Was the Trinity Broken at the Cross?

Was the Trinity broken at the cross? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. On this Good Friday, we would love to hear from you and our phone lines will be open for the next 20 minutes or so. Here's the number. It's 833-THUGS. That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also leave your voicemail for us anytime 24 hours a day at that same number or email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Jordan calling in from Oklahoma. Jordan, what's your question for Adriel?

Yes, Adriel. I was given my life to the Lord when I was a kid, and I fell asleep during my baptism or the sermon during my baptism, so it always given me doubts. Now I struggle with the unforgivable sin and that I pardon my heart and thus can't repent and be forgiven by God. How do I know that there's still hope for me? Well, Jordan, thank you for giving us a call.

Can I just follow up with you really, really quickly here? Is it that you feel like in your life right now there's a pattern of sin that you're engaging in that you're unable to repent of, or is it that you look back on your life and there are things that you did in the past? You fell asleep at the sermon during your baptism. You wonder, well, did I sin away God's grace there?

Where are you at as far as that's concerned? Yeah, just the habit of sin that I lived in with addiction and things like that that I kind of ran into habitually sinning, and now I want to turn from the way that I was living. I just feel that it's too late.

Well, let me tell you, Jordan, it is not too late. Praise God for His grace, and even the fact that you're here right now saying what you're saying, longing for the grace and the mercy of God, I think is an indication of the fact that the Spirit of God is at work in your life. You brought up the unpardonable sin described in places like Matthew chapter 12 called the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and specifically what that is in the context of the gospels. The religious leaders were looking at Jesus and His miracles, and they were attributing the miraculous works of Jesus to Satan. They were saying He's a phony, He's a false prophet, you're demonic, Jesus. They had so hardened their hearts against God and His grace, there was no indication of we want Jesus, we realize we're sinners. In fact, the opposite, they were not willing to confess their sins.

Instead, they condemned Jesus and equated Him with the devil. And Jesus says, look, if that's where you're going, you're hardening your heart, you're turning away from the truth, you're in unbelief. There's no forgiveness for that.

You can't be forgiven for that. But when someone turns to the Lord, recognizing their sin, even, Jordan, sinful patterns and habits and struggles, addiction, all of that, 70 times seven. You remember Jesus talking to His disciples, how many times should you forgive your brother when He sins against you? And Peter says, well, up to seven times, and Jesus says, 70 times seven. In other words, that continual forgiveness, even when there's this pattern, Jesus says, and if God could command that of us, His children, how much more is the Lord, who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, eager to forgive all those who turn to Him? Satan would have you believe, Jordan, that you are hopeless, that your situation is hopeless, that you've just sinned too many times and that the grace of Jesus is not sufficient for you.

That's a lie. The blood of Jesus Christ, His crucifixion, His power, is greater than your sin. And so don't believe the lie of the evil one. Instead, trust in Christ and receive the grace and the forgiveness that is yours through the gospel when you turn to Him. And I hope, Jordan, that you're in a solid church. Let me just ask you, are you going to church somewhere right now? Do you have a body of believers around you that can encourage you in the faith? Yes, I do.

Yeah. I would say keep pressing into that and growing together with the believers there. I think of what the author of the Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 3, where he talks about encouraging one another day by day, while it is today, still today, lest we be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion the author of the Hebrews says. And the Lord says the same to each one of us, to you as well. You hear that word of the gospel, the grace of Jesus Christ, for you. Don't harden your heart against it.

Don't doubt that it's for you. Don't buy into the lie of Satan that your sin is greater than God's grace. It isn't.

It isn't. So receive the grace of God through Jesus Christ and by faith, and then commit to following the Lord, continuing to be in church, to grow together with other believers, and rest in the fact that God forgives your sins and calls you to follow him. God bless you. Some great words of reassurance. Thank you for that. And Jordan, thanks so much for calling us. We do appreciate you and your vulnerability.

And I would just echo what Adriel said. To be plugged into your local church in a small group with people who you can be accountable to, who will support you, encourage you, bear your burdens. That's what the New Testament is telling us to do.

