Biblical Evidence for the Godhead

 

By David J. Stewart

"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and THESE THREE ARE ONE." —1st John 5:7

       The Bible, God’s Word, proclaims that there is ONE God (Deuteronomy 6:4), Who has revealed Himself to mankind in three distinct Persons; namely, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Although the term “Trinity” is not found in the Scriptures, the word “Godhead” most certainly is — in 3 places!

Romans 1:19, 20 states…

“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and GODHEAD; so that they are without excuse.”

Some people (such as Muslims) foolishly claim that belief in a Godhead (aka, Trinity) means worship of three gods (polytheism). This simply reflects their woeful ignorance of the Word of God. The LORD our God is ONE Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4); but He does exist in three Persons, i.e., a Trinity.

Acts 17:29 states…

“Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the GODHEAD is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.”

Colossians 2:9…

“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the GODHEAD bodily.”

1st John 5:7 is in the Original Greek. If there were no other verse of the King James Bible testifying of the Godhead, 1st John 5:7 would be enough for any Bible-believer to know that God exists in three Persons — the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit…

“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and THESE THREE ARE ONE.” —1st John 5:7

Now if you have a modern corrupt bible, then you won’t find 1st John 5:7 correctly rendered. I went out and bought a literal translation of the Bible in Greek and Hebrew, based on the “Textus Receptus” (or Received Text). It contains 1st John 5:7 just as the King James Bible faithfully renders. The translators of the King James Bible rejected certain manuscripts as heretical. The manuscripts which they did accept became know as the “Received Text.”


How Can One God Exist in Three Persons?

Some people feel like they have to provide an answer for every question. Well, that’s not true. Doctors are still perplexed as to what causes the human body to sneeze; but it’s an obvious fact. Mankind’s brightest secular scientists cannot with any certainty tell us how life began, nor can they tell us how big the universe is, nor can they create even the simplest of life forms in a laboratory. It makes infinite more sense to accept the Bible’s claim that God spoke the universe into existence by the Word of His mouth (2nd Peter 3:5). Ironically, the same people who refuse to believe the Bible without proof; readily believe the bogus tales of unsaved scientists, even without as much as a single shred of credible evidence to support their claims. This clearly evidences the wickedness of man’s heart against his divine Creator.

Colossians 2:2, 9 acknowledges the Godhead as a “mystery” …

“…to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ… For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

Colossians 2:9 plainly teaches that the Godhead became incarnate in the fleshly body of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1st Timothy 3:16 declare the same truth…

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh…”

Someone has said that "BIBLE" in acronym forms means:

B = Basic
I = Instructions
B = Before
L = Leaving
E = Earth

I like that. Too many people refuse to accept God at His Word and continually put God on trial in their mind. Can anyone really explain how ONE individual can exist in three Persons? I don’t see how. Some Bible-teachers like to use the fact that humans are composed of body, soul and spirit; but we are still one person; not three. This is not a good example of the Godhead. I can’t give you a good example, and won’t try. God is God and we don’t have to figure out how to describe Him to an unsaved world of Christ-rejecters. To those who believe, no explanation is necessary; to those who believe not, no explanation is possible. Let us just accept God as the Bible portrays Him.

The Scriptures identify each Person of the Godhead as “God.” The word "Godhead" is a Bible word (Acts 17:29, Romans 1:20, Colossians 2:9).

1.      The Father is called God.
Romans 15:6, “That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
 

2.      Jesus is called God.
“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” 1st Timothy 3:16

Hebrews 1:8, “But unto the Son he [God] saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”

Colossians 2:9, “For in him [Jesus] dwelleth ALL the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”
 

3.      The Holy Ghost is called God.
Acts 5:3-4, “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? ...thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”

1st Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: GOD WAS manifest in the flesh, JUSTIFIED IN THE SPIRIT, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
 

The Godhead and Our Salvation

1.      God the Father sent His only begotten Son (John 3:16).
John 5:36, “But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.”
 

