Blessed Trinity
Introduction
The Bible is the greatest Book ever written. There is nothing in all history, in all humanity, to compare with it. It is the greatest story ever told, which, by the way, was the title of a very popular movie that believers once loved. In fact, when I was in the sixth grade in the Sledge High School in Sledge, Mississippi, our teacher announced one morning that this movie would be shown in a theater in Crowder, Mississippi, and that any student who had a note from a parent would be taken by school bus to see that movie. Can you imagine that?! I never heard one complaint from a parent, student, or from the ACLU.
Now, think we me for a moment about this greatest of all stories, from the greatest Books ever written. The divine Author is introduced to us in the very first sentence of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Jesus, we are told in the opening words of the Gospel According to John, was the Agent of Creation. The Bible reveals to us that the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. Who is the Holy Spirit, and is He revealed in the Genesis account of Creation. We do not see His name in those opening verses, but I am convinced that He was there. God is. Jesus is. The Holy Spirit is. Yes, the Holy Trinity was behind Creation, as our thrice holy God is the Author of our Redemption.
I. THE TRINITY IS INTRODUCED TO US IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
A. The Holy Spirit Is Active in the Old Testament.
He is introduced to us, I am convinced, in the Old Testament. All are not going to agree with me, including one of my professors when I was in seminary. I always enjoyed my classes under that professor and considered him to be among the more conservative Bible teachers in any of our six seminaries at the time. It was because of the great respect I had for him that I invited him to preach a revival in a church I served a number of years later. We were visiting in my study one day when he mentioned a student with whom he had talked about his Major Writing Project in his Doctor of Ministries program at another respected seminary - with the obvious exception of my old professor. My friend and former professor told me that student had written on “The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament!” He said, “There is no Holy Spirit in the Old Testament!” He was clearly agitated and could not have been more adamant about it.
I will confess that I lost my opportunity to debate the issue with him while I was trying to get over the shock. I remembered discussing the issue of the Trinity with Dr. Leo Eddleman several years earlier. He told me of the well known and highly respected pastor, and for many years a writer of Christian books, literature and doctrinal articles, who was attending a convention when he saw a well known and highly respected professor who was often quoted by other professors. Dr. Eddleman said, “He (the pastor) went into that hotel room (with the liberal professor) holding a trinitary view of God and came out holding a unitary view of God. He believed that there is one Person in the Godhead. In the Old Testament, He played he role of the Father. In the New Testament He played the role of the Son. From Pentecost forward He played the role of the Holy Spirit. Those who hold the unitary theory of God offer various illustrations, but no convincing argument.
B. The Debate about the Trinity Has already Been Settled.
How do we settle a debate like the one between those holding a unitary theory of God and those who believe in the Trinity? Frankly, I can’t settle it and I won’t try. Those who have adopted the unitary theory of God are adamant about it. But, you know something? I don’t hear as much about the unitary theory as I once did. I remember when conservatives in some areas lost every election and seldom expected an appointment to a board or committee. Many mocked those of us who held that the Bible is inerrant. I remember making the statement to a number of people in a meeting back around 1995 that I thought we would see a lot of conversions to Inerrancy. Those who had once laughed at us for believing the Bible was inerrant began to say, “Well, I really believer the Bible is inerrant, too. I just don’t want anyone to try to force me to say so.” I never knew anyone to try to force another to say he believed the Bible was inerrant if that person didn’t believe it.
I cannot settle the debate over the Trinity, but Jesus can. In fact, in His Farewell Discourse (John 14 - 16), the Son f God teaches us a lot about both the Father and the Holy Spirit. In the Holman Christian Bible the word “Spirit” is capitalized some 70 times or more Old Testament, telling us that the translators Dr. Ed. Blum asked to help with the project believed the word “Spirit” denoted the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity. Let me confess that I was sold on the Holman Christian Standard Bible after a lengthy question and answer session with Dr. Blum. It was my very first meeting as a member of the Board of Trustees for LifeWay Christian Resources and as such, my first meeting with the B&H Publishing Committee.
There had been a question about the new translation by a person who had “promised my momma I would always stick with the King James Version.” LifeWay President, Dr. Jimmy Draper, asked Ken Stephens, then Vice President over B&H Publishing, to get the General Editor, Dr. Ed Blum to meet with us and work out the problem. I could not have imagined anyone receiving greater respect for his knowledge, wisdom and commitment than Dr. Blum.