So by all means, make sure you're plugged in there. Well, this is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, you can leave us a voicemail anytime, 24 hours a day, 833-THECORE is the number.

Let's go to Mary calling in from Topeka, Kansas. Mary, what's your question for Adriel? My question is in Matthew 27 verse 53. It says that at the time that Christ was crucified, the veil was ripped, the rocks were split, and the dead in faith were raised out of their graves. Who were those?

Who were they? That's a great question, Mary. Very mysterious passage of the New Testament. So let me just read it beginning in verse 51. Behold, the curtain of the temple, this is the death of Jesus.

Behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Now, who are they? Well, the text says many of the saints, that is those who were in Christ. We don't know their names specifically.

We're not given a lot of information as far as that's concerned. Now, there are some people who have said, well, this is maybe just symbolic, this symbolic imagery of Christ through his cross destroying the grave, and so it's not meant to be taken literal. I don't like that because we don't want to suggest anything that might lend to this idea that the resurrection of Jesus itself was not literal or bodily, that it was only symbolic.

That's what a lot of false teachers will say. No, Jesus actually truly did rise from the dead bodily, and so what are we to make of this? I think, in one sense, this is sort of a picture of what's to come, and it highlights here in Matthew 27 the fact that the resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for our own resurrection, and that's the point actually that the apostle Paul makes in 1 Corinthians 15 where he calls Jesus' resurrection the first fruits of the general resurrection of all believers. That is, Christ was raised first, and because Christ was raised, we are going to be raised from the dead.

That's the hope that we have. Because he's truly risen, we are not in our sins, and we have the hope of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, and so that, I think, is what's being communicated there. Just in the Gospel, in Matthew 27, there's a direct link between the death and resurrection of Jesus and the resurrection of his people because we're united to him, we're tied to him. But of course, again, a mysterious passage of scripture. It's actually only in Matthew's Gospel that we read this, and so it's not in Mark or Luke, but I think that that's the best explanation in terms of trying to understand what was going on there. These are some of the saints, many of the saints, not everybody. This isn't the final resurrection, but it's teaching us that the resurrection of Jesus is connected to that of his people. God bless you.

Good word. Thanks for that, and thanks, Murray, for your call, for listening to Core Christianity. Let's go to Ivan in Collinsville, Illinois.

Ivan, what's your question for Adriel? Well, my question has to do with so-called Good Friday, where the thief recognized the Lord and he said, Lord, remember me when you come in your kingdom, and the Lord's reply, Thou shalt be with me in the kingdom, but the word today is mis-punctuated. The Lord's remark to the thief was that day, but he and the Lord Jesus were not together that day ever, nor even after their conversation, because the Lord Jesus died and spent the next day, the Sabbath day and the grave, and he came out the third day, it was his resurrection, and for that matter, the thief on the cross hasn't been raised yet. So, such is the resurrection situation, and that's a mis-punctuation of the word today. That is to say, I say to you today, comma, Thou shalt be with me in paradise, is the way that it should read. Okay, Ivan, thank you for that question and comment.

Here's one thing that I would say. We believe that when we die, I believe that when we die, even though our bodies go down into the grave, we're still in the presence of the Lord in heaven, we might say in paradise, in the spirit. You see this very clearly in places like Hebrews chapter 12, for example, where Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So even though Christ was not yet risen, and even though the thief on the cross has not yet been raised, unless he was one of those raised, I'm just joking, okay, he has not yet been raised, because that general final resurrection has not taken place yet. Still, those who die in the Lord are immediately perfected in holiness and brought into the presence of Almighty God around the throne of God, together with all those who have died in Christ and the angels to worship God in paradise. So we don't have to wait until the resurrection, the final resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, in order to be in paradise.

No, as believers, we're already transported into the presence of the Lord, and we're waiting for the final resurrection, but that intermediate state, that time in between, we're in peace and rest and paradise with the Lord. Thanks, Ivan, for your thoughts. Hey, Ivan, thanks so much for listening to Core Christianity.

