Kinda think that whether the Trinity appears in the OT or not is irrelevant. Men were saved by faith in the OT, but the content of that faith varies widely depending on where they are in the time line of God’s progressive revelation. Abraham was saved by faith that God would be faithful to His promise.
I have heard many people say that we are saved by faith looking back to the cross and that OT saints were saved by faith looking forward to the cross. While it is true that we find the protoevangelium (first promise of the gospel) in Gen 3:15 it is absurd to maintain that OT saints anticipated and understood the cross. Even THREE years of up close and personal ministry by the Lord Jesus HIMSELF did not make the cross clear to the 12/11. Peter, the first, was STILL fighting the idea in Gethsemane!
OT faith was not sufficient for salvation, once Jesus died on the cross. The disciples of John at Ephesus had to transition from OT faith to NT faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. SO, whether or not it is in the OT is not crucial to the question, IMHO.
A person is saved by grace through faith in the substitutionary atonement. They do not have to understand ALL the details, nor do they have to understand the doctrine of the Trinity to be (or stay) saved. I would suggest that most believers who are properly discipled will come to an understanding and acceptance of the Trinity. I would not suggest that someone who denied the Trinity was lost, anymore than I would suggest that a believer who committed adultery and murder was lost. I would suggest that failure to accept the Trinity and a life of sin SHOULD motivate someone to check out their faith to make sure that they are indeed “in the Lord”.
Someone mentioned the unpardonable sin earlier, not applicable here. The Jewish leaders rejected clear testimony by the miracles that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah. Even the common people recognized that the healing of the deaf, dumb, and lame was a fulfillment of Isa 35. Notice that based on the rejection of the leaders of the nation, Jesus BEGAN to teach in parables. I do not believe the offer of the Kingdom was on the table after this rejection by the leaders, that is why Jesus shifted the focus of His ministry at that point. THE unpardonable sin cannot be committed today. The Holy Spirit is not directly testifying to the Jews that their Messiah is here. Jesus is not doing miracles on the earth in His flesh today. It is unpardonable to finally reject the Holy Spirit’s conviction that Jesus is the Savior today, but that is not “the unpardonable sin” of Matthew 12, IMHO.
rjprince
) is this: suppose you wanted to look after giraffes at the zoo; you know nothing about giraffes and accordingly go on a course to learn about them. You can start with the basics of "giraffes are four-legged herbivorous mammals that live in tropical Africa". So far, so good, you've got the basics and a firm foundation. But suppose a few weeks later you were insisting that giraffes had grey skin, big ears and a trunk (either because you were erroneously taught that on the course or because you refused to believe that giraffes had blotchy fur, long necks and legs), then you would be greatly in error and unfit to be a giraffe keeper.
