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Catechism #9



Question: How many persons are in the one God?
Answer: Three persons are in the one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one God, the same in substance and equal in power and glory.

The three Persons of the Godhead are known collectively as the Trinity. Some will argue against the concept of the Trinity since that precise word does not appear in the Bible, but that is not enough reason to throw it out.

The idea of God existing as the Trinity is biblical. Consider how Paul mentioned all three members together in 2 Corinthians 13:14:

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Jesus grouped Himself together with the Father and Spirit when He gave the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, which says, “…baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

At the baptism of Jesus all three Persons are present again. Not only is Jesus on the scene being baptized, but a voice came from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” As God the Father spoke, the passage says that the Spirit of God descended like a dove (Luke 3:21-22).

The Trinity also appeared together at Creation. Genesis 1:1 says God created the heavens and the earth, and verse 2 says the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the water. If you add John 1, it says that Jesus is God, and created everything as God (also consider Colossians 1:15-17).

Colossians 2:9 tells us that in Jesus existed all the fullness of the Godhead (the Trinity) in bodily form. Read John 14-16 and see how Jesus taught about all three members of this Godhead.

Some have tried to find illustrations to help grasp the point, but even the best fall short. Some look to water, which can be liquid, solid ice, and steam. This sounds good, but water does not exist in all three forms at the same time, while the Trinity does.


There is only one God, but He exists in three Persons: God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
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