When reading the Scriptures the method of study most common is using the New Testament to interpret the Old Testament. What that means is that the Old Testament is revealed through the New Testament Scriptures. The Prophecies of the Messiah to come were fulfilled through Jesus the Christ and that was revealed in the New Testament. When a person looks at the Prophecies in the Old Testament they are understand by what the New Testament Scriptures have revealed and instruct us to believe. The New Testament is in fulfillment of what the Old Testament Scriptures teach and foretold. This is for our instruction and guidance. What does the New Testament teach about who God is? What does the Old Testament teach about who God is? These questions will be answered.

The prophet Moses wrote from what he was told from God first hand. He wrote that the LORD is God alone, for there is no other. Christianity affirms the Monotheism of God, God is over heaven and earth, and there is no other God.

The prophet Isaiah wrote direct revelation from the LORD of Hosts. He wrote that the LORD is God alone and that He is the first and the last, which means He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega, the One who is above all. This affirms the Monotheism of God and that there is only one true genuine God.

The Monotheism here is combined with a compound unity of God being one. In other words God is one, but not literally in number but in substance. The Hebrew word here is the word 'Echad' which means compound unity and an absolute. The Scriptures have this Hebrew word 'one' which is 'Echad' and is used in other Scriptures in reference to a unity. For example you find the word 'Echad' in: Genesis 1:5 (morning and evening one day) & 2:24 (man and woman become one flesh), Ezra 2:64, (whole assembly was one) Ezekiel 37:17. (two sticks are one) Another Hebrew word for one is 'Yachid' which means one in number. 'Yachid' is used differently in the Scriptures than 'Echad.' For example: Genesis 22:2 & 12, Judges 11:34, and Psalms 22:21. These Scriptures address the issue of 'one' being of number not of unity. Clearly Deuteronomy 6:4 is not teaching the absolute of God being one in personage, because if that was so than Moses would of used 'Yachid' not 'Echad'.

The New Testament reveals the truth of God being three distinct persons in the one God. Remember the Old Testament is to be understood through revelations of the New Testament. The New Testament gives the clear understanding of who God is.

The Father is identified as God

In Christianity the Father is God, and almost all those who believe in the Bible agree that the Father is God. Many believe that only the Father is God, and that Jesus is not Deity, but the first of God's creation. Christianity from the beginning of the Church until now affirms the Monotheism of God being both one and Triune.

Jesus is God

The Bible has revealed that Jesus and the Father are distinct persons and that Jesus is by nature God the Creator of all things. Jesus is the Word who became flesh and was with God (The Father) in the beginning (before there was anything created) and was God. (The Son) Jesus was with the Father in verses 1-2. This shows that Christianity does not believe that Jesus is literally the Father, but distinct from the Father and both are God. Jesus according to the apostle John here says 6 key things in these verses. 1) Jesus was in the beginning before anything was created which affirms what Paul wrote in Colossians 1:17, "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Both the Apostle John and Paul affirm that Jesus is before 'ALL' things and therefore shows that Jesus was not apart of creation, but before all creation and the Cause of all creation as will be shown. 2) Jesus was in the beginning with the Father therefore they are two distinct persons. 3) Jesus is God and was with the Father this shows the Unity of God being not a literal one but a compound Unity (“Echad”). 4) Jesus is the Creator of all things, the Cause and Origin of all things created in the heavens and on earth. Look at what Paul said in Colossians 1:16: "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him." This shows the very Deity of Jesus for the Scripture says in Isaiah 44:24 "Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone." The LORD God is the One who created all things 'alone' and the Scriptures teach that Jesus is the very One who created all things, thus showing the Tri-Unity of God being one not in number but in Unity. For the Scriptures teach that the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit are all the Cause of creation. (Romans 11:36 Father, John 1:3&Colossians 1:16 Jesus, Psalms 104:30 Holy Spirit, Isaiah 44:24 One Creator) 5) Apart from Jesus 'NOTHING' was created proving that Jesus is by nature God. (John 1:3) 6) Jesus who was the Word in the beginning before anything was created, came to this earth and took on flesh and became in the likeness of man. Paul writes in Philippians 2:6-7: "6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men." The Apostle Paul affirms what John wrote of Jesus being God before coming to earth, and taking on flesh. Paul wrote that Jesus existed in the form (Morphe in Greek) of God which means that Jesus was by nature God before He came to earth. Paul writes that Jesus humbled Himself and took on the likeness of men and that Jesus was not prideful to regard His equality with God a thing to be grasped or to cling to but set aside for a time His glory, and became a man in our likeness. That is the Gospel, that Jesus took on flesh and died for us on the cross and rose again that we may have eternal life in His name and faith in Him as our Lord and Savior.

