Are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit All the Same Spirit?

Some claim that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not distinct Persons at all, but are the same divine Person or Spirit revealed or manifested in different ways. Others claim that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are truly distinct divine Persons, yet share one undivided divine essence and are therefore regarded together as “the one God.” However, in the Bible the phrase “the one God” only refers to the Father, and He is not the same Spirit/Being as the Son or the Holy Spirit (Jn. 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:3-6; 1 Thess. 1:9-10). The Son and the Spirit are distinct divine Persons under His authority (Jn. 14:28; 16:13-15; 1 Cor. 11:3; 15:27-28).

People have different ideas about what it means for the Father, the Son, and the Spirit to be “one,” but there is no need to speculate, because Jesus explained it. He said that He and the Father are “one” in the same way Christians are to be one—not the same person, and not the same spirit, but united in nature, purpose, and will (Jn. 17:11, 22; cf. 10:30).

This is not traditional Trinitarianism (which blends the Father, Son, and Spirit into “one God” in a way the Bible does not), and it is not Tritheism (three separate, unrelated gods). It is simply Biblical monotheism, pointing to the Father as the one with supreme authority over all (Eph. 4:6) without removing the divine, eternal nature of the Son and the Holy Spirit (Jn. 1:1; 8:58; Acts 5:3-4; Heb. 9:14).

The following questions demonstrate that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit cannot be the same Spirit or the same Being:

1. Is it not a logical absurdity for Jesus to be sitting at His own right hand? (Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 12:2)

2. Though Jesus can be called “God” because He is divine and eternal, how could Jesus be “with God” if He is the same Being as God the Father, especially given how “God” is used in Hebrews 1:8-9? (Jn. 1:1-2; Eph. 3:9; Heb. 1:2)

3. When John uses the phrase “both the Father and the Son,” what does “both” mean? (2 Jn. 9)

4. If the Father and the Son are the same Being or Spirit, how could Jesus refer to Himself and His Father in John 8:15–17 as “two witnesses,” saying He was “not alone,” while appealing to the Law’s requirement of two distinct witnesses?

5. If Jesus and the Father are the same Being, why did Jesus say the Father taught Him? (Jn. 8:28). If they are the same Spirit, why did Jesus not know what the Father knew? (Mk. 13:32)

6. At Jesus’ baptism, was He saying that He was pleased with Himself, or was a different Being speaking from Heaven? (Mt. 3:17; 17:5)

7. After Jesus “came down from Heaven,” why did He tell His followers to pray to their Father who was “in Heaven”? (Mt. 6:9; Lk. 11:1-2; Jn. 6:38)

8. Was Jesus constantly praying to Himself in Heaven while He was on earth (Lk. 6:12; Jn. 17), and is He still pleading with Himself in Heaven? (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25)

9. Why would Jesus say to ask Him nothing, but to ask the Father, if they are both the same? (Jn. 16:23)

10. Can the Father be called “Christ” (Anointed One), when the Father is the One who anointed Jesus, and nobody anointed the Father? (Acts 4:27; 10:38)

11. Was God the Father “made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death”? (Heb. 2:9; Lk. 24:39; Jn. 4:24)

12. How can the Father and Son be the same Spirit if God cannot be tempted, but Jesus was tempted in every way we are? (Jas. 1:13; Heb. 4:15)

13. Does not Jesus’ prayer “not my will, but thine, be done” prove that He had a will separate from the Father, and that He submitted His will to the Father’s will? (Lk. 22:42)

14. Did Jesus say that His followers should be one in the same way He and His Father are one—not being one Person or Spirit, but united in will, mindset, and purpose? (Jn. 17:11, 22)

15. Are God the Father and Jesus one in the same way Christians are one? (Jn. 17:11, 22)

16. If Jesus is the same Being as the Father, did Jesus send Himself to earth? (Jn. 3:17)

17. Is Jesus the Holy Spirit—the same Spirit whom He Himself sent? (Jn. 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7)

18. Is the Holy Spirit the Father of Christ, when Christ so often distinguishes Them? (Jn. 14-16)

19. If Jesus and the Father are the same Spirit, why does Paul distinguish “one God” from “one Lord” and “one Spirit”? (Eph. 4:4-6)

20. How can the Father be called “greater than” Jesus, the “God of Jesus” or “the Head of Christ,” exercising authority over Him, if they are both the same Being? (Jn. 14:28; 20:17; 1 Cor. 11:3; 15:24-28; Eph. 1:3, 17; Heb. 1:9; 1 Pet. 1:3)

21. Does Philippians 2:6–8 teach equality of authority with the Father, or equality of “form/likeness/fashion” prior to Christ’s incarnation, when Scripture elsewhere shows the Son carrying out the Father’s plan before the incarnation? (Eph. 3:9; Heb. 1:2)

22. In 1 Corinthians 8:6, why does Paul explicitly identify the “one God” as the Father, while identifying Jesus Christ separately as “one Lord,” instead of identifying both as the one God?

