2 Corinthians 13:11-13…“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” vs. 13
The closing of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians is familiar to many of us, even if we didn’t know that it was a bible verse. We hear these words frequently in worship, and they’re a reminder of the Trinitarian emphasis that has been a part of the Church’s teaching from the beginning. While early leaders didn’t use the complex theological terms that later generations put into play at the ecumenical councils of the Fourth Century, they had discovered that when we talk about the Divine Presence it’s natural to use words that reflect a Trinitarian experience of God.
The great thing about a simple verse like this is that it sums up all the important parts of our faith. As believers we are gathered into community by the Holy Spirit to celebrate the grace that is ours in Jesus Christ and bask in the unconditional love of God that holds all things together. We only run into problems and disagreement when we start arguing about the intricacies of the connections between these three Persons. Sometimes the contentions have gotten so intense that large portions of the Church have separated from one another.
Some of the difficulty has come because we think the Trinity is something to be believed in, and not just experienced, and that’s just wrong! The Trinity is a description of our salvation and deserves to be celebrated, and not argued about.
Thought for the Day: How do I experience the Trinity?
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