By the way, if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, you can email us anytime. Here's our email address. It's questionsatcorechristianity.com, and we try to go through our emails once each day, so if you've got any type of question or maybe a prayer request for us, feel free to email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

Let's go to Michael calling in from Missouri. Michael, what's your question for Adriel? Hi, Pastor Adriel and Bill. God bless you guys.

Thank you for everything you do. I'm going to change my original question. I know your producers may not like that, but that's the Holy Spirit's telling me to ask this. So I heard on one of your programs, I think a couple weeks ago, where they were talking about corruptness in the churches because I personally am struggling to find a good Bible teaching church. Every time I go, they start talking about works for salvation rather than by grace. So I feel I'm feeling pulled by the Holy Spirit to go in and try to expose these bad churches and point them in the right direction of the true gospel. And I feel like, you know, Christ went in and flipping tables when the corruption was going on in the temple. And I remember you saying something about that probably wouldn't be a good idea to try to change the church. But I was wondering your perspective on that. If I feel that I'm called by the Spirit to try to help these churches, point them in the right direction, or point people towards the correct churches they should be going to, how do you feel about that?

Hey Michael, thanks for that question. And you're right, I have said that before on the broadcast where my encouragement to people, say you're going to a church and you just disagree with theology or with the philosophy of ministry, it's probably not going to be the most helpful for you there from within to try and change the direction of the church. And it'll probably lead to frustration on your part.

You know, you could sort of try to change things from the bottom up on your own in isolation. It could lead to, I think, schism, division, gossip. I mean, so there's a lot of concerning things there and a lot of times too for leadership in the church. And this is not to say at all that churches that are teaching false theology or false gospels should not be confronted. I'm just saying the best way to do that is not to try to join one of those churches and change it from the bottom up. I think Michael, you need to be in a solid biblical church, a church that is faithful to the word of God, where you can grow under the ministry of the word with other believers where you yourself can have accountability.

I think that's so important. And as you grow in sound doctrine, the focus needs to be Jesus first and foremost in your own Christian growth. I think there are a lot of people out there, sort of discernment ministries that focus 24-7 on all of the problems in other churches. And again, that's not to minimize those problems or to say that those problems don't exist, but they get so caught up in it, I think that they lose focus on, hey, my own personal growth and sanctification and how we as the church in particular are fulfilling that call that Jesus gave to us to go and make disciples of all nations, of all people, non-believers, to extend the truth of the gospel to them. And if we're focused on the problems in other churches, and that's the main idea behind my ministry, I think we're just going to get bogged down. There's a sort of mission creep there that takes place.

So then how do we address those things? I think the best way to do it is by committing to the truth in your own life, growing in grace, encouraging the people around you in your local church, and exposing those errors when they come up in the context of the community of faith, but not getting lost in them and not making that your primary ministry. Additionally, when somebody feels this call to preach and teach, and a lot of times we can have this strong internal desire, it's important, really, when the Bible talks about this, it gives us a process. If anybody feels called to the ministry of the word, if anyone feels called to be an elder, we read about this in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 1.

They desire a good thing. That's a noble thing to desire, and one of the jobs of elders is to oversee the flock, to make sure that false teaching isn't coming in. But the way in which God calls us to that office is, one, through the internal call that we experience, but also through the church, through that external call of others around us saying, Yes, we see these gifts in you, Michael. We see how God has blessed you and given you discernment, and we believe that God is calling you to this. We can see the maturity in your life, the charity that you show to others, the fact that you're able to teach God's word, all of those things that we see in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, so that it's not an office that we just take to ourselves. Let me just say, there are so many people who have done that today, Michael, discernment ministries that are out there on YouTube and in other places where somebody basically felt called on their own, there's no accountability, and basically they exist to just call out all of the evil in other churches. The way they grow their church primarily is by gathering disgruntled Christians to it, as opposed to really, I think, engaging in the Great Commission.

