Definition of the Trinity
God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are three different persons with different personalities, who together are one God (Mat 28:19, 1 Pet 1:2, 2 Cor 13:14 (13 in some translations)).
They are not three gods in one God (Deu (5 Mos) 6:4).
They are not the same person, appearing in three different forms (John 17:5).
See the picture to the right.
Monotheism
The Bible says that God is unique, the only one of his kind, there is no one before him, and there will be no one after him (Isaiah 43:10–12, 44:6, 45:21–22).
Jesus says: "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30). When Jesus says that, it means that God the Father and God the Son (Jesus) aren't two different gods.
Monotheism is the basis of the Trinity; the triunity of the Godhead.
God the Father is the first person in God (John 6:27, 1 Pet 1:2).
The Father isn't the Son (Mat 3:16–17).
The incarnation of Christ is a central Christian doctrine that God became flesh, assumed a human nature, and became a man in the form of Jesus, who is
God the Son and the second person in God (Col 2:8–9). Jesus is human, but also divine. Jesus is truly God (the Son) and true man at the same time. Jesus is our great God (the Son) and Savior (Tit 2:13, 2 Pet 1:1). Jesus himself said that he is
"I am" (John 8:24, 58–59, Exo (2 Mos) 3:14, Isaiah 43:10), see Jesus – I AM.
It's a statement about deity. Jesus is eternal in existence. Jesus has always existed in the same way that God the Father and the Holy Spirit have always existed. Jesus claims to be the first and the last (Rev 1:8, 22:12–13). Jesus is God (the Son) and with God (the Father) (John 1:1–2, 14, 18). Jesus existed before creation as the Word (John 1:1, 14). He is the Creator of this world (John 1:3, 10, Col 1:15–17),
see Jesus is the Creator in Jesus is God. Jesus spoke the world into being as the
Word (Gen (1 Mos) 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14–15, 20, 24, Psalm 33:6). He is the only mediator between God the Father and mankind (1 Tim 2:5), see
Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Scripture Support
The Father isn't the Son (Mat 3:16–17).
The incarnation of Christ is a central Christian doctrine that God became flesh, assumed a human nature, and became a man in the form of Jesus, who is
God the Son and the second person in God (Col 2:8–9). Jesus is human, but also divine. Jesus is truly God (the Son) and true man at the same time. Jesus is our great God (the Son) and Savior (Tit 2:13, 2 Pet 1:1). Jesus himself said that he is
"I am" (John 8:24, 58–59, Exo (2 Mos) 3:14, Isaiah 43:10), see Jesus – I AM.
It's a statement about deity. Jesus is eternal in existence. Jesus has always existed in the same way that God the Father and the Holy Spirit have always existed. Jesus claims to be the first and the last (Rev 1:8, 22:12–13). Jesus is God (the Son) and with God (the Father) (John 1:1–2, 14, 18). Jesus existed before creation as the Word (John 1:1, 14). He is the Creator of this world (John 1:3, 10, Col 1:15–17),
see Jesus is the Creator in Jesus is God. Jesus spoke the world into being as the
Word (Gen (1 Mos) 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14–15, 20, 24, Psalm 33:6). He is the only mediator between God the Father and mankind (1 Tim 2:5), see
Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life.
The Holy Spirit is the third person in God (John 14:26, Acts 5:3–4).
He has many names; as:
- The Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:6–7).
- The Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:9b, 1 Pet 1:11a).
- The Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:19).
- The Spirit of the living God (2 Cor 3:3).
- The Spirit of God (Mat 3:16, 12:28, Rom 8:9a, 8:14, 15:19a,
1 Cor 2:11, 2:14, 7:40, 12:3, 1 John 4:2, Gen (1 Mos) 1:2b). - The Spirit of the Lord (Luk 4:18a, Acts 5:9, 8:39, 2 Cor 3:17,
Isaiah 61:1a). - The Spirit of Truth (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13, 1 John 4:6, Eph 1:13).
- The Good Spirit (Neh 9:20a, Psalm 143:10).
- The Helper (John 14:16, 14:26, 15:26, 16:7).
- The "Seven Spirits" of God, see God's Throne in Heaven.
