My parents weren’t churchgoers, so I didn’t attend regularly. As a kid, I knew of God and that we pray to Him in the name of Jesus. However, I wasn’t fully saved until the age of 21. As an adult, I was taught to worship Jesus, the Son. Jesus was so elevated in teachings that I wondered—what about God? It seemed as though we were being taught to worship Jesus exclusively, apart from God. I didn’t understand that Jesus is God, as I struggled to grasp the concept of the Trinity.

When I read the Bible, I could see distinctions in the roles of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But when pressed about the term Trinity not being in Scripture, I lacked a rebuttal. For something considered a foundational belief of the Christian faith, it wasn’t well taught in the churches I attended.

Since then, I’ve read articles, watched teachings, and nearly completed the Bible twice more. As I’ve read, the Holy Spirit has illuminated passages where God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit stand out clearly. Over the past year especially, I’ve been writing down scriptures in the back of my Bible that affirm Jesus’ deity and the triune nature of God. Now, I want to share those scriptures with you. In this 15-minute article, I’ll share the scriptures that jumped off the pages of the Bible, helping me better understand this truth.

In the Beginning

Genesis

From the beginning we see the triune nature of the Godhead. “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” Genesis 1:2.

Then in Genesis 1:26, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” There is a plurality in language present, which connects to John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus the Word, was God!

In Genesis 1 there is the presence of God, Spirit, and Son. We have God who created, the Spirit of God who hovered above the waters, and then the Word (Jesus) speaking everything into existence. So now we see the Spirit is God and the Word is God. Jesus’ deity and the triune nature of God are on display from the beginning.

Exodus

God established Himself as the “I AM”:

“Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:13-14.

Jesus uses this same title for Himself in John 8:56-58, ^“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”  The crowd knew well what Jesus was claiming and considered it blasphemy. Therefore, they picked up stones to throw at Him.

In Exodus 20, the Law is laid out in Ten commandments which is then expressed in various ordinances in subsequent chapters. The first two commandments deal directly with the LORD’s identity. He is the LORD God, and as such, He commands:

3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.”

5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God… ” Exodus 20:3-5

Per the words of His own commandments, He is the LORD GOD and will not share His glory with another. As reiterated in Isaiah 42:8, “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.” Yet, in John 17:5, Jesus asks “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was!

So now we’ve established that Jesus (the Word) is God, and we know that God cannot lie. He was there from the beginning, the great ‘I AM.’” He shares Glory with the Father which would be impossible by God’s own words, if Jesus is someone other than God Himself.

In Theophanies

Throughout the Old Testament we see evidence of God appearing to mankind in theophanies and Christophanies. He appeared to Moses in a Burning Bush. He guided the Israelites shrouded in a pillar of clouds by day and a pillar of fire by night. Further, he appears as an Angel of the LORD to Sampson’s parents (before they conceived him) in Judges 13.

What’s more amazing is that when Manoah (Sampson’s Father) asked His Name, He referred to Himself as “Wonderful” (one of Jesus’ names in Isaiah 9:6) and received offerings. An angel cannot receive offerings, only God can. Sampson’s Father feared they may die, knowing they had seen the LORD in the appearance of an Angel.

These theophanies are an integral foreshadowing of how it’s even possible for an incarnate God to appear in the fullness of bodily form through Jesus.

In the Psalms

We even see Jesus in the Psalms. The first line of Psalm 27 reveals Him: “The LORD is my light (Jesus is the light of the world—John 8:12) and my salvation.” The name Yeshua (Jesus) means salvation.

The first line of Psalm 54 declares, “Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your power.” My mind immediately jumps to Acts 4:12: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” That name is Jesus!

Psalm 54:4 continues, “Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my soul.” Instantly, I think of the Holy Spirit, our Helper. In these passages, I see the LORD’s triune nature—each role of God at work in David’s prayer.

In the Prophetic Books

Isaiah

This major prophet is best known for prophesying about the immediate future, Jesus’ first coming, and the end times when Jesus returns and reigns. Isaiah prophesies about the Messiah:

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

Jesus is referred to as Wonderful (the same title used for the theophany of the Angel of the LORD), Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace. He could not hold these titles without the divinity of God.

Isaiah further prophecies of the LORD:

“A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.’” Isaiah 40:3

This prophecy is fulfilled in Matthew 3 and Mark 1, when John the Baptist prepares the way for the LORD, Jesus. Of Him, John says:

“For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.’” (Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3).

Here, John explicitly identifies Jesus as the LORD. This is the same LORD, Our God in Isaiah’s prophecy.

Isaiah continues to reveal God’s identity in unmistakable terms:

• Isaiah 41:4 – “I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.”
• Isaiah 43:10-11 – “Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me.” Just as in Exodus, God declares that He alone is God and Savior.
• Isaiah 44:6 – “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.” This same truth is repeated in Isaiah 48:12-13.

