y having no
Hell for the wicked--then He would not be just. For as God is an
Infinite Being, all His perfections must be infinite; that is, He must
be as infinitely just as He is infinitely merciful, true, wise, or
powerful.

Now He has promised to punish sin; and since He is infinitely true, He
must keep His promise.

Lesson 3
ON THE UNITY AND TRINITY OF GOD

"Unity" means to be one, and "Trinity," three in one.

21 Q. Is there but one God?
A. Yes; there is but one God.

22 Q. Why can there be but one God?
A. There can be but one God because God, being supreme and infinite,
cannot have an equal.

"Supreme," that is, the highest. "Equal," when two are equal one has
everything the other has. You could say one pen is the equal of another
if it is just as nice and will write just as well; one mechanic is the
equal of another if he can do the work equally well. Two boys are equal
in class if they have exactly the same marks at the end of the month or
year. You could not have two persons chief. For example, you could not
have two chief generals in an army; two presidents in the nation, or two
governors in a state, or two mayors in a city, or two principals in a
school, unless they divide equally their power, and then they will be
equals and neither of them chief. God cannot divide His power with
anyone--so as to give it away entirely--because we say He is infinite,
and that means to have all. Others have only the loan of their power
from God. Therefore, all power and authority come from God; so that when
we disobey our parents or superiors who are placed over us, we disobey
God Himself.

23 Q. How many persons are there in God?
A. In God there are three divine persons really distinct and equal in
all things--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

"Distinct," not mingled together. We call the first and second persons
Father and Son, because the second is begotten by the first person, and
not to indicate that there is any difference in their age. We always see
in the world that a father is older than his son, so we get the idea
perhaps that it is the same in the Holy Trinity. But it is not so. God
the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost existed from all
eternity, and one did not exist before the other. God the Son is just as
old as God the Father, and this is another great mystery. Even in nature
we see that two things may begin to exist at the same time, and yet one
be the cause of the other.