The Holy Ghost isn't biblical, see time 32:00–32:50 in Bible Q&A with Pastor Paul.
He is the one who lives in us, witnesses to us, empowers us, gives us spiritual gifts, and bears fruit in our lives. He guides us into the truth (John 16:13–15).
Some Bible passages refer to all three persons in the same thought (Luk 3:21–22,
Mark 1:10–11, Mat 3:16–17, 28:19b, John 1:32–33, Pet 1:2, 2 Cor 13:14
(13 in some translations)). See also The Trinity In The Old Testament. This means that God has never been alone, because there are three persons within him.
Mark 1:10–11, Mat 3:16–17, 28:19b, John 1:32–33, Pet 1:2, 2 Cor 13:14
(13 in some translations)). See also The Trinity In The Old Testament. This means that God has never been alone, because there are three persons within him.
In the Bible we are told to pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus, and in the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit (Eph 3:14–17). However, we aren't forbidden to address any person in the Trinity. Who we address specifically isn't really important,
because God is One, and there is nothing that one member of the Trinity does that the other two aren't also involved in. This means that we can pray directly to the Father, or to Jesus, or to the Holy Spirit, see this explained in:
because God is One, and there is nothing that one member of the Trinity does that the other two aren't also involved in. This means that we can pray directly to the Father, or to Jesus, or to the Holy Spirit, see this explained in:
It's also about a relationship with the persons of the Godhead,
see time 19:44–21:21 in Bible Q & A With Pastor Paul │ July 2023.
There are people who struggle to embrace anything they can't understand on an intellectual level. So did the Sadducees, see Our Resurrection from Death.
They basically require that God's nature must be intelligible to be believed.
To fully understand the Trinity is beyond our human understanding.
We must accept it and leave it to God in his word.
They basically require that God's nature must be intelligible to be believed.
To fully understand the Trinity is beyond our human understanding.
We must accept it and leave it to God in his word.
Questions about the Trinity:
- Why is the word Trinity not in the Bible?
The concept of the Trinity is found in the Bible, it's a clear revelation.
The word Trinity is used to summarize this concept. - How can Jesus be God when he says that the Father is the only true God
(John 17:3)? The Father is the true God, but he is so together with Jesus
and the Holy Spirit (see above). Together they are God. - How can Jesus be God when he says that the Father is greater than him
(John 14:28)? The fact that there is an order of authority between the Father and Jesus doesn't mean that Jesus' divinity is lower than
that of God the Father (Phil 2:6–8), see
The Order between Jesus and the Father in the Trinity. - To whom does Jesus pray? Jesus, the Son of God, can pray to God the Father, because they are different persons in the Trinity. This conversation between God the Son and God the Father has existed for all eternity
(Gen (1 Mos) 1:26–27). See these times in the videos: - 9:36–11:34 in May 2024 Bible Q&A.
- 30:20–33:24 in Luke 5 (Part 1) • A Lesson.
- 5:00–16:30 in 1 Peter 1 (Part 2) :3-7.
- How can Jesus be God when he is the Son of God?
He is the Son in the sense of person in the Trinity. - How can Jesus be God when the Bible says he is created (Col 1:15)?
It says that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation. Firstborn in this context means that he is in charge of the creation (Col 1:16–17). It doesn't mean
that he is the first born person. To be compared with Psalm 89:27
(28 in some translations) and Exo (2 Mos) 4:22–23, see this explained
in The Order between Jesus and the Father in the Trinity. - Why didn't Jesus say that he is God if he is God?
Jesus said that he is (a person in) God, when he said he is "I am", see above. See also Jesus – I AM. - Doesn't (Deu (5 Mos) 6:4) above indicate that Jesus can't be God?
There are two words for one in Hebrew: Echad = one, a compound entity,
and Yacheed = only one, absolutely one. In this verse Echad is used, which shows the Trinity of God. The word God can be seen as a common title for
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, all together.
This is further explained in the second half of Jesus – I AM. See also the explanation of 137 (found in the fine-structure constant) in Math in the Bible.
Bible Q&A With Pastor Paul │ May 2023.
See also Some stories in the gospels at the end of
The Four Gospels.
