So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. As long as people think that Christianity is something they do, they are trying to control the Spirit by telling it where and when to blow. So the next time somebody asks if you are a born-again Christian, you can reply that you are not. And if the person wants to know when that happened, you can say it was when you were baptized. And if your questioner asks you whether you have taken Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you can shrug and say that isn't nearly as important as the fact that Jesus has chosen you as his own and has given you eternal life.
Today is the Festival of the Holy Trinity.
Certainly the doctrine of the Holy Trinity sets forth the church's historic understanding that God is one God in three persons, that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three gods but three persons in one Godhead. But above all, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity declares in no uncertain terms the preeminence of God over all things, including human religiousness. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is simply a further expression of the introduction to the Ten Commandments where God says, I am the Lord your God. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity declares that creation, justification, and sanctification are the work of God, not human beings, and that while our response to God is not unimportant, without the initiative of God's Word there would be no human response at all. Today there is a baptism at the early service and there are six confirmations at the late.