“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. There was a man sent from God; his name was John. This one came as a witness, to bear witness concerning the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. He was the true Light; He enlightens every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name, who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God. And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth.” – John 1: 1-14

The above text will be the primary source for this chapter, but we are actually only going to look at three verses from this text and then compare them to various other references throughout scripture. We will be looking at verses 1, 3 and 14 and take a hard look at what they really mean.

As you may have already determined from the title of the chapter, we will be examining the doctrine of the Trinity.

I want to begin b saying that if you are ever discussing what you learn here with someone and they tell you that the word “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible, they are right. However, “Trinity” is a name that we as human being use to describe one of the many mysteries of the nature of God.

It is very much biblical, though many have stretched this doctrine to a point at which it ceases to "hold water" and because of this many have turned completely from the truth. In fact, the very word “Trinity” tells us a great deal about who God is.

I pray that before you finish reading this chapter you will understand something about God that you never grasped before. I also pray that before you finish reading this book, you might have given your life completely to Him through a saving relationship with His Son.

Now let’s look at that first verse. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Already we have come into something that many people have a hard time understanding. How is it that the Word can both be with God and be God? A lot of churches try to explain this away. Some will tell you that the verse does not really mean that the Word was God, but that it translates more clearly as “the Word was like God.”

If you go back and study this text in the Greek, you will find that the literal translation is in fact “the Word was Deity.” We must ask ourselves then, “what do we mean and what are we referring to when we say ‘the Word?’”

“Word” in Greek is Logos and the only time it is used in Scripture is to refer to Jesus Christ. So when John tells us that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” he is actually saying that Jesus Christ is God.

People argue with me about this all the time saying, “He is not really God, He is the Son of God.” What John is telling us here is that He is both. Now let me explain to you why He has to be both, according to Scripture. First I will address the argument of the churches which say He is only like God.

Let us look at Isaiah 46: 5, in which God says, “To whom will you compare Me, and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be alike?” You may read on there and notice that there is never given an answer. No one is like God. No one can be compared to God as an equal.

No one can rightfully make that claim. So when John says, “The Word was God,” he cannot be saying that Jesus is like God, which means that he must be saying Jesus is God.

Now I want you to look again at John 1: 3, which says “All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.” This is important, because if you come back to the argument the Jesus is not God, some people will claim this verse means He only helped God make everything.

Now let us look again at Isaiah 43: 10-12, which says, “You are My witnesses, says Jehovah, and My servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me no God was formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, I am Jehovah; and there is none to save besides Me. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shown, when there was no strange god among you; therefore you are My witnesses, says Jehovah, that I am God.” We see here that there is One God, not two gods or God and someone else, just God alone.

Consider also, that God the Father says here “there is none to save besides Me.” Will those who claim that Jesus is not God now claim that He is also not our savior, or will they claim that the prophet was wrong?

Sadly, but not surprisingly there are an abundance of “Christians” sitting it both of these heretical camps.

Now let us look at Isaiah 44: 24, which tells us, “So says Jehovah, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb, I am Jehovah who makes all things; who stretches out the heavens alone; who spreads out the earth; who was with Me?” Now anyone who is truly saved by the Grace of God will tell you that to be cleansed, forgiven and redeemed is to have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, but here God the Father says that He is our redeemer.

Can this be if Jesus is not God? What are we to believe?

Galatians 3: 13-14 helps us to understand this better, saying “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone having been hanged on a tree'; so that the blessing of Abraham might be to the nations in Jesus Christ, and that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Also, Titus 2:11-14 says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that having denied ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live discreetly, righteously and godly, in this present world, looking for the blessed hope, and the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify to Himself a special people, zealous of good works.”

Notice also that in Isaiah 44 the Father says that He stretches out the Heavens all alone and spreads abroad the Earth by Himself. Again, how can this be true in light of John 1: 3, if Jesus is not God?

So the churches who say that Jesus is not God need to go back and look at these verses in the context of the whole Bible. Did God lie?

Certainly not! Titus 1:2 says, “on hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the eternal times.”

As I recently explained to a young man I met on a mission trip, if God says you are saved, you are saved. That cannot be a lie, because whatever God says becomes truth, because He is God.

Finally let us recognize here that when the Father says He spread out the heavens alone, that means there was no one else there helping Him. Therefore, if Jesus was with Him and all things were made through Him, then Jesus is God!

Finally we come to John 1: 14 which says, “And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth.” Logos became flesh!

I have had some people try to tell me that this is not talking about Jesus as God. They say this is merely referring to the Son of God becoming flesh and they say that this is a totally separate thing.

For the benefit of those who may be caught up in a church which teaches just such a lie, let us look at I Timothy 3: 16 which reads, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among nations, believed on in the world, and received up into glory.” When the apostle Paul wrote the words “without controversy” to the young preacher Timothy, he was attempting to reaffirm to him that the faith he had was true and his words leave no doubt that the statement he is about to make cannot be argued against, it is as solid as stone, it is defines.

