Michael Bird writes:
“The God we are confronted with in the gospel is the Triune God. The gospel and the Trinity are internally configured toward each other because the saving acts of God point to a God who exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The salvation that the gospel promises portrays the Father as choosing, Christ as redeeming, and the Spirit as renewing—all in a unified work by distinct persons in a single Godhead.” (Evangelical Theology, 92).
Yes. I love how Bird states that the gospel and the Trinity are “internally configured toward each other.” As I study the nature of the gospel, with all of its depth and width, I can’t help but think upon God. And as we develop a robust trinitarian understanding of the gospel, we add more upon the wonderful aspects that Bird notes (the Father choosing, the Son redeeming, the Spirit renewing). The application of redemption, from the initial work of regeneration to the final consumption of glorification, is infused with Father, Son, and Spirit.
What would add upon Bird’s introductory remarks? How else is the gospel trinitarian?
Luke is a pastor-theologian living in northern California, serving as a co-lead pastor with his life, Dawn, at the Red Bluff Vineyard. Father of five amazing kids, when Luke isn’t hanging with his family, reading or writing theology, he moonlights as a fly fishing guide for Confluence Outfitters. He blogs regularly at LukeGeraty.com and regularly contributes to his YouTube channel.
What are we saved for/to? We are saved for to have a personal, interactive relationship with the super personal Triune God (Joh. 17:3). So the plan of redemption reflects that personal nature of the Trinity. If God’s plan was just to save us from hell, he could have done it without Christ or Holy Spirit. He could have just sent a big enough fire truck and the problem would have been solved. But no, the Trinity himself comes because he wants us to know this sweet society that God is in himself (as the Puritans said).