The Holy Spirit is God

One of the things in the Trinity that has been most misunderstood I believe is the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures teach that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person from the Father and Jesus.

In these 9 verses Jesus shows without any doubt the distinctions of the Father, Himself, and the Holy Spirit being three distinct personages. Jesus identified Himself 13 different times here, the Father two times, and the Holy Spirit 15 different times. This shows without any doubt the Unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit not being the same person as some wish to teach. Also this shows very clearly that Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit was not an it. Jesus identified the Holy Spirit as being a personality, not a thing. The Holy Spirit is the One who will convict people of sin, and will lead people to Jesus Christ. Some groups believe that God was the Father in the beginning of creation, and then the Father became Jesus in our redemption through the cross, and that Jesus became the Holy Spirit in our regeneration, that is what is known as Oneness Pentecostals or the United Pentecostal Church International. That teaching is heresy, and un-Biblical.

According to the Church the Holy Spirit was not some mystical force or an it, but a real personality. Here the text is very clear that the Holy Spirit has a will, and said set apart for 'Me' and for the work which 'I' have called them, making it very clear the Holy Spirit was a real personality.

The Apostle Paul in writing this letter to the Corinthians wrote that the Holy Spirit is the One who gives the gifts to the body of Christ as He wills. And Paul continued by saying it is God who has placed the members in the body and give them various gifts as He desires. This shows that Paul firmly believed that the Holy Spirit was by nature God.

The Apostle Peter gives a very fascinating revelation here concerning the Holy Spirit. 1) The Holy Spirit can be lied to, which only persons can be lied to thus showing the personality of the Holy Spirit. 2) Peter says they have not lied to men, but to God! Peter says they lied to God the Holy Spirit and equates them together in the same context.

Overview of the Trinity

The Trinity is very Biblical and is not illogical or confusing. Some say “Just take it by faith”. But the fact is that God has revealed Himself to us through His Word, through His presence in the Old Testament, and through Jesus in the New Testament, and through the Holy Spirit convicting us of sin and leading us to Jesus Christ for salvation. The Bible teaches the Trinity just as it teaches Monotheism even without either word being in the Scriptures. The Trinity can be understood. Some Christians understand more than others just like some know more about outer space than other people do. Just because some people know more about outer space does not mean outer space does not exist, and the same is of the Trinity. If a person seeks the Word of God, and seeks to know for sure, and in time they will grow understanding. Those who reject the Trinity have not received spiritual understanding and guidance from the Holy Spirit. True revelation comes from the Holy Spirit, and it is not until they are born again that they can comprehend these things: "12 But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit from God, so that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1Corinthians 2:12-14)

Analogies of the Trinity

The Trinity has been compared to many things in nature: What will you see below are things that are triune yet one in nature. This information is for things that we do understand that are in our grasp that help us understand spiritual things that pertain to the Tri-Unity of God.

Bird's Egg: Besides the germ and yolk, the eggs of birds contain an albuminous mass, the white, which is an additional source of nourishment for the developing chick. The egg is enclosed in a tough double membrane, the membrana putaminis, which in turn is covered by a hard, three-layered shell chiefly composed of calcium carbonate. The shell protects the egg from the weight of the parents' bodies during incubation. All birds, with the exception of the mound birds, incubate their eggs by body heat.

