The Trinitarian Gospel

Today (D.V.), I will preach on Paul’s Trinitarian theology in the first seven verses of Romans 1:1-7.

Notice the emphasis I have added for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Trevin Wax recently wrote an excellent post, The Trinitarian Gospel: Why We Need All Three Parts.

. . ..There is also a Trinitarian layer to the gospel that needs to be recognized.

    • God the Father justifies sinners by satisfying his own wrath through the death of Christ and by applying Christ’s righteousness to sinners who respond to him in faith.
    • God the Son inaugurates the kingdom of God on earth through his life, death, and resurrection.
    • God the Spirit breathes new life into sinners, giving us eternal life (”the life of the age to come”), uniting us to the community of faith, and empowering us to live in the world as a foretaste of the new creation.

Each of these aspects of the gospel should remain Christ-focused. Each points back to his life, death, and resurrection.

When these get out of balance, we run into problems.

Read the whole thing here.