Oneness

There are three monotheistic religions in the world. They are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. All three espouse the belief in the oneness of God – that God is one single Spirit-Being. Christian denominations worldwide maintain that they all believe in the oneness of God but what they teach about this oneness are quite different. There are not less than five different beliefs on the subject of the oneness of God. 

As Christians, we believe that God has revealed Himself to us in the Bible. The Bible has so much in it about the nature and attributes of God. With minor variations, the Christian Bible is one. By variation I mean that apart from the 66 books of the Authorized Version, some churches, especially the Roman Catholic Church, have the Apocrypