Trinity: The Plurality of One God

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The trinity is the widely held Christian belief that God consists of three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and for good reason – the biblical evidence leads to the logical conclusion of the trinity.

In the Old Testament, God often refers to himself in the plural.

In the New Testament, the trinity is confirmed by Jesus on several occasions, and Jesus is also revealed to be God in the New Testament.

Likewise, the Holy Spirit is referred to both "the Spirit of God" (2 Corinthians 3:3; 1 Peter 4:14) and "the Spirit of Christ" (Philippians 1:19; 1 Peter 1:11) interchangeably by both Paul and Peter.

Plurality of God in the Old Testament

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In the Old Testament, God often refers to himself in the plural instead of singular tense. This would indicate that God is a plural entity, which would explain his omnipresence, unlike humans who are singular by design.

• "God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...'" (Genesis 1:26 WEB)

• "Yahweh God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil.'" (Genesis 3:22 WEB)

• "I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (Isaiah 6:8 WEB)

However, even though God is plural, he is also One God.

Unity of God

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While there is a plurality to God, there is simultaneously a unity to God: He is One God.

• "Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one..." (Deuteronomy 6:4 WEB)

• "there is no other God but one." (1 Corinthians 8:4 WEB)

This evidence is confusing, unless we consider the idea of the trinity, with One God consisting of three persons.

Trinity in the Old Testament

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The trinity is hinted at in the Old Testament, such as when it says, "Come you near to me, hear you this; from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord Yahweh has sent me, and his Spirit." (Isaiah 48:16 WEB)

In the context of this verse, it appears that God is talking, yet then he says that Yahweh has sent him and his Spirit. This verse only makes sense when considering the New Testament's Jesus Christ and the concept of the trinity.

Trinity in the New Testament

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When Jesus is baptized, evidence of the trinity is revealed, "Jesus also having been baptized, and praying, the sky was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying "You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased." (Luke 3:21-22 WEB; also Matthew 3:13-17)

In this verse, we have Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit in bodily form, and the voice of the Father coming from heaven.

Jesus also refers to the trinity when he gives the Great Commission, "Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things which I commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20 WEB)

The trinity is plainly evidence in the Great Commission, but Jesus further confirms it when he is praying prior to his crucifixion and resurrection, saying, "I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth..." (John 14:16-17 WEB)

Paul mentions the trinity when he says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." (2 Corinthians 13:14 WEB)

All Three Persons of the Trinity, Are God

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The most important and most confusing aspect of the trinity is that all three persons are God. The Father is called God, Jesus Christ is called God, and the Holy Spirit is referred to as both the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ.

They are not three separate beings, but rather they are all the One God. They are all One Spirit.

• God the Father: "One God and Father of all..." (Ephesians 4:6 WEB)

• Jesus Christ is God: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1 WEB) "The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14 WEB)

• Holy Spirit of God: "Don't you know that you are a temple of God, and that God's Spirit lives in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16 WEB)

For further information on the divinity of Jesus Christ, read the teaching Jesus Christ is God.

Understanding the Trinity

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One way to understand the trinity is to think about water and the fact that it can exist as a solid, liquid, and gas. However, even this concept does not fully represent God, because each person of the trinity is not a form of God, but actually God.

Jesus Christ is the part of God that exists in a human body, while the Father is the part of God that exists in heaven, and the Spirit of God is the part of God that exists everywhere in between.

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