Trinity Sunday

May 26, 2024

Romans 8:12-17

Amazing Truths About Our Amazing God—

Only a Triune God Can Deliver What Only a Triune God Can Offer!

12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (NIV1984)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today is Trinity Sunday. Today is the day that we focus our attention on yet another unique aspect of the true Christian faith. Today is the day that we humbly set aside our innate need to be able to understand and explain things in a way that makes sense to our limited logical minds. Today is the day that we confidently celebrate the incomprehensible. Today is the day that we rejoice in knowing that the one true living God is the Triune God— three distinct individual Persons in one divine essence.

While the word Triune is not found on the pages of Scripture, the teaching of the Trinity is clearly proclaimed throughout the Scriptures. From the, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness” of Genesis 1:26 to the three-fold blessing that God gave to Aaron to pronounce over God’s people (Numbers 6:22-27)— the same three-fold blessing we use in most of our worship services, from the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River (Matthew 3:13-17) to the Great Commission that the risen Christ gave to His Church (Matthew 28:18-20) the Scriptures make it very clear that the one true God is the Triune God!

As we celebrate Trinity Sunday today we also begin a new sermon series. The overall theme of this series is: Amazing Truths About Our Amazing God! As we begin this sermon series let’s see how these words from Romans chapter eight focus our attention on this truth: Only a Triune God Can Deliver What Only a Triune God Can Offer!

Have you ever been in debt to someone? I think it’s safe to say that everyone here today will have to answer “Yes!” to that question. Some of us may have financial debts that we are paying off— a car loan, a student loan, a mortgage on our house. Even if we have never had a financial debt to repay, we all have someone to whom we owe a “debt of gratitude.” Whether it’s our parents or our grandparents, whether it’s our spouse or a family member or a friend we all have someone in our life who has always been there for us, someone who did something for us, someone to whom we owe a “debt of gratitude.” In the opening verses of our text Paul reminds us of how and why we owe a “debt of gratitude” to our Triune God! Look at what Paul says to us, “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation— but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.”

A more literal translation of, “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation,” is “Consequently, brothers, we are debtors.” As Christians we are “debtors.” The “debt” we owe is to our Triune God— not to our old sinful nature. Our old sinful nature never did anything for us except cause us problems— problems that lead to death, both physical death and spiritual death. The “debt of gratitude” that we owe to our God flows from the fact that God the Holy Spirit now graciously lives in our hearts!

When you stop to think about it, the blessing of having God the Holy Spirit living in our hearts is one of the amazing truths about our amazing Triune God. The blessing of having God the Holy Spirit living in our hearts means that we have the assurance that we “will live.” The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live for our God while we are here on this earth. The Holy Spirit gives us the privilege of living with our God in His eternal heavenly Home!

The blessing of having God the Holy Spirit living in our hearts also means that we have a very special relationship with the Triune God. We are the “sons” of God— with all the rights and all the privileges that special relationship brings with it. (Paul will talk about those special rights and privileges in just a moment.) The practical application of having the Holy Spirit living in our hearts, the practical application of being the “sons” of God is that as we journey through this world we “are being led” by God the Holy Spirit. Using His holy Word as a “lamp” for our feet and a “light” for our path (Psalm 119:105) God the Holy Spirit keeps us on that “narrow road” (Matthew 7:13-14) that leads us to eternal life in heaven. Like the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that led God’s people through the wilderness, God the Holy Spirit shows us how to live our life in a way that is pleasing to our God. That is an amazing truth!

A second amazing truth about our amazing God is found in verse fifteen of our text. Paul writes, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba,’ Father.” The phrase “Spirit of sonship” can also be translated as the “Spirit of adoption.” The “Spirit of adoption” automatically reminds me of baptism. When we were baptized with water in the Name of the Triune God we were “adopted” by the heavenly Father to be His dearly beloved children.

The amazing truth that we have been “adopted” by our amazing Triune God results in two amazing applications. First, we no longer have any reason to “fear” God. Think about what that means, my friends. Before we were “adopted” by the Triune God we were overwhelmed with “fear” of Him! We were afraid of His justice. We were afraid of His judgment— and by that I mean His eternal judgment. We were afraid to be in His presence. We were even afraid to speak to Him! All that “fear” was “washed away” through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. What an amazing truth!

