The Trinity is Christianity's most distinctive and most attacked doctrine. Jehovah's Witnesses say it's a pagan invention. Modalists say the Father, Son, and Spirit are one Person wearing three masks. Tritheists say they're three separate Gods. All three are wrong — and all three errors have real consequences for how you relate to God, how you pray, and whether the gospel makes any sense at all.

Last time we explored the gifts and fruit the Holy Spirit produces in believers. Now we step back to examine the nature of the God in whom this Spirit dwells — the triune Being Scripture describes from Genesis to Revelation.

1. ELOHIM

This is the Hebrew word for "God" that you'll find in Genesis 1:1 and about 2,700 other places throughout the Old Testament. Here's what's fascinating: it's a uni-plural noun, meaning "Gods," and it's actually translated that way 239 times Genesis 3:5Exodus 22:281 Samuel 4:8Daniel 2:11Daniel 4:6-9Daniel 5:11, 14.

Elohim is the plural form of Eloah, which means "deity" or "God." When used with the definite article, it refers to the Supreme God. It's also translated "judges" in Exodus 21:6; 22:8-9 and "angels" in Psalms 8:5.

Sometimes Elohim appears with plural verbs and pronouns in the Hebrew text. For example, Genesis 20:13 literally reads "the Gods they caused me to wander," and Genesis 35:7 says "there the Gods they appeared unto him." You'll also notice plural pronouns used when God speaks of the different members of the Godhead—words like "us" Genesis 1:26Genesis 3:22Genesis 11:7Isaiah 6:8John 17:21, "our" Genesis 1:26John 14:23, "we" John 14:23John 17:11, 22, and "their" Psalms 2:3.

Think about this: first, second, and third personal pronouns are used hundreds of times in Scripture—sometimes of one, two, or three persons in the deity. In John 17 alone, Jesus uses 162 pronouns when speaking to and about His Father! Psalm 119 contains 610 pronouns used by man to and of God.

Here's the thing: when the different members of the Godhead speak to and about each other just like people do, should we accuse them of misrepresenting themselves or of not knowing how to use human language properly? If we can understand what pronouns mean when people use them with each other, we should be able to understand them the same way when the members of the Godhead use them.

When singular pronouns are used of deity, it's because one of the three persons of the Trinity is speaking of Himself, representing the whole Godhead, or speaking to one person about another—as you can clearly see in John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15; 17:1-25.

In the Old Testament, the Father was the prominent speaker Hebrews 1:1-3Acts 3:21. In the Gospels, the Son took center stage John 5:47John 6:33John 8:26, 28, 38John 12:49-50John 17:8. And now, the Holy Spirit is the prominent speaker John 14:26John 15:26John 16:13-15Acts 2:4Acts 13:2Acts 15:28Acts 20:28.

Sometimes singular pronouns refer to the whole Godhead as a unit Exodus 20:3Isaiah 44:6, 8Isaiah 45:5, 21Isaiah 46:9Hosea 13:4. It's similar to how the whole Church, as the body of Christ, is spoken of as a "man" and "he" Ephesians 2:14-15Ephesians 4:13Ephesians 5:25-272 Thessalonians 2:7-8.

So the one Elohim isn't one person or one in number—it's one in unity. Elohim isn't a divided deity but three persons in "one God," or one deity. The word itself doesn't tell us there are exactly three, but it does tell us deity is plural. And here's something striking: God is referred to in the plural twice as many times as the word "Jesus" appears in both Testaments combined!

2. YEHOVAH

This Hebrew word for "Lord" appears in Deuteronomy 6:4 and about 7,600 times throughout the Old Testament. It means "the Self-existent," "Eternal and Immutable One," or "Unity."

Now, this word doesn't tell us how many persons are in the "One [Unified] Lord," but Scripture mentions three persons who are called "Lord," who are "Self-existent" and "Eternal"—so all three can be called "Jehovah."

In Genesis 19:24; Psalms 110:1; Matthew 22:44; Zechariah 2:10-11, we see both the Father and the Son called "Lord." And when you compare Exodus 16:7 with Hebrews 3:7-8, and Isaiah 6:8-9 with Acts 28:25, and Exodus 17:7 with Hebrews 3:7-9, and Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews 10:15-16, you'll see that the Holy Spirit is also called "Lord" or "Jehovah." (See Lesson Four, Point 6, where all three are called "God.")

Yehovah is rendered "Jehovah" four times Exodus 6:3Psalms 83:18Isaiah 12:2Isaiah 26:4. Jehovah also appears in many compound names of deity, which we won't list here.

3. EL

This Hebrew word for "God" appears in about 250 places. It means "the Strong One" or "Elohim the Omnipotent." While Elohim is "God the Creator," El emphasizes His omnipotence put into action. All three persons of the Trinity are omnipotent, as we've seen in earlier lessons.

4. ELOAH

This Hebrew word for "God" appears in 56 places. It refers to "Elohim who is to be worshipped." You'll often find it used when worship of idols is contrasted with worship of the true God—the "living God" compared to dead gods. It means "deity" and "God."