“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” 1 John 5:7

Though oft challenged by modern textual critics because it is found in only a few ancient Greek manuscripts, this verse of the Bible was quoted as Scripture by ancient Latin church fathers – including Cyprian in about 250 A.D. – and was included in ancient Latin translations of the Scriptures. Without it, Greek genders don’t match and it is evident that an omission has occurred. Even more significant is that the verse fits together with John’s epistle and echoes what is taught in his gospel and the rest of the Scriptures: Jesus (the eternal Word) and the Father and the Spirit are one, and their witness is one.

Who is the God we Christians trust, worship and serve? Clearly, the LORD (Jehovah God) is one, for the Scriptures teach: “The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deut. 6:4). Yet, the true God is three Persons, as revealed in the Aaronic Blessing of Numbers 6, the words of Isaiah 48:16-17, or Jesus’ command to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 28:19).

Indeed, it is the LORD God who has graciously saved us from our sin and brought us into His everlasting kingdom (Eph. 2:8-9), but we are also: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2).

Some would criticize us because we speak of the Trinity and the Triune God when the word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible; however, the words simply mean that the God of the Bible is the Tri-Une (Three-One) God. He is one, and yet three Persons. There are not three Gods, for God is one. Yet the three Persons clearly revealed in the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, are fully God – eternal, almighty, all-knowing, omnipresent, equal in glory and majesty – with none being inferior to another.

Though our minds may not be able to grasp it, this is the God who has revealed Himself to us in the Bible. To deny the trinity or the unity of the LORD God is to deny the God of the Bible. To worship and serve any other God – even if a name of God is used – is nothing but idolatry. Thus, apart from Jesus Christ, the eternal Word made flesh, no one can come to the Father or know Him (cf. John 1:1-5, 14-18; 8:19; 14:6-7; 1 John 2:23), and apart from the Spirit, no one can believe and confess that Jesus is Lord or truly know the Father (1 Cor. 12:3; John 6:44,63).

Yes, “there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” The one true God – Father, Son and Holy Ghost – testifies to the truth of mankind’s sinfulness and fallenness and also to the salvation He has provided for all in the Son (cf. 1 John 5:11f).

Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank You for providing for my salvation in the shed blood of the Son and for bringing me to faith and keeping me in the faith by the Spirit that I may dwell with You forever in the mansions of Your house. Amen.

[Devotion By Randy Moll. Scripture is from the King James Version of the Bible.]