Three Persons of God
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The church articulates the Trinity through a carefully balanced formula that addresses both God’s fundamental unity and internal distinction. God possesses one nature or substance, yet exists eternally as three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who relate to one another in unique ways.
Of course, after His ascension, returning to Heaven, Jesus is now in Heaven. But we don’t really have a good concept of what that might look like. So, I’ve chosen an event that we can relate to – at least better than a Heaven-based scene – to show the Three Persons of God.
The scene shows all three “persons” of God. Jesus, being baptized by John the Baptist. A commonly used image for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God as a white dove. And The Father, watching all from Heaven.
This image allows us to clearly see who we are praying to. The prayer is from Jesus. It’s by the Holy Spirit that we understand and communicate with God. And the prayer, specifically, is to The Father.
The “Three Persons of God”?
❓ How does the church define the “Three Persons of God”?
🤖✨ The church articulates the Trinity through a carefully balanced formula that addresses both God’s fundamental unity and internal distinction. God possesses one nature or substance, yet exists eternally as three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who relate to one another in unique ways.1
The three persons are distinguished by their relational identities rather than by separate essences. The Son is called “only-begotten,” a term chosen to describe the unique relationship between Father and Son1, while the Holy Spirit is identified through the word “proceeds,” drawn from Christ’s statement that the Spirit “proceeds from the Father.”1 Each person’s identity depends fundamentally on their relation to the others—the Father cannot be Father apart from the Son and Spirit, and similarly for the other two.2
Critically, the church uses the word “person” to designate the three rather than alternatives like “people” or “aspects,” chosen to indicate distinction without separation.1 In Trinitarian language, “person” does not mean an individual with separate consciousness and will; rather, the Father, Son, and Spirit represent the one God in tripersonal existence, distinguished but never divided.3
The church guards against two opposing errors. Overemphasizing threeness leads to tri-theism, while overemphasizing oneness produces modalism—the view that God merely manifests different modes—both condemned as heretical.2 The classical formulation resolves this tension: God exists as three persons (personae) or hypostases in one substance (homoousios).2 This unity is so profound that each person co-inheres (perichoresis) in the others without ceasing to be who they are.3
1 Elizabeth Klein, God: What Every Catholic Should Know (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2019), 50–52.
2 Ronnie P. Campbell Jr., Worldviews & the Problem of Evil: A Comparative Approach (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019), 194–195.
3 Kevin Giles, “The Orthodox Doctrine of the Trinity,” Priscilla Papers (2012), 26:3:12.
The Three Persons of God – in non-Academic English
Christians describe God as one God who exists in three persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This doesn’t mean three gods, and it doesn’t mean one God who just switches masks. It means God is one being with a shared divine nature, but within that one being there are three who relate to each other in real, personal ways.
The Father, Son, and Spirit aren’t divided or separate, but they’re also not identical. They’re distinguished by how they relate to one another.
- The Son is “begotten” of the Father — a way of saying the Son comes from the Father in a unique, eternal relationship.
- The Spirit “proceeds” from the Father — another way of describing a different, but equally eternal relationship.
These words don’t describe biology or time; they describe relationship.
When Christians use the word “person” for Father, Son, and Spirit, they don’t mean three separate individuals with their own wills and agendas. “Person” is simply the best word the church found to express real distinction without dividing God into parts.
Throughout history, Christians have tried to avoid two mistakes:
- Tri-theism — treating the three persons as three separate gods.
- Modalism — treating God as one person who only appears in different forms.
The classical Christian understanding holds these together: one God, three persons, united so deeply that each person fully shares in the life of the others without losing who they are.
Praying to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
❓ Can you add something about how we – believers – “communicate” with God? Is it only through the Holy Spirit, or can we communicate to either or both the Father and the Son according to church doctrine?
🤖✨ The church articulates the Trinity through a carefully balanced formula that addresses both God’s fundamental unity and internal distinction. God possesses one nature or substance, yet exists eternally as three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who relate to one another in unique ways.
The three persons are distinguished by their relational identities rather than by separate essences. The Son is called “only-begotten,” a term chosen to describe the unique relationship between Father and Son, while the Holy Spirit is identified through the word “proceeds,” drawn from Christ’s statement that the Spirit “proceeds from the Father.” Each person’s identity depends fundamentally on their relation to the others—the Father cannot be Father apart from the Son and Spirit, and similarly for the other two.
Regarding how believers communicate with God, church doctrine affirms direct access to all three persons rather than exclusively through the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught followers to pray to “Our Father in heaven,” believers can pray knowing they have an advocate with the Father in Jesus, and followers can pray with confidence that the Spirit intercedes according to God’s will when they do not know how to pray.1 Believers worship God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—sometimes addressing them individually while at other times addressing them together.1 More specifically, in prayers, believers usually pray to the Father, but do so through the Son and in the Holy Spirit, so that worship is directed to all three persons and not to one only.2
Although it can be traditional to talk about the Father specifically as God, any teaching which tries to technically make the Father alone always synonymous with the words “God,” “he,” “him,” or “his” has always been rejected by Christianity.3 This reflects the deeper truth that Christians refer to the one God with singular pronouns because God is both the one, supreme being, and because God is first and foremost personal—Tri-personal in fact.3
1 Adam Harwood, Christian Theology: Biblical, Historical, and Systematic (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2022), 156.