Those are some of my cautions. Again, not to minimize the importance of the truth and sound doctrine, but we need to get that. You need to get that by being a faithful member of a local church. You may not agree with every single thing that the church does or song that the church sings or whatnot, but finding a place where the word of God is valued, where the gospel is being preached purely, it's not, as you said, works-based salvation or something like that, and committing to it.

If there's nothing like that in your area, if there's truly no gospel preaching church in your area, I don't know where exactly you live, I would say it's worth even considering a relocation, because there's nothing more important in terms of our ordinary growth in grace as believers as being in the community faith under the ministry of the word growing together, being edified in the context of the local church. Michael, it's okay that you changed up your question and appreciate you and appreciate your zeal for sound doctrine. May the Lord continue to help you mature and grow in the faith and bless you in your life. Some solid counsel.

Thanks for that, Adriel, and Michael, thank you for calling in. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. This week we have a great resource we're offering you. It's a New York Times bestselling book, over five million copies sold, and it's a wonderful book that'll, first of all, strengthen your faith, but also give you the answers you need when talking to a skeptic, somebody who doubts the claims of Christianity or says they don't really believe that Jesus is who he said he was, and the book is called The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. Yes, a journalist's personal investigation of the evidence for Jesus. We don't just believe the things that we believe because of how it makes us feel.

There are solid reasons, evidence, for embracing the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and the implications of this great reality touch on every aspect of our lives. We want to help equip you here at Core Christianity to defend the faith, to know the faith, and to defend the faith, and I think this resource is going to help you do that. Again, it's called The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. Wonderful book.

I've read it myself, and I'd highly recommend it to you. You can get that by going to CoreChristianity.com forward slash offers. Again, CoreChristianity.com forward slash offers. Well, we do receive voicemails here at the Core.

You can call us 24 hours a day and leave your voicemail for us. Here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Jared. I was just wondering if you go back to Jesus's crucifixion and he's forsaken, is what he says in Matthew. I compare it to Psalm 22 or 23.

I can't remember which one, but it also starts with a prophecy from David, beginning with, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? So I say that to ask, if Jesus was truly forsaken, what are the implications of the Trinity? Was the Trinity broken up, or did it remain intact? I've had a lot of questions about that, so if you could get back to me as soon as you can, I'd appreciate it.

Thank you. Excellent question, and no, the Trinity was not broken up on the cross. Super important that we understand this. If our doctrine of the atonement of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ undermines our doctrine of God, theology proper, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, well, then we probably have an incorrect understanding of the atonement.

And I think that the issue is people sort of read into this more than they need to. Any theology that sort of treats Jesus as this divine punching bag or something like that, there are serious problems with that. Jesus went willingly to the cross to bear our curse, as Paul called it in the book of Galatians. And what was that curse? It was the curse of death, of judgment, for our sins. But when he's quoting from Psalm 22, he's bringing the words of the psalmist on his lips and talking about that great judgment that he experienced, not that he was no longer a part of the Holy Trinity, that two persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father and the Holy Spirit, had kicked out the Son or something like that. No, not at all. That couldn't be the case.

The entire world, the entire universe would crumble. And note this. Jesus, speaking about his coming crucifixion in the upper room discourse in John 16, says to his disciples, Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered each to his own home, and leave me alone.

Now when was that? That was while Jesus was being crucified, while he was crying out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But listen to how he continues, Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.

And so we have to square these things away. Christ is bearing our judgment. He's experiencing this sense of condemnation, the condemnation of the law, the true condemnation of the law, which is death, the eternal Son of God dying in the humanity that he assumed for us and for our salvation, so that our sins might forever be blotted out, and so that we might have the promise of eternal life. But the Holy Trinity is one perfect in love. And so there was no break in the persons of the Holy Trinity there at the cross instead. I mean, here you have the greatest exhibition of the love of Christ for the Father in obediently coming to this world, assuming the form of a servant, and suffering the cursed death of the cross, so that we might have all of our sins forgiven. There's no more beautiful story than that, friends. There's no greater news than that, that Christ has blotted out all your sins on the cross. Embrace it and walk in newness of life. God bless. Join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.