2.      The Son was sent to be the propitiation (to appease the wrath of God) for our sins.
1st John 4:10, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
 

3.      The Holy Spirit reproves us, teaches us, guides us and testifies of Jesus Christ.
John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

John 15:26, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.”
 

More Scriptures Testifying of the Godhead

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." —Matthew 28:19,20

"And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him [Jesus], and a voice came from heaven [God the Father], which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." —Luke 3:22
 

Each Person of the Godhead SPEAKS AUDIBLY in the Bible.

1.      God the Father SAID of Jesus in Matthew 3:17... "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
 

2.      Jesus SAID in John 10:30, "I and my Father are one."
 

3.      The Holy Ghost SAID in Acts 13:2... "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them."

Each Person of the Godhead was Operative in the Old Testament.

1.      The Father — Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”
 

2.      Jesus — 1st Corinthians 10:1-4, 9, “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: AND THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.”
 

3.      The Holy Ghost — Hebrews 3:7-11, “Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved ME, and saw MY WORKS forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest.)”
From the very first chapter in the Bible, God makes it known that He consists of more than one Person--

Genesis 1:26-27, “And God said, LET US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness...So God created man in his own image, in the image of God [not angels. the "us" can only refer to God.] created he him.”

Genesis 3:22, “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil...”

When Isaiah had a vision of the Lord sitting upon a throne, the Lord asked him a question…

Isaiah 6:8, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for US? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”

In the Old Testament, we find that God has a Son (Proverbs 30:4, Psalm 2:7-12) and a Spirit (Isaiah 40:13, 2nd Samuel 23:2, Judges 3:10, et cetera). We also find that the LORD [Jesus] said that the LORD [God the Father] would send Him to the earth (Zechariah 2:10,11).
 

Didn’t the Trinity Teaching Originate in Pagan Religion?

Some false teachers today are claiming that the Biblical doctrine of the Godhead (Trinity) has it’s origin in pagan religion. This is not true at all. The fact of the matter is that Christianity predates ALL known religions. We read in Genesis 15:6 that Abram (Abraham) “believed in the LORD; and he [Jesus] counted it to him for righteousness.” Abraham lived around 2,000 B.C. It was the heathens who tried to imitate and corrupt genuine Christianity. This has always been Satan’s dirty game.

John 8:44 and John 10:10 tell us that the Devil is a big liar who comes only to kill, steal and destroy lives. Only a woefully ignorant person would dare claim that Christianity didn’t exist before the time Christ was born into the world. History and archaeology document that Old Testament Israel very much awaited and centered their religious beliefs around the coming Messiah. It was because of earlier prophecies that the 3-wise men journeyed from the east (likely from Babylon) to witness the birth of the Savior, Jesus, in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Is the Trinity "Pagan?"


Conclusion

The modern Bible perversions take out the word, "Godhead" and they attack the deity of Jesus Christ. One man told me that it was difficult for him to understand the deity of Jesus Christ while he read the New International Version (NIV). Once he changed over to the King James Bible, it was abundantly clear. This is no surprise to me.

To no surprise, the NIV oftentimes agrees with the Jehovah's (false) Witness’ New World Translation (NWT) in the verses it deletes. In fact, EVERY complete verse that the NIV deletes is deleted in the NWT. It also deletes many of the same words and phrases including 1st John 5:7.

The precious and trustworthy King James Bible teaches that there is ONE God, Who exists as a Godhead. It may not make good math; but it makes good Bible. We don’t need to comprehend or even partially understand the mystery of the Godhead to be saved, we simply need to come as a guilty sinner to the cross of Calvary and trust upon the blessed Son of God to wash away our sins with His redeeming blood (1st Peter 1:18,19). 

 

Personal comments: A human is one person inside one physical body while the LORD is one God (The only one of his kind), but he has three bodies which carry out different tasks according to his will, however it is the same person in all three bodies or forms if you will.

You see God is not limited by our rules and can choose to have twelve (12) or more bodies if he wanted, he is God, the problem man has in being able to phathom the trinity is that he (mankind), trying to rationalise the image of God by reducing him to a size the human brain can understand but that will not be possible. If we could "figure" God out then there would be no need to serve him.