Biblical Doctrine
One God. Three Persons. The doctrine rests on the combined witness of the whole New Testament.
Primary Texts
Matthew 3:16-17 • Matthew 28:19 • Acts 5:3-4 • 2 Corinthians 13:14 • 1 Peter 1:2
The doctrine of the Trinity does not rely on one isolated proof text. It rests on the whole New Testament testimony, and that testimony holds four statements together at the same time. There is one God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. And the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are personally distinct from one another.
Trinitarians confess one God and only one God. Nothing in this study argues otherwise. What follows is the list of Scripture references that establish the doctrine of the Trinity as biblical, gathered under the headings that show how the witness fits together.
One God
“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:”
Mark 12:29 (KJV)
Mark 12:29-32; John 17:3; Romans 3:30; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; Galatians 3:20; Ephesians 4:4-6; 1 Timothy 2:5; James 2:19; Jude 25.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost Together
Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; Luke 1:35; Luke 3:21-22; John 14:16-17; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:13-15; Acts 2:32-33; Acts 7:55-56; Acts 10:38; Romans 8:9-11; Romans 15:16; Romans 15:30; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Galatians 4:4-6; Ephesians 1:3-14; Ephesians 1:17; Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 2:22; Ephesians 3:14-17; Ephesians 4:4-6; Ephesians 5:18-20; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; Titus 3:4-6; Hebrews 2:3-4; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Peter 4:14; Jude 20-21.
The Father Is God
Matthew 6:9; Matthew 11:25; John 6:27; John 17:1-3; John 20:17; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 4:6; Philippians 2:11; 1 Peter 1:2.
Jesus Christ Is God
“And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.”
John 20:28 (KJV)
Matthew 1:23; Matthew 14:33; Matthew 28:9, 17; Mark 2:5-12; John 1:1-3; John 1:14; John 1:18; John 5:18-23; John 8:24; John 8:58; John 10:30-33; John 12:37-41; John 14:9-11; John 17:5; John 20:28; Acts 20:28; Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-17; Colossians 1:19; Colossians 2:9; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:2-3; Hebrews 1:6; Hebrews 1:8-12; 2 Peter 1:1; 1 John 5:20; Revelation 1:17-18; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 5:11-14; Revelation 22:12-13.
Jesus Christ Possesses Divine Attributes and Performs Divine Works
John 1:3. Creator of all things.
John 5:21. Gives life.
John 5:22-23. Universal Judge, and receives the same honour as the Father.
John 8:58. Eternal existence.
John 10:28. Gives eternal life.
John 14:14. Answers prayer.
John 16:30. Knows all things.
John 17:5. Possessed glory with the Father before the world was.
Colossians 1:16-17. Creator and sustainer of all things.
Hebrews 1:3. Upholds all things by the word of His power.
Hebrews 13:8. Unchanging.
Revelation 1:17-18. The first and the last.
Revelation 22:12-13. Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.
Jesus Christ Receives Worship
Matthew 2:11; Matthew 14:33; Matthew 28:9; Matthew 28:17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38; John 20:28; Philippians 2:10-11; Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 5:8-14.
The Holy Ghost Is God
“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? 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.”
Acts 5:3-4 (KJV)
Peter says Ananias lied to the Holy Ghost. In the next breath Peter says Ananias lied to God. The two statements name the same act.
Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; Hebrews 9:14.
The Holy Ghost Possesses Divine Attributes
1 Corinthians 2:10-11. Knows the deep things of God.
Hebrews 9:14. Called the eternal Spirit.
Romans 8:26-27. Knows and intercedes according to the will of God.
Psalm 139:7-10 with John 14:16-17. The psalm asks where a man could flee from the Spirit of God and answers that there is no such place, and the New Testament doctrine of the indwelling Spirit rests on that same omnipresence.
The Holy Ghost Acts as a Person
John 14:16-17; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:7-15; Acts 8:29; Acts 10:19-20; Acts 13:2; Acts 15:28; Acts 16:6-7; Acts 20:28; Romans 8:26-27; 1 Corinthians 12:11; Ephesians 4:30; 1 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 3:7; Revelation 2:7.
