"Others May, You Cannot"

“Others May, You Cannot” G.D. Watson 1845-1924

If God has called you to be really like Jesus, he will draw you to a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Other’s may boast of themselves, of their work, of their success of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence on Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hidden in obscurity, because He wants you to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small. He may let others do a work for Him and get the credit of it, but He will make you toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He may let others get the credit for work which you have done, and thus make your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings, or for wasting time, which other Christians never seem distressed over. So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do as He please with His own.

He may not explain to you a thousand things which will puzzle your reason in His dealings with you. But if you absolutely sell yourself to be His…slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and bestow upon you many blessings which will come only to those who are in the inner circle.

Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not seem to use with others. Now when you are so possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of Heaven.

Trinity,a question

Okay, don't call me a heretic when you hear this question (if anyone even reads this anymore). This is a serious question, but it questions something that is so ingrained, at least in me. Here it is;

How important is it to believe in the doctrine of the Trinity?

Let me explain. Mainline Christianity basically says that it is very important, that our salvation hinges on it. Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons both do not believe this doctrine the same way "we" do. And let me emphasis, I do believe this doctrine, I do believe that Jesus is God, and I do believe this can be found in the Bible (John 1 for example). But, at the same time, I see where someone else might not come to the same conclusion. It really is a hard, humanly speaking, doctrine to understand. Most people cannot explain this doctrine in a way that is the least bit convincing. The Bible doesn't spell it out in plain language and it never emphasis' it as an "essential" doctrine. In fact, there are many other things that are emphasized more that we've disregarded, i.e.: repentance(really turning from your sin(Luke 13:2)), baptism (Acts 2:38), selling your possessions (Luke 14:33), and the list could go on.

So, why has the doctrine of the Trinity been made so important? If someone believes that Christ is the Son of God, that He died for their sins, and they except this personally and live their lives accordingly, but don't believe that Jesus and God were one, the same way I do, will they go to heaven? The way I've been taught, the answer would be "NO". But now, I'm not sure. How important is our overall understanding of these things? I mean there are basic truths, but how much beyond that are we required to fully comprehend? Do you understand why Jesus had to be baptized with the Holy Spirit or baptized at all (Mt 3:16)? How about this verse:

"The Child (Jesus) continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him." (Luke 2:40, NASB95)[1]

Was Jesus all knowing, always? Is it essential for me to know that answer? Again, how important is it to believe in the doctrine of the Trinity and why?

I'd love feedback if anyone is still out there (anonymous is fine).

^[1] New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. The Lockman Foundation: LaHabra, CA