God manifests himself in three persons but remains one God
BY CLIFTON D. CAUTHORNE JR.
CALVARY BAPTIST OF CLINTWOOD
The Bible teaches that there is only one God, and his name is Jehovah. Deuteronomy 6:4 declares this central teaching of the Bible: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.”
The word “LORD” (in all caps) is how the translators of the King James Bible expressed the name of God: Jehovah. Although the Bible teaches that God manifests himself in three persons (Father, Son and Spirit), he remains one God whose name is Jehovah.
We find the unity of the Persons of the Trinity expressed by Jesus in John 10:27-33 and John 17:11, 21. Christ testifies, “I and my Father are one.” First John 5:7 clearly indicates, “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”
Furthermore, Deuteronomy 6:4 tells us that the God of the Bible is the one and only God.
As we look through the 44th, 45th and 46th chapters of Isaiah, God clearly and repeatedly points out that he alone is God. In Isaiah 44:6, God declares, “I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” He reiterates in Isaiah 45:5, “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.”
How should we respond to the exclusivity of God? Deuteronomy 6:5 continues, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
Jesus quotes these two verses from Deuteronomy in Mark 12:28-30 and calls them “the first of the commandments.” Since Jehovah exists as the only true God, we owe him alone our supreme love and service. We ought to love him with every ounce of our being.
The world at large finds Jesus’ words in John 14:6 highly offensive: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Yet, the Bible clearly teaches that the God of the Bible is the only God, and Jesus is the only way to him.
Hymn writer Paul Gerhardt explains,
The mystery hidden from the eyes
Of learned men and sages,
God hath revealed us from the skies,
In Scripture’s holy pages,
That he alone is King above
All other gods whatever,
Great, mighty, faithful, full of love,
His people’s Shield and Savior;
One Essence, but three Persons.
