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Verses showing the plurality of God in the
Old and New Testaments
The
Bible teaches a plurality within the Godhead in both the Old and
New Testaments. It is these verses, in part, that lay down
the foundation for the doctrine of the
Trinity. For more information on the trinity, please
see
What is the Trinity?
and
The
Trinity Chart on how the
doctrine of the Trinity is arrived at. See more
information on the Holy Spirit
- Plurality
of God in the Old Testament
-
Gen. 1:26, "Then God said, 'Let Us
make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the
fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the
cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth.'"
- Angels do not create.
- We are not made in the image of angels
- there is no place in the OT where a leader refers to
himself with the term "us."
-
Gen. 3:22, "Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man
has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now,
lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of
life, and eat, and live forever.'"
- Gen. 11:7, "Come, let Us go down and there confuse
their language, that they may not understand one another’s
speech."
-
Gen. 19:24, "Then the Lord [YHWH] rained on Sodom and
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord [YHWH] out of heaven."
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Psalm 45:6-7, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and
ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy
kingdom. 7Thou hast loved righteousness, and
hated wickedness; Therefore God, Thy God, has anointed
Thee."
- This is quoted in
Heb. 1:8, "But of the Son
He [God] says, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, And
the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom."
- The Jehovah's Witness Bible has it translated
as "God is thy Throne forever and ever..." But, God
would not be a throne for anyone. A king sits upon a
throne and God sits on His throne, not anyone else
on God as a throne.
-
Isaiah 6:8, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord,
saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I
said, "Here am I. Send me!'"
-
Isaiah 48:16, "Come near to Me [God], listen to this:
From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it
took place, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent Me,
and His Spirit.”
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Amos 4:10-11, “I sent a plague among you after the
manner of Egypt; I slew your young men by the sword along
with your captured horses, And I made the stench of your
camp rise up in your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to
Me,” declares the Lord [YHWH]. 11“I overthrew you as God
overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand
snatched from a blaze; Yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares the Lord."
- Plurality
of God in the New Testament
-
Matt. 3:16-17, "And after being baptized,
Jesus went
up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were
opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove,
and coming upon Him, 17and behold, a voice out of
the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am
well-pleased.”
-
Matt. 28:19, "Go therefore and
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,"
- Note that there is one name and three persons.
-
1 Cor. 12:4-6, "Now there are varieties of gifts, but
the same Spirit. 5And there are varieties
of ministries, and the same Lord. 6And
there are varieties of effects, but the same God who
works all things in all persons."
- "Lord" here is probably Jesus. See
next verse.
-
2 Cor. 13:14, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God, and the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit, be with you all."
- Eph.
4:4-6, "There is one body and one Spirit,
just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one
God and Father of all who is over all and through all
and in all."
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1 Pet. 1:2, "according to the foreknowledge of God
the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit,
that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with
His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure."
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Jude 20-21, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up
on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit;
21keep yourselves in the love of God,
waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
to eternal life."
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