God Is Triune
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, February 20, 2025
There are numerous passages that teach that God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are distinct persons and yet each hold the
attributes of deity.
But the Bible also emphatically and unambiguously declares
that there is only one God (Isaiah 44:8; Isaiah 45:18; Deuteronomy 6:4; Malachi 2:10, James 2:19; Mark 12:29 ).
Hence, taking all the Scriptures into account, orthodox Christian theology has
always affirmed that the one true God is triune in nature—three
co-equal and co-eternal persons in the Godhead.
This triune God (or Trinity) began to allude to this aspect
of His nature right in Genesis
1:26–27. There we read that “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image’
. . . God created man in His image.” Here God is a
plural noun, said is in the third-person singular verb form,
and we see both the plural pronoun our and the singular His referring
to the same thing (God’s image). This is not horribly confused grammar. Rather,
we are being taught, in a limited way, that God is a plurality in
unity. We can’t say from this verse that He is a trinity, but God progressively
reveals more about Himself in later Scriptures to bring us to that conclusion.
In Isaiah
48:12–16, we find the speaker in the passage describing Himself as the
Creator and yet saying that “the Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me.” This is
further hinting at the doctrine of the trinity, which becomes very clear in the
New Testament. There are many other Old Testament Scriptures that hint at the
same idea.
In Matthew
28:18–20, Jesus commands His disciples to baptize His followers in the
name (singular) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. John’s Gospel tells us
that “the Word” is God who became a man by taking on flesh in Jesus Christ (John
1:1–3, 14). Jesus was
fully man and fully God. Many other verses combine together to teach
that God is triune.
As a start on a thorough discussion on this topic, the following chart is an accumulation of many of the passages that show the deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
|
|
God, the
Father |
God, the
Son |
God, the
Holy Spirit |
|
is the Creator |
Genesis 1:1; 2:4; 14:19–22; Deuteronomy 32:6; Psalm 102:25; Isaiah 42:5; 45:18; Mark 13:19; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 3:9; Hebrews 2:10; Revelation 4:11 |
John 1:1–3; Colossians 1:16–17; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Hebrews 1:2; 1:8–12 |
|
|
is unchanging and
eternal |
|||
|
has a distinct will |
|||
|
accepts worship |
Too many to list |
— |
|
|
accepts prayer |
Too many to list |
— |
|
|
is the only Savior |
John 4:42; Acts 4:12, 13:23; Philippians 3:20; 2 Timothy 1:10; Titus 1:4, 2:13, 3:6; 2 Peter 1:11, 2:20, 3:18; 1 John 4:14 |
||
|
has the power to
resurrect |
|||
|
is called God |
John 1:18, 6:27; Philippians 1:2, 2:11; Ephesians 4:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:2 |
John 1:1–5, 1:14, 1:18, 20:28; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:8; Titus 2:13 |
|
|
is called Mighty God |
— |
||
|
is
omnipresent/everywhere |
|||
|
is omnipotent/has
power and authority |
2 Chronicles 20:6, 25:8; Job 12:13; Romans 1:20; 1 Corinthians 6:14; Jude 1:25 |
||
|
is all-knowing |
|||
|
has the fullness of
God in Him (not just “a part of God”) |
N/A |
— |
|
|
gives life |
Genesis 1:21, 1:24, 2:7; Psalm 49:15; John 3:16, 5:21; 1 Timothy 6:13 |
||
|
loves |
|||
|
has ownership of
believers |
— |
||
|
is distinct |
|||
|
is judge |
Genesis 18:25; Psalm 7:11, 50:6, 94:1–2, 96:13, 98:9; John 8:50; Romans 2:16 |
— |
|
|
forgives sin |
— |
||
|
claimed divinity |
— |
||
|
is uncreated, the
First and the Last, the Beginning and the End |
— |
||
|
lives in the believer |
|||
|
has the godly title
“I Am,” pointing to the eternality of God |
— |
||
|
is personal and has
fellowship with other persons |
Acts 13:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:30; Philippians 2:1 |
||
|
makes believers holy
(sanctifies them) |
|||
|
knows the future |
|||
|
is called “Lord of
Lords” |
— |
This article was edited and updated from its original posting here. Reprinted by Permission.
