God in three Persons, Blessed Trinity

While we cannot fully understand everything about the Trinity (or anything else), it is possible to answer questions like these and come to a solid grasp of what it means for God to be three in one.

1 God, 3 Persons

The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Stated differently, God is one in essence and three in person.

These definitions express three crucial truths:

1: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons,

2: Each Person is fully God,

3. There is only one God.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons.

The Bible speaks of the Father as God

Philippians 1:2 AV

2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus as God

Titus 2:13 AV

13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

And the Holy Spirit as God

Acts 5:3–4 AV

3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

Are these just three different ways of looking at God, or simply ways of referring to three different roles that God plays?

The answer must be no, because the Bible also indicates that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons.

For example, since the Father sent the Son into the world, he cannot be the same person as the Son.

John 3:16 AV

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Likewise, after the Son returned to the Father, the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world.

John 16:10 AV

10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

John 14:26 AV

26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Therefore, the Holy Spirit must be distinct from the Father and the Son.

In the baptism of Jesus, we see the Father speaking from heaven and the Spirit descending from heaven in the form of a dove as Jesus comes out of the water.

Mark 1:10–11 AV

10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

John 1:1 affirms that Jesus is God and, at the same time, that he was “with God,” thereby indicating that Jesus is a distinct Person from God the Father.

John 1:1 AV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And in John 16:13–15, we see that although there is a close unity between the three persons, the Holy Spirit is also distinct from the Father and the Son.

John 16:13 AV

13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

The fact that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons means, in other words, that

The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father.

The Father is God, but he is not the Son or the Holy Spirit

Jesus is God, but he is not the Father or the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is God, but he is not the Son or the Father.

The Personhood of the Trinity

The personhood of each member of the Trinity means that each Person has a distinct center of consciousness.

Thus, they relate to each other personally — the Father regards himself as “I” while he regards the Son and Holy Spirit as “you.”

Likewise, the Son regards himself as “I,” but the Father and the Holy Spirit as “you.”

Often it is objected, “If Jesus is God, then he must have prayed to himself while he was on earth.”

But the answer to this objection lies in simply applying what we have already seen.

While Jesus and the Father are both God, they are different Persons.

Thus, Jesus prayed to God the Father without praying to himself.

Dont Forget the Holy Spirit

Sometimes the Personhood of the Father and Son is appreciated, but the Personhood of the Holy Spirit is neglected.

Sometimes the Spirit is treated more like a “force” than a Person.

But the Holy Spirit is not an “it,” but a “he”.

Acts 8:16 AV

16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

The fact that the Holy Spirit is a Person, not an impersonal force (like gravity), is also shown by the fact that he speaks (Hebrews 3:7), reasons (Acts 15:28), thinks and understands (1 Corinthians 2:10–11), wills (1 Corinthians 12:11), feels (Ephesians 4:30), and gives personal fellowship (2 Corinthians 13:14). These are all qualities of personhood.

Different but the Same

While the three members of the Trinity are distinct, this does not mean that any is inferior to the other.

Instead, they are all identical in attributes.

They are equal in power, love, mercy, justice, holiness, knowledge, and all other qualities.

Each Person is Fully God

Each Person is fully God.

If God is three Persons, does this mean that each Person is “one third” of God?

Does the Trinity mean that God is divided into three parts?

The doctrine of the Trinity does not divide God into three parts.

The Bible is clear that all three Persons are each one-hundred-percent God.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each fully God.

For example, Colossians 2:9 says

Colossians 2:9 AV

9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

We should not think of God as a “pie” cut into three pieces, each piece representing a Person.

This would make each Person less than fully God and thus not God at all. Rather, “the being of each Person is equal to the whole being of God”.

1 + 1 + 1 = 1

The divine essence is not something that is divided between the three persons, but is fully in all three persons without being divided into “parts.”

Thus, the Son is not one-third of the being of God; he is all of the being of God.

The Father is not one-third of the being of God; he is all of the being of God.

And likewise with the Holy Spirit.

Thus, as Wayne Grudem writes, “When we speak of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together we are not speaking of any greater being than when we speak of the Father alone, the Son alone, or the Holy Spirit alone”

There is Only One God

If each Person of the Trinity is distinct and yet fully God, then should we conclude that there is more than one God?

Obviously we cannot, for Scripture is clear that there is only one God:

Isaiah 45:21–22 AV

21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

Having seen that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, that they are each fully God, and that there is nonetheless only one God, we must conclude that all three Persons are the same God.