the one in the Bible!” Mike also said, “The unbiblical view of salvation within Oneness Pentecostalism creates great and unnecessary spiritual frustration for anyone seeking salvation. Instead of understanding the amazing grace of God that immediately frees an underserving sinner from the guilt of their sin, people in Oneness churches are taught that they are not yet saved if they haven’t spoken in tongues.”

Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, United Church of God, and Oneness Pentecostals completely twist the truth of Scripture to fit within the doctrinal agenda of their false teachers. These groups attack the doctrine of the Trinity, thereby blaspheming God and corrupting baptism, even when some biblical terminology is used during their baptisms. The Holy Spirit does not participate in these counterfeit baptisms because these heretical groups have perverted the message of the Bible. There is a different spirit at play whenever fallen angels use false prophets as their mouthpiece to promote “another gospel” (Galatians 1:8). Scripture warns us about “doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1).

Christian baptism is built upon the true nature of God. And the formula for baptism, which Jesus gave His followers, contains the beautiful truth about our Triune God. Simply put, believing in the three equal Persons who make up the Holy Trinity is foundational to following Christ.

BRINGING CLARITY TO THE GOSPEL

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The book of Genesis is foundational to the entire Bible. Jesus and all of the New Testament writers considered the Old Testament as true history and foundational to all that they wrote. The foundational doctrines are all established in Genesis, origin of man, nature of man (made in the image of God), sin, death, marriage, God’s judgement of mankind with the worldwide flood of Noah’s day, origin of God’s nation Israel and its purpose. Jesus and the N.T writers all quoted from Genesis.

Did you know that having clarity about the opening chapters of Genesis (i.e. clarity about origins) brings clarity to the Gospel itself? It’s true! Thus, one of the enemy’s tactics is to spread a fog of compromise over the Bible’s account of origins. Learn how we can detect wolves in sheep’s clothing—who are distorting God’s Word—and why compromising ideas such as theistic evolution, the gap theory, day-age theory, the framework hypothesis, and progressive creation, obscure the plain gospel message.

Dr Mark Harwood of Creation Ministries does a great job of bringing clarity to the Gospel by addressing these compromising views of Genesis. As I have explained many times on this website, fulfilled prophecy proves the Bible is the inerrant word of God. Moreover, CMI and many PhD scientists such as Dr Mark Harwood on http://www.creation.com show clearly that the physical evidence of the world, particularly for a worldwide flood, supports a young earth history of this world. His presentation runs for about 45 minutes. The balance is Q & A. and explanation of the resources that are available from CMI.

TOUGH TRUTHS ABOUT SHARING THE GOSPEL

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Simply revealing the love of God to someone is not evangelism. In fact, it can have devastating results. It takes much more than a love revelation to draw someone into a legitimate relationship with Jesus.

A revelation of our sinfulness and hopelessness is the critical starting point when sharing the gospel with someone. We cannot cover up this reality out of fear that someone will get defensive, offended or resistant to the message. Do we even understand anymore in our hyper-modern age that God is holy? If we modify the message of truth in hopes of ensuring a longer, more “successful” audience with a sinner, we are in serious violation.

As was done with the rich young ruler, you must make it hard, not easy, to follow Jesus. You aren’t a salesman, you are a representative of a holy God. Address sin, hell, the fear of the Lord, surrender, the cost of following Jesus and the personal loss that will result.

They will lose friends, leave immorality and selfishness behind, surrender all and sign up as a martyr should God call them to that.

If they eagerly repent after you share all that, you’ll know they are starting their Christian journey the right way. If you only share God’s love with them, they are at great risk of living their entire lives convinced all is well while actually following Jesus in an unsaved condition.

Stop minimizing the cost of following Jesus and hiding offensive truth in the hopes that people will get saved.

“For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgement, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.” Hebrews 10:26-27

If they don’t like God as He is or if they get offended when faced with their own wickedness, let them walk. That sounds harsh, but it’s truth. God is who He is, and we can’t attempt to make him more attractive. He truly is a loving and fearful God.

Of course, their decision to walk should rip at our hearts, launching us into tears and intercession for them. True love looks just like this. Refusal to confront with truth is damaging beyond measure, and hell is growing larger because of it.

much of this article was abstracted from Charisma Magazine article by John Burton Prophetic Revivalist Responds to Bethel’s Controversial LGBT Post.

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