I live in a neighbourhood where my neighbours are Hindu and Muslim. When I am at a bus stop, I can converse with Muslim legal scholars. When I walk by my neighbour’s house, I wave to Hindus. This is everyday life in modern Canada.
As I reflect on my neighbourhood, I realize that my apologetic challenge comes from two directions: Muslims who assert that God is solitary rather than the triune God of Scripture, and Hindus who maintain that God is manifold (i.e., there are many gods) rather than the one God of Scripture. I find myself intellectually pressed between one faith that rejects the Trinity and another that denies the oneness of God.
I firmly believe that Jesus Christ is the one God of Israel—of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—through whom God the Father created the world. The common possession of the Spirit means that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit constitute the one God of Israel, the Creator of heaven and earth.
Yet these fundamental Christian teachings have become increasingly difficult to assert among non-Christians as simple truths. And it is not just in my neighbourhood.
The internet has changed everything.
Social ethics derive from political legislation, and I now believe religious sensibilities are influenced by social media platforms. On YouTube, TikTok, and similar platforms, the most influential accounts—with hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers—often promote doctrines of God and Christ that diverge significantly from what Christians have taught for two millennia.
This presents a crisis for the faith today. We must provide a reasoned defence for our hope, articulating how God is one and three, how God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit constitute the one God of Israel. We must explain what that means for Christ, the eternal Word from the Father, who became incarnate for our salvation.
Every church and Christian institution must clearly communicate these truths to believers under their care, particularly to Christian leaders who will teach these dear truths to the world around us. This is the fundamental issue from which everything else flows. To be “gospel-centred” means recognizing that God the Father sent the Son to save the world and gave the Spirit to confirm and guarantee that salvation. Through the Spirit, we see the face of Christ and know the Father (e.g., John 14:9).
God and Christ are the objects of faith in the gospel, and God’s being and identity reflect our language of the gospel. This is, therefore, a gospel issue that we cannot ignore.
I have endeavoured to contribute to this ongoing project in various ways in my writing and teaching. But I’d like to highlight one such contribution. This Friday and Saturday, I will be speaking on the Nicene Creed, which exemplifies the biblical teaching on God and Christ, at SOLA’s (The Gospel Coalition in Quebec) conference in Longueil, Quebec.
I request your prayers for this conference and encourage your attendance if possible. This matter is of eternal significance; we cannot delay. We must know God in Christ and promote that saving knowledge, for as John 17:3 states, “This is eternal life.”
