The Knowledge of the Holy: The Holy Trinity

[Editor’s Note: This is a 23-Day Series exploring different aspects of God’s nature and personality, using Tozer’s “The Knowledge of the Holy” as a discussion starter. You can read the introduction of the series here.]

Today Tozer invites us to peer into one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith: the Trinity. It’s such a great mystery, that he spends about half the chapter encouraging us to believe that which we cannot fully explain. And this is what I love about Tozer: He wholeheartedly submits to a God He doesn’t fully understand.  This is unthinkable for most of us, but it’s the nature of trust.  Tozer goes on to layout the depth of the oneness of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and invites us to wonder at God who is simultaneously one but three.

Tozer also calls us back from some of the various heresies the church embraces without knowing it: God has always been One. God has always been three persons. None of them have ever been any less than the other. Even as we have typically assigned the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit different roles, Tozer is quick to point out that God in His totality was involved.

There are always some deep mysteries involved in this discussion and a very narrow way forward that doesn’t involve heresy.  But what I love about the truth of God as One is that built into the very nature of God is a type of unity that does not involve submission or hierarchy. It involves love and oneness of vision.  In this way, not only can we worship with our words and song, but we can worship with our lives in the way we relate to other believers. While we cannot become one in substance with the body of Christ, we are called to a oneness of love and purpose that looks very much like the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

How do we do this? It starts from our unity with Christ in God. Jesus in John 17 prayed to His Father that we would be one. And in the course of the prayer, He says we will be “in Him” and He will be “in God” and that we will receive a glory that makes us one, just as Jesus and the Father are one (see John 17:20-23).  Friends, we are called into a deep relationship with the Trinity through the sacrifice of Christ.  If we will walk in this Oneness with Christ (being “in Him”) we will inevitably experience a kind of glory and love that causes to walk in oneness with other believers that transcends hierarchy. We will experience the very nature of God in ourselves and in our relationships with others.

So, that’s a different route than I expected to take, but that’s my thoughts. What’s your takeaway from today? Let us know in the contents.

Also, for a fun little exercise in understanding the Trinity, you can watch this video here.

The Knowledge of the Holy Series

Day 1: Why We Must Think Rightly About God

Day 2: God Incomprehensible

Day 3: A Divine Attribute: Something True About God

Day 4: The Holy Trinity

Day 5: The Self Existence of God

Day 6: The Self Sufficiency of God

Day 7: The Eternity of God

Day 8: God’s Infinitude

Day 9: The Immutability of God

Day 10: The Divine Omniscience

Day 11: The Wisdom of God

Day 12: The Omnipotence of God

Day 13: The Divine Transcendence

Day 14: God’s Omnipresence

Day 15: The Faithfulness of God

Day 16: The Goodness of God

Day 17: The Justice of God

Day 18: The Mercy of God

Day 19: The Grace of God

Day 20: The Love of God

Day 21: The Holiness of God

Day 22: The Sovereignty of God

Day 23: The Open Secret