Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
God and the Holy Trinity
One of the more confusing doctrines in Christianity is the Holy Trinity. Is it one God or three Gods? Is Jesus really God or is He just the Son of God? I see questions on this almost on a daily basis in one form or another. This is the Truth according to God’s Word.
There is one true God who reveals Himself in three distinct persons. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They are not three different gods, but together they are the one true God.
One reason there is so much confusion is how the different names of God are used in the Bible. In fact, even just the name “God” is used in ways to cause confusion. Jesus is referred to as the Son of God and yet He is also God. Yet Jesus also refers to God the Father as “God”. Then there are the names Yahweh and Jehovah. Many tend to use those names to refer to God the Father only, but in truth, there are places where they refer to Jesus. The “Lord” is used for both the Father and the Son. There does not seem to be an one particular name that is used to refer to God the Father alone. Every name I look into seems to be used at least once or twice for Jesus as well. It is all very understandable why there is so much confusion.
So to make this a little easier, let’s take this one at a time...
Is Jesus God?
The prophet Isaiah told us so…
Isaiah 7:14 (NASB)
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
The name "Immanuel" literally means "God with us!"
Isaiah 9:6 (NASB)
6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
An Angel of God says it is so...
Matthew 1:23-27
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
The Disciples say it!
John 20:27-28 (NASB)
27 Then He *said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Thomas called Jesus God. Not the Son of God, but God.
Jesus Claims it Himself!
In the very next verse, after Thomas called Jesus God, this is Jesus’ reply…
John 20:29 (NASB)
29 Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Every time someone bows to an angel or worships an angel, the angel will stop them and tell then not to, for only God is worthy of worship. Jesus did not correct Thomas, he agreed with him. Yet that is not the only time that Jesus refers to Himself as God….
John 8:53-59 (NASB)
53 Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; 55 and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”
Think about what Jesus says here. "Before Abraham was born, I am." Now, one might be thinking Jesus is claiming to be God because He says He was alive before Abraham was born, but it goes deeper than that. In the Jewish Bible (Our Old Testament) God is sending Moses to face the Pharaoh. Moses asks God, "who do I say sent me?" and God's reply to Moses was what? "Tell them I AM sent you!" When you look at Jesus’ reply, He is speaking of past tense that He was alive before Abraham was born, but He doesn't say "Before Abraham was born, I was." He says "I am". Jesus is clearly using the same statement God made, to state that He is God. The Jews were so clear on this message that they began looking to kill Jesus on the spot, as we see in the next verse.
59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
Later, the Jews tell Jesus to tell them plainly if he is the Christ. His reply....
John 10:25-30 (NASB)
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Jesus is not saying He is the Father. He is saying He and the Father are both God. They are connected. This is not my interpretation but it is the Jews interpretation as they make that clear in the next couple verses.
31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”
The Jews recognized Jesus was claiming to be God so clearly that they were once again willing to pick up stones to kill Him. They didn't look to seize Him, but were willing to stone Him to death right then and there.
If you are Catholic, you might be interested in what Mary says of Jesus as well…
Luke 1:46-47 (NASB)
46 And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
So now even his mother claims Jesus is God.
And finally in this one case, you will need to put 1 and 1 together to get 2, but when you do, it is very clear. In Revelation it says this...
Revelation 19:11-13 (NASB)
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
The key to this verse is the last few words. His name is called the “Word of God”. Now go back to the first verse of the Gospel of John.
John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Word was God! In fact it goes on to explain it deeper in the next couple verses...
2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
Since Jesus is the Word of God, let us give a clear example of what John is actually saying here. If you replace "the Word" and "He" with "Jesus" this is what it would be saying....
John 1:1
1 In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. 2 Jesus was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Jesus, and apart from Jesus nothing came into being that has come into being.
The Bible is even saying that it was not only the Father who created everything, but it was the Word that created everything as well. This is confirmed in Genesis…
Genesis 1:26 (NASB)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;…
God said “Let US make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness;”. Obviously God was not alone in the beginning. The Father was with the Word (Jesus) and the holy Spirit as well.
Is Jesus the Son of God?
The Gospel of Mark makes this clear right from the first verse….
Mark 1:1(NASB)
1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
John makes it clear…
John 1:34 (NASB)
34 “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
And again…
John 20:31 (NASB)
31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
Demonic spirits claimed it…
Mark 3:11 (NASB)
11Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!”
Jesus claimed it…
John5:17-18 (NASB)
17But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” 18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
Jesus is not the Father
A lot of the confusion comes from one particular verse…
John 10:30 (NASB)
I and the Father are one.”
If you read this verse without studying the rest of the Bible, it is easy to assume Jesus is saying He is the Father. That’s not what He means however. Jesus was claiming to be God as the Father is God, but He was not claiming to be the Father. He was saying they are one in spirit and in mind. Simply put, we know for a certainty that Jesus is not the Father because Jesus Himself makes it clear that they are two distinct persons.