After patiently answering our questions, we thanked Dr. Blum and went into executive session to deal with the issue. Later, in a plenary session, we recommended to the full board that we go forward with the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Someone brought it to my attention that some people were claiming that the abbreviation HCSB stands for Hard Core Southern Baptist, which, I am sure Dr. Blum would find interesting, since he is a Presbyterian. You see, while the HSCB is a Southern Baptist publication, it is not a Southern Baptist translation.
Today, I would like for us to take a closer look at the Trinity.
II. LET US LOOK FIRST AT THE FATHER.
A. God the Father Is the Creator.
The Bible opens with the words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1). The First Chapter of Genesis is God’s introduction of Himself to every person who reads those words, regardless of the century, the country, or the court, or the class. If we do not have a Creator at the beginning, we don’t need a Redeemer, because there can be no Judge at the end. Now, I have a challenge for you. After you read the first two chapters of Genesis, take a pen and as you read the rest of the Bible and write the letter “C” beside every verse that refers to God as the Creator. I like to do that as I read the Psalms, because our Lord is celebrated as our Creator.
“Yahweh, our Lord, how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth! You have covered the heavens with Your majesty”.... When I observe Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You set in place, what is man that You remember him, the son of man that You look after him?” (Ps. 8:1-4, HCSB).
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. Their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Ps. 19:1-4).
Now, if you are not convinced, consider Psalm 33, and the Yahweh speeches toward the end of the Book of Job (Chs. 38-42) and read His own declaration of His creation.
B. God the Father Is the Sustainer.
You will not see God specifically referred to as the “Sustainer” of the universe in the Bible. But you will read passages like this one: “For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods. The depths of the earth are in His hand, and the mountain peaks are His. The sea is His; He made it. His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” (Ps. 95:3-7). What He created He maintains.
C. God the Father is our Redeemer.
The word “Redeemer” is a metaphor of the slave court, or slave block, where a kinsman had an opportunity to pay the asking price so that a slave might go free. God is our Redeemer, the Author of our redemption. The price He paid was the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, which poured from His side when He was on the cross. He first revealed his plan for the redemption of sinners in the third chapter of Genesis, when He gave us the first prophetic word about the “seed” of the woman.
There are many other references to our Redeemer, just as there are many more references to our redemption. The Book of Job was possibly the first book of the Bible to be written. No joke! Job lived long before God instructed Moses what to write in “the book.” Hear what a righteous man said: “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth” (Job 19:25, NASB).
He introduces Himself to Israel in this way: “This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says...” (Is. 43:14, HCSB). Again, in Isaiah, we read: “The Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer; Yahweh of Hosts is His name (Is. 47:4). In Jeremiah we read: “Their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of Hosts is His name” (Jer 50:34). Paul wrote: “He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a special people, eager to do good works” (Titus 2:14).
III. NOW LET US LOOK AT THE SON.
A. Jesus Christ Is the Son of God.
1. His name is Jesus. If we had understood the Hebrew language when we first read what the Lord said to Moses about his successor, we would have known that this was a double-barreled prophecy. The Name Joshua means “the salvation of the Lord.” We know that Joshua the son of Nun was the immediate fulfillment of that prophecy. The long range fulfillment could only be another Joshua, but in English He is known as Jesus. I stopped by the WalMart store in West Monroe, Louisiana several years ago and noticed a bus with the sign on the side: “JEWS FOR YESHUA.” Jews for Joshua (Jesus). He is Jesus, Son of God, Son of Man, Advocate, Savior, Redeemer, Lord. He is the central figure in the universe, and for Christians He will be the focus of attention forever. He died for us, arose for us, appeared many times, ascended back to heaven and took his rightful seat at the right hand of the Father, where He is making intercession for us.
Jesus is the name above every name:
“For this reason God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, (10) so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow— of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth— (11) and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:9-11).
