Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
— Deuteronomy 6:4 —
Do you understand how the God, who is one, can appear as a man standing before the tent of Abraham while He is still enthroned in heaven, and still be present in every place in creation all at the same time? It is because He is the Father, and He is the Son, and He is the Holy Spirit. If we don't understand that, He is a stone of stumbling to us.
I Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit.
The Spirit is God's essence. Spirit is what God is, and the Spirit He is is the Holy Spirit. That is the missing key to understanding "the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost." The reason the Father and the Son are One is because they are the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is also how we are one in them when we believe. This scripture makes it plain.
Romans 8:9-11 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Romans 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
I Corinthians 10:17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
I Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
In the exact same way, Jesus said,...
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
John 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are [in the same way].
John 17:20-23 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe in me through their word; 21That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, as we are one: [in the same way] 23I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
John 17:24-26 Father, I will that they also, whom thou has given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 25O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
John 14:16-18 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Jesus comes to us in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit doesn' leave them. It emanates from them. That is how God is omnipresent. His Spirit permeates every place in heaven and earth.
John 20:21-22 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you;
Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
In the last two chapters of Revelation, where it talks about the new heaven and the new earth, we find no mention of the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit is there in the Father and the Son. What we do see is a river of life flowing out of the throne.
Revelation 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
John 7:37-39 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
John 4:10-14 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hat thou that living water? 12Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Jesus said, “I and My Father are One.” He didn’t say I and My Father are two, and He didn’t say I and My Father and the Holy Spirit are three.
Trinity isn’t a good explanation of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Look at these references to the Holy Spirit from the KJV.
The way the Spirit is described in the scripture as being "of God" and "of His Son" and being "His Spirit," it doesn't sound like a third person. I don't think the Spirit is a third person. I think it is what God is. Just as you and I are human beings, the Father and Son are Holy Spirit. The idea “trinity” wasn't conceived until about a hundred and fifty years after the crucifixion. It wasn't until the Synod of Alexandria in 362 A. D. that this hypothesis became doctrine.
Catholic Encyclopedia
Trinity: The Dogma of the Trinity:
"The Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion - the truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these three persons being truly distinct one from another."
"The Persons are co-eternal and co- equal: all alike are uncreated and omnipotent."
"In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Divine Persons are denoted together. The word tpias (of which the Latin trinitas is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A.D. 180. He speaks of “the trinity of God [the Father], His word and His wisdom” (“AD. AUTO1”., II, 15, P.G., VI, 1078). The term may, of course have been in use before his time. Shortly afterwards it appears in its Latin form of trinitas in Tertullian (“De pud”, c. xxi, P.G., II 1026). In the next century the word is in general use. It is found in many passages of origin.
"The writers of this school contend that The doctrine of the Trinity, as professed by the Church, is not contained in the New Testament, but it was first formulated in the second century and received final approbation in the fourth century, as the result of the Arian and Macedonian controversies."
The New Catholic Encyclopedia - 1967, VOL. XIV, PAGE 299:
The formulation “one God in three Persons" was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the fourth century. But it is precisely this formulation that first claimed to title “The Trinitarian Dogma.” Among the apostolic fathers, there had been nothing even remotely approaching such a mentality or perspective.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Spirit is what God is, and the Spirit He is is the Holy Spirit.
Philippians 1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
Luke 11:9-10 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Yes, the Son is equal with, but subordinate to, the Father.
Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the LORD [YHVH] the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD [YHVH] of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Revelation 1:11 I AM Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:..
Revelation 1:17-18 ...Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;...
Revelation 22:12-13 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last
Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Isaiah 43:10-11 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
John 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
Philippians 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Philippians 2:7-11 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I Corinthians 15:27-28 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
Jesus is the Word of God, which is God. When we read the Words of God, we are reading Jesus.
John 8:31-32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.