Christian Doctrine of God: One God, Three Persons

1) God’s Existence and Nature: Who God Is

Christian doctrine speaks about God as real (not an idea), personal (not an impersonal force), and the creator of all that is. When Christians say “God,” they mean the one living God who exists eternally, who made everything that is not God, and who relates to creatures with knowledge, will, and love.

God as Creator (and not part of creation)

To say God is creator means everything else depends on him for existence. God is not one more object inside the universe; he is the source of the universe. This matters because it frames worship: Christians do not worship nature, angels, or human achievements, but the one who gives them being.

• Practical example: If you admire a sunset, Christian worship moves from the gift to the Giver: gratitude, humility, and care for creation follow.
• Practical example: If you fear losing control, creation teaches dependence: you are not self-made, and you are not alone.

God as Personal: Knowing and Being Known

Calling God personal means God knows, speaks, chooses, and loves. Prayer is not self-talk; it is response to a God who hears and acts. God’s personal nature also grounds human dignity: people matter because they are known by God, not because they are useful.

God as Holy and Loving (not competing qualities)

Holy means God is morally pure and set apart from all evil. Loving means God seeks the good of his creatures and gives himself for them. In Christian teaching, holiness and love do not cancel each other. God’s love is not permissive indifference, and God’s holiness is not cold distance.

• Practical example: A good parent both protects (holiness: opposition to harm) and embraces (love: commitment to the child). God’s holiness and love work together similarly, but perfectly.

God as Eternal: Beyond Time, Faithful in Time

God is eternal: not limited by aging, decay, or a beginning and end. Christians often describe God as the one who “always is.” This supports trust: God does not improve, forget, or run out of strength.

Continue in our app.

• Listen to the audio with the screen off.
• Earn a certificate upon completion.
• Over 5000 courses for you to explore!

Or continue reading below...

Download the app

2) God’s Attributes: Shared and Not Shared (Simple Categories)

Christians talk about God’s “attributes” to describe what God is like. A helpful simple distinction is:

• Incommunicable attributes: qualities that belong to God in a way creatures do not share.
• Communicable attributes: qualities that God has perfectly and creatures can reflect in limited ways.

Incommunicable Attributes (God’s “only-God” qualities)

• Aseity (self-existence): God depends on nothing outside himself. Everything else is dependent.
• Eternity: God is not bound by time as creatures are.
• Immutability (unchanging): God’s character and purposes do not shift. This does not mean God is inactive; it means God is reliably himself.
• Omnipresence: God is present everywhere, not as a spread-out body, but as the one who sustains and knows all places.
• Omnipotence: God is able to do all that is consistent with his nature (God does not do contradictions or evil).
• Omniscience: God knows all things truly and completely.

Practical step-by-step: praying with incommunicable attributes

1. Name the attribute: “God, you are present everywhere.”
2. Connect it to your situation: “You are present in this hospital room / meeting / lonely apartment.”
3. Ask for a fitting help: “Give me courage and wisdom.”
4. Respond with trust: “I will act faithfully in the next right step.”

Communicable Attributes (God’s qualities we can reflect)

• Goodness: God is the standard and source of what is truly good.
• Love: God seeks the true good of others; in Christian teaching, God’s love is active and self-giving.
• Mercy: God shows compassion to the needy and guilty.
• Justice: God does what is right and opposes wrongdoing.
• Truthfulness: God does not lie; God is reliable.
• Wisdom: God chooses the best ends and the best means to those ends.
• Holiness: God is pure and calls creatures to purity.

Practical step-by-step: imitating communicable attributes

1. Choose one attribute for the day: mercy, truthfulness, or patience.
2. Define one concrete action: “I will speak truth without cruelty,” or “I will forgive a small offense.”
3. Anticipate resistance: “I will feel justified in being harsh.”
4. Plan a response: “I will pause, breathe, and choose a gentle sentence.”
5. Review: “Where did I reflect God’s character? Where did I resist it?”

Important note: God’s attributes are not separate “parts”

Christians do not mean God is divided into pieces (like 30% love and 70% justice). God is one. When God acts, he acts as the whole God—loving, holy, wise, and just at the same time.

3) Trinity Basics: One God, Three Persons

The Trinity is the Christian claim that the one God exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is not three gods, and it is not one person acting in three roles. It is one God in three persons.

