on the label "Trinitarian"

Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). They are done so because they are baptized into the name of God. One might ask, then, why they are not baptized into the "names" of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This observation leads to the doctrine of the Trinity. Christians believe in the doctrine of the Trinity because it is revealed in the bible. Some have noted, however, that the word "Trinity" doesn't occur in the bible. Neither does the word "Sacrament". Words like these are used to describe an idea (indeed, all words follow this pattern). Rather than saying "the things instituted by Christ which are appealing to the 5 senses (taste, touch, sight,...) and communicate spiritual truths" we say the word "Sacrament". Indeed, we could say "The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" instead of "Trinity"... but why use the definition when the word is more convenient?

The Father is God. Jesus is God. The Holy Spirit is God. These are three persons. These are one God. They are the same in substance (whatever the God part is in each is the same in the other two), equal in power and glory.

What does the doctrine of the Trinity do for us? A pessimistic person would say "it confuses us". It is true that this is a doctrine that is hard to fully understand. In the end, though we should expect doctrines of God to be beyond our full comprehension. After all, God is unlike us and also has attributes like omniscience and omnipresence. The doctrine of the Trinity helps believers to understand some things about God which would otherwise make no sense.

First, since God has always existed in three persons, it sheds some light on why God would have created the world. Some have presumed that God made the world and mankind because he was lonely. The doctrine of the Trinity helps us to see the error of this. God was not lonely, in fact, He has always been in communion: each of the three persons with each other. God the Father has always loved God the Son. The son is eternally begotten of the father and was from eternity past before the face of the Father. The Spirit has always bonded them in their love. Mankind was created to glorify God, yet this was not to give God a glory he was in some way lacking.

John 17:
17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, ... 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Second, it tells us something of God's character. God exists in relationship within himself. When we think of relationship, like that of a husband to a spouse or a father to a son, we naturally have an emotional imprint of what that relationship means. Consider, though, that our human relationships are but a picture of what a true relationship is. When man was created in God's image, I wonder if it included the way man would have relationship with others of mankind. Perhaps human relationships are a part of being created in the image of God.

Genesis 1:

26 Then God said, “Let us make man [8] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Third, it tells us something of the unity which is desired among believers. Jesus himself prays for this unity. He does not compare it with a unity among any created thing... but instead he draws attention to the unity which exists within God. Jesus calls this unity as being "perfectly one". As the Father and Son are one, so should Christians seek to be unified. Jesus also prays a reason why such unity is sought. "That they so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me". Unity among Christians is a powerful witness for the gospel. This unity should be most clearly seen in the local body of believers. As a person sees a congregation (as a visitor or as a long time member), they should see the love of God in God's people.

John 17:
11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. ...
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

My Theology is Trinitarian. It is no small matter that God refers to Himself in the first person plural ("let us make man in our image"). If God so refers to Himself, we should take note. As this is the God whom I serve, it makes a difference in how I see and relate to other Christians. I believe that God the Father chose a people for himself. I believe that Jesus is God who became man to die for men and women whom the Father chose and gave to Him. I believe the Holy Spirit effectually calls men to Jesus as their savior and lord. If these believers are called by the same God I serve, and were made children of God through the same gospel, then I look upon them as brothers. I love God because of the amazing love that He has had within Himself. I marvel at the fact that He has shared this love with mere men, even me. This is the theology that drives me to love my church, which is but a part of Christ's Church universal through time and space.