23. In John 17:3 (before the cross) and 1 Thessalonians 1:9–10 (after the ascension), why is the Father identified as the “true God” while Jesus is distinguished as being sent (to redeem, resurrect, and judge)? Does not being sent in both passages imply a distinction in authority between the Sender and the One sent? (Jn. 13:16; 14:28)

24. In Deuteronomy 6:4, given the surrounding context where God is distinguishing Himself from false gods (Deut. 5; 6:14–15), does “the LORD our God is one” affirm that He is the one true God in contrast to idols, or that “the LORD our God is comprised of three Persons”? How does this harmonize with the New Testament’s consistent identification of the “one God” as the Father? (Deut. 6:4; Jn. 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:5-6; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Thess. 1:9-10)

25. Isaiah 9:6 can be translated “Father of Eternity,” but why should this title of the Messiah (Anointed One) be equated with God the Father who was not anointed but did the anointing? Since the Scriptures use the term “father” in contexts of honor or origin (2 Kin. 2:12; 1 Cor. 4:15), why should “Father of Eternity” not be understood as describing the Messiah’s relation to eternity, rather than removing the clear distinctions between the Anointer and the Anointed?

26. Since a father and son can share the same name, and since God the Father and Jesus are both eternal, can “Yahweh” refer to both Father and Son without them being the same Spirit?

27. Is God the Father the “one God” who is “above all,” and can therefore rightfully be called “the only true God” in that sense? (Eph. 4:6; Jn. 17:3; 1 Thess. 1:9-10)

28. Can the word “God/god” be used in many ways in the Scriptures, and must context determine the meaning? (Ps. 82:6; Jn. 1:1; 10:34; 17:3; Heb. 1:8-9; 1 Cor. 8:5-6; 2 Cor. 4:4)

29. Can the word “God/god” refer to practically any being with power (including men, idols, and Satan), and not necessarily one with supreme authority over all others?

30. Does the Bible not consistently show God the Father as the source of supreme authority, who gives authority to others, including Christ, as seen when the Son of man came to the Ancient of days to receive dominion? (Dan. 7:13–14; Mt. 28:18; Jn. 5:26–27, 30; Acts 2:36; 17:31)

31. If God has always possessed supreme authority, how can Scripture say that authority was given to Christ unless the giver and the recipient are distinct?

32. Does the singular word “name” in Matthew 28:19 require the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to be the same Being, or can one “name” (authority) originate with the Father and be exercised through the Son and the Holy Spirit under His commission, especially since the previous verse says that authority was given to Jesus? (Mt. 28:18–19; cf. 1 Cor. 15:27-28)

33. In Rev. 5:7, the Lamb “came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.” Did Jesus take the book from Himself, or was a different Spirit sitting on the throne?

34. When Stephen saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God, was he looking at God the Father, or a different Spirit? (Acts 7:55)

35. How can Father and Son be the same Spirit when Stephen saw Jesus, but no man has seen God at any time? (Jn. 1:18; 1 Jn. 4:12)

36. According to the Bible, will those going to Heaven see one divine Spirit who has throughout history manifested Himself in three different ways, or will they see three distinct divine Persons? If only one divine Spirit exists, why is that not what Stephen saw? (Acts 7:55)

37. If they are both the same divine Spirit, why is Jesus still called a man after He has gone to Heaven, but the Father is not? (Acts 17:31; 1 Tim. 2:5)

38. If Jesus’ spirit is permanently joined to a glorified human body, and the Father does not possess a glorified human body at all, how can they both be the same Spirit?

39. Since the faithful will be like Jesus (called a man with a glorified body), and we will not be like the Father (pure Spirit without a glorified human body), how can the Father and Son both be the same Spirit? (Jn. 4:24; Lk. 24:39; 1 Jn. 3:1-2)

40. Does the Bible teach that the one God over all is “three in one,” or does it repeatedly identify God the Father as the one God above all?

41. Where does the Bible teach that one divine Person manifested Himself in three ways or modes?

42. Is not the idea that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all one Spirit akin to certain types of modalism, such as Oneness Pentecostalism?

43. If Jesus is the one Mediator “between” God and men, does that not distinguish His identity and role from God the Father? (1 Tim. 2:5)

44. Why does 1 Timothy 2:5 distinguish between “one God” (the Father) and “one mediator” (Jesus Christ), rather than identifying both as the one God? (see also Jn. 17:3; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Cor. 8:6; Heb. 1:8-9, etc.).

45. Since Jesus became the Mediator by giving Himself on the cross (1 Tim. 2:5-6), does that not distinguish Him as a separate Being from God the Father, who cannot die?

46. If the Father and the Son are the same Being or Spirit, why did Jesus say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mt. 27:46)

47. When Jesus died, His soul went to the part of Hades called Paradise (“Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades,” Acts 2:27; Lk. 23:43), but after He was resurrected, He said He had not yet ascended to His Father (Jn. 20:17); so, is it not true that Christ’s soul was in Hades and the Father (as a different divine Spirit) was in Heaven?

48. Why did Jesus say, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit,” if they are both the same Spirit? (Lk. 23:46; Eph. 4:4-6)

49. Must the following truth be upheld to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? There is “one God and Father of all, who is above all” (Eph. 4:3-6). 

50. Could blurring the Biblical distinctions between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit cause people to reach unscriptural conclusions or to worship in unauthorized ways?