When I taught this series to my home group, I gave this chart to the members as a reference.
There is only one God
The first step is to establish how many Gods exist: one! Isaiah 43:10; 44:6, 8; 45:5, 14, 18, 21,22; 46:9; 47:8; John 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:5-6; Gal. 4:8-9
- “I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God,” (Isaiah 45:5).
- “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me,” (Isaiah 44:6).
- “I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God,” (Isaiah 55:5).
| FATHER | SON | HOLY SPIRIT | |
| Called God | Phil. 1:2 | John 1:1,14; Col. 2:9 | Acts 5:3-4 |
| Creator | Isaiah 64:8 | John 1:3; Col. 1:15-17 | Job 33:4, 26:13 |
| Resurrects | 1 Thess. 1:10 | John 2:19, 10:17 | Rom. 8:11 |
| Indwells | 2 Cor. 6:16 | Col. 1:27 | John 14:17 |
| Everywhere | 1 Kings 8:27 | Matt. 28:20 | Psalm 139:7-10 |
| All knowing | 1 John 3:20 | John 16:30; 21:17 | 1 Cor. 2:10-11 |
| Sanctifies | 1 Thess. 5:23 | Heb. 2:11 | 1 Pet. 1:2 |
| Life giver | Gen. 2:7: John 5:21 | John 1:3; 5:21 | 2 Cor. 3:6,8 |
| Fellowship | 1 John 1:3 | 1 Cor. 1:9 | 2 Cor. 13:14; Phil. 2:1 |
| Eternal | Psalm 90:2 | Micah 5:1-2 | Rom. 8:11; Heb. 9:14 |
| A Will | Luke 22:42 | Luke 22:42 | 1 Cor. 12:11 |
| Speaks | Matt. 3:17; Luke 9:25 | Luke 5:20; 7:48 | Acts 8:29; 11:12; 13:2 |
| Love | John 3:16 | Eph. 5:25 | Rom. 15:30 |
| Searches the heart | Jer. 17:10 | Rev. 2:23 | 1 Cor. 2:10 |
| We belong to | John 17:9 | John 17:6 | … |
| We serve | Matt. 4:10 | Col. 3:24 | |
| Believe in | John 14:1 | John 14:1 | |
| Gives joy | John 15:11 | John 14:7 | |
| Judges | John 8:50 | John 5:21, 30 |
Therefore, the doctrine of the Trinity is arrived at by looking at the whole of scripture, not in a single verse. It is the doctrine that there is only one God, not three, and that the one God exists in three persons: Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. An analogy would be time. Time is past, present, and future. But, there are not three times, only one. (https://carm.org/trinity)