The second amazing application that comes from knowing that we have received the “Spirit of sonship,” the “Spirit of adoption” is found in Paul’s words, “And by him we cry, ‘Abba,’ Father.” The word “Abba” is an Aramaic word that expresses a deep, close, personal relationship. That deep, close, personal relationship is made clear in the fact that the term “Abba” is used in only two other places in the Bible. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus addressed His prayer to His “Abba, Father.” (Mark 14:36) And in Galatians 4:6 the apostle Paul writes, “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’”

What does this mean? This means that because we have received the “Spirit of sonship,” because we have been “adopted” by the Triune God we have the amazing privilege of approaching the throne of the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth, the throne of the God who knows all things at all times, the God who knows each and every star by name (Psalm 147:4), the God who opens His hand to “satisfy the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:15, 16), the God who knows how many strands of hair we have on our head (Luke 12:7)— we have the privilege of approaching His throne at any time and for any reason, humbly saying “Abba, Father, I need to talk to you,” and confidently knowing that He will respond, “Come, My child. How may I help you.” The fact that we have received the ”Spirit of sonship,” the “Spirit of adoption,” the fact that we can confidently approach the throne of the living God is indeed an amazing truth revealed to us by our amazing God!

Look into your own heart, my friends. Look into your own life. Most of us will be able to see that there were and are countless times when we need the help and the guidance and the protection of our Triune God. It’s not unusual for us to find ourselves overwhelmed by situations that are completely beyond our control. For example, since the cost of living here in northern California is so high there are times when we need to turn to our Triune God and ask Him to graciously provide us with our daily bread. Since faithfully standing up to defend the Truth of Scripture can easily result in backlash from the unbelieving world around us we need to turn to our Triune God and ask Him to protect and strengthen the gift of saving faith that He has created in our hearts. Since there are times when even our family and friends might fail us we need to remember that we can always turn to our “Abba, Father” and ask Him to wrap His all-powerful and all-loving arms around us. That is an amazing truth revealed to us by our amazing God!

The final amazing application of the amazing truth that we have received the “Spirit of sonship,” the “Spirit of adoption” is found in the closing verses of our text. Paul writes, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs— heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Take in the confidence that these words exude! Every time we come into contact with God’s holy Word and God’s holy Supper God the Holy Spirit “testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God”! The word that is translated here as “testify” very literally means, “show to be true, give evidence in support of.” No matter how frantically the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh may try to douse the flame of faith which God Himself has created in our hearts, God the Holy Spirit “testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God.” He leads us even deeper into the truths of Scripture and “shows this to be true.” He lifts up our eyes to the cross and “gives evidence in support of” this truth by assuring us of what the Son of God has done for us! (Pointing to the cross)

The confidence that comes from knowing that we are “the children of God” gives us the confidence of knowing that we are “heirs— heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” Do you know what this means? It means that everything that our risen Lord and Savior has received from the heavenly Father also belongs to us! The victory of Easter Sunday, the triumphal return to the glory and perfection of heaven, the security and the happiness and the unparalleled riches of the heavenly Father’s Kingdom are all ours! While the full realization of this amazing truth will only come after the trials and tribulations of this world come to an end, our inheritance is a sure thing! Our inheritance is guaranteed to us by the Triune God Himself! What an amazing truth!

The amazing truth that only our Triune God can deliver what only our Triune God can offer brings us back full circle to the opening words of our text, “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation,” or more literally, “Consequently, brothers, we are debtors.” When we look at everything our Triune God has done for us and is doing for us, when we look at everything our Triune God has given to us and will give to us— we humbly recognize that we owe our Triune God a “debt of gratitude” that we could never possibly repay.

My Trinity Sunday prayer is very simply this: May God grant that every single day we consciously strive to be led by God the Holy Spirit, that we humbly pray to our “Abba,” God the Father, and that we excitedly rejoice with our “Co-heir,” God the Son!

To God be the glory!

Amen