Whatever you think of The Shack . . .

. . .its portrayal of the Christian Trinitarian concept of God was gripping, thought provoking, and (for me) revealing. The book very smartly did not try to explain how the three are one and one are three. More importantly and effectively it portrayed the relationship among them and how each is important to us who exist as individuals in relationship.

The eighth chapter of Romans has been a key verse for Christian understanding and living since it was penned 20 and 1/2 centuries ago. Each Person of the Triune God gets time on the stage. Here's what I can affirm:

The Holy Spirit

• Controls our minds increasingly (8:6)


• Lives in us (8:9-10)


• Will give life to our mortal bodies (i.e. resurrection) (8:11)


• Is the way for us to put the misdeeds of the body (i.e. sins) to death (8:13)


• Testifies with our spirit that we are God's children (8:16)


• Is a first fruit of a fuller harvest God will produce in us (8:23)


• Helps us in prayer by interceeding for us (8:26-27)

Jesus Christ

• Is the reason we are free from the law of sin and death (8:2)


• Was a (one-time) offering for sin (8:3-4)


• Was the human expression of the Spirit (8:9)


• Is risen from the dead (8:11)


• Is a co-heir with us of all things (8:17)


• Is the One all Christians are destined to become like (8:29)


• Intercedes for His own at God's right hand (8:34)


• Loves us (8:35, 39)

God the Father

• Sent the Son to be a sin offering (8:3)


• Receives hostility from the sinful mind (8:7)


• Raised Jesus from the dead (8:11)


• The One the Spirit expresses (8:14)


• Has children (8:16-17)


• Subjected creation to frustration (8:20)


• Has a will (i.e. plan) for all (8:27)


• Works actively for good in all things for those who have commited to Him (8:28)


• Foreknew, calls, justifies, and glorifies His own (8:30)


• Is for us (8:31)


• Will give us all things (that are necessary) (8:32)


• Justifies sinners (8:33)


• Will not allow anything to seperate his people from his love (8:39)

I hope that you find fulfillment in knowing this One God who exists forever in triune relationship and who wants to share His life with as many of us as will have it.