There is an analogy for the egg that shows the three in one view of the Trinity. You separate the shell, the white, and the yolk, and put each of them into three different bowls. How many eggs you got? One, but they are separated by three distinct parts, yet still one in essence and nature. This is just like the Trinity being one God yet three distinct persons, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

Shamrock: Common name for any of several trifoliate clovers native to Ireland. The shamrock was originally chosen as the national emblem of Ireland because of the legend that Saint Patrick used the plant to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity. Most shamrocks, particularly the small-leaved white clover, have been considered by the Irish as good-luck symbols since earliest times, and this superstition has persisted in modern times among people of many nationalities. Shamrocks or various representations of the plant are worn by celebrants on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17 of each year. The hop clover is widely accepted as the original shamrock picked by Saint Patrick.

Fruit: Fruits vary widely in physical appearance, but their basic structure is the same. The ripened ovary wall that forms the fruit is composed of three layers, which can be thick or thin, dry or moist, fused or separate. The outermost layer is called the exocarp; the middle layer is the mesocarp; and the inner layer, the endocarp. These three regions together are called the pericarp. A peach that has been cut in half clearly reveals these layers: the soft, fuzzy skin is the exocarp, the juicy, meaty part of the peach is the mesocarp, and the pit, which encases the seed, is the endocarp.

Water: Water is the only substance that occurs at ordinary temperatures in all three states of matter, that is, as a solid, a liquid, and a gas. As a solid, or ice, it is found as glaciers and ice caps, on water surfaces in winter, as snow, hail, and frost, and as clouds formed of ice crystals. It occurs in the liquid state as rain clouds formed of water droplets, and on vegetation as dew; in addition, it covers three-quarters of the surface of the earth in the form of swamps, lakes, rivers, and oceans. As gas, or water vapor, it occurs as fog, steam, and clouds. Atmospheric vapor is measured in terms of relative humidity, which is the ratio of the quantity of vapor actually present to the greatest amount possible at a given temperature.

Space: Dimension, in geometry, a property of space. In common experience the world is three-dimensional. Three measures breadth, width, and depth are needed to define a volume.

What other Groups teach about the Trinity

Jehovah's Witnesses: "Trinity is defined as three gods in one. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, all three equal in power, substance and eternity." (Let God Be True, page 101, 1946)

Mormons: "Latter-day Saints believe in God the Father; his Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost. These three Gods form the Godhead, which holds the keys of power over the universe. Each member of the Godhead is an independent personage, separate and distinct from the other two, the three being in perfect unity and harmony with each other." (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Godhead)

Oneness Pentecostals: "In distinction to the doctrine of the Trinity, the UPCI holds to a oneness view of God. It views the Trinitarian concept of God, that of God eternally existing as three distinctive persons, as inadequate and a departure from the consistent and emphatic biblical revelation of God being one." Oneness Pentecostals teach that God was the Father in creation, the Father became the Son in redemption, and the Son became the Holy Spirit in regeneration. Three different modes or manifestations of God, not three distinct persons. Quote, "God is manifested as Father in creation and as the Father of the Son, in the Son for our redemption, and as the Holy Spirit in our regeneration." These references are found at the official UPCI website. The link is www.upci.org/about/index.asp

The Trinity is Biblical, it is Scriptural, and it is truth. God is said to be One God in Deuteronomy 6:4. God is said to be the only God from all eternity and no others were made or formed in Psalms 90:2 and Isaiah 43:10. Looking at Genesis 2:24 we see a Biblical way to see how the word 'one' can be used and applied within what the context says. The Bible says there is only one eternal God and has been identified through three distinct personages. The Father is God in Jude 1, Jesus is God in John 1:1&14, and the Holy Spirit is God in Acts 5:3-4.