Children of the Trinity
Text: Romans 8:12–17
A quote from American theologian Bob Hiller:
“[Trinity Sunday] is the one festival on the church calendar where we focus on a doctrine and not an event. Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost all focus our attention on what God has done in history to save us… However, on the Sunday of the Trinity, we are not focused on any specific event in the history of our salvation, but on the God who does the saving.”
Trinity Sunday gives us an opportunity to think about not just what God does, but who God is. We can’t have a proper understanding of God or even have a genuine relationship with Him without recognising that God is triune, three in one, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Faith in this Triune God is what makes us Christians and unites us with the Church around the world and throughout all time. The Creed we all subscribe to, and the faith we are all baptised into, is centred on the Trinity.
We mark this day—the first Sunday after Pentecost—because the Holy Spirit has now entered the scene. Since the start of Advent, we have been submerged in the narrative of Jesus’ arrival in the world, His baptism, His ministry, His suffering, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension. That narrative concludes at Pentecost, with the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Now, we enter the age of the Christian Church with all three members of the Trinity present and active.
In the reading from Romans 8, Paul teaches us about what it means to be children of this triune and holy God.
We have freedom in the Spirit
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
Romans 8:12–13 (NIV)
When Paul talks about the flesh, he’s talking about more than just our physical bodies. He is talking about our human-ness. He’s talking about the broken, imperfect, sinful nature that exists within us while we live in this world. To be freed from the flesh is not to be completely separated from it—we believe in the resurrection of our physical bodies, not in a separate body and spirit. It means that we are not obliged to listen to the flesh anymore. Another translation says that we aren’t in debt to the flesh—we don’t owe it anything.
What does it mean to live according to the flesh? Well, there is a decent list of examples in Galatians 5. Things like sexual immorality, drunkenness, and sorcery are the obvious ones we think of—things that our bodies crave even though we are usually fully aware that these things are evil and harmful to ourselves and others. We might even do these sorts of things partly because we know they’re wrong—there is a thrill in being rebellious, like exiting our carpark through the front gate which says, “entry only”.
There are other things that are a bit more subtle and maybe more widely accepted, though: enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy… These things arise in us and come to the surface before we even realise it. These things start out as a thought that crosses our mind but we never share. These things are thoughts that we justify to ourselves because they can seem very reasonable.
Divisions are perfectly normal—people have differing opinions all the time. We might even say that divisions are natural. The Church has experienced all kinds of divisions throughout its history. Our Lutheran Church was born out of a division. We’ve certainly had our fair share of divisions and dissensions in recent times here.
The works of the flesh seem natural because, for sinful human beings, they are. We can’t just simply try harder to steer clear of these things—they will always sneak in. The works of the flesh have to be put to death.
The more normal these things become, the more painful it is when we realise we’ve been following a path of sin the whole time. The tighter the works of the flesh cling onto us, the more that death will hurt. As sin burrows deeper into our hearts, God has to dig deeper to get it out.
In the baptismal rite today, the question was asked of little Joseph, which we answered on his behalf: "Do you reject the devil and everything he does, so that you will no longer be led by him?” In other words, “Do you intend to put to death the works of the flesh in you, so that you can truly live?” When we affirmed our baptisms last week, at Pentecost, we responded to that same question.
To answer that question is to acknowledge that our original state is to follow the devil. To affirm our answer to that question is to acknowledge that we still do. It takes a conscious decision to reject his ways because they are so natural to us as sinful human beings.
In baptism, by the Spirit, through the work of the Son, God removes the obligation to live that way. We were born in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves, but He can and He does. We have true freedom in the Spirit.
We are not slaves, but children
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Romans 8:14–16 (NIV)
To be freed from the flesh is not to be free to do whatever we want—that’s just going back to serving sin again. True freedom is found in the Spirit, within His parameters and His care. Swim between the flags. Stay on this side of the fence.
God has expectations of us—that we will love one another as He loves us, that we will pick up our cross and follow Him, that we will honour our fathers, mothers, and those in authority… But we are not slaves to those expectations. We are free to do them.
In the longer form of the confession of sin, we have those three questions: do you confess your sin; do you believe that Jesus has redeemed you… The third question is this: “Do you intend with the help of the Holy Spirit to live as in God's presence, and to strive daily to lead a holy life, even as Christ has made you holy?”
This is not a condition. God will forgive us even if we go on to fail to live a holy life. In fact, that’s why God forgives us in the first place. But notice that we can only do any of it “with the help of the Holy Spirit” and because Christ has made us holy. Yet not I, but through Christ in me, as the modern worship song says.
Children do not obey parents that are forceful or too strict. If they do, they will rebel as soon as they get the chance. Children obey parents when they know their parents expect things because they love them and when they know their parents want the very best for them.
Since God is our heavenly Father, we listen to Him because we know that He so loved the world that He gave is only Son not to condemn us or enslave us, but to save us. Like a loving father leads his children by the hand, so our heavenly Father leads us by His Holy Spirit.
We have an obligation to live by the Spirit. It’s not a requirement or a condition—we have already been saved through Christ—but we are indebted to our God who gave even His only Son for us. The least we can do in response is to live in a way that pleases Him, which is also for our good anyway. So, we aren’t slaves to God, but His children. This, of course, is made possible in baptism.
We are co-heirs with Christ
17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Romans 8:17 (NIV)
In today’s world, when we think about inheritance we think about the drama of sorting out the will of someone who has died and dividing up the estate. Inheritance, which is completely undeserved, is so often surrounded by greed, conflict, and disagreement.
Jesus, as the Son of God, has an inheritance from His Father. As children of God ourselves, then, we are also entitled to this inheritance. We don’t share in a financial or material inheritance, which tend to only cause problems. Rather, we share in Christ’s sufferings so that we may share in His glory. In other words, we share in Christ’s death so that we may share in His resurrection.
There is no victory without sacrifice. There is no glory without suffering. There is no resurrection without death. The challenges we face in this life are real, but they are small in comparison to the glory we will experience in eternity.
Suffering is a part of this life and of what it means to be co-heirs with Christ, but it leads to the real point of it all which is to share in the glory of the Trinity.
May the Spirit of God put to death in us the works of the flesh, the things that lead us away from Him, so that we might be made holy and live in the presence of God, Father, Son, and Spirit, for the rest of our days. Amen.
