Are you a confessional Trinitarian, but a functional Unitarian?

I cannot think of a moment where I have heard a professing Christian deny the Trinity.  They might be ignorant or even fuzzy on some of the details, but usually they will assent to them once explained.  Plus, there is a fundamental difference between ignorance and denial.  Ignorance of the Trinity is immaturity; denial is damnable heresy. 

But while Christians would never dream of denying the Trinity, many I know, if not most, do not let it affect their day to day lives.  In fact, I speculate that these people wonder if God’s triunity is even necessary for their salvation or Christian life.  They are confessional Trinitarians (one God in three persons), but functional Unitarians (one God in one person). 

Therefore, I want to do a series of brief blog posts on how the Trinity affects our Christian lives.  Today, however, let us remind ourselves on what the Trinity actually is. 

God is one God in three distinct, co-existent, co-equal, co-eternal persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The one Godhead consists of three persons who exist at the same time; all three are equally God, and thus they have always existed and will always exist.  Notice also that they are distinct.  This means that though the Father = God, the Son = God, and the Holy Spirit = God, at the same time the Father ≠ the Son or Holy Spirit, the Son ≠ the Father or Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit ≠ the Father or the Son.  Here is the best diagram of the Trinity I have yet to see.

If these distinctions seem unnecessary, just ask yourself, Who died on the cross?  The Father?  Of course not, the Son did.  If you think to yourself "does this really matter?", be very careful.  The first two commandments reveal that God is not only concerned that we worship Him only, but that we worship Him rightly, and we cannot do the latter if we confuse, or worse deny, His very nature!  Among those who are near Me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified (Lev. 10:3).  God is passionate about His glory and honor, especially among His people.

In this series of posts, I want to give brief thoughts regarding the Trinity and our salvation, prayers, worship, preaching, and more.  My prayer is that we would not only grow deeper in our knowledge of God, but also in our conformity to Christ by the power of His Spirit. 

Down with functional Unitarianism!