Jesus says we must worship God in Spirit and in Truth. (John 4:23.24) But what is truth? Again, Jesus says that God’s word is truth. (John 17:17) Both Paul and Timothy identify the Scriptures as God’s word (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). So if we want to know the truth about God, we must go to God’s word, the Bible, to learn what it is.

In order to worship God in truth, we must do so according to what He says about who He is. We cannot please Him by worshipping a false “God”. This is the most fundamental question to answer: who is God? The second is: what is the true gospel? To know the true gospel, we must know the true God.

The Bible tells us there is one God. It teaches that there are three members of this God, identified to us as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This does not mean there are three “Gods”, but rather that all three persons are members of the one God. This is not hard to understand when you realize that the word “god” is not a name, but a title meaning “object of worship”, or “deity.” In the same way that we have one parliament with many members, who are equal in nature and importance, but different in identity and function, there is one God, with three members who are equal in essence, but different in identity and function. The godhead is a single corporate entity and identity, of which three individual beings make up its totality.

The lack of the word “trinity” in the Bible no more “proves” there is no trinity than the lack of the word “dinosaur” proves there were no dinosaurs.

Each time the word “LORD” or “GOD” appears in the English Bible in capital letters, it stands in place of the Hebrew tetragrammaton (literally: four-letters) “YHWH” representing the answer God gave to Moses when he asked for a Name to tell the nation of Israel when they asked who had sent him to free them from Egypt. When either word appears in the Old Testament with only initial capitals, “God” is translated from the plural word elohyim, the title given to Yahweh, or very occasionally its singular form, el, which mean god or gods. “Lord” can be translated from adown (adoun), which is a generic term meaning “master” or “sovereign”, or from adonai, the superlative form designating the supreme sovereign, and used by God only in reference to Himself.

Because the deity of God the Father is generally accepted, this will not be addressed here. The questions to answer are whether Jesus Christ is God, and what is the true nature and identity of the Holy Spirit. The following few verses show clearly that Jesus Christ is God, come in human flesh as the Son. Remember: if there is no problem accepting that evil spirits are able to take on flesh to interfere with man, the all-powerful God cannot be restricted from being able to create for Himself a sinless body of flesh in which to present Himself to men.

SHOWING THE DEITY OF JESUS; JESUS IDENTIFIED AS YHWH

Isaiah 7:14  “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” See Luke 1:34-35, and Matthew 1:25 – Mary was a virgin, not just a young woman. See also Matthew 1:22-23, which confirms that this event was the one prophesied, and that the meaning of “Immanuel” is “God with us”.

Isaiah 9:6   “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given’ and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called “Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting father, the Prince of Peace…”

There is only one God. YHWH declared to Isaiah that Jesus will be called “The Mighty God.”  (Is 45:22)

Just as Jesus is called ‘the mighty God’ in this verse, so YHWH is called ‘the mighty God’ using the same Hebrew words as Is 9:6 in each of Deut 10:17 and Jeremiah 32:18. In addition, in each of Gen 49:24, Psalm 50:1, Ps 132:2 & 5 also refer to YHWH as “the mighty God” and in Is 1:24, Is 30:29, Is 49:26, Is 60:16, YHWH is called ‘the mighty One’ of either Jacob or of Israel. The literal translation of these latter several verses is “YHWH … the mighty (of Jacob / Israel).”

In Matthew 23:9-10, Jesus commands to call no man “father”, for our only Father is in heaven. If we are to call no one but God our heavenly Father, yet God has identified Jesus as being the everlasting Father, He is showing Jesus to be God. Moreover, none is ‘everlasting’ or eternal except God. Angels were created, therefore not eternal.

Micah 5:2   “But you, Bethlehem…of Judah, out of you shall he come forth unto me to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (translated literally: “ from the days of eternity”). Matthew 2:6 shows this prophecy refers to Jesus. It declares Jesus to be eternal. But only God is eternal. (Gen 1:1) “from” the days of eternity clearly refers to eternity past as opposed to eternity future; the prophesied Ruler existed in eternity past.