There has never been another name like His name. For one thing, there is but one Person in all the history of the world through whom, and by whom we are saved. There is but one Name through whom we may go to the Father in prayer. That name is Jesus, and Jesus, in His Farewell Discourse, said, “Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me” (John 14:1). Jesus, speaking to Thomas, said, Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
2. His title is Christ. I read several years ago that some news agency, possibly a television network, announced that they would no longer use both the name Jesus and the title Christ together. They reasoned that to use the name and title together would be a confession (Or commentary, if you will) that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, Redeemer, the Lord. Because Jesus was called the Christ by early believers, some people in Antioch of Syria began calling them Christians (or Christ-ites), a term that was spoken by them in derision, but embraced joyfully by those early believers.
A Jewish friend of some twenty-five years often asked me a question about the Bible. I never had time to say but a few words and he was on his way. One day, in a sense of frustration, he told me about going to his daughter’s home for Christmas dinner. He then asked, “Why do Christians always talk about Jesus?” With deepening animosity, he said, “Jews hate....” He never finished his sentence. I grieved for my friend, but I could only tell him that Jesus was a Jew, and that He love all of us. I was saddened when I learned that my friend had died. Without Jesus. Without the Christ, the Messiah.
B. Jesus Was the Agent of Creation, John 1:1ff; John 14.
1. He is One with the Father. The Gospel According to John opens with these words, “In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). With these words John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, laid the lid on the casket of pagan philosophy that was creeping into the church as Gentiles were being saved. It was called Gnosticism, which is an influence behind Eastern Mysticism, which spawned the New Age movements in America a quarter of a century ago. Before the Prologue to John (1:1-18) is finished, the final nail will have been driven into that casked lid.
2. He created all things that exist. “He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome” (John 1:1-5). God the Father said, “Let there be...” and Jesus, the Agent of Creation, made it happen.
3. Jesus and the Father are One. In the Farewell Discourse, we find these words:
“Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on My own. The Father who lives in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves” (John 14:9-11).
C. Jesus Christ Is the One and Only Savior.
1. No one can come to the Father except through the Son. Speaking of Jesus, Peter said: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). God has one and only one Son, and the Scripture is very clear: “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, HCSB). In His Farewell Discourse, John, Chapters 14-16, we see Jesus as the One who is about to complete His ministry here on earth and return to the Father, where He would take His seat at the right hand of the Father, and there, make intercession for you and me.
2. To know the Son is to know the Father. We just read the words, “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me” (John 14:11). If you want to know the Father, learn about the Son, obey Him, and worship Him. The attributes of the Son are exactly the same as those of the Father. It is for that reason that we know that any book or preacher who offers you a way to know God without embracing His Son, Jesus Christ as Lord, is either ignorant, misled, or a heretic. That author, or preacher, is a tool of the devil.
3. Only the Jesus revealed in the Bible can save anyone. There is no salvation in any New Age Jesus or Christ. In fact, when my brother-in-law, Jimmy Furr, was a regional director for the Interfaith Witness Department of the Southern Baptist Evangelism Department, he spoke to churches, conventions, and conferences all over America, warning them about cults and the occult and the false Jesus portrayed by them. In one New Age rally, various groups set up booths and began passing out their material. Jimmy and a fellow worker were speaking with people and passing out New Testaments when some of the other people there found about it and registered a strong protest. It was all right to try to sell people on a false Christ - just don’t give them a New Testament so they can read about the real Jesus.
IV. NOW, LOOK WITH ME AT THE HOLY SPIRIT.
A. First Consider Who or What the Holy Spirit Is Not.
1. He is not an “it”. Or, as an old neighbor of mine might say, “He ain’t no it!” The Holy Spirit is a living Person, the Third Person of the Trinity. He was active in the Old Testament, and we know this because He had to have been in on the counsel of God when plans were made for the creation of the world, for God’s redemptive plan, about which we read in Genesis, and for all the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. If the Holy Spirit inspired the writing of Old Testament Scripture, does it not stand to reason that He must have been there?
2. He is not a “ghost”. The Holman Bible Dictionary notes that the word “Spirit is “A translation of the Hebrew word ruach and the Greek work pneuma which can be translated as “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit” depending upon the context” [Holman Bible Dictionary]. Believe it or not, I was not around when people began talking about pneumatic tires, the first tires that had an innnertube into which one pumped air. I have air in the tires on my truck and my automobile. I also have some pneumatic tools that operate off air provided by my air compressor. Last Fall, I got a pneumonia shot, to protect me from an illness that attacks one’s lungs. The Holy Spirit, essential to us as air, wind, and breath, is the living Spirit of God, the Third Person of the Trinity, about whom we read in Acts 2.
