I think I know what you're referring to (Serpent in the Garden of Eden?), but I think it doesn't apply.
BINGO! you got it!
if there were a positive instruction from God such as "you shall believe in the Trinity to be saved." Or even a statement such as "and no one who doesn't believe in the Trinity shall be saved", then it might be similar.
But to ask "did God really say" when, in fact, God
didn't really say is not wrong. If someone said, for example, "Did God really say that He helps those who help themselves?", that wouldn't be wrong, that would be good. Because the TRUTHFUL answer is "no, God didn't say that."
So, that being said... Did God tell us that belief in the Trinity is required for salvation? If He did then please show us where.
P.S. Please ignore all of the above if that is not the incident you were referring to.
but it was the incident.
what these two things have in common is that the questions were not inspired by God, but by satan to sow a wedge of doubt.
they both build on a portion of the truth, but only a portion.
where this question will/can lead is to the idea that one part of the trinity is not as important as the other parts. ie. if you only need God and the Son for salvation.............
on the other hand Jesus was quite distressed when on the cross He was parted from the union with the God the Father and the Holy Spirit that He had known.
there are only two incidents in the whole of the crucifiction when Jesus cried loudly--when He was separated by sin from God the Father and the Holy Spirit, (Mark 15:34) and when He cried out again (Mark 15:37) and breathed his last.
think about it.
there was only one other time when Jesus cried out with a loud voice.
That was when he had to wake the dead Lazarus.
All I know is that for a long time after becoming a born again christian I had a very hard time understanding the concept of the Trinity. Does that mean I wasn't saved?
Also, look at all the people who become saved on their death bed. Are they told that soon they will slip away to hell unless they confess God as Trinity? Did jesus tell the thief on the cross next to him that first he had to believe that He was apart of a triune God before he could enter paradise with him? Belief in God as a triune God is not a requirement for salvation.
fully understanding is different from believing by faith.
i dare say that we don't fully understand
how God does lots of things, but the difference is that we believe that He can do them. indeed we have to believe that He can forgive sins, for it is the Holy Spirit Himself that persuades us to believe.
John 15:26 "But I will send you the Counselor--the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father
and will tell you all about me.
So you see, before we were saved, while someone was telling us about God and Jesus, it was the work of God and the Holy Spirit reaching out to us and working in our lives, even though we didn't know it at the time. But our spirit did.
And it was the quickened spirit with us that reached back to God and to Jesus and said 'YES".
so please don't tell me that it's not necessary for anyone to believe in all of the trinity in order to be saved.
it just ain't so.
