Three in One

Three in One

The Feast of the Holy Trinity – 6/15/25

John 3:1-17

Rev. Dr. Christopher W. Brademeyer

That portion from God’s holy Word for consideration this morning is our reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. John in the third chapter with special emphasis on verses sixteen and seventeen which read as follows:

““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”[1]

Thus far the Scriptures.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Nature of Love

Why is it necessary for our salvation to believe in the Holy Trinity as the One True God? It is sadly common today that doctrine, teaching from the Bible, is dismissed as unnecessary. It is not uncommon for those of us who care about what the Bible says about God to be dismissed as being legalistic, unloving, uncaring, and the like. Truth is set up as an opposition to love; indeed, it is seen as opposed to love in many situations.

                Think of the sorts of things being celebrated here in June as part of “Pride Month.” We are told that if we say that someone should not act on their carnal, fleshly desires for sexual things outside of marriage, that we are doing something harmful to those individuals that seek to do them. But this is a false thing. Love does not seek harm in body, mind, or spirit. And even if the damage is not immediately visible to our eyes or other senses, a harmful, sinful activity can still erode the soul.

                Love is not toleration or acceptance or affirmation. Love consists of seeking good things, objectively good things, for those who are loved. Love does this even at cost to the one doing the loving. And this is shown in the greatest of loving acts in all human history: the love that compelled the Lord Jesus to become a man to save us sinners.

The Unity of God

                Sinners that we are, ignorant of the fullness of God’s truth as we are, we human beings often put things against each other that God does not intend to be set up as in opposition. Love and truth go hand in hand. So do the persons of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our One God does not oppose Himself or work against Himself.

                This should be something that seems rather obvious to you, after all, we confess regularly in our Creeds that God works for our good in creation, redemption, and sanctification and that God is not divided in doing these things. There is one will in God, one set of desires, and these are not opposed.

                However, just as we like to set love against truth, we human beings also sometimes set God the Father against His Son. It goes something like this: people will say that God in the Old Testament is legalistic, even mean. God, that is Jesus Christ, in the New Testament is about love. And by doing this, we divide Father against Son.

                It is true that God the Father sends His Son to save us. Jesus comes not to condemn us, not to judge us, but to save us. And this is done out of a great love for each one of you. God does not come to us out of anger or judgement, but because His love compels Him to save us from everlasting condemnation and death. Love is the reason that God gave us His holy Law, which serves to organize our lives so that we might flourish here even in the midst of sin and death. Love compelled God to save a people, the descendants of Jacob, who He redeemed with a mighty arm.

                And in the New Testament Jesus is not without His judgement or His commands. He drove the Temple sellers our of His Father’s house due to their corruption. He commands us to love one another just as He has loved us. He intensifies the commands delivered to Moses by telling us that the matters of the heart are just as much a cause for sin as the things we do outwardly.

                In other words, God the Father and God the Son are not divided against each other. The Old Testament is not a collection of books about the mean God of the past and the New Testament is not the squishy marshmallow festival we might wish it to be. God and His character, in all of His persons, is remarkably consistent across all the books of the Bible. This should not shock or surprise us, after all, God the Holy Spirit is the one who has given words to the Prophets and Apostles alike.

                Even more fundamentally, God cannot be divided against Himself. There is one God. This one God exists eternally, that is since before the beginning and forever after the end of all things, as three persons. He is always and will always be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three Persons are the one God. And yes, we must say persons. This is a technical term referring to the Three; other terms such as people are incorrect in that they imply that God is three people in a community, rather than a threefold unity.

Why We Must Confess This

                It is very important that we get this right. This is no optional thing. The reason that we focus on the truth of God being one in three Persons is because there is only one God. No other gods are the true and living God who has saved you from sin, death, and the devil. There is only one God who has given Himself into death for your sins and salvation. Religion is not a matter of personal preference or personal conviction. True religion is a matter of listening to God as He reveals Himself to us through His Word. God says that He is Three in One. Therefore, we confess this truth. Even if it does not make sense to us or we think we can describe it better, we must bind ourselves to what God has revealed.

                This is, above all, what we human beings seem to dismiss the most is the idea that God has actually, objectively communicated to us in the written Word. We seem to prefer, instead, the things we do or make up about God instead. If it were really the case that God does not speak to us and that we through deed or idea were supposed to go find Him, we would not only have very little to say about God, but it would be impossible for us to really, truly know Him.

Conclusion

                The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is essential for us because it is to confess the very truth of God and how He reveals Himself to us. It is to confess that the Father sent the Son to save us out of love and that the Spirit comes to us from the Father and the Son to comfort and sustain us. This God is our Creator, Savior, and Sanctifier, who is animated by love for us sinners.

In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] John 3:16-17 English Standard Version. All subsequent citations from the Scriptures are from the ESV.