Are God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit the same Person?

God is one (Dt. 4:35; 1 Cor. 8:4).  There is only one true Deity, and that is God.

That being said, the term “God” in the Old Testament comes from the Hebrew word Elohim, which is a plural word.  This is significant, because the one God described in the Bible is manifested or shown in three distinct personages.  That’s why God, or Elohim, said before creating man, “Let US make man in OUR image…” (Gen. 1:26).

The Bible shows that three distinct personages are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  We are commanded to be baptized in their name, literally into their possession, in Matthew 28:19.  In Luke 3:22 we see all three Personages of Deity present at Jesus’ baptism:  Jesus, the Son being baptized; his heavenly Father calling him his Son from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descending on the Son in bodily form, like a dove.  In 2 Corinthians 13:14, Paul closes his letter by mentioning not only “the love of God,” but also “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” and “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.”  So it is clear that the one true Deity of the Bible is manifested in three distinct Personages.

We are commanded to pray to God the Father (Matt. 6:9).  Our obedience to the Father’s will is a necessity in order to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 7:21).  The Son of God on many occasions spoke directly to his Father (cf. Lk. 10:21 – “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth…”).  Paul said that Christ, the Son, was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father (Rom. 6:4).

The Bible also speaks of God the Son, Who is also described as God the Word (John 1:1, 14 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father…”)  This of course refers to Jesus the Christ, who as mentioned earlier spoke to his Father (cf. John 17:1) and thus showed his distinctiveness from the Father.  Another verse which shows how the Father and Son are distinct from each other is Luke 10:22 – “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”  Paul said of Jesus that he “was in the form of God” (Phil. 2:5-6), which backs up what John said about him, the Word, being God.

And then there is God the Holy Spirit.  We read of him right at the very beginning of creation, when even before Elohim created light it was said that “the Spirit of God” hovered over the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2).  David spoke of the Holy Spirit of God in Ps. 51:11 when he entreated God to  “…take not your Holy Spirit from me.”  Christians are told that they must not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, and that it is by that same Holy Spirit that we are sealed for the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).

The three – God the Father, God the Word or Son, and God the Holy Spirit – are one.  We see an example of how this is true when God the Son said, “I and my Father are one” (Jn. 10:30).  All three are Deity…the only Deity, the one Deity.

A good analogy to help us understand is this:  Consider H2O, water.  It appears to us in a liquid form, but take that liquid form of H2O and freeze it and it is no longer a liquid, but a solid (ice)…yet it is still H2O.  Put that solid in a sauna and turn the heat up and after a while it will no longer be either a solid or a liquid, but instead will be a gas (vapor)…but it is still H2O, nothing more or less.  The same can be said of Elohim, God.  The Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct from each other…yet all are still God, the only God.