Today, a mini study for an explanation on what “God in 3 persons” means. First, let me say that as imperfect humans who are not God, without His intellect, we will never fully understand, however, scripture does reveal things to us. Who are the 3 persons? The 3 persons of God are, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are all fully God and they are all eternal. They are equal in rank, for lack of a better term, but they are separate in personhood. Each has a distinct role in creation and salvation. They have a personal relationship with each other. They are all God as in they are all the being or essence of God.

What does scripture say? Matthew 28:18-20 gives us a clear picture about there being 3 names under one God, not 3 Gods but persons of one God; “¹⁸ Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ 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, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” We also see the 3 roles, or distinct personhoods at the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:16-17, “When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.  And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.””

The Bible shows us that the Son submits to the Father, evident by his doing his Father’s will and laying his life down so that we may be reconciled to the Father through his bloodshed. Luke 22:42 – “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me—nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” We see that the Father sent the Son in John 3:16, For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. In John 16: 1-15 you read Jesus telling the disciples that the counselor will come, ⁷ Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you.” In this same passage Jesus says that the Spirit will glorify him. The Father and the Son sent the Spirit to dwell with believers forever, John 14:15-17.

The Holy Spirit is a personal being, 1 person of God. He has a daily role in our lives. He convicts us, is a teacher, guides us in truth and he transforms us into the image of Christ. He also has the job of glorifying the Son as scripture says. He is eternal and existed since the beginning. Yeshua (or who we call Jesus), is God in the flesh (John 1:1-18) conceived by the Spirit to a human virgin young woman. He has existed from the beginning, and as he is God, he is sinless and is eternal. He willingly laid his life down to restore mankind to the Father, whereby paying the price for sin, which is eternal separation (eternal death) from the Father. He died, he rose from the grave and he ascended to heaven where he sits at the right hand of God the Father and he has promised to come again. ( Read John 14 ) In Romans 1:18-25, Paul writes about who God is. He says God has eternal power, is the creator, and has a divine nature; “¹⁹ since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”

How do we get to know God, who he is, his attributes, his works, and his plan? We read the scriptures, that’s how. As in my last post, the Bible is God’s story, not ours and when we say God that includes Yeshua (Jesus) and the Spirit as they are all equally God, therefore it’s their story too. The scripture is rich in describing the personhoods of the triune God, what each person of God did, and is doing and what role each has and we know each are divine in nature and eternal. This post isn’t digging deep into the attributes of God, perhaps in the future, but I encourage you to study the Bible in light of knowing God, not finding yourself on the pages you read.

All scripture is quoted from the Christian Standard Bible version.

https://read.csbible.com/

Just for fun and to kick of a deeper study you can do on your own, why not learn the history of Yeshua’s name being re-translated to Jesus. This link is only the beginning and doesn’t get into all the history, but it’s a start. While you’re at it, why not look into how YHWH’s (Yahweh) name became God or LORD in our translations. Again, you can search deeper than that but it’s a start.