End your week with an awesome triune blessing!
2 Corinthians 13:11–14 (NIV)
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All God’s people here send their greetings.
14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 9: The Scriptural Witness on the Trinity
All these things we know
from the testimonies of Holy Scripture
as well as from the effects of the persons,
especially from those we feel within ourselves.
In all these passages we are fully taught
that there are three persons
in the one and only divine essence.
And although this doctrine surpasses human understanding,
we nevertheless believe it now,
through the Word,
waiting to know and enjoy it fully
in heaven.
Summary
Paul closes out his second letter to the believers in Corinth with a final greeting. His words may be familiar to you as they are often used as the benediction (literally means: good words) at the end of a worship service.
Paul invokes all three persons of the Trinity in saying, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Dig Deeper
The Belgic Confession teaches that not only does God exist in three persons, but each person also fulfills a particular work related to mankind. The Father is known as our creator, the Son our Savior, and the Holy Spirit our sanctifier.
The role of each person of the Trinity further shows how these persons are distinct from one another. This is seen in Paul’s final greeting to the Corinthians. Paul blesses the believers in Corinth with the grace of Jesus, love of God, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit. These blessings correlate with the work of each person of the Trinity.
The five days that we have dedicated to Article 9 of the Belgic Confession are not enough to address the entirety of the scriptural witness on the Trinity. Five days aren’t even enough to cover all the scriptures related to the Trinity listed within Article 9, which is far from an exhaustive list. Article 9 also quotes 1 John 5:7 which speaks to the three who testify, the three again being in reference to the three persons of the Trinity.
While we stopped well short of covering all the references to our Triune God in scripture, these five verses are enough to highlight the consistent testimony of the Bible on the Trinity. When it comes to these fundamental doctrines of our faith, it is important to recognize their scriptural foundation.
As you continue to read your Bible, be on the lookout for more biblical references to God’s triune nature!
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The God of love and peace;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that as these words, or words similar to them have been pronounced over you so many times, that you will reflect the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit to those you encounter;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Hebrews 6