3. He is not known through a second blessing. A critical verse we need to understand if we are to understand this point is Acts 19:2. Paul arrived at Ephesus and found some believers who seemed to me lacking certain information, so he asked them about it. Here is the passage: “While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples (2) and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:1-2, HCSB). The New American Standard Bible agrees. Any translation or “version” that implies that one may come to know Jesus and then through some second blessing receive the Holy Spirit is misleading. One needs to be filled daily with the Holy Spirit, but he or she can only be indwelt, or baptized with the Spirit one time, and that is at the point of salvation. There are other things we need to keep in mind when it comes to the Holy Spirit: (1) He is not captured through some magic formula; (2) His primary ministry is not an ecstatic experience; (3) He will not be used to deceive others; (4) You will not determine His gifts.
B. Now Consider Who the Holy Spirit Is.
1. He is the Third Person of the Trinity. Jesus instructs us in His Farewell Discourse in this way: “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:25-26).
2. He miraculously inspired the Scripture. Peter, who preached the first sermon every preached in the full power of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, wrote: “First of all, you should know this: no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, moved by the Holy Spirit, men spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20-21).
We might add that he Holy Spirit has miraculously preserved the Scripture. He also miraculously illuminates our hearts so we can understand the Scripture. No lost person can understand the deep truths of the Bible. Creation does not make sense to a lost person, nor does our salvation.
C. Now, Let’s Look at What He Does.
Jesus promised that, “When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in Me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged” (John 16:8-11).
“When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14).
Let me repeat what Jesus, at this very critical time in His ministry, told His disciples about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In the first place, Jesus was returning to Heaven so that He could send the Holy Spirit to carry out the ministry the Father had ordained for Him. In the second place, He will convict lost people of sin, righteousness, and the judgment to come. Through the Scripture, which He inspired, He tells us that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23, KJV). He warns of the significance of that knowledge: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23, KJV). You earn death by your works, but you may receive gift of eternal life by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit is the One who reveals the existence of the God, convicts us of sin, and draws us to the Father, through the Son, that we might have everlasting life. When we believe in Jesus - really commit ourselves to him through the faith He provides for us - the Holy Spirit comes into our heart and into our life. His ministry as the indwelling Spirit is to guide us, teach us, and convict us to do what the Father wants us to do. He wants to see us grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (which happens when we are being sanctified). The purpose in Sanctification is to mold us into the image of Jesus Christ: “For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.” (Rom. 8:29-30, HCSB). Those whom God foreknows redemptively, He justifies, and those who are justified by grace, through faith (Eph. 2:8-9), are predestined to be sanctified (“conformed to the image of His Son”), and they will be glorified. There has never been an erasure in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
D. The Holy Spirit is Essential to you and Me.
1. He is essential to our Salvation. We may ask in what way He is essential to our salvation.
Remember that this was an especially critical time in our Lord’s ministry. Time is running out for Jesus and He is given His apostles their final instructions, except for the brief post-resurrection appearances. Jesus explained the ministry of the Holy Spirit: (1) He convicts the world of sin, (2) He convicts the world about righteousness, and (3) He convicts the world of the judgment to come. He convicts lost people of sin (Rom. 3:23; 6:23), and persuades them to repent (Acts 2:38; and believe in Jesus Christ in order to receive eternal life (Eph. 2:8).
2. He is essential to our Sanctification. Sanctification begins the moment you are saved, and continues until you are called home to be with the Savior. Peter wrote, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’ (2 Peter 3:18). That is sanctification. Paul wrote, “For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29).
That, my friend is both a definition and the goal of sanctification.
E. The Holy Spirit is Our Counselor.
The Greek word here means “one called to stand along side” another. The Holy Spirit is our Counselor, and as one goes into court with an attorney who stands up by him, and for him, the Holy Spirit stands beside us, to lead us, guide us, empower us, and teach us.