Two key words: “essence” and “person”

Because everyday language can be confusing here, Christians use two simple terms:

• Essence (what): what something is. God’s essence is the one divine nature—Godness, so to speak.
• Person (who): who someone is. In God, “person” means a distinct “who” who relates to the others (Father to Son, Son to Father, Spirit to Father and Son).

So Christians say: one “what” (God), three “whos” (Father, Son, Spirit).

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (without technical overload)

• The Father: not “more God” than the others, but the one who is called Father in relation to the Son. Christians speak of the Father as the source of creation and the one who sends the Son and the Spirit.
• The Son: eternally related to the Father as Son. Christians confess the Son became human as Jesus Christ for our salvation (without ceasing to be divine).
• The Holy Spirit: fully God, not an impersonal energy. Christians speak of the Spirit as the one who gives life, makes God present to believers, and forms holy character.

What the Trinity is not (common misunderstandings to avoid)

How Christians speak carefully (a simple checklist)

When you hear or say something about the Trinity, check these three lines:

• Monotheism: Are we still saying there is only one God?
• Full divinity: Are Father, Son, and Spirit each fully God (not partial God)?
• Real distinction: Are Father, Son, and Spirit truly distinct persons (not just roles)?

4) Differences in Christian Traditions (Brief and Neutral)

Across Christian traditions, the core confession of one God in three persons is shared, but some emphases differ. These differences usually aim to protect God’s greatness and the reality of human responsibility.

Divine simplicity

• Stronger emphasis: Some traditions stress that God is not composed of parts and that God’s attributes are identical with God’s being (to protect God’s unity and independence).
• More cautious emphasis: Others affirm God’s unity while using more relational or personal language to avoid sounding like God is distant or abstract.

God’s foreknowledge

• Classical view: God knows all future events with certainty.
• Different models: Some propose ways of describing God’s knowledge that highlight genuine human choice and the dynamic nature of history, while still affirming God’s wisdom and sovereignty.

Human freedom

• Stronger divine determination emphasis: Some traditions stress God’s initiative in salvation and human dependence on grace.
• Stronger human response emphasis: Others stress that grace enables a real human response that is not coerced.

In practice, many Christians hold together two convictions: (1) God is trustworthy and in control; (2) humans are morally responsible and called to repent, believe, and obey.

5) How God’s Character Grounds Worship, Morality, and Salvation

Worship: responding to who God is

Worship is not mainly about mood; it is a fitting response to God’s worth. God’s holiness calls for reverence; God’s love calls for gratitude; God’s eternity calls for trust; God’s creatorhood calls for humility.

Practical step-by-step: a simple pattern for worship in daily life

1. Adoration: Name one true thing about God (holy, loving, wise).
2. Thanksgiving: Thank God for one specific gift (strength, forgiveness, provision).
3. Confession: Admit one concrete sin or failure without excuses.
4. Request: Ask for help aligned with God’s character (wisdom, purity, courage).
5. Obedience: Choose one action that matches your prayer (reconcile, tell the truth, serve).

Morality: goodness is rooted in God, not preference

Christian morality is grounded in God’s character. “Good” is not merely what a society votes for or what feels authentic; it is what reflects God’s holy love and justice. This does not remove the need for careful reasoning; it gives moral reasoning a stable reference point.

• Practical example: Truthfulness matters because God is true; therefore lying is not only socially harmful but a contradiction of the God Christians worship.
• Practical example: Caring for the vulnerable matters because God is merciful; therefore mercy is not optional kindness but a reflection of reality.

Salvation: God’s love and holiness meet

In Christian teaching, salvation is not God ignoring evil; it is God dealing with evil while rescuing people. God’s holiness means sin is serious; God’s love means God acts to save. The Trinity helps Christians speak about salvation as God’s work from start to finish:

• The Father purposes and sends.
• The Son accomplishes redemption by becoming human and acting for us.
• The Spirit applies God’s work to people—awakening faith, reshaping desires, and forming holiness.

Practical step-by-step: connecting salvation to everyday change

1. Identify the need: guilt, shame, fear, anger, addiction, despair.
2. Name what God is like: holy (takes sin seriously) and loving (moves toward sinners).
3. Ask for specific help: “Give me repentance,” “Give me power to forgive,” “Give me endurance.”
4. Take a concrete step: confess to God, seek reconciliation, remove a temptation, ask for accountability.
5. Practice ongoing dependence: repeat daily, not as self-improvement, but as living in God’s grace.