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THE HOLY TRINITY According the Bible, God is a Triune Being. As all humans are a trinity (soul, body, and spirit--1 Ths. 5:23), God is also a Trinity. In Genesis 1:26, God said, "Let us make man in our image. . ." In Genesis 11:7, God said, ". . . .let us go down, and there confound their language. . ." The terms "us" and "our" obviously refer to the Holy Trinity. So the Trinity is found in the very early chapters of the Bible. The Trinity is present at the incarnation of Jesus in Luke 1:35, and we can see all three members of the Trinity at the Baptism of Jesus in Matthew chapter three. God the Father is speaking from Heaven, God the Son is being baptized, and God the Holy Ghost is descending like a dove. When Jesus gave the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, He said in verse 19, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 1 John 5:7 tells us that there are THREE that bear record in Heaven: ". . . the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." (The "Word" is Christ according to John 1:1-3, 14, and 1 John 1:1-3.) God is a Trinity. He isn't three Gods, like the some accuse Christians of believing, but He is ONE Triune God. The pagans who worshiped three gods did so because they knew from observing the creation that God must be in some way associated with the number three. They never fully understood the Holy Trinity, but they came much closer than people like the Jehovah’s Witnesses who deny the Trinity altogether. As a man is a soul, a body, and a spirit, God the Father is the Soul of the Trinity, God the Son is the Body, and God the Holy Ghost is the Spirit. According to Psalm 19:1 and Romans 1:20, God's creation actually declares the Trinity doctrine. One can see proof of the Trinity everywhere in the universe. The universe consists of three parts: time, space, and matter. Time consists of three parts: past, present, and future. Space consists of three parts: length, width, and height. Matter consists of three parts: energy, motion, and phenomena. There are three heavens in 2 Corinthians 12:2, and on earth there are three forms of life: man, plant, and animal. These forms of life are found in three places: land, sea, and air. God is continually showing us through His creation that He is a Trinity. A perfect example of this is the sun. The sun has three kinds of rays: chemical rays, light rays, and heat rays. Chemical rays cannot be seen or felt, but they can be very powerful. When one receives a sun burn, it is from the sun's chemical rays. This is a type of God the Father. Light rays are sometimes visible to the human eye. This is a type of Jesus Christ, the "light of the world" (John 8:12) and the "Sun of righteousness" (Mal.4:2). Heat rays are a type of the Holy Ghost for they bring comfort to us by warming our bodies, just as the Holy Ghost, the Comforter (John 16:7) brings comfort to us.The term “godhead” is found THREE times in the Bible (Acts 17:29; Romans 1:20; Colossians 2:9), because God is a Trinity. So one can clearly see that God's word and God's creation both testify to the fact that He is a Trinity. Paul writes in II Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.” There’s all three, a Trinity. Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, (there’s God the Son) who through the eternal Spirit (there’s God the Holy Spirit) offered himself without spot to God ( there’s God the Father) purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” In Exodus you will find that there are three items in the tabernacle which are topped with a gold crown, picturing the Trinity. The Ark pictures God the Father (Exodus 25:10-11); the table pictures God the Son (Exodus 25:23-24); and the altar of incense pictures God the Holy Spirit (Exodus 30:1-3). The Bible certainly testifies that God is a Trinity. Those who do not understand the Trinity usually condemn the Trinity doctrine. They fail to realize that it is not our job to tell God WHAT HE IS or to even FULLY UNDERSTAND how He can exist. Our responsibility is to BELIEVE WHAT HE SAYS, AS HE SAYS IT, WHERE HE SAYS IT, WITHOUT CHANGING A SINGLE WORD! The Scriptures already presented in this study clearly show that God is a Trinity. Many believe that Jehovah is God the Father, and that Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are not God. They're wrong. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are both Deity. Jesus Christ Is Deity As the Second Member of the Trinity, Jesus Christ stands co-existent in Eternity with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. There are many proofs in the scriptures for the Deity of Christ. We shall now list several of them: (1) In Zechariah 12:10, Jehovah speaks of the future return of Christ and says, ". . . They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourne for him, as one mourneth for his only son . . . ." This is spoken again in Revelation 1:7, which is clearly a reference to Christ Himself, but in Zechariah 12:10 GOD said, ". . . They shall look upon me whom they have pierced . . . ." The One that they pierced was Jesus Christ! So, in Zechariah 12:10, God is saying that He is Jesus Christ. (2) In John 1:1, John 1:14, 1 John 1:1, and in 1 John 5:7, Jesus is called "the Word," and John 1:1 says that "the Word was God." (3) Thomas referred to Jesus as "My Lord and my God" in John 20:28, and Jesus did not see the need to correct him. (4) Isaiah 7:14 gives us the prophecy of the Virgin Birth of Christ and states that His name would be "Immanuel." Matthew 1:23 tells us that this word means "God with us." (5) In Isaiah 9:6, Jesus is called "Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." The Bible certainly would not say this about anyone less than God. (6) In John 10:30, Jesus says, "I and my Father are one." Jesus is not a lesser god; He is ONE with the Father. (7) Micah 5:2 tells us that Jesus is "from everlasting." (8.) In John 8:58, Jesus tells the Pharisees, "Before Abraham was, I am." He claimed to be the "I AM" of Exodus 3:14, which is God Almighty. (9) Jesus allowed others to worship Him (John 9:38; Matt. 14:33; and Luke 24:52), which was forbidden, unless He was God (Rev. 22:9). (10) Jesus forgave sins (Mark 2:5), which only God can do (Mark 2:7). (11) The Lord Jesus Christ is omnipresent (Matt. 18:20; 28:20; II Cor. 13:14; I John 5:7). We know He is God because He is capable of being everywhere at once. (12) Jesus is omniscient (Mark 11:2-6; Matt. 12:40). He is God because He knows all things. (13) The Lord Jesus is also omnipotent (Rev. 19:6; Matt. 28:18). He has all power. (14) According to John 1, 1 John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1, Jesus Christ is the Creator of Genesis 1! (15) Jesus never sinned! Romans 3:23 says that ALL HAVE SINNED and come short of the glory of God, but Jesus did not sin (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18). So Jesus had to be God. The Holy Ghost Is Deity Some teach that the Holy Spirit of the Bible is only a “force,” and not a person. Please notice that the Holy Ghost has attributes that only a PERSON can have. For example: (1) Only a person could SPEAK, which the Holy Spirit does (Acts 2:11; 13:2; Rev. 2:7). (2) Only a person could TEACH and COMFORT (Jhn. 16:7, 13). (3) Only a person could have a MIND (Rom. 8:27). (4) Only a person could possess the POWER that the Holy Spirit possesses (Rom. 15:19). (5) Only a person could be INSULTED and GRIEVED (Heb. 10:29; Eph. 4:30). So the Holy Ghost certainly IS a Person, but more than that, He is GOD, the Third Member of the Holy Trinity. There are several scriptural proofs for the Deity of the Holy Ghost: (1) In Acts 15:3 Peter accuses Ananias of lying to the Holy Ghost, and then in verse four Peter tells him that he had lied unto GOD. The Holy Ghost is God. (2) The Holy Ghost says in Acts 13:2, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." GOD is the one who calls men to do His work (Rom. 8:28; Gal. 1:6; 1 Ths. 2:12; 4:7; 2 Ths. 2:13-14); so, the Holy Ghost is God. (3) Only God could perform all the great wonders that the Holy Ghost performs (Psa. 104:30; Jhn. 14:16, 26; 16:8-14; Job 33:4; 1 Cor. 6:11; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). (4) The Holy Ghost is God because blasphemy against Him shall not be forgiven (Mat. 12:31). (5) The Holy Ghost is God because He is ETERNAL (Heb. 9:14). (6) The Holy Ghost is God because He is OMNIPRESENT (Psa. 139:7-8). (7) The Holy Ghost is God because He has the power to give life (John 3:6; 6:63). (9) The Scriptures are God's word, and 2 Peter 1:21 says that the Holy Ghost INSPIRED the Scriptures. Therefore the Holy Ghost is God. The Bible clearly reveals to us that the Holy Ghost is a Member of the Holy Trinity. To deny this truth is to openly deny God's word. The Trinity doctrine is a BIBLE doctrine. It is true that Satan has counterfeited the Trinity doctrine for many centuries in many pagan religions, but that doesn't change the truth. God's word declares that He is a Trinity, and it is our responsibility to believe it.