The immensity of this subject creates an exciting challenge for every student of the Bible. It is difficult to find Godhead related subject matter free from discourteous remarks concerning the opposing view. This subject should be dealt with in a straightforward manner but without ill will or unkindness.
Trinitarianism and monotheism seem to be the appropriate terms descriptive of the two opposite beliefs.
The belief that there are three separate and distinct persons in the Godhead, namely the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is the most widely accepted definition of the word trinity. Separate and distinct means "not the same." Therefore, when we speak of the "Trinity", we are speaking of three divine persons. Not one, not two, but three absolute, distinct beings, each having His own personality, thoughts, and cognition.
If the above definition is acceptable the term Trinity would constitute a three-part God or a three-God partnership. If these divine persons are coequal, coeternal, coexistent as is commonly believed, then we have some unanswerable questions. Coeternal means each is as old as the other which would make the Son is as old as the Father. If Jesus existed in eternity as the son apart from the Father, then who was His mother? Common reasoning requires that to have a Father, one must also have a mother. How did God come about having a Son in eternity? If God created Him, then there was a space of time when God was not the Father, which would also necessitate a differentiation of ages.
Who was God talking to in Genesis 1:26 when He said, "Let us make man"?
Isaiah 40:13-14, "Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor hat taught him? (v.14) With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgments, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?" The above scripture was intended to point out the absurdity of such a thought. Isaiah 44:24, "Thus saith the Lord, they redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself." The suggestion that God had any help or consultation in the creation is an insult.
God declares Himself to be a jealous God. We see this nature revealed in Isaiah 43:10, "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."
Paul clearly gives the answer in Ephesians 1:11, "In whom also we have obtained a inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." When God said let us make man, he was counseling with His own will.
What is meant by the term "oneness"?
The term "oneness" means sameness or singleness. In other words, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost are one and the same. The godhead is not comprised of three separate and distinct persons but One Almighty God who manifested Himself as the Father in creation, as the Son in redemption, and as the Holy Ghost in the church.
God is an invisible Spirit, so he chose to wrap himself in human flesh and manifest Himself as the Son in order to have a body which could die as the sacrifice for sin. Colossians 1:13-17, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (v. 14) in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (v. 15) who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: (v. 16) For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him: (v. 17) And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Colossians 2:9, "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." 2 Corinthians 5:19, "To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself…" Jesus was the fleshly embodiment of God. John 14:8-9, "Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficieth us. (v. 9) Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not know me, Philip? He that hat seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" In these verses Jesus was affirming Himself to be the Father; thus, confirming the prophecy concerning him in Isaiah (9:6, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The might God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Please note that Jesus was called the everlasting Father, and not the everlasting Son. The office of Son was for a designated purpose and a designated time. Matthew 1:21, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." The position of son was for the purpose of offering a perfect sacrifice, for Him to save His people. We see this office abolished in
Adam Clark, the noted Bible commentator, had the following comments on verse 28, (the Son also himself be subject), "When the administration of the kingdom of Grace is finally closed: when there shall be no longer any state of probation, and consequently, no longer need of a distinction between the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory: then the Son, as being man and messiah, shall cease to exercise any distinct dominion: and God be all in all: there remaining no longer any distinction of persons of the glorious Trinity, as acting any distinct or separate parts in either kingdom of grace or the kingdom of glory: and so the one infinite essence shall appear undivided and eternal. And yet, as there appears to be a personality essentially in the infinite Godhead, that personality must exist eternally; but how this shall be we can neither tell nor know till that time which we shall see Him as He is.
The hypothesis that the person Jesus was giving up a government kingdom to the person Father is unequivocally refuted in Isaiah 9:7, "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end…" the explicit purpose of the Son was to be the Savior; and when the last enemy is destroyed, there shall be no one else to save, so the Son will have fulfilled His messianic mission. Therefore, the position of Son and Messiah shall cease and "God shall be all in all."
If Jesus and the Father are one, then how did Stephen see Jesus on the right hand of God?
Acts 7:55, "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." We have already established by St. John 1:18 that "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hat declared him." If one insists that Stephen literally saw God and saw Jesus standing beside God, then we have a clear contradiction of scripture.
If one contends that "on the right hand" means a physical position, then we must also accept that "in the bosom of the Father" is a physical position which, of course, would be a curious configuration for a two-part God concept. The answer to this seemingly complicated question is found in Matthew 26:64, "Jesus saith unto him, thou has said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." When Stephen saw the glory of God and Jesus on the right hand of God, he saw the glorious relationship of the mediator man, Christ Jesus, on the right hand of power.
For further scriptural corroboration that right hand does not necessarily constitute a physical position, read Luke 11:20, "But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you." The "finger of God" is used here figuratively as the power of God just as the "right hand" is similarly used. The preceding rational is required else we have the peculiar situation of one God literally being in the bosom of another god and one God casting out devils with the finger of another God.
