Who is God? - One Person or a Trinity of Persons - Make it Simple

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TRINITY? - JESUS ONLY? - ONENESS? - 3 GODS? - ONE GOD? - or 3 in ONE?

1. It is very important to understand what or who God is. The scriptures speak about the "Godhead" as three 'persons' who together compose one being called "God". Like many other doctrines, the doctrine of the Godhead is found seeded throughout the scriptures, so we must compare scriptures together in order to put the whole picture together.

2. Let's consider four separate doctrines that the bible teaches, and then put them all together.

a. First: The bible calls the Father, "God"

1) I Peter 1:2 says, "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father".

2) Phil 2:11 says, "that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

b. Second: The bible calls the Word, (or the Son), "God"

1) John 1:1 says, "the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God",

2) John 20:28 says that Thomas answered Jesus and "said unto him, My Lord and my God."

3) In Heb 1:8, God is speaking throughout the chapter and calls his son "God" - " … but unto the son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever"

c. Third: The bible calls the Holy Ghost (or the Holy Spirit), "God"

1) In Acts 5:3-4, Peter says to Ananias, "why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost …thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God"

2) I Cor 3:16 says, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? And I Cor 6:19 says, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" Putting these two verses together, we see that our bodies are the temple of God, the Holy Ghost.

d. Fourth: Deut 6:4 says, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:" So, we have three persons all called "God" - The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and yet there is only ONE God; therefore, we know that there is a composite unity of three persons in that ONE God.

e. This is why the Father and Son can speak with each other in the singular, why the Son and the Holy Ghost can speak of each other in the singular, and why "God" can speak either in the singular as a collective noun, "I AM THAT I AM" (Ex 3:14), or in the plural… "Let us make man in our image" (Gen 1:26). There are NOT three Gods; there are three persons in ONE God.

3. Another way to understand this might be, as follows:

a. There is ONE God who, in nature and substance, exists in three persons.

b. As an analogy:

1) a corporate board is a legal entity comprised of persons with various titles, including: chairman, secretary, and treasurer. These titles, or positions, or offices can only be held by those who are members of the corporate board.

2) Similarly, "God" is comprised of three persons with various titles, including "Father", "Word ", and "Holy Ghost". And these titles, or positions, or offices can only be filled by those who are members of the "Godhead", or in other words, only by those who are, by nature and substance, "God".

3) The corporate board does not exist, it cannot meet and it does not function apart from real persons who fill the positions as members of the board.

4) Similarly, "God" would not exist ("I AM THAT I AM" - Ex 3:14), he could not meet ("let us make man in our image" - Gen 1:26), and he does not function apart from the real persons who are members of the Godhead; or in other words, from the persons who each and together constitute "God".

5) Even as all of the members (as persons) can speak to each other, so too one can speak to the corporate Godhead. This is why Jesus can speak to "God", or pray to "God" while on the cross. By analogy, this would be like the secretary or the treasurer, a member of the board, speaking to the "board", even though he was a member of board himself.

c. God himself is not a person. God is a Spirit. (John 4:24)

d. Therefore, the three persons who comprise "God"- or the "Godhead" - are by nature and substance "Spirit". They are by nature and substance "God". And, therefore, when "God' manifested in the flesh (I Tim 3:16; John 1:14; Heb 1:5-8), the Son was flesh that was literally the incarnated nature and substance of God.

e. The word "begotten" also proves this.

1) That which is begotten has the same nature or substance as that which begat it.

2) Jesus is not the ONLY son of God. He is the only "BEGOTTEN" son of God.

3) Therefore, he is the only son who has the nature and substance of "God"; the only son who is composed of "God" himself.

4) Therefore Jesus is, in fact, God, in the flesh, Emmanuel, "God with us" (Matt 1:23; John 1:10,14; I Tim 3:16)

4. Understanding these things about the Christian God is one of the most important parts of being a Christian, because the bible warns us about false gods (Jer 7:9), false Christs (Matt 24:24) and false gospels (Gal 1:8-9). If we don't worship the right God, then the foundation of our faith is not secure.

5. There are also many false bibles, and because God reveals himself through his word, it is important that we have that very word of God and not one of the words that Paul warned us about in II Cor 2:17. God said that his words are pure and perfect. He promised to preserve his words for ever (Ps 12:6-7). We have found that the King James Bible is God's pure and perfect word in English. (There are many errors, omissions and contradictions in new bible versions.) So, we encourage everyone to get a copy of the Authorized Version, the King James Bible; then to read it, and to believe it, as written.

6. You can TRUST God's word in English, the King James Bible, and BELIEVE every word in it.