John 4:34 (NASB)
34 Jesus *said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.
John 5:30-32 (NASB)
30 “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 31 “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.
And who was it that sent Jesus to us?
John 5:37 (NASB)
37 And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.
Still, there are more.....
John 10:36 (NASB)
36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
John 12:49 (NASB)
49 For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
If those verses do not show two distinct deities in the Father and Jesus, then please explain just who it is that Jesus is praying to?
John 17:22-24 (NASB)
22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
And still there is one of my very favorite verses....
John 14-6 (NASB)
6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
If Jesus and the Father are the same being, then basically Jesus is saying, "Nobody comes to me but through me." And that simply does not make any sense.
We know for a certainty that Jesus is God. We also know that Jesus is the Son of God. Yet there are far too many verses that clearly show a distinction between Jesus and the Father. What about the Third Person of the Holy Trinity?
Is The Holy Spirit God
Acts 5:3-5 (NASB)
3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
In verse 3, Peter tells Ananias that he lied to the Holy Spirit. Then in verse 4, he repeats the offense but this time he says Ananias lied to God.
There is no doubt that The Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all God. That is why Jesus didn’t just tell us to be baptized in the name of God, He said…
Matthew 28:19 (NASB)
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
I would not feel right if I did not point out that the Holy Spirit is not just some spiritual force God gives to us. That is how many Christians see the Holy Spirit, but He is much more than that. He is the third Person of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit is very personable. When we have a personal relationship with God, it is not just with the Father and the Son. We have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit as well.
It is the Holy Spirit Who is our Comforter. The Holy Spirit gives us strength when we need it. The Holy Spirit is the one who seals us with the promise of salvation.
So we know that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are three separate entities. All three of them are God. Not separate gods but a part of the same God. The One True God!
Deuteronomy 4:39 (NASB)
39 Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.
Deuteronomy 32:39 (NASB)
39 ‘See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
Understanding the Trinity is not a simple thing. It seems to go against our understanding of physics. If I am not you, we are not the same person. Only you must be careful not to make the mistake of trying to constrain God to the realms of physics. God gave us physics. He is also the God of physics. He works outside of the realm of physics.
There is only one true God. He consists of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Even if you cannot fully grasp this, you should still accept it. Just as our minds cannot fully grasp the idea that God has no beginning. How can anything not have a beginning? But we know that is true because scripture tells us. This is the same thing. Even if you cannot grasp that there is one God and all three of them are God, you should still accept it simply because as I showed above, scripture clearly tells us this is true.
There is one true God who reveals Himself in three distinct persons. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They are not three different gods, but together they are the one true God.
One reason there is so much confusion is how the different names of God are used in the Bible. In fact, even just the name “God” is used in ways to cause confusion. Jesus is referred to as the Son of God and yet He is also God. Yet Jesus also refers to God the Father as “God”. Then there are the names Yahweh and Jehovah. Many tend to use those names to refer to God the Father only, but in truth, there are places where they refer to Jesus. The “Lord” is used for both the Father and the Son. There does not seem to be an one particular name that is used to refer to God the Father alone. Every name I look into seems to be used at least once or twice for Jesus as well. It is all very understandable why there is so much confusion.
So to make this a little easier, let’s take this one at a time...
Is Jesus God?
The prophet Isaiah told us so…
Isaiah 7:14 (NASB)
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
The name "Immanuel" literally means "God with us!"
Isaiah 9:6 (NASB)
6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
An Angel of God says it is so...
Matthew 1:23-27
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
The Disciples say it!
John 20:27-28 (NASB)
27 Then He *said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Thomas called Jesus God. Not the Son of God, but God.
Jesus Claims it Himself!
In the very next verse, after Thomas called Jesus God, this is Jesus’ reply…
John 20:29 (NASB)
29 Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Every time someone bows to an angel or worships an angel, the angel will stop them and tell then not to, for only God is worthy of worship. Jesus did not correct Thomas, he agreed with him. Yet that is not the only time that Jesus refers to Himself as God….
John 8:53-59 (NASB)
53 Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; 55 and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”
Think about what Jesus says here. "Before Abraham was born, I am." Now, one might be thinking Jesus is claiming to be God because He says He was alive before Abraham was born, but it goes deeper than that. In the Jewish Bible (Our Old Testament) God is sending Moses to face the Pharaoh. Moses asks God, "who do I say sent me?" and God's reply to Moses was what? "Tell them I AM sent you!" When you look at Jesus’ reply, He is speaking of past tense that He was alive before Abraham was born, but He doesn't say "Before Abraham was born, I was." He says "I am". Jesus is clearly using the same statement God made, to state that He is God. The Jews were so clear on this message that they began looking to kill Jesus on the spot, as we see in the next verse.
59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
Later, the Jews tell Jesus to tell them plainly if he is the Christ. His reply....