Stephen leaves no doubt as to his understanding concerning the Deity of Christ. Acts 7:59, "And they stone Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Stephen called upon God, and by what name did he call Him? "Lord Jesus." Does this not harmonize with Paul's experience? Acts 9:5, "And he said, Who are thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus"
Are the oneness belief and the events at the baptism of Jesus by John reconcilable?
Matthew 3:16-17
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Here we have the Son in the water, the Father's voice from heaven, and the Holy Ghost in the bodily shape of a dove. It would appear we have three separate and distinct manifestations. But would you dare call them separate and distinct persons? Was the dove a person? Was the heavenly voice a person? The only divine person present was Jesus Christ. If God is not omnipresent (present in all places at all times, Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary), he is not God. If He is omnipresent, then He is everywhere at the some time and could have spoken from a thousand different places.
Jesus asserts His omnipresence in John 3:13, "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven even the Son of man which is in heaven." He left no doubt that He could be on earth and in heaven at the same time. Unless Christ claimed omnipresence falsely, there should be no problem accepting Him bodily being baptized and at the same time speaking from heaven. The invisible God, made visible by the image of the person Jesus, was being baptized, while the invisible but audible voice of this Great Omnipresent God spoke out of heaven saying, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."
The only bodily form ascribed the Holy Ghost in the Bible is a dove. I know of no Bible scholar who believes that the Holy Spirit is a bird. The dove form was used by God to accommodate the human mind and to compliment this sacred occasion. The Holy Ghost has been represented by a bird, by a rushing mighty wind, tongues of fire, and the agent of God used to overshadow the Virgin Mary and father the Christ Child.
So it should be quite clear that the baptism of Jesus presents no problem to the belief in the oneness of the Godhead. On the other hand; the Trinitarian finds himself in the unenviable position of explaining how the third person of the Godhead is a bird.
Who was the Father of Jesus?
The oneness proponents have been labeled as "Jesus only" and accused of believing that Jesus is His own Father. However, the scriptural account makes it plain. I Timothy 2:5 states "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." The key word is man. The flesh was the Son, the Spirit was the Father. John 10:30, Jesus said, "I and my father are one." John 13:9, "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" Matthew 1:18, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they cam together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost." When Joseph determined to put Mary away, an angel appeared unto him in a dream and said, (v. 20) "fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost."
John 3:16, "for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son," thus showing that God was the Father of Jesus. The infallible word could not possibly present such a glaring discrepancy as to have two persons the father of Jesus. The Holy Ghost is called the Comforter and the spirit of truth in John 14:16-17. That is exactly who He is: the Spirit of God, but not a separate person.
In Carl Brumback's book, God in Three Persons, on page 79, he gives his Trinitarian explanation of the Holy Ghost overshadowing Mary. " The humanity of Jesus Christ did originate at Nazareth. This humanity, in order to be genuine humanity, must have had its beginning through the mingling together of human seed, both male and female. The one who is always called the Father of Jesus, both in eternity and in time, God the Father. By a sovereign act, God the Father crated the male seed, and the Holy Spirit deposited that seed in the womb of Mary. As the doctor or veterinarian who presides in instances of artificial insemination today is an agent but not the actual father of the child who is thus conceived, so the Holy Spirit was the immediate Agent of the Godhead who presided at the conception of the humanity of Jesus; but, as the entire New Testament bears witness, this ministry of the Holy Spirit did not make Him the Father of Jesus Christ.
Brumback boldly states in Chapter 1, page 15, that the intention of his book was to deal the "death blow to this error that has ensnared many honest and sincere hearts." I hardly think that the specious explanation that Jesus was born as the result of artificial insemination performed by the Holy Ghost, the third person in the Godhead, will intelligently refute the doctrine of the oneness.
In fairness to our Trinitarian friends, I think I should quote from Dr. W. A. Criswell, past president of the Southern Baptist Convention. In his book, Expository Sermons on Revelation, he wrote, "In the providence of God, in the fullness of time, the Lord God descended from heaven, wrapped Himself in human flesh in the womb of a virgin girl, offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins in the body God prepared for Him, in whose blood and atonement our iniquities and transgressions are washed away.
He goes on to say, "Who is the exalted person high and lifted up? John the Apostle says Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord Jesus and spake of Him. This is confirmed in the words of Jesus Himself, who said, 'I and my Father are one.' The Father and the Son are one in the mystery of the Trinity. There are not two or three immutable, eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipotent Gods. When we arrive in glory and mingle with the saints on those golden streets, we shall not see three Gods. That would be basic paganism and idolatry. When we get to heaven and walk the streets of that celestial city, we shall see the one Lord God, Jesus, Jehovah Christ. The only God there is the Lord God our Father. The only God we shall ever see is the Lord God Christ our Savior. The only God we shall ever feel is the Lord God the Holy Spirit, who lives in our heats and in whose power we shall be raised from among the dead."
