toldailytopic: Is belief in the trinity necessary for salvation?

Nathon Detroit

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The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for March 29th, 2012 10:10 AM


toldailytopic: Is belief in the trinity necessary for salvation?






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Sherman

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Knight said:
The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for March 29th, 2012 10:10 AM


toldailytopic: Is belief in the trinity necessary for salvation?

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Simple question complex answer. I will let the scripture do the talking. The story of the Philippian Jailer tells quite simply what is required for salvation.

Act 16:25-34 -
25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”
29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.


I have highlighted in yellow the requirement. I see no mention of belief in the Trinity here. That I believe entails a correct understanding of who Jesus is.

For some the word 'Trinity' is a stumbling block because it isn't found in the bible, even though the concept is.

It becomes salvic when they deny the divinity of Jesus and make Him into a created Jesus. This is the real danger of non-trinitarianism
 
MaryContrary

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No. I was saved without any awareness at all of this "trinity" concept or the ongoing debate about it. I'm pretty sure I wasn't really exposed to it until some months after I was saved, when it suddenly occurred to me that this was an important point that I should look into.

Seems clear to me that it's a very important point that is not required for salvation. Like most very important points and every other bit of wisdom.

A better question would be, "Can someone who is saved deny the trinity?" One could still quibble that one to death, I think, but it's a better question.
 
S0Z0

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Try as I may, it seems to be a stumbling block for so many, who claim to be "Christians", concerning the difference between what you must believe to be saved and the belief you have because you are saved.

It boggles the mind that thinking people can't comprehend this.

A believer will not deny that Jesus is God. A believer will not deny that the Father is God, or that the Holy Spirit is God.

Believers believe who God is, what He has said about Himself, and what He has done.

Believers believe God. Unbelievers do not believe God. :duh:

Inzl has correctly pointed to a verse that is true. However, you cannot just believe in any Jesus and be saved. What someone says they believe, about the Jesus they claim to have believed in, is evidence of the Jesus they believed in.

If someone says "I believe in Jesus" and then asked "who is this Jesus you believe in", and they say "well he is a man sent from God, but not God", then they have never believed in the Jesus they must believe in to be saved.

Without hijacking the thread, the same holds true for the Jesus someone claims to believe in, not only in who He is, but also what He has done.

Therefore someone can believe in the trinity, and yet deny what He has done, giving evidence that they are not saved.
 
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Nang

Nang

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Yes.

One cannot claim to belong to God, while denying the attributes and revelation that defines the One True God as Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Persons who deny the Trinity are not Christians, but heretics and troublemakers.

Nang
 
MaryContrary

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S0Z0 said:
Try as I may, it seems to be a stumbling block for so many, who claim to be "Christians", concerning the difference between what you must believe to be saved and the belief you have because you are saved.

It boggles the mind that thinking people can't comprehend this.

A believer will not deny that Jesus is God. A believer will not deny that the Father is God, or that the Holy Spirit is God.

Believers believe who God is, what He has said about Himself, and what He is done.

Believers believe God. Unbelievers do not believe God. :duh:

Inzl has correctly pointed to a verse that is true. However, you cannot just believe in any Jesus and be saved. What someone says they believe, about the Jesus they claim to have believed in, is evidence of the Jesus they believed in.

If someone says "I believe in Jesus" and then asked "who is this Jesus you believe in", and they say "well he is a man sent from God, but not God, then they have never believed in the Jesus they must believe in to be saved.

Without hijacking the thread, the same holds true for the Jesus someone claims to believe in, not only in who He is, but also what He has U]done[/U.
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Yeah, what he said. :chuckle:
 
Lon

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Mar 2:7 Why does this one speak such blasphemies? Who can forgive sins except God only?
 
G

Grosnick Marowbe

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The trinity is a difficult subject at best. The Bible speaks of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and yet says they are one. There are varying opinions of what this means. I see a "plurality" involved because, Christ prayed to the Father in the garden previous to the crucifixion and while on the cross. After Christ left our world, the Bible says, He went to Heaven to sit down on the right hand of the throne of God (Father)

In Genesis it says, in Genesis 1:26, " And God said, Let us make man in "our" image, after "our" likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. There appears to be a division involving, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christ said the Comforter (Holy Spirit) would not come until He (Christ) left this world.

In the end analyses, I believe it's possible to, not have a "clear" understanding of the trinity, yet still be saved and "In Christ" It's not a deal breaker...
 
elohiym

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Knight said:

toldailytopic: Is belief in the trinity necessary for salvation?

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No. However, my answer needs to be qualified. I understand that explicit in the trinity doctrine is the belief that Jesus is God (true), and implicit in the denial of the trinity is the belief that Jesus is not God (anti-Christ). That does not change the fact that there are a number of people, myself included, who believe that Jesus is God yet do not hold to the trinity doctrine.

My rejection of the trinity doctrine is a rejection of a doctrine of men, entirely superfluous to the gospel, that distorts the unity of God and attempts to limit Him, and implicitly attributes to Him three minds and three spirits.
 
elohiym

elohiym

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Lon said:
Mar 2:7 Why does this one speak such blasphemies? Who can forgive sins except God only?
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John 20:23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

John 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

So that either adds twelve more persons/minds (at least) to the Godhead, or more likely, as I believe, Galatians 2:20 and 1 Corinthians 2:16 are literally true.
 
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godrulz

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Nang said:
Yes.

One cannot claim to belong to God, while denying the attributes and revelation that defines the One True God as Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Persons who deny the Trinity are not Christians, but heretics and troublemakers.

Nang
Click to expand...

I would agree about Muslims, Mormons (polytheists), JWs (Arians), but not modalists (strongly affirm the Deity of Christ despite being wrong about personal distinction vs modes/offices).
 
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godrulz

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elohiym said:
No. However, my answer needs to be qualified. I understand that explicit in the trinity doctrine is the belief that Jesus is God (true), and implicit in the denial of the trinity is the belief that Jesus is not God (anti-Christ). That does not change the fact that there are a number of people, myself included, who believe that Jesus is God yet do not hold to the trinity doctrine.

My rejection of the trinity doctrine is a rejection of a doctrine of men, entirely superfluous to the gospel, that distorts the unity of God and attempts to limit Him, and implicitly attributes to Him three minds and three spirits.
Click to expand...

3 conscious centers, yes. 3 spirits would be tritheism like Mormonism, not triunity like trinitarianism. The Trinity is strictly monotheistic with one nature/substance/essence/being/spirit of God.

Despite your rejection of trinity, I consider you a believer because you embrace Jesus as Lord God (Jn. 14:6; Acts 4:12; Phil. 2:5-11). Trinity formulations came later in church history and are biblical, but articulation or understanding of them is not a salvific issue like the Deity and resurrection (I Cor. 15) of Christ is.
 
rocketman

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Knight said:
The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for March 29th, 2012 10:10 AM


toldailytopic: Is belief in the trinity necessary for salvation?

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Yes, it is what Bible teaches. This is a very worn out subject here at TOL but, if you deny who God says he is, how can you be saved. It is as if you never believed at all.

Is. 43:11 I, even I, am Yahweh; and besides me there is no savior.
 
G

godrulz

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rocketman said:
Yes, it is what Bible teaches. This is a very worn out subject here at TOL but, if you deny who God says he is, how can you be saved. It is as if you never believed at all.

Is. 43:11 I, even I, am Yahweh; and besides me there is no savior.
Click to expand...

One cannot deny the existence of God and be saved. We are saved by grace through faith, not by theological infallibility. Few true Christians understand or can explain the trinity, as true as it is. Faith in Christ as God is sufficient to save.
 
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