Hosea 1:7   “I will … save them by the LORD (YHWH) their God…” God saves all men by Jesus Christ.

Zephaniah 3:15,17 “the King of Israel, the LORD, is in the midst of thee….The LORD thy God… will save….” Jesus is the King of Israel, Jesus saves.

John 1:1,3,10    “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …. All things were made by him, and without him was no thing made that was made. … and the world was made by him…” The Scripture shows “the Word” to refer to Jesus. John says Jesus existed in the beginning (Gen 1:1), was God, and made all things. Scripture is clear that only God did or can make anything. (Gen 1; Ps 33, Ps 102; Ps 146; Is 45; Jer 10, 32, 51; Job 9, 38) See also Eph 3:9 “…God Who created all things by Jesus Christ…” and Colossians 1:16 “For by him (his Son) were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth….by him and for him.” Not only does the Scripture declare that all things were made by Jesus, but that they were made for Jesus. Yet Revelation 4:11 “Thou are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

 Watchtower Society’s New World Translation translates John 1:1 “…the Word was a god”. First of all, the indefinite article “a” is not there in the Greek. The verse literally translates: “…and the word was with (toward) the God, and God was the word.”

Secondly, this rendering is either saying that there is more than one God, or that “the Word” is an idol, since being “a god” but not “God” is to be an idol. Clearly, the Saviour of the world, Who is glorified with the Father, is not an idol, so this option merits no discussion. Yet there is only one Living and True God; all other gods are idols. (1 Chr 16:26) Therefore, Jesus cannot be another “God”, because God is one. The rendering is wrong based on the Greek text, and its necessary implications impossible.

Thirdly, John clearly states that “All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.” The Word, being Jesus, created all things. Angels are created beings; men are created beings. If Jesus was either Michael the arch-angel or a mere human being, He would necessarily be included in the ‘all things’ created by “the Word”, and the ‘nothing’ that was created without “the Word”. It is not possible for John’s statement to be true if Jesus Himself is a created being.

John 8:58   Responding to the Jews questioning him about seeing Abraham, Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I AM”. Jesus speaking in Aramaic, an Hebrew dialect, declared to the Jews that “I AM”; the same phrase “Yah” which God used to answer Moses at the burning bush. Jesus’ statement was not “I was” in the imperfect, but “I Am” in the present tense. In other words, besides declaring Himself to have lived before Abraham, (about 3500 years earlier) Jesus claimed for himself the name of God. That is why they “took up stones to throw at him”. They knew He ‘made himself equal with God.”

John 6:38, 46 Jesus claimed to have come down from heaven, and seen the Father, Whom no man has seen.

John 20:28     Upon touching the wounds on Jesus’ resurrected body, Thomas declared to Him “My Lord and My God”. Jesus confirmed that this was true by His answer that Thomas finally believed because of what he saw. No Jew would use God’s name as a common curse word or exclamation, and no prophet of God would affirm such cursing. This was a capital offence under the Jewish law, and high blasphemy.

Matthew 22:42-45 “How then does David in spirit call Him Lord…if David then calls Him Lord, how is He his son?” Jesus was trying to make the Pharisees think about whom the Messiah had to be, since if He was merely the son of David, David would never have addressed Him as “Lord” (master). Moreover, David would never have addressed an angel as “Lord”, as only God is the Lord.

The passage Christ quoted here is Psalm 110:1: “The Lord said unto my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” The first “Lord” is YHWH, the second is adoun. This literally says, “YHWH” – the I Am that I Am – “said unto my adoun” – my sovereign …” or “God said unto God…” Both of those names translated as “Lord” refer to God; the Holy Spirit never used adoun or sovereign to refer to anyone other than God. Christ was obliging them to answer how it could be that David, speaking by the Holy Spirit, could refer to the Messiah as “Lord”, or sovereign, if indeed that person was David’s own son.

