Most have falsely assumed that God is composed of three personages: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And yet, as popular as this particular belief is, in the minds of most, it is a vague concept shrouded in a cloud of mystery. As it says in A Handbook of Christian Truth, “The mind of man cannot fully understand the mystery of the trinity. He who would try to understand the mystery fully will lose his mind. But he who would deny the trinity will lose his soul.”

If you try to understand it, you’ll go crazy. And yet, if you reject it, you will supposedly lose your salvation! Notice this candid remark from The New Catholic Encyclopedia: “It is difficult … to offer a clear, objective, and straightforward account of the revelation, doctrinal evolution, and the theological elaboration of the mystery of the trinity.”

The reason there is no straightforward explanation is because it’s not biblical. The word “trinity” is nowhere mentioned in God’s Word. And the few Bible passages that appear to support some kind of three-in-one concept have either been translated incorrectly or grossly misunderstood.

Jesus Christ and the Father

1 John 5:7-8 is one of the first passages that proponents of the trinity doctrine will turn to: “For there are three that bear record [in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth], the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.” The bracketed words in the verses quoted, however, were added by editors of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible—probably some time during the early fourth century.

The words do not appear in any of the older Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Without the spurious addition, the passage actually reads, “There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree”—not exactly the definition of a three-in-one godhead.

Now why would fourth-century editors feel compelled to insert these uninspired words into the Bible text? It’s because they were unable to prove their false theories using the inspired text of the Bible! The Bible’s description of God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit completely refutes the idea of a trinity.

For example, according to Matthew 1:18-20, Christ was not begotten by a human father, but by the Holy Spirit. This, however, does not mean the Holy Spirit was or is a distinct being. Otherwise, Christ would have prayed to the Spirit, instead of to the Father. Jesus called God His Father—not the Holy Spirit. Yet He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:35 explains: “And the angel answered and said unto [Mary], The Holy [Spirit] shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (emphasis added throughout).

Here we find a simple and straightforward definition of the Holy Spirit. It is the “power of the Highest”—God the Father! Verse 37 continues, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Indeed! That’s because of the tremendous power at His disposal—the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ was begotten of the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. That is the plain truth of your Bible.

Why Is the Holy Spirit Referred to as “He”?

In John 14:15-16, Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.” The Comforter is the Holy Spirit—and Christ said that God would send it in His name—the name of Jesus Christ (verse 26).

The pronouns “he” and “him” used here and in John 16:7, 13 are what some will refer to as another “proof” that the Holy Spirit is a third person in the godhead.

But in the Greek language, just like in many other languages, every noun, including inanimate objects, has a gender—either masculine, feminine or neuter.

The Greek word translated “Comforter” in these passages has a masculine gender, which is one reason why translators used the pronoun “he”—assuming they did this for grammatical reasons rather than theological ones. Whatever the reason, the best English translation would have been “it.”

But notice one other verse in this same biblical passage. It’s in John 15:26: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.” Here again, this time in John’s Gospel, it says the Holy Spirit comes from the Father—it proceeds from God.

Baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

One other passage commonly cited to “prove” the trinity is Matthew 28:19, which says, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy [Spirit].” But to say that this verse means there are three God beings in one is not being honest with God’s Word. Without question, the Father and Son are identified as two separate beings throughout the Scriptures. The same cannot be said about the Holy Spirit.

Far from proving that God is a trinity, when this verse in Matthew 28 is examined within the context of Christ’s true gospel message, it actually proves that God is a growing Family! The word “name” implies the totality of everything God embodies—including His character and composition.

Acts 2:38 says that after baptism, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. God is the one who gives this gift (read Luke 11:13). So why must one be baptized into these three names—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit? What exactly did Christ mean by that in Matthew 28?

Well, as we saw with the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit—as the power that emanates from God—is the begetting agent that brings us into the God Family. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Ephesians 1:14 calls the Holy Spirit “the earnest of our inheritance.” It is a small token or pledge of what comes later—spiritual birth into God’s Family!

As Herbert W. Armstrong explains in Mystery of the Ages, “[I]f the Holy Spirit of God dwells in someone, and he is being led by God’s Spirit, then (Romans 8:14) he is a begotten son of God. But, at the time of Christ’s return to Earth in supreme power and glory to set up the Kingdom of God, restoring the government of God abolished by Lucifer, then all being filled and led by God’s Spirit shall become born sons of God. The God Family will then rule all nations with the government of God restored!

“The trinity doctrine limits God to a supposed three Persons. It destroys the very gospel of Jesus Christ! His gospel is the good news of the now soon-coming Kingdom of God—the only hope of this world and its mixed-up mankind!”

By twisting and perverting God’s truth, Satan actually uses the trinity doctrine to slam the door shut on the truth about the ever expanding God Family. In actual fact, it is by the power of the Highest that God opens up His Family plan to all of mankind!

That awesome purpose and plan for man is revealed and thoroughly explained, from beginning to end, in the book almost no one knows—the Holy Bible!