In these passages the Spirit speaks, teaches, guides, testifies, commands, forbids, appoints, wills, and intercedes, and believers are warned that the Spirit can be grieved. Those are the acts of a Person.
The Father and the Son Are Personally Distinct
Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 11:27; John 1:1-2; John 3:16-17; John 5:19-23; John 5:30-32; John 8:16-18; John 10:36; John 11:41-42; John 12:27-28; John 14:9-13; John 14:28; John 17:1-5; John 17:24; John 20:17; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1; 1 John 4:14.
Jesus Christ speaks to the Father, is sent by the Father, returns to the Father, shares glory with the Father, and serves as Advocate with the Father. Those relations require two Persons.
The Son and the Holy Ghost Are Personally Distinct
John 14:16-17; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:7-15; Acts 2:32-33; Romans 8:9-11.
Jesus Christ sends the Spirit, the Spirit glorifies Jesus Christ, and the Spirit takes the things of Christ and shows them to believers.
The Father and the Holy Ghost Are Personally Distinct
Matthew 3:16-17; Luke 3:21-22; John 14:16; John 14:26; John 15:26; Romans 8:26-27.
The Father sends the Spirit, and the Spirit makes intercession before God according to the will of God.
All Three Present at Once
“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:16-17 (KJV)
Matthew 3:16-17. The Son is baptized, the Spirit descends, and the Father speaks from heaven.
Matthew 28:19. One singular name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
John 14:16-17. The Son asks the Father, and the Father gives another Comforter.
John 15:26. The Son sends the Spirit from the Father.
2 Corinthians 13:14. The grace of Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost.
1 Peter 1:2. The foreknowledge of the Father, the sanctifying work of the Spirit, and obedience to Jesus Christ.
One Divine Name, Three Personally Distinct Persons
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
Matthew 28:19 (KJV)
This is among the clearest texts on the subject. The word name is singular. One name is named, and three are named in it. Three Gods will not fit that sentence, and neither will one Person. The Lord Jesus Christ gave the shape of the doctrine in the words of His own commission.
One Divine Work Involving All Three
Salvation. Ephesians 1:3-14; Titus 3:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2.
Access to God. Ephesians 2:18.
Indwelling. Ephesians 2:22.
Spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6.
Resurrection. Romans 8:11.
The sacrifice of Christ. Hebrews 9:14.
Christian prayer and Christian life. Ephesians 3:14-17; Jude 20-21.
A Word About 1 John 5:7
There is one passage I have left off the list above, and I want to say plainly why. The King James Version of 1 John 5:7 reads, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” That sentence states the doctrine as directly as any verse in the Bible, and for that reason it has been quoted more often than almost any other.
The wording of that clause carries a known manuscript question, and the clause is absent from the earliest Greek copies of the epistle. Honest readers on both sides of that question have argued it at length. My point here is narrower, and it is a point about method. The doctrine of the Trinity is not resting on that clause. Every heading above is drawn from passages nobody disputes, and the weight of those passages settles the matter without appeal to a contested reading. A doctrine that can be established from undisputed Scripture should be argued from undisputed Scripture.
The Simplest Biblical Summary
There is one God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Ghost is God. The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is not the Father. And the God of Scripture remains one God.
Amen.
Salvation is only through a personal relationship with God the Father by grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. At the moment of saving faith, the believer is instantly and permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who regenerates, seals, leads, guides, empowers, and sanctifies in their walk with God.
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Common Questions
Is the Trinity in the Bible?
The doctrine does not rest on one isolated proof text. It rests on the whole New Testament testimony, which holds four statements together at once: there is one God, the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and the three are personally distinct.
Does believing in the Trinity mean believing in three Gods?
No. Trinitarians confess one God. One God, three Persons, and Scripture never sets those two truths against each other.
Where does Scripture show all three Persons together?
At the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:16-17), in the words of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19), and in the benediction of 2 Corinthians 13:14 and the greeting of 1 Peter 1:2.
“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (KJV)
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