Is the Trinity a "Salvation Issue"?
by Harley Pinon
Is understanding the Trinity a salvation issue? Some things are salvation issues. At this point in my study, I'm not prepared to say that it is, but I'm writing this to try to get people to think seriously about what the Bible teaches about this very important doctrine, but let's move on to another question: How important is it that we straighten out the doctrine of the Trinity? Is it basically encouraging, or frustrating to those who hear it? I certainly do not want to upset someone's faith over a matter that is not essential, on the other hand, I do not want to ignore a doctrine that is important, and should be corrected. Another question is, have I caused one to stumble over Christianity because he could not accept the doctrine of the Trinity? Some have stated that one of the reasons that some Jews reject Christianity is because they say we are teaching three Gods, not One. While I'm not saying this excuses them for rejecting Christ, I also know that we are not to put a stumbling block in another's way. This is a doctrine that is important enough that we need to understand it correctly.
My greatest concern is my responsibility to handle the Word of God honestly, and as God would have me to speak. What information am I to share with my congregation? What information am I to share with other teachers and preachers? What information do I share with those with whom I come in contact. And, of course, how important is this information? As is often the case for me, I have more questions than I have answers. One thing I have found in sharing the insight I have gained with others is the fact that the doctrine of the Trinity has been anything from confusing to unbelievable for many. Many of these have expressed a feeling of relief, if you will, that they don't have to comprehend how Jesus could be fully God and fully human at the same time. Or how you can have three Gods in one Person to have a "blessed Trinity."
Having said that, we still have to address the question of what we do about the matter of the Trinity? I can only state where I am, and where I have been. Right now, I am doing the very best I can to teach and to say only those things that the Bible says. What that means is that I no longer say things I once said. I have said that Jesus was fully human and fully God at the same time. I no longer say that. I have said that the Trinity consists of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I no longer say that.
Instead, I try to refer to Jesus exactly as He is referred to in scripture. Sometimes this is relatively easy: just say what the Bible says. Other times it is harder because the scriptures say things that we don't say. An example is in my lesson on Psalms 2. It is a relatively short part of my lesson, but it is found about half way down in my lesson on The Psalms. The point that I'm making is that this Psalm says, "This day I have begotten you." This is a challenging statement.
So what do we do?
I think that all of us who are concerned about the matter need to do a lot of studying and a lot of praying about the matter. It is a matter that we do not have to "re-invent the wheel." A lot of great research has been done by others. As with any source outside the Bible, we have to consider these sources very carefully, but there is a lot of history that needs to be explored. My desire, for as long as I can remember, is to find out: what did the early church do and teach? Have we fully restored the teaching of the New Testament church? What was the "apostles' doctrine"?
I think we often believe that what we are doing is what the early church taught. Sometimes our faith is challenged from sources we never thought of. My wife, Carolyn, has a cousin who became converted to Judaism. Before you get too many strange ideas as to how this happened, her cousin was basically nothing religiously. She began to challenge Carolyn with the idea that the Old Testament taught that there is only One God, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!" (Deu 6:4 NKJV) Jesus repeated this: Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one." (Mark 12:29 NKJV)
Now since Carolyn's cousin had never been anything religiously, why would I pay attention to what she had to say? Good question. The answer: whether or not I agree with her, Paul, and all the apostles, were teaching Jews exclusively for the first ten years or so of the early church. Were they undoing the teaching of One God and now saying, there are now three Gods in One Person? Could they have gotten by with that? The thoughts are a bit disturbing.
What else? As I have opportunity, I want to help people think about what the Bible says about Who God is, Who Jesus is, and Who the Holy Spirit is. After being a Christian for 56 years, I realize there are still things to sort out. The men of our restoration movement did a great job trying to get us back to the teaching of the New Testament, but on my library shelves I have an "Old Testament" that consists of only four books. On the spine it says "Phillips Four Prophets". As far as I know, that is as far as J. B. Phillips got before he died. No one would argue that that is the entire Old Testament. In a similar way, who would say that our brethren who worked to restore the church of the first century had completed their work when they died? Who's to say there were not other things still to be resolved in working back through the errors that had crept into the church since the first century?
If you would like additional aspects of the Trinity discussed and answered with scripture and also links to other web sites, I refer you to a very detailed study by my wife Carolyn A Further Study of the Trinity