Doctrine of the Trinity-Part 7

A further reminder of where we are going:
I) That there are 3 persons – Part5 and Part 6
II) They are all called God
III) There is One God (Monotheism)
IV) Thus they must all be God (Trinity)

So next we look at all the persons of the Trinity persons being called God. In this part of the series we will look at the Father and the Holy Spirit and in the next the Son, Jesus Christ.

First, The Father as God
The entire panoply of scripture speaks to the Father being God and this is not really disputed

1) Ps 89:26
“He shall cry to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.'”

2) Is 64:8
“But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

3) Rom 15:5-6
“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”

4) 1 Cor 8:6
“yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

5) Gal 1:3-4
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,”

6) Eph 4:5-6
“one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

7) Phil 4:20
“To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

8) 2 Peter 1:17
“For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,"”

Since the use of Lord and God are used of the Father and there is little argument that the Father is God then there is not much to be done here. However we do need to ourselves realize there is a distinction between the Person of the Father and the Nature we refer to as God. This is why we refer to the Father as “Father God”. This is where often we as Trinitarians cause our own problems in that when speaking of the nature of God we refer to the person of the Father and thus confuse the issue. The Father is distinct from the Son and Spirit but all contain the essence of God

While normally I would provide the texts that deal with Jesus Christ as God next due the large number of verses dealing with the deity of Christ I will give them in their own post in Part 8.


Next is the Holy Spirit as God

1) Verses such as Matt 28:19 speaks of the Holy Spirit on the same terms as the Father and Son so that when we see that the Father and Son are God then that would imply the same for the Holy Spirit

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

2) Remember that we are talking about equality of being which does not stop the three from having different roles and being subordinate to each other but only in responsibility not being. This is important as all too often people conflate equality & position which leads to error

3) Acts 5:3-4 equates the Holy Spirit to God

“But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."

4) In Psalms 139:7-8 the divine attribute of omnipresence is attributed to the Holy Spirit

“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”

5) In 1 Cor 2:10-11 Paul attributes the characteristic of omniscience to the Holy Spirit

“these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

6) Romans 15:19 speaks to the omnipotence (all powerfulness) of the Spirit

“by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God--so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;”

7) Hebrews 9:14 speaks to the eternality of the Spirit

“ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God”.


While there may be other passages that equally show the deity of the Father and the Holy Spirit these should suffice to make the point clear that the Father and the Sprit in scripture are God.

Next we will look at The Son Jesus Christ as God in Part 8.

Doctrine of the Trinity Series:

Sermon Series on The Doctrine of the Trinity:  Part 1   and   Part 2

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10


(all verses used are from the ESV unless stated otherwise)