THE QUESTION: One God or three separate Gods?
WE BELIEVE: There is only one Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

A STORY: It was in the 1800s that an American Indian, who had recently claimed Jesus as his Savior, was being laughed at for his faith. His friends found it amusing because the Indian believed that there was one God, but three different persons. His friends said such a thing was impossible. To defend the doctrine of the Trinity, the Indian called upon something he had seen in nature. He said: "We go down to the river in the winter and we see it covered with snow; we chop through the snow and ice, and we come to the water. Snow is water, ice is water, water is water. They are different, but they are the same and part of the same river." He concluded, "It is possible to have three in one."

ANSWER THIS: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How do you understand the worship of a three-in-one God?



GOD SPEAKS: Over the years, critics of Christianity have believed that we worship three separate gods. It would be easy to believe that when you look at the last three sections of this lesson. After all, we have talked about God the Father, Who created us; God the Son, Who gave His life to buy us back; and God the Holy Spirit, Who calls us to the road of heaven. This adds up to three.

The story above says that a Trinity (Trinity means three-in-one) is possible. Nature gives other examples: caterpillars which become cocoons and then butterflies. They are different but the same. A man can be a husband, a son and a father; a woman can be a wife, daughter and mother. They are the same, but they are also distinctly different. They have different roles but remain the same person. That is also true of God. Here is what we believe:
Christians worship one God - the God of the Bible. (1 Corinthians 8:4)
Christians believe in one God Who is three distinct Persons - (Matthew 28:19)
When Jesus began His ministry on earth for the purpose of taking our place, He was quite visible to those around Him. These people heard His Father speak from heaven and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove.
Christians reject the worship of many gods as being against God's word and command. (1 Corinthians 8:4)
Christians realize that a complete understanding of the Trinity is impossible with our limited human minds. Nevertheless, the Lord has revealed Himself this way in the Bible and we accept His revelation without question, just as we accept many other mysteries as being true when we do not completely understand.

IN THIS LESSON WE HAVE:. . . . . . .used God's Holy Word to introduce you to the Triune God: the Father, Who creates and preserves us; the Son, Who gave His life to buy us back; the Holy Spirit Who leads us to faith. On the next two pages, you will see that the things we have said are words of God, not our personal opinions. Remember, these words are God's words; keep them, think about them and remember, they are God's way of calling you to salvation!