Living as if the Trinity Is Real
The advantage of believing in the reality of the Trinity is not that we get an A from God for giving “the right answer.” Remember, to believe something is to act as if it is so. To believe that two plus two equals four is to behave accordingly when trying to find out how many dollars or apples are in the house. The advantage of believing it is not that we can pass tests in arithmetic; it is that we can deal much more successfully with reality. Just try dealing with it as if two plus two equaled six.
Hence, the advantage of believing in the Trinity is that we then live as if the Trinity is real: as if the cosmos environing us actually is, beyond all else, a self-sufficing community of unspeakably magnificent personal beings of boundless love, knowledge, and power.
And, thus believing, our lives naturally integrate themselves, through our actions, into the reality of such a universe, just as with two plus two equals four.
In faith we rest ourselves upon the reality of the Trinity in action–and it graciously meets us. For it is there. And our lives are then enmeshed in the true world of God.
—Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy
Belief is more than mental agreement—it is action shaped by truth. Dallas Willard reminds us that believing in the Trinity isn’t about scoring theological points, but about aligning our lives with reality. Just as we live differently because we know two plus two equals four, so too we live differently when we believe the Triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—is the ultimate reality. We are not alone in a cold universe; we are surrounded by a divine community of love, power, and wisdom.
When we trust that the Trinity is not only true but present and active, our lives begin to reflect that trust. We rest in the Father’s care, walk with the Son’s grace, and move in the Spirit’s power. Our actions, choices, and relationships slowly knit themselves into the deeper fabric of God’s world. Faith in the Trinity invites us not only to think differently, but to live differently—in the presence of boundless love that welcomes us in. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics