My Journey to Life - Daily Study Guide

Q5. Are there Scriptural examples of plurality within the Godhead?

Picture: Q5. Are there Scriptural examples of plurality within the Godhead? JTLD 111.1

Yes! Let’s first examine plural pronouns for God: JTLD 111.2

• “Let Us make man in Our image.” (Genesis 1:26)
• “Behold the man has become like one of Us.” (Genesis 3:22)
• “Come, let Us go down.” (Genesis 11:7)

Additionally, the word for “God” in Genesis 1:1 is “Elohim”—a plural word for God most frequently used throughout the Old Testament, and always with a singular verb. Using “Elohim” to name God helps us understand that the main character of the Bible is one God whose inner being is a plurality. JTLD 111.3

Other texts that include all three members of the Godhead include: “And now the Lord God [the Father] and His Spirit [the Holy Spirit] have sent Me [the Son of God]” (Isaiah 48:16); “I [the Father] have put My Spirit upon Him [the Messiah]; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:1); “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God [the Father], and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen” (2 Corinthians 13:14). JTLD 111.4

Various references distinguish the Spirit of God from God the Father or God the Son. In the Creation story, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). Christ clearly announced the coming of the person of the Holy Spirit only a few hours before His crucifixion: “I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth,” (John 14:16, 17; cf. 16:4-7, 13). JTLD 111.5

• Bible Discovery: Matthew 3:17; Luke 1:35; 3:21, 22; Romans 1:4; 15:30; 1 Corinthians 1:21, 22; 1 John 5:7
• Further Reading: Ellen G. White, Evangelism, p. 615.1