Trinitarian Discipleship

I love J.I. Packer. I try to read everything he writes. His influence upon sound evangelical thinking would be difficult to overestimate. One of Packer’s many strengths is his ability to pack a freight train of theology into a comparitively brief statement (see his outstanding Concise Theology).

In this month’s edition of Modern Reformation (to which I would encourage everyone to subscribe) features an interview with Dr. Packer that is well worth the read. I found the following statement to be very insightful and encouraging:

“I’m a great believer in the importance of trinitarian thinking in discipling. A lot of what has weakened discipling is the result of thinking of only one person of the godhead at any one time–think about the Holy Spirit and what he does; think about Jesus and his death on the cross for us; think of the Father and of his love and goodwill. But you’re not thinking, you see, of the three together: the divine team which works in the unity of a single program and plan, each person in the team fulfilling his part in our salvation, so that the gospel is much less “what a friend we have in Jesus”, but “what a team of friends we have through Jesus”–it’s the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our discipling instruction will be infinitely strengthened if we present it that way. Sometimes people say, “I’ve never heard it put like that before.” People will be deistic unless they are taught the Trinity.”

– J.I. Packer