Malachi 3:1 “Behold I will send my messenger before me, and the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple….” Mark 1:2 confirms the messenger to be John the Baptist, who was sent to prepare the people for Jesus the Messiah. See also Isaiah 40:3 “Prepare ye the way of the LORD (YHWH), make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

Colossians 2:9 “For in Him (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Only if God Himself inhabited the body of Christ would it be possible for all of His fullness to reside there. No angel has God’s fullness, neither can any man.

Hebrews 1:8     Continuing his argument beginning in v4, extended from the opening statement, “God Who…” , the author of Hebrews states, “God …. (said) unto the Son, “Your throne O God is forever, and ever, and a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of your kingdom.” According to the author of Hebrews, God is who speaks “to the Son.” Citing Psalm 45:6-7, in which David, by the Holy Spirit, has written, “Your throne O God is forever and ever; the sceptre of your kingdom is a right sceptre. You love righteousness and hate wickedness, therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows…” In these verses, “You” of the first pronoun is second-person, addressed to “O God”, yet it continues to say that “…Your God has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows…” “God … your God … has anointed God” according to this passage. Who is God who anointed, and who is God to whom the first verse is addressed?

While the NWT reads, “God is your throne forever…” the literal translation from the Greek is “… your throne o God is to the age unto the age…” This is seen clearly with the purple Kingdom Interlinear, in which the WH Greek NT is translated beneath as follows: “the throne of you the God into the age of the age.”

It is absurd to suggest that God is anyone’s throne; God is no one’s throne; God sits upon the throne, ruling over all creation. No created thing is seated on God so it may rule.

Revelation 1:8-18 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,” says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Then the “voice” John heard, coming from “one like the Son of Man” said, “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last…” Later He says, “I am the first and the last. I am he who lives and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore.” So He who was dead declares Himself the first and the last, as well as the Alpha and the Omega. But in Isaiah 48:12, God declares “I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last…” and immediately previously the Lord God almighty declares Himself Alpha and Omega.

Rev 22:12-16    The speaker declares, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last … I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify to you….” So “I, Jesus” declares Himself to be Alpha and Omega, first and last, beginning and end, just as are claimed by God Almighty. Jesus is therefore shown to be God almighty.

Hebrews 1:3,6.8 Jesus is said to be the “express image of [God’s] person…” which means the exact image of God. He would have to be God to be so. Verses 7-8 relegate all angels under Jesus, clearly denying them being honoured by God as Christ was. Verse 6 says “Let all the angels of God worship [the first begotten]” Only God is to be worshipped, therefore Jesus must be God if angels will worship Him. (proskuneo)

1 John 1:2 Jesus Christ is “that eternal life, which was with the Father” If He was eternal, He could not have been created. Eternal means without beginning or ending. This is reinforced in Hebrews. Moreover, the context clearly demonstrates His eternality in the past, meaning He existed in the past eternally.

Acts 20:28 “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He has purchased with His own blood.”

Additionally, the book of Isaiah has many verses in which God declares Himself to be the only king, redeemer, saviour, Lord, God, creator, etc, all of which are assigned to Jesus Christ throughout the New Testament. It is either truth or blasphemy. Remember that Jesus was crucified by the Jews on the charge of blasphemy – they recognized that by His statements about Himself, He “made Himself out to be God”.

SHOWING THE DEITY AND INDIVIDUAL PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

In order to understand anything else God wants men to understand, we must first know who He is, and understand and accept the gospel for ourselves. When we do, we become “born again” by the Holy Spirit, Who will teach us also all things and bring us into deeper understanding.

The Watchtower Society believes that the Holy Spirit is simply God’s power or force. The Bible clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit is a person. He is said to know, teach, speak, convict, control, comfort, testify, empower, live, be blasphemed, lead, etc. Here are a few verses that show that the Holy Spirit is a person:

John 14:16-17   Jesus will leave, the Father will send, “another Comforter” in Jesus’ place.