1. He is our Comforter.
2. He is our Teacher.
3. He illuminates the Scripture for us.
4. He is our guide in knowing and serving the Father.
5. He convicts believers of sin and compels them to seek forgiveness (John 1:9).
V. NOW, LET US LOOK AT THE TRINITY.
A. First, there Is the Fact of the Trinity.
When I was in seminary, the man who taught my intensive class in Revelation was an excellent speaker, and he had invested a lot of time and energy into the preparation for this class. There was, however, a problem. Someone else noticed it one day and asked our professor, “Do you believe in a literal devil?” He did not, but he did not simply say that he did not believe in a personal devil. What he said was, “You cannot have two infinite beings.” We, of course, understood that Satan is not an infinite being. Later, after I had been out of seminary a number of years, that professor had taught another New Testament book to a group of pastors who were preparing for the annual January Bible Study. One of those pastors told me that the same professor said that he did not believe in the Trinity, and added that the word Trinity was not mentioned in the Bible. That is very interesting, since we find God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit mentioned throughout the New Testament, often in the same chapter, such as John 14.
I have read twenty two volumes written by Francis Schaeffer three or four times, and one of the subjects that has stood out in my mind from the first time I read it had to do with the Trinity. He said that which moved him from being an agnostic, seeking answers, to being a theist, a believer in God, was the subject of the Trinity. He had trouble believing in a God who had to create human beings in order to have someone with whom He could have fellowship. When he came to understand the Trinity he realized that God was totally complete within Himself. He did not create Man because of a need within Himself. For all eternity, there had been a horizontal fellowship within the Trinity.
I had never thought of that before.
B. There Is the Ministry of the Trinity in Salvation.
The Holy Spirit reveals the existence of the Father and convinces us that Jesus is the Son of God, and the Savior of the world, just as He claims. The Holy Spirit can convict lost people of the existence of God as Creator without the Bible, but if they really want to understand the significance of their lostness, and if they really want a relationship with the Lord, they need to read the Word of God, or have someone read it to them. They need to sit in a Sunday School class where the Bible is taught, and hear the Bible preached. If you begin reading the Bible, the divine Author will speak to your heart.
C. There Is the Ministry of the Trinity in Sanctification.
The Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle John to write: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, NKJV). That cannot be stated more succinctly, expressed more simply, or proclaimed more powerfully. This one verse may well have led more people to pray to receive eternal life than any other individual verse in the Bible, or more than any other words ever printed.
D. There is the Ministry of the Trinity in Prayer.
We are taught to pray to the Father in the Name of the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, when you have a prayer in your heart and don’t know how to express it, the Holy Spirit enables you to communicate your thoughts to the Father. Paul wrote: “In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings” (Rom. 8:26, ).
E. There Is the Ministry of the Trinity in Assurance.
The Lord paid a price for your salvation, the greatest price ever paid for anything. He gave His Son to be tortured, persecuted, and defamed, and finally to die a cruel death on the cross for our sins. With this kind of investment in our salvation, it stands to reason that He would want to encourage us to take full advantage of all the benefits that come with a relationship with Him.
“The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:16-17).
CONCLUSION
If you are lost and know it, and feel that you must do something right now, that still quiet voice is the voice of the Holy Spirit. If you know you have been born again, by grace, through faith, but you know when you sing, “I Surrender All”, you are lying, that is the Holy Spirit speaking to you. If you feel guilty when you keep finding something more important than Sunday School and worship services every Sunday, or most Sundays, that is the voice of the Holy Spirit you are hearing.
If you sit through the services, but your mind is elsewhere, and you suddenly become aware of that fact, that is the voice of the Holy Spirit you hear. If there is an inner voice convicting you of the fact that are visiting, but have not become active in this church, that is the Holy Spirit whispering to you.
If you have been neglecting your prayer life and that thought suddenly comes to mind, that is the voice of the Holy Spirit you hear. If you profess to be a Christian, but you know you are neglecting your Bible reading and Bible study, that is the Holy Spirit speaking to you.
God the Father sent His only begotten Son to this earth to live, teach, and die a horrible death on a cruel cross for your sins and mine, so that we might have eternal life. God sent His Son, and the Son came willingly. In His Farewell Discourse, in that critical last meeting with His eleven faithful disciples, He promised to send the Holy Spirit as our Counselor.
The Holy Spirit convicts lost people to go to the Father, through the Son, in order to have everlasting life. Salvation is the work of the Trinity. Sanctification is the work of the Trinity. Worship is the work of the Trinity. Security in your salvation is the work of the Trinity.
Will you leave here today with assurance that you are following the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit? This is your opportunity right now.