"But we continue. There are no attributes; there are no perfections of the Lord God Jehovah but that they are also the attributes and perfections of the lord Christ Himself. Let us speak of His immutability. The immutability, the unchangingness of the Lord God is also ascribed to our Lord Christ. We read in Hebrews 1:10-12: 'Thou, Lord (Christ), in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens art the works of thine hands: they shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and they years shall not fail."
Is Jesus the Holy Ghost?
Ephesians 4:4-6, "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling: (v. 5) One Lord, one faith, one baptism, (v. 6) One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
Paul explicitly proclaims the oneness of God: one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Considering the fact there is but one Spirit, let us examine the words of Jesus in John 14:15-18, "If ye love me, keep my commandments. (v. 16) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (v. 17) Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him" (Carefully note this next statement.) "But ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." At this point in time, Jesus was with them but he was soon to be in them as the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. (v.18) "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (v.26) "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name…" In John 14:26, Jesus said the Father would send the Comforter. In John 15:26, Jesus said, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: (v. 27) And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning."
How and why could these disciples witness? Because they had been with the physical Jesus, and now they are going to experience the supernatural indwelling of that same Jesus as spirit by the magnificent miracle of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It is beautifully put in Colossians 1:26-27, "Even the mystery which hath been hid from the ages and from generations, but now is made known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
How could Christ be in us? He could not be in us in the physical form, so there had to be a transformation from physical to spiritual. Let us further explore the words of Jesus concerning his bodily departure. John 16:6, "But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. (v.7) Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, The Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." Now we see the mystery made manifest: "Christ in you, the hope of glory."
The expediency of Christ's leaving in order for the Holy Ghost to come should give us a clue as to the identity of the Holy Ghost. Let us remember the faithful words of Jesus in the great commission, "Lo, I am with you always," and now he prepared his followers for his leaving. Has he failed to keep his word? A thousand times no. He is opening their understanding to the glorious truth that the man Christ Jesus was going away to be replaced by the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, who is "Christ in you, the hope of glory."
The terms Spirit of God and Spirit of Christ are used synonymously in Romans 8:9. "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." We find a similarity of interchangeable terms used in reference to God and the Holy Ghost in Acts 5:3-4. "But Peter said, Ananias, why hat Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price for the land? (v.4) while it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Whey hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God. In verse 9 of this same chapter, the wife of Ananias repeated the same lie to Peter and was rebuked thusly: "Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?" Here we have the term Spirit of the Lord. If we keep in mind Ephesians 4:4, "There is one body, and one Spirit," it is imperative for the sake of scriptural consistency that we reconcile these references to the Spirit.
The prophecy concerning the coming era in which the Holy Ghost would be poured out upon all flesh as stated in Joel 2:28 has God using the possessive term, "I will pour out my Spirit." However, John the Baptist in his forerunner message of Jesus said in Matthew 3:11, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he (Jesus) shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire."
The same reference of persons and terms as related to the Godhead is further exemplified by the following scriptures:P>
If Jesus is God, who raised Jesus from the dead?
Romans 8:11, "But 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 this Spirit that dwelleth in you."
It is evident that Jesus was raised from the dead by the "Spirit." The same Holy Ghost which shall one day raise us from the ranks of the dead is the same power which brought Christ forth from the grave. But as we look further in the scriptures, we see where God was said to have raised Jesus from the dead. Colossians 2:12, "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." So far, we have scriptural evidence of Jesus being raised from the dead by the "Spirit" and by "God"; but if we go even further, we see Jesus himself plainly proclaiming he would raise himself from the dead. St. John 2:19-21, "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. (v.20) Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?: (v.21), But he spake of the temple of his body." Also John 10:17-18, "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (v.18) No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again..."
The preceding verses which have Jesus, and the Father, and the Holy Ghost all attributively raising Jesus from the dead harmonize beautifully in the glowing fact that there is but one God, the eternal Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." This Jesus whom the world knew only as Bethlehem's Baby and the Carpenter's Son was actually he who "was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not."
Jesus, God and man fused, but not confused; deity and humanity miraculously mingled. "for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." As man, He hungered; as God, He multiplied loaves and fishes; as man, He slept in a boat on a tempestuous sea; as God He arose and calmed the storm: as man, He prayed; as god, He answered prayer, as man, He died; as God, He raised himself from the dead.
To borrow the words of Dr. Criswell, "The son is not just another man sent here to teach us a new ethic, as some super-Socrates, nor was His death that of a distinguished martyr. In the providence of God, in the fullness of time, the Lord God descended from heaven, wrapped Himself in human flesh in the womb of a virgin girl, offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins in the body God prepared form him, in whose blood and atonement our iniquities and transgressions are washed away.
