Developing a Trinitarian Perspective

As one who grew up within the evangelical tribe of Southern Baptists I readily admit that we are guilty of not thinking often enough or deeply enough about the doctrine of the Trinity. One of my Ph.D. professors, Dr. Malcolm Yarnell, and his wife Karen have posted a five-part response to the recent debate among evangelicals on the Trinity (see below for links to each). For those following or interested in following that debate, these posts are both economically (after all they are free =) and immanently helpful for understanding its basic contours and for the analysis of the positions taken.

While those outside the theological ranks will likely find their discussion too academic, their concluding paragraphs offer a presentation of the gospel that demonstrates the relevance of the doctrine of the Trinity to our faith and practice:

So, here is the main thing to see: The eternal Father sent his only begotten Son into this world in order to unite with our humanity. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on a cross for our sins and rose from the dead for our justification. The Father and the Son sent the eternally proceeding Holy Spirit into the world in order to convict us of sin and judgment and the righteousness available through faith in the Son. And through regeneration, the Spirit unites us with the Son of God, allowing us to approach the Father in the service of worship.
    And that is what we, his redeemed slaves, will be doing for eternity: Worshiping the one enthroned Lord God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—three persons yet one in essence, eternally sharing the divine perfections in the beautiful order of relations without division, without diminution, without composition.

As one who grew up within the evangelical tribe of Southern Baptists I readily admit that we are guilty of not thinking often enough or deeply enough about the doctrine of the Trinity. My prayer is that this recent debate and its produce will awaken us to this rich and beautiful doctrine, a doctrine central to our confession and the baptism we administer on the basis of personal faith. After all, to receive baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19) is to join the church throughout the ages in its Trinitarian faith. Hopefully this recent debate will lead to a greater appreciation and development of a Trinitarian perspective among evangelicals of every stripe.

Here are the links to each of their posts:

• Post 1
• Post 2
• Post 3
• Post 4
• Post 5

What Does the Location of the Temple Teach Us about Worship?

"Then David said, "Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel" (1 Chron 22:1). The location of the Temple is the same location upon which David offered a sacrifice to assuage God's wrath against God's people in the wake of David's sin of the census (cf. 1 Chron 21; 2 Sam 24:1-25).

In his comments on 1 Chronicles 22, D. A. Carson offers the following reflection on what this site selection teaches us about worship:

The place chosen for the temple is the place where a sacrifice was offered and the wrath of God against sin was averted. Of course, the very design of tabernacle and temple was meant to remind people that sin had to be atoned for, that one could not simply saunter into the presence of the holy God, that the sacrifices God himself had prescribed had to be offered by the high priest once a year, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. But the siting of the temple on this location reinforces the point. Worship and religion are not primarily about offering to God something called praise, something God prefers not to be without. Worship and religion are first of all about God-centeredness--and because we are rebels, that means that worship and religion are in the first instance about being reconciled to this God, our Creator and Redeemer, from whom we have willfully become alienated. The hear of the temple is not its choirs, its incense, its ceremonies. The heart of the temple is about averting the wrath of God, by the means he himself has provided." (D. A. Carson, For the Love of God, Vol. 1 [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998], 330). 

"Love Lustres at Calvary"

I was reading in The Valley of Vision this morning and encountered the following passage. I love the imagery and the reality to which it points.

My Father, enlarge my heart, warm my affections, open my lips,
   supply words that proclaim 'Love lustres at Calvary.'
There grace removes my burdens and heaps them on thy Son,
   made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me;
There the sword of thy justice smote the man, thy fellow;
There thy infinite attributes were magnified,
   an infinite atonement was made;
There infinite punishment was due,
   and infinite punishment was endured. 

____________
Arthur Bennett, ed., Valley of Vision (Carlilse, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), 42.