Part 1 · Belief 2 — The Doctrine of God
The Trinity
What we believe
There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three coeternal Persons. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. God, who is love, is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation.
Draft lesson — pending pastoral review. This guided lesson is being prepared and has not yet been approved. Study it prayerfully alongside the Scriptures, and check back as it is finalized.
When we ask "who is God?", the Bible's answer is bigger and warmer than we expect. There is only one God — Scripture is clear, "the Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Yet from the first page to the last, this one God meets us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is not three gods, and not one God wearing three masks. It is the deepest truth about who God has always been: a God who is love — because before anything was made, there was already a Father loving a Son in the bond of the Spirit. You were made to be drawn into that love.
One God
Before anything else, hold this firmly: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Bible never wavers — there are not many gods, only One who made all things. Everything else we will say about Father, Son, and Spirit rests inside this one truth, not against it. We do not worship three; we worship the one true God, and we are learning that this one God is richer than a lonely solitude.
Three Persons, named together
Listen to how the Bible names God. At Jesus' baptism the Son stands in the water, the Spirit descends like a dove, and the Father's voice speaks from heaven — all three, at once (Matthew 3:16, 17). Jesus sends His followers to baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19) — one name, three Persons. Paul blesses us with "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit" (2 Corinthians 13:14). The one God has shown us His own face: Father, Son, and Spirit.
Why this is good news
"God is love" (1 John 4:8). Love has to be love for someone — and God did not have to create us in order to begin loving. The Father has loved the Son "before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24). That means love is not something God learned; it is who God is, eternally. And the gospel is the staggering offer that this circle of love opens to include you. The Father gives the Son, the Son gives Himself, the Spirit comes to make His home in you. You are invited inside the very life of God.
Search the Scriptures
Gen. 1:26; Deut. 6:4; Isa. 6:8; Matt. 28:19; John 3:16; 2 Cor. 1:21, 22; 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2.
Reflect
We cannot fully explain the Trinity — and that is right, for if we could fit God inside our minds, He would not be God. But we are not asked to explain Him; we are invited to know Him. This week, pray to the Father, in the name of the Son, through the help of the Spirit — and notice that you are already being welcomed into a love older than the world.
Check your understanding
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