B. DEVELOPING CONVICTIONS

On a ship in the Navy, there was a young man who was interested in the Bible and Jesus. After studying the Bible together, he had lots of questions. He went on a vacation and returned, announcing that he did not believe in the Trinity. He questioned, “How can there be three Gods?” He was convinced that Jesus was not God.”

Many times, there have been great questions about a person’s conviction of a Triune God. Are there three Gods? Is there one God with three persons? How does one explain the Trinity? Maybe it would be better to know the Scriptures that teach about Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and build the conviction from there.

NOTE: Tim Keller has done some great messages on the “Trinity” that may help a person gain a better perspective on this amazing revelation of who God is and why this is so important. Go to timkeller.net and look for messages on Trinity.

Ephesians 3:14-18:

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

Before you dig into these questions, re-read the verses 14-18 of Ephesians 3 above.

1. What do you see operating in these verses?

2. What does the Son do?

3. What does the Father do?

4. What does the Spirit do?

Look at Luke 1:26-37 (Observe how the Triune God is involved in the birth):

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” ³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

1. What did you observe about the interaction between Mary and the angels?

2. What did you discover about the work of God?

3. What was the father’s role?

4. What was the Spirit’s role?
5. What was the Son’s role?

1. How does this help you with your conviction?

2. What will you need to do to solidify your conviction?

3. When will you take steps to look deeper into this?

1. What is the most important part of this lesson to you? Explain.

2. How do you see applying aspects of this lesson to your life?

3. When do you feel would be the best time to make that application?

4. What do you hear the Lord speaking to you about this right now?