The Trinity Is Not Three Gods

Somebody will meet you at the door and say, “Oh, you Trinity people: you believe in three gods.” No, sir. We do not, and we never have. Let me say it as plain as I know how: we believe in one God, the only God there is, and that one God is eternally Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: three distinct Persons, one divine Being. God is one in one sense and three in another sense, and there is no contradiction in that at all when you let the Bible say it.

One God: settle that first

Start where the Book starts. There is one God, and no other:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.” (Deuteronomy 6:4, KJV)

“I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me…” (Isaiah 45:5, KJV)

And Paul says the very same in the New Testament: “there is none other God but one… But to us there is but one God, the Father… and one Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 8:4–6). So do not let anybody tell you a Trinitarian believes in a crowd of gods. We stand on one God. Now watch how that one God reveals Himself.

The Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God

The Father is God: nobody argues that (John 6:27; Ephesians 4:6). But hear this about the Son:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1, KJV)

“With God”, that is distinction. “Was God”, that is deity. And that Word “was made flesh” (John 1:14), that is Jesus. That is why doubting Thomas fell down before Him and cried, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28), and Jesus received it. That is why the Father Himself says to the Son, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever” (Hebrews 1:8). The Father calls the Son God!

And the Holy Ghost is God too, not a force, not an it, but a Person. When Ananias lied to the Spirit, Peter said:

“…why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost… thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.” (Acts 5:3–4, KJV)

Lie to the Spirit, and you have lied to God, because the Spirit is God. And He acts like a Person: He teaches, He guides, He speaks, and He can be grieved (John 14:26; 16:13; Acts 13:2; Ephesians 4:30). You do not grieve a force. You grieve a Person.

“The Son is God” is not the same as “The Son is the Father”

Now here is the hinge, child of God, so hold onto it. All through the Book it says the Son is God. But nowhere, nowhere, does it say the Son is the Father. Those are two different sentences! The Son prays to the Father (that is not a man praying to Himself). The Father sends the Son (John 3:16–17). The Son shared the Father’s glory before the world was (John 17:5). They are one in nature, but they are not the same Person.

The Jordan settles it: all three at once

And if you want to see all three Persons in one place at one time, go stand at the river Jordan the day Jesus was baptized:

“…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)

Now watch. The Son is standing in the water. The Spirit is descending like a dove. And the Father is speaking from heaven. Three Persons, one moment, and that is impossible if God is only one Person taking turns. That is not one actor changing costumes. That is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, together, one God.

So how is God one and three?

Then let me put it in a sentence you can carry home: God is one divine Being, existing in three distinct Persons. One in what He is; three in who He is. That is not double-talk: it is exactly what you have just seen from Genesis to the Gospels. And beloved, this is not a riddle to trip you up; it is the glory of the God who saves you: the Father who so loved you, the Son who shed His blood for you, and the Spirit who lives in you. One God, three Persons, worthy of all your worship. Glory to God.

Related Teaching

• Scripture Supports the Doctrine of the Trinity
• Does the Old Testament Support the Trinity?
• The Fatal Flaw of the Oneness Echad Argument