John 10:25-30 (NASB)
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Jesus is not saying He is the Father. He is saying He and the Father are both God. They are connected. This is not my interpretation but it is the Jews interpretation as they make that clear in the next couple verses.
31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”
The Jews recognized Jesus was claiming to be God so clearly that they were once again willing to pick up stones to kill Him. They didn't look to seize Him, but were willing to stone Him to death right then and there.
If you are Catholic, you might be interested in what Mary says of Jesus as well…
Luke 1:46-47 (NASB)
46 And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
So now even his mother claims Jesus is God.
And finally in this one case, you will need to put 1 and 1 together to get 2, but when you do, it is very clear. In Revelation it says this...
Revelation 19:11-13 (NASB)
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
The key to this verse is the last few words. His name is called the “Word of God”. Now go back to the first verse of the Gospel of John.
John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Word was God! In fact it goes on to explain it deeper in the next couple verses...
2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
Since Jesus is the Word of God, let us give a clear example of what John is actually saying here. If you replace "the Word" and "He" with "Jesus" this is what it would be saying....
John 1:1
1 In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. 2 Jesus was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Jesus, and apart from Jesus nothing came into being that has come into being.
The Bible is even saying that it was not only the Father who created everything, but it was the Word that created everything as well. This is confirmed in Genesis…
Genesis 1:26 (NASB)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;…
God said “Let US make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness;”. Obviously God was not alone in the beginning. The Father was with the Word (Jesus) and the holy Spirit as well.
Is Jesus the Son of God?
The Gospel of Mark makes this clear right from the first verse….
Mark 1:1(NASB)
1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
John makes it clear…
John 1:34 (NASB)
34 “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
And again…
John 20:31 (NASB)
31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
Demonic spirits claimed it…
Mark 3:11 (NASB)
11Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!”
Jesus claimed it…
John5:17-18 (NASB)
17But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” 18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
Jesus is not the Father
A lot of the confusion comes from one particular verse…
John 10:30 (NASB)
I and the Father are one.”
If you read this verse without studying the rest of the Bible, it is easy to assume Jesus is saying He is the Father. That’s not what He means however. Jesus was claiming to be God as the Father is God, but He was not claiming to be the Father. He was saying they are one in spirit and in mind. Simply put, we know for a certainty that Jesus is not the Father because Jesus Himself makes it clear that they are two distinct persons.
John 4:34 (NASB)
34 Jesus *said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.
John 5:30-32 (NASB)
30 “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 31 “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.
And who was it that sent Jesus to us?
John 5:37 (NASB)
37 And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.
Still, there are more.....
John 10:36 (NASB)
36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
John 12:49 (NASB)
49 For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
If those verses do not show two distinct deities in the Father and Jesus, then please explain just who it is that Jesus is praying to?
John 17:22-24 (NASB)
22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
And still there is one of my very favorite verses....
John 14-6 (NASB)
6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
If Jesus and the Father are the same being, then basically Jesus is saying, "Nobody comes to me but through me." And that simply does not make any sense.
We know for a certainty that Jesus is God. We also know that Jesus is the Son of God. Yet there are far too many verses that clearly show a distinction between Jesus and the Father. What about the Third Person of the Holy Trinity?
Is The Holy Spirit God
Acts 5:3-5 (NASB)
3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
In verse 3, Peter tells Ananias that he lied to the Holy Spirit. Then in verse 4, he repeats the offense but this time he says Ananias lied to God.
There is no doubt that The Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all God. That is why Jesus didn’t just tell us to be baptized in the name of God, He said…
Matthew 28:19 (NASB)
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
I would not feel right if I did not point out that the Holy Spirit is not just some spiritual force God gives to us. That is how many Christians see the Holy Spirit, but He is much more than that. He is the third Person of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit is very personable. When we have a personal relationship with God, it is not just with the Father and the Son. We have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit as well.
It is the Holy Spirit Who is our Comforter. The Holy Spirit gives us strength when we need it. The Holy Spirit is the one who seals us with the promise of salvation.
So we know that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are three separate entities. All three of them are God. Not separate gods but a part of the same God. The One True God!
Deuteronomy 4:39 (NASB)
39 Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.
Deuteronomy 32:39 (NASB)
39 ‘See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
Understanding the Trinity is not a simple thing. It seems to go against our understanding of physics. If I am not you, we are not the same person. Only you must be careful not to make the mistake of trying to constrain God to the realms of physics. God gave us physics. He is also the God of physics. He works outside of the realm of physics.
There is only one true God. He consists of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Even if you cannot fully grasp this, you should still accept it. Just as our minds cannot fully grasp the idea that God has no beginning. How can anything not have a beginning? But we know that is true because scripture tells us. This is the same thing. Even if you cannot grasp that there is one God and all three of them are God, you should still accept it simply because as I showed above, scripture clearly tells us this is true.