Insightful Statement: Unity and Uniformity

Some of the best insights I have ever said were not planned or thought of prior to them coming out of my mouth. I only say this because I comprehend my own lack of genuine profoundness. Each statement that I have made, that I thought was insightful, ended up being written, said, or expressed visually more times than I dare to find out.

When I think of these short, quippy, and timely statements I am thankful that they actually made a difference in someone’s life - possibly true but not a definite. Here’s the first of many examples:

“Unity does not mean uniformity.”

Over the past couple of years the conversation about unity, diversity, and race have been the topics of conversation at almost every dinner table my wife and I have sat at. It is interesting that it consistently comes up, and I’m pretty sure the reason is that no one has a perfect answer for how bring perfect unity in a local Christian church with a diverse and multi-racial world. 

I know of at least one person who beat to the punch when concerning unity and uniformity. Professor David Reimer said this statement in a brilliantly written paper about unity in the Old Testament. As I was researching for my sermon on Pslam 133, I came across his statement and immediately had the twisted reaction: I got excited.

I thought that something I said was pretty smart, true, and maybe even insightful, but I now see what my reaction says about my heart. 

The point is that I was being insanely arrogant.

I should have been humbled.

What I said was not unique, clever, or a genuine moment of deep profound thought. What I said was true and I firmly believe that there was insight involved, but I now believe that the piece of insight was not given by me to others but from God to me and others.

God reveled something truly freeing to me, and it is that to be a unified Church we do not need to be uniformed. God created us to be diverse. He created us to give a small reflection of the diversity that we find in the Triune God. The Trinity is unified and diverse but not uniformed.

Throughout the writing of this post, I sincerely desired to write about ten different topics in which I would give another insightful word to you. Instead of swelling up in my own arrogance and pride, I will give thanks to God for being full of wisdom, beauty, unity, diversity, and majesty.

God is good and gracious.

Jacob Luis Gonzales

How the Trinity Works Together in Salvation

Amazing Article I found on the theology of salvation. This is a little heady, but I thought it was awesome! Click HERE to read more articles from this website.

One of the most important insights of Reformed theology is the unity of the works of the Trinity. Calvinists believe that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are united in the work of redeeming lost mankind. We do not believe that they act against one another or even on one another, but with one another in our salvation. For instance, Jesus did not die to convince the Father to change His attitude toward us from enmity to love. Rather, Jesus died on the cross because of the Father’s love for us, as John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” The Father and Son are united in their work for the salvation of those who believe: the Father electing and sending His Son; the Son atoning for the sins of those chosen and given to Him by the Father (John 6:37–40). The same harmony exists between the Son and the Spirit. Jesus did not die for the sins of all people, only to have the Holy Spirit apply the benefits of His work merely to some. Rather, the Holy Spirit regenerates precisely the people for whom Jesus offered His atoning death, so that the work of the second and third persons of the Trinity harmonizes perfectly.

This emphasis on the unity of the Trinity in salvation may be seen in the doctrines of grace as organized by the TULIP acrostic. The doctrines of grace start with a problem: T—man’s total depravity. The answer to this problem is brought about by the unified work of the Trinity. It begins with unconditional election, which is focused on the Father’s sovereign purpose in predestination. Salvation is then accomplished by the atoning work of Jesus on the cross, which, according to limited atonement, was offered for those elected by the Father. This salvation is then sovereignly applied to those same elect individuals by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, which is the point of irresistible grace. Therefore, just as unconditional election describes the grace of the Father and limited atonement describes the grace of the Son, irresistible grace presents the grace of the Holy Spirit. While acknowledging that where one member of the Trinity acts, all are involved, we may identify irresistible grace as the Holy Spirit’s own doctrine of grace.

This brief excerpt is from What’s So Great about the Doctrines of Grace? by Richard Phillips. Download the digital edition free in July, 2013.

This is so awesome to think about. God, His Son, and His Spirit all work together in perfect harmony, unity, and as a community to save His children! Amazing!

God is good and He saves His children.

Jacob Luis Gonzales