Elect by the Trinity
· I would like to borrow a procedure that we did at the last Sunday afternoon service.
· You have a copy of one of the statements from the membership binder and given that this is the month of our anniversary of 76 years of being a fellowship and 10 years in this building,
· Let’s stand and read this together
· The fellowship did not have the copies so I read from my copy and notes.
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God (an infinite, intelligent Spirit) whose name is JEHOVAH, the Creator, Sustainer, and Supreme Ruler of the heavens and the earth. We believe that He is inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; revealed under the personal and relative distinctions of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our true God is equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
· The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith but we don’t preach much, teach much or talk much about it.
· In our belief statement we state three affirmations
· First, Monotheism – We believe that there is one, and only one living and true God
· Second, There are three Divine Persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
· Third, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are coequal and coeternal – Our true God is equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
· Today and next Sunday, I want you to see how Peter states that in his greeting
· Allow me to also make clear what we are not saying in this belief statement
· We are not saying that there are three gods – that is tri-theism or polytheism
· We are not saying that the Father is greater than the Son who is greater than the Holy Spirit – that is Subordinationism
· And we are not saying that there is one god who appears in different roles as the Father in the Old Testament, the incarnate son in the New Testament and the Holy Spirit during the church age – that is call modalism (different modes), Oneness, or Jesus Only
· Studying the existence of the Trinity is call ontological Trinity
· The other study of the Trinity is called the economical Trinity and this study deals with the different ways the Trinity related to this world especially in Redemption
· We see this in 1 Peter 1:1-2
1 Peter 1:1-2
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. ESV
· My subject is ‘elect by the Trinity’ and the passage give four points, one is implied and three are stated
· My first point is; what is implied here in this greeting
· Peter gives a Trinitarian statement to the elect without distractions
· It is a matter of faith statement The Foreknowledge of God the Father, The Sanctification of the Spirit, Obedience to Jesus Christ
· How is this possible giving that the elect are former Jews and Gentiles? From various backgrounds
· As I said earlier we avoid this topic, this subject, this discussion and because you can’t (as one brother would say) get your arms around it, we yield to the temptation of describing the Trinity or attempting to prove or disprove the Trinity using worldly and finite descriptions
· As a result we become more Arminian in our belief and modalist in our statement of belief about God. (Emphasize – We attempt to describe God in our own terms)
· But hear me well, New Hope and friends of New Hope His Word convicts us
Psalm 86:8
8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. ESV
Psalm 86:10
10 For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. ESV
Jeremiah 10:6-10
6 There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. 7 Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you. 8 They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood! 9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple; they are all the work of skilled men. 10 But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation. ESV
Isaiah 46:9-10
9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ ESV
· Listen to this quote from Benjamin Warfield; “As the doctrine of the Trinity is indiscoverable by reason, so it is incapable of proof from reason. There are no analogies to it in Nature, not even in the spiritual nature of man, who is made in the image of God. In His Trinitarian being, God is unique; and, as there is nothing in the universe like Him in this respect, so there is nothing which can help us comprehend Him.”
· Peter in his letter is not developing or defending the doctrine of the Trinity
· His letter presupposes the doctrine among the elect
· And this presupposition is that the doctrine of the Trinity is a fixed possession of the Christian community.
· The process by which it became the possession of the Christian community lies behind the New Testament
· The revelation itself was made not in word, you will not find the word ‘trinity’ in the New Testament but the revelation was made by deed. (Emphasize)
· The revelation of the Trinity is made in the incarnation of God the Son and the outpouring of God the Holy Spirit
· The proof of the doctrine of the Trinity in as simple as possible statement; Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit
· It was in the coming of the Son of God in the likeness of sinful flesh to offer Himself a sacrifice for sin; and in the coming of the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, that the Trinity of Persons in the uniting of the Godhead was once for all revealed to man.
· My brothers and sisters, I would like to move on to the next points but we need to stay here a bit longer and I may have to give the next points next Sunday
· But listen to the Word now and hear the tri-unity of what it says
Luke 1:35 Remember the Christmas Story
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. ESV
Matthew 3:16-17 At the Baptism of Jesus
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” ESV
John 14:16-17 The Promise of the Holy Spirit
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. ESV
John 14:26
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. ESV
The Word ‘Trinity’ is not mentioned but you can see the deeds!
Our Worship must be Trinitarian;
John 4:23-24
23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ESV
John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ESV
Our prayer must be Trinitarian, we pray to the Father in the name of Jesus and by the help of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:26-27
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ESV
And our disciple making and baptism is Trinitarian;
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” ESV
· The doctrine of the Trinity, in other words, is simply the modification wrought in the conception of the one only God by His complete revelation of Himself in the redemptive process
· This is what Peter says without distraction to the elect of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia
· Listen to it, listen to the Redemptive process
· Elect and it is according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, elect and it’s in the sanctification of the Spirit, elect and it’s for obedience to Jesus Christ and for the sprinkling with his blood
· What can you go away with from this one point
· Your redemption, your salvation, your election was, is, and shall remain so important that it took the triune God to work it out
· This could not be manufactured, thought of or contemplated by man, God in His uniqueness had to do this
· When this is real in our reality, we can do nothing but praise Him from whom all blessings flow and in all things find joy and give thanks.
· I pray that I have given you just a sample of the doctrine of the Trinity but remember the simple people and the intellectuals of Peter’s day embraced it and so should you
· Next Sunday we will continue this message, God willing, with the remaining three points from this passage
· Until then, I ask for your continued prayers.
· I don’t know why Jesus love me and I don’t know why he cares, I don’t know why he sacrifice his life, but I’m glad so glad He did!
· Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father
· Elect in the sanctification of the Spirit
· Elect for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood – this is a hendiadys (hen-di-a-dis) = expressing a single idea by two words
Exodus 24:3-8
3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” ESV
Ezekiel 36:24-28
24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. ESV
Fulfilling this through the gospel of Jesus Christ
Matthew 3:16-17
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” ESV
Hebrews 9:14
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. ESV
Romans 8:11
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. ESV
Matthew 28:18-19
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ESV
2 Corinthians 13:14
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. ESV