2 Gerald Bray, “The Trinity,” in Lexham Survey of Theology, ed. Mark Ward et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018). [See here.]
3 Daniel Lloyd, God Speaks His Love (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2023). [See here, here.]
Praying to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – in non-Academic English
Christians believe God is one God who exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Because of that, believers aren’t limited to speaking with only one of them — they have direct access to all three. Jesus taught people to pray to the Father. The New Testament says Jesus Himself speaks on our behalf. And the Spirit helps us pray when we don’t know what to say. All three are involved in the relationship.
The Father, Son, and Spirit are not three separate gods, and they’re not three versions of the same person. They’re distinguished by relationship, not by being three different beings.
- The Son is “begotten” of the Father — a way of describing their eternal relationship.
- The Spirit “proceeds” from the Father — another way of describing how the Spirit relates within God’s life.
These words don’t describe time or biology; they describe who they are to one another.
In practice, Christians often pray to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit — not because only the Father is “really God,” but because this pattern reflects how Scripture shows the three persons working together. Worship can be directed to any of the three individually or to all three together.
Although Christians sometimes speak of the Father as “God,” the church has always rejected the idea that the Father alone is God while the Son and Spirit are something less. Christians use singular pronouns (“he,” “him,” “God”) because there is one God, and that one God is personal — three‑personed, not solitary.
Importance of The Holy Spirit
❓ Jesus spoke of the importance of Him leaving so we can have the Holy Spirit. That came with promises of many things believe will have access to as a result. How does that relate to what we just looked at?
🤖✨ Jesus’s departure and the Spirit’s arrival represent not a diminishment of God’s presence but a transformation in how believers experience and access the divine. Jesus’s claim that it is “for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you” suggests that the Spirit’s coming constitutes an advantage rather than merely compensating for his physical absence.1
This shift illuminates the relational structure of the Trinity in practice. When the Holy Spirit dwells among believers, Jesus and the Father are present through that indwelling.1 Rather than limiting access to God, the Spirit’s arrival actually expands it. After Jesus’ departure, the Holy Spirit continues as the link between Jesus Christ and his congregation.2 This means believers don’t communicate with God exclusively through the Spirit—instead, the Spirit facilitates and enables direct communion with both the Father and the Son.
The promises accompanying the Spirit’s coming are substantial. The Spirit, sent by the Father in Jesus’s name, teaches all things and reminds believers of everything Jesus taught, functioning as another Counselor or Comforter.1 Through Christ’s self-consecration, Jesus unites himself with his people and takes with him to the Father all those joined to him.2 This creates an intimate participation: anyone who belongs to Jesus participates in the relationship between Father and Son.2
Ultimately, the Spirit’s arrival doesn’t replace direct access to the Father and Son—it enables it. God has been revealed as Father, Son, and Spirit, representing three ways of knowing God: the Father concept, the reality of the Incarnate Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit.3 The Spirit’s work ensures that believers experience the full trinitarian presence of God, not a reduced or mediated version of it.
1 Brandon D. Smith, The Biblical Trinity: Encountering the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Scripture (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2023), 66–67.
2 Hans Burger, Dick Moes, and Jane deGlint-Sneep, Life in Christ: The Significance of Jesus’ Story (New York, NY: Cascade Books, 2023). [See here, here, here.]
3 Harvey J. S. Blaney, “The Gospel according to St. John,” in Matthew-Acts, The Wesleyan Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1966), 4:449–450.
Importance of The Holy Spirit – in non-Academic English
When Jesus talks about going away so the Holy Spirit can come, He isn’t saying believers will get less of God. He’s saying they’ll experience God in a new and better way. Jesus calls the Spirit’s arrival an advantage — not a downgrade — because the Spirit brings God’s presence to every believer, everywhere, all the time.
With the Spirit living in believers, the presence of the Father and the Son is also with them. The Spirit doesn’t replace Jesus or block access to Him. Instead, the Spirit opens up direct relationship with both the Father and the Son. The Spirit becomes the living connection between Jesus and His people after Jesus returns to the Father.
Jesus also promised that the Spirit would teach, guide, and remind believers of everything He said. The Spirit comforts, strengthens, and keeps Jesus’ teaching alive in the hearts of His followers. Through Jesus’ own self-giving, believers are drawn into His relationship with the Father — they share in that closeness because they belong to Him.
So, the Spirit’s coming doesn’t limit how believers know God. It expands it. Christians experience the one God as Father, Son, and Spirit — three ways God makes Himself known, three ways God is present, one God fully with His people.
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