John 14:26        “The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.”

John 16:7         “It is good for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I leave, I will send Him to you.” Jesus must leave in order for the Holy Spirit to be sent.

John 16:8         “He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement”

John 16:13-14   “…the Spirit of truth, when He is come, will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, shall He speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify me…”

John 3:5-6        “Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of …. The Spirit is spirit…” This is without meaning if the Holy Spirit is simply a force. It would then say “that which is born of God’s power is power.”

Acts 5:3    “…why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit….” We don’t lie to God’s power, we lie to Himself.

Rom 15:19        – testifying to God “through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God…” Again, it would be senseless to say “by the power of the Power of God”. It is by the power of His Spirit.

The following verses show that the person of the Holy Spirit is God. Having shown both Jesus and the Holy Spirit to be God, and agreeing that the Father is God, the doctrine of a triune God is shown to be correct, regardless of the lack of that particular term within the text of our Bible.

Matthew 12:31-32   “All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven… whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him…” Blasphemy literally means “to vilify”, so blaspheming God is speaking against God in any way that portrays Him as wicked. Why would God hold someone unforgivably guilty for calling His power evil, but not be unforgivable for calling God Himself evil?

Matthew 28:19  “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…” The phrase “in the name of” means “on authority of”, or “on behalf of”. We are baptized only for and by the authority of God, not of God’s power.

Acts 5:3-4         Ananias was said to have “lied to the Holy Spirit… you have not lied to men, but to God.”

Acts 13:2-4       The Holy Spirit commanded the church there to separate Barnabas and Saul for a particular work, then He sent them out to do that work.

1 Corinthians 12:11 The Holy Spirit is said to give gifts to the church according to His own will. Power is inanimate; it has no will.

1 Cor 2:10-12    God’s Spirit is said to know things of God (power cannot know), and that we receive Him so we might also know those things. (John’s gospel records that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things)

Hebrew 9:14     The Spirit is said to be eternal. Since we have shown Him to be a person, and only God is eternal, He must also be of God.

Hebrews 1:1 says God spoke through the prophets. 2 Peter 1:21 says it was the Holy Spirit who spoke through the prophets, and Jesus told the Pharisees that David spoke according to the Holy Spirit (Mark 12:36). 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is given by God’s direction. Obviously, the prophets spoke for God, but they could only do so by God with God’s words. As we see in the Old Testament, God spoke directly to these men, who recorded the messages and communicated them to the people. This is the person of God speaking, not His power, through the prophets, to the people.

Finally, there are a few verses in which God speaks of God as a plural identity. In Genesis 1:26; 3:22, 11:7, and Isaiah 6:8, God referred to God as “We” or “Us”. God does not confer with angels. Angels do not sit with YHWH in His throne. Therefore, the plural form must include only those present who are equal with God. “In the beginning” there was only God, yet He said “We”. This makes sense only if there is a community of persons to address.

Jesus said “we” know what “we” are talking about and what “we” have seen. (John 3:11) No one but Jesus had spoken the things He taught at this point, so it can only refer to Himself, and the only others who understood what He was teaching, namely the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The majority of references in the Hebrew Scriptures to God use the word Elohyim, which is a plural noun. A plural noun is used by men and by God to refer to God. This is more notable because it is often accompanied by a singular verb to the subject Elohyim. The Hebrew Scriptures are an overwhelming testimony to the plurality of individuals within the godhead.

There is no reason to struggle with the plain meaning of the Bible, especially in the Gospels. They were written for everyone who would listen. Jesus wasn’t teaching things people couldn’t understand; He was calling us to repentance and salvation. The letters were written to Christians who already knew the gospel, accepted the Lord, and were “born again”. There are things in them that will not make sense to anyone who is outside of the grace of God, because they are spiritual matters, which those who prefer sin will not receive. But there are things which are plain in those letters too, some of which are the verses included here for you.