Is God One or Three; the Triunity or Trinity
The Oneness of God
Here are a few verses on the oneness of God (there are many others).
Moses declares the oneness of God
Deuteronomy 6:4. (NIV)
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one
Isaiah writes of the oneness of God
Isaiah 45:21 (NIV) Declare what is to be, present it-- let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.
Jesus recognizes the oneness of God
Mark 12:29,32 (NIV)
Mr 12:29 “The most important one [of the commandments of the Mosaic law],” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Mr 12:32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.
John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
The Apostle Paul recognizes the oneness of God
1Corinthians 8:4,6 (NIV)
1Co 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
The Trinity; How three are One
How do the three members of the Godhead work together? Possibly the best place to start in our discussion of the trinity is before the creation of the earth. We would not know anything about this except the Apostle Paul was moved by God’s Spirit to write about it in the first chapter of the book of Ephesians. In order not to violate copyright laws, I've posted links to Bible Gateway. Here is the one for Ephesians 1:3-23 (NIV)
Summary: from this Scripture passage, we might deduce that God the Father is Almighty and directs the events. He predestines and chooses people to be saved and adopted into His family. The Father is the designer, creating the world, sending His Son to purchase our redemption from sin, and sealing our salvation by His Spirit. And he does this all for His glory.
More about The Trinity or Triune Nature of God
In the Old Testament section of our Bibles, the Hebrew word translated “God” is the word El or Elohim. Elohim is the plural form of El. The plural form is used 2607 of the 2845 times the name “God” is used in the Old Testament. Not only is the word for God usually used in the plural form, but several verses refer to God as “Us” : God is the self-existent Almighty One who has a plural nature.
Genesis 1:26 (NIV) Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
See other Scriptures where God refers to himself in plural form: Genesis 3:22; 11:5-7; Isaiah 6:8; 48:16
In the New Testament section of our Bibles, we find much clearer references to the plurality of the godhead.
Matthew 28:19 (NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit [note the equality here]
Luke 1:35 (NIV) The angel answered [to Mary the mother of Jesus], “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. [a son has the same nature as his father]
Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV)
Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
John 1:1-4,14 (NIV)
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Summary: from these Scripture passages, we learn first that Jesus was in the presence eternally with God the Father and was in His very nature co-equal with Him. Still, He humbled Himself and took on the form of a man. Second, we learn that the Word that is a light to mankind became flesh and is God, that He came from the Father, and is full of grace and truth. This Word is a reference to Jesus.
Here are some other New Testament verses showing the plurality and equality in the Godhead:
John 1:32-36 (NIV)
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.
33 I would not have known him, except that the one [God] who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”
John 3:34-36 (NIV)
John 3:34 For the one whom God has sent [referring to Jesus] speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” (NIV)
Have you believed in Jesus to receive eternal life? (more...)
Here are some verses that show how Jesus equates himself with God. The Jews understood his meaning.
John 5:17-43a (NIV)
John 10:30 (NIV) Jesus said, I and the Father are one.
Summary: from these Scripture passages, we learn that Jesus claims to be God’s Son, making Him equal with God, God the Father has given his Son Jesus a mission to fulfill, the authority to forgive sins, to grant eternal life, and to judge humanity in the end.
What about the Holy Spirit? Who is He?
John 15:26 (NIV) “When the Counselor [a reference to the Holy Spirit] comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me
Summary: From this Scripture, we learn that the Counselor, the Holy Spirit comes from God the Father, and is sent by Jesus, which means He has some authority over the Spirit.
John 16:13-15 (NIV)
John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. (NIV)
If you recall earlier, we learned that the Son has His Father’s mission to fulfill. Here we learn that the Holy Spirit has the Son’s will to fulfill.
Acts 5:3-4 (NIV)
Ac 5:3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”
Notice that here the Holy Spirit is called God.
Perhaps you are tired of reading, but if you want to know many references to the Holy Spirit working intricately with the Father and Son, read these verses
Conclusion
God is one, and yet the Scriptures teach He exists in three eternal persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – all co-equals who work in perfect and glorious concert with one another to accomplish the Father’s will.
If you have ever been to the Kennedy Center or other places of classical music concerts, you might have witnessed something that could be likened to the trinity or triunity of God. At the Kennedy Center in 1982, from the front row, I watched a Cellist play his instrument so well, that I could not distinguish his arm from the instrument or the music he played. They were one, and yet I knew they were not. The mind controlled the arm to draw the bow across the strings, but it was done with such oneness and spirit, I sat transfixed and in awe. That connected with me as a good illustration of the trinity. I know this is an imperfect illustration, but it helped me.
Answers to other questions about the trinity can be found at gotquestions.org.
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/triunity.html
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