The Joshua Victor Theory

            In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today is Trinity Sunday. This Sunday is unique on the Christian calendar, because it doesn’t commemorate an event, miracle, or a person, but rather a doctrine. The teaching of the Trinity is central to the Christian faith. Attacked for centuries, but always defended as the orthodox or correct teaching of the Bible. From the earliest centuries the Creeds were confessed to defend against distortions of the Bible, especially about the Trinity. We could get stuck on the semantics of the word “Trinity”. The word itself is not found in the Bible, but that’s not the important question. The important question is whether the teaching is found in the Bible. We simply use “Trinity” to describe how God shows Himself in Scripture; as Three Persons, One God .             I assume most or all of you alrea...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. This is the fourth and last week where our readings are from the end of Hebrews. Previously we’ve seen how Hebrews makes the case that Jesus is superior over all things, and that our faith is centered in Him. The closing chapters show how to run the race by faith, endure hardships, receive God’s discipline, and be encouraged by the heavenly cloud of witnesses that cheer us on. In this last chapter, the author picks up what might seem like some miscellaneous pieces of advice on how to live. They are called “exhortations”, or encouragements to continue doing what is right. Exhortations are a form of the “Law”, or commands of God—but with the difference that they’re set in the context of the new identity we’ve been given in the Gospel—the reality that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, and made us a new creation and new community in Him. Let me explain a little more. ...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. On this Trinity Sunday, it may seem odd to talk about an encounter with the Triune God from an Old Testament passage. Isn’t the Trinity only a New Testament teaching? Not exactly. Of course the Three persons in One God are most clearly named and described in the New Testament, at Jesus’ baptism (Mt. 3) or at His commissioning of the disciples to baptize in the “Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 28). But the reality of God in three persons, blessed Trinity (LSB 507), is just as true in the Old Testament. Less obvious? Yes. The three-fold “Holy, Holy, Holy” addressed to the Lord God, already hints at His Triune nature. When He asks Isaiah whom He will send, He says, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” The Triune God speaks of Himself in the plural, “us,” just as He did at creation: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). So the Triune God Isaiah encount...