When you cross-reference these passages with Acts 4:12, which declares:
“There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved“, it becomes abundantly clear—Jesus must be God Himself for salvation through Him to be possible.

Zechariah

The Lord God Himself said there was a price at which He was valued by those who would betray Him. That price was thirty shekels of silver.

“I said to them, ‘If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!’ So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.’ So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord.”
— Zechariah 11:12–13

This prophecy is fulfilled in Matthew 27:3–10, when Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. The blood money was ultimately used to purchase the potter’s field.

Revelation

In light of these passages from Isaiah, I want to take you to Revelation. In Revelation 1, John the Revelator has a vision of the coming Day of the LORD. In this vision, he sees “one like the Son of Man (Jesus)” (v.12-13). When John saw him, he fell like a dead man, stating “He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades” (v. 17-18).

Here Jesus is calling Himself the first and last, same as God in the passages of Isaiah 41-48. This is reiterated in Revelation 2:8 and again in Revelation 22:13, Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

In the Gospels

Throughout the Old Testament and in prophecy, it’s evident that God is triune in nature, yet He is One. He appears to mankind in theophanies. He’s the only One who can save. Moving into the New Testament, Jesus is born, as prophesied of. Now we begin to see the omnipresence of God. He did not cease to be God while appearing in the form of man in Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Matthew

Now here’s the beautiful presence of all three members of the triune Godhead simultaneously present, showing they are united in one accord yet omnipresent.

“After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17.

John

Jesus’ claim to deity and His role in the triune Godhead become even clearer in the book of John. In this gospel, Jesus is described with the same attributes as God, demonstrating His equality with the Father as God incarnate. He also corrected both His disciples and the Jewish Pharisees to clarify any misunderstandings about His identity.

Right away we see that God is also spirit. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” John 4:24. Further, we see God’s word is truth and it is how we are sanctified. “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” John 17:7. Jesus is also described with these attributes. He became our wisdom from God, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption in 1 Corinthians 1:30.

By the time we make it into John, Jesus was living as someone we should want to imitate. He was following the law but not the manmade contortion of it, full of fences. ^“For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” John 5:18.

He pushed them further, stating “…He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” John 5:23. In John 10, Jesus asserts His deity at the Feast of Dedication / Festival of Lights (Hannukah) stating, “I and the Father are one” John 10:30. Again, they picked up stones to stone Him for this assertation was considered blasphemy. “Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” John 10:32-33.  

Jesus’ disciple Philip also didn’t understand Jesus’ claim. He asked Jesus to see the Father. Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:9

The Jews understood Jesus’ claim but found it blasphemous, rather than a fulfillment of scripture of the promised Messiah. But His disciple Thomas understood, referring to Jesus as, “My Lord and my God!” in John 20:28.

In the Early Church

The apostles and early church continue to recognize Jesus as part of the triune Godhead, They are warned, ^“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Acts 20:28. Here we see all three persons of the Trinity referenced as one in essence. The Holy Spirit guides God’s people—the Father’s church—which He purchased with His own blood, as Jesus the Son.

The only way we can understand and acknowledge the mystery of this truth is by provision of the Holy Spirt. ^“Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit” 1 Corinthians 12:3.

Further evidence that the early church understood Jesus to be LORD, as part of a triune nature, is found in Ephesians 5:23. In the example of marriage “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.”

Philippians 2:6-8 continues to show compelling evidence of Jesus’ role in the triune Godhead. He literally emptied Himself to become like one of us, to save us! “Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

In Colossians 2:9-10, there’s a clear understanding of Jesus’ Deity and authority, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority…” Likewise, Titus 2:13-14 acknowledges that Jesus, Our Great God gave Himself, to save His people. ^“Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

To take it a step further, God acknowledges Jesus, the Son as God. ^“But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.” Hebrews 1:8.

Further, even the demons believe that God is One. As stated in James 1:19, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” He is One Essence, a triune nature comprised of three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each has a unique role. This is not to be confused as three separate Gods. God is One.

Again, we have evidence of the early church acknowledging Jesus as God and Savior. In 2 Peter 2:1, “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ”.

Concluding Thoughts

As someone who once struggled to understand the triune nature of God, the power of the Holy Spirit illuminated these scriptures, showing me that Jesus is God. I hope that my former struggle will help someone with the same questions better see what I now see. I once confused the distinct roles of each person in the Trinity, and the personhood of each, to mean that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were not one.

We’ve seen the triune Godhead—Father, Spirit, and Son—laid out in Scripture from the beginning. He is the First and the Alpha. We see Him in His theophany appearances, as God incarnate through Jesus Christ, after His death, resurrection, and ascension, and in the giving of the Holy Spirit. In Revelation, we see Jesus Christ as the Last and the Omega, the same titles attributed to God. The only way we can understand and acknowledge this mystery is by the provision of the Holy Spirit