I hope I've established that the twelve apostles were valid Christ-followers ("saved") and on their way to heaven before the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (recall Luke 10:20 and John 15:3 shared in Part Two).
Did they at that time, before Jesus' death, burial and resurrection believe in Christ's deity? Actually, they were still trying to figure out who He was. They asked, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him" (Matthew 8:27 CEV). They knew Jesus was special, and at some point they knew He was "the Christ" (Matthew 16:16), but even the believing Jews of Jesus' day were not expecting that the Messiah would be God incarnate. Jesus' apostles didn't have a full-blown view of His deity, yet they were saved. Is it possible for a person who doesn't have a full blown understanding of Jesus as God incarnate to experientially know God? Without hesitation, I say yes!
Did those early apostles have a trinitarian view of God? Of course not! There's a lot of debate about when a trinitarian view gained traction, but at its earliest it is only mildly evident after Jesus' resurrection, when He tells the disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). So, I ask, is it possible to have a saving relationship with God, without belief in the Trinity? Again, I say, yes!
This is why I say we must differentiate between what is essential to orthodoxy and what is essential to connecting with God. I have asked people for years what is essential to connecting with God and I've been given answers like, baptism, belief in the deity of Jesus, etc. There's only one thing that is essential to a saving relationship with God and that is Jesus (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:4,5)!
Our first goal in winning the yet unreached is helping them have a relationship with God. After that, we can shape their thinking and help them understand and experience (not necessarily in that order!) more deeply, things like Christ's divine nature and the Trinitarian nature of God.
More next week!