How do we make sense of the Bible teaching...

How do we make sense of the Bible teaching there is one God, yet also teaching that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all God?

One way to do it is to accept the Bible says it! Scripture certainly affirms that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all three divine.

A host of passages refer to God the Father. A few of them are John 6:27, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Galatians 1:1,3, and Ephesians 5:20.

The Bible also affirms Jesus Christ is God. John 1:1 plainly teaches this. Jesus himself affirmed it in John 8:58 and John 10:30. When Jews heard Jesus say what he did, they understood the implications of it. They knew he was claiming divinity (see John 10:33).

Despite what some people say, the Bible also teaches the Holy Spirit is God. Acts 5:3-4 is a helpful passage for this—in verse three we read that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit. In verse four Ananias is told “You have not lied to men but to God.”

Therefore, the Holy Spirit is in fact God. Is it challenging to wrap our minds around the idea that there is one God, but God is three persons? It sure can be! But our difficulty in understanding something the Bible teaches doesn’t make it any less true.

Give it some thought,

John Allan

PS: Next week we’ll consider a few illustrations or comparisons used through the centuries to try to help us conceptualize the Godhead.