He goes on to say, “great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh.” God was manifested in the flesh, not a part of God and not someone who was like God. God Himself!

Then Paul goes on to say that the man he is describing was, “justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among nations, believed on in the world, and received up into glory.” I would challenge anyone reading this to show me someone else in Scripture who meets all of these qualifications.

Just in case you are still wondering if Jesus is God, take a look at something else Paul wrote. In Colossians 2: 8-10 he said, “Beware lest anyone rob you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power.”

So Paul was emphatic about the need to be on guard, that no one should deceive us by means of worldly logic and reasoning. He was concerned then and I believe we must be equally wary of those who would preach a false christ and a false gospel today.

Paul said that if you let other people tell you that the Holy Word of God is not true, you are a fool. That means that we must cling to every word of every verse and never be distracted from the Truth that is in Christ, by Satan’s lies.

Then he continues saying of Christ, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power.” If you take the word “god-head” and you go back to the Greek what you find is ???????, a word which very literally means “divinity,” or more generally “the nature of God.”

So Paul is saying the all the fullness of the nature of God dwelled within Christ bodily when He walked on the earth and in Him you are complete, if you have received Him as your Lord and Savior. A lot of churches want to tell us that it is a long list of good works too, but Ephesians 2: 8-9 says, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

If you are saved you are saved by the Grace of God, manifested in the flesh, and through His atoning sacrifice on the cross. Not Him and His sacrifice and your works.

Now we come to what is for some people the stickiest part of the Trinity doctrine: The Holy Spirit.

Today, even most churches which will recognize that Jesus is God will say that the Holy Spirit is merely a force or a presence and not really God. We have already established without doubt, I believe, that Jesus Christ is both God and the Son of God, now we need to look at exactly how Christ was manifested in the flesh.

I want us to look at Luke 1:35, where the angel Gabriel is speaking to Mary, who cannot comprehend how she is going to give birth to a son, since she is a virgin. Gabriel said, “And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come on you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you. Therefore also that Holy One which will be born of you shall be called Son of God.”

Now we need to consider very carefully that it says that Jesus would be called the Son of God, because the power of the Highest would over shadow her. The Highest can only mean God.

Then we must consider that we are told this will happen because the Holy Spirit will come upon her. This only makes sense if the Holy Spirit is Himself the Highest and as we have already said, the Highest is God.

Then we must also consider that if the Holy Spirit is not God, then the verse could not end with the prophetic statement that Jesus would be called the Son of God. It would have to read “that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of the Holy Spirit.”

Also of note is the use of the term “Holy” in reference to Christ. In the entire Old Testament there is only one use for the term “Holy” and it is used abundantly to refer to the God of Israel.

Again, Jesus is God!

Now let us look at John 16: 7-13, which reads, “But I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when that One comes, He will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment. Concerning sin, because they do not believe on Me; concerning righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatever He hears, He shall speak. And He will announce to you things to come.”

Please pay close attention to the following details. First, the Holy Spirit is referred to by Jesus Christ as a person. The reference is “He,” not “it.”

Second, we learn that the Holy Spirit has a purpose in the life of the unsaved. In a later chapter we will discuss His ministry to the saved, but to the unsaved the Holy Spirit has a single ministry which is tertiary in nature.

His work in your life if you have received Christ as Savior, is to teach you about righteousness, sin and judgment.

A mindless force, an it, a presence cannot have a purpose. A cognitive thinking being has a purpose.

Next, we must consider that Jesus says the Holy Spirit does not speak of His own will, but what He hears from above He speaks to us.

Then I want you to think about this. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit with guide you into all truth. If you read that in the Greek, the word that translates to “guide” is ????????, which means to “show the way” to something and describes the sort of action that I would use to take you by the hand and pull you into another room, not simply saying “come this way.”

If you have ever had the experience of being completely filled with the Spirit of God and being propelled into His service then you will understand this. If not, you need to be asking God for it, because it is one awesome experience.

Now lets look at one last reference which tends to open a lot of eyes on this matter. I John 5:7 says, “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one” Most churches I visit do not even want to talk about this verse. The New International Version of the Bible, which I personally call the “Non Inspired Version,” omits nearly all of it.

We have to remember though that the Modern King James, being translated directly from the oldest known copies of the biblical texts, retains this verse in its entirety.

If you are wondering how it is possible for the Father, Word and Holy Spirit to be one, I will attempt to explain this in the next chapter. However, for the time being consider that God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnimorphic, omnitemopral and omnipresent.

Consider then, that if God knows everything, has all power and can be everywhere at one time, how hard it is to comprehend that He knows how to use His power to Be in three places and in three manifestations from eternity past to eternity to come? I can comprehend it and I am just a dumb old country boy who studies the Word.