Short answer

The Trinity is the Bible’s teaching that there is only one God, and that this one God exists eternally as three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each is fully God, yet there are not three gods but one.

One God

The Bible is emphatic that there is one God. Israel’s daily confession was Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one (Deuteronomy 6:4), and Jesus quoted it as the first and greatest truth (Mark 12:29). Christians are not polytheists.

Three Persons

Yet the same Bible speaks of the Father as God, of Jesus the Son as God and of the Holy Spirit as God, and shows them relating to one another. At Jesus’ baptism the Son stands in the water, the Spirit descends like a dove and the Father speaks from heaven (Matthew 3:16-17). Jesus told His followers to baptise in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19): one name, three Persons.

Paul closes a letter with a blessing from all three: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14).

Why it matters

The Trinity is not a puzzle invented by theologians; it is simply what happens when you take everything the Bible says about God seriously. It also tells us something wonderful: God has always been a loving relationship. He did not create us because He was lonely, but to share the love that the Father, Son and Spirit have always enjoyed.

You do not have to understand the Trinity fully to know God. Every Christian prays to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit, often without thinking about it. That is the Trinity at work.

How this connects across the Bible

The Bible is one story. Here is how this theme runs from the Old Testament to Jesus:

  • From the first page the Spirit of God hovers over the waters (Genesis 1:2) and God speaks creation into being; John reveals that the Word through whom all things were made is the Son (John 1:3).
  • God says, “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1:26), a hint of plurality within the one God.
  • Isaiah describes the Servant on whom God puts His Spirit (Isaiah 42:1); the Father says the same over Jesus at His baptism (Matthew 3:16-17).
  • Israel’s confession that the LORD is one (Deuteronomy 6:4) is echoed by Paul, who names the Father as the one God and Jesus as the one Lord in the same breath (1 Corinthians 8:6).

What we believe at Spring Valley

We believe in the unity of the one true and living God, the eternal, self-existent “I AM”, who has also revealed Himself as one being co-existing in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Our full Statement of Faith

Your next step

The Trinity is best learned by worship rather than diagrams. Come and sing with us on a Sunday, and read Who is the Holy Spirit? next.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Read the Bible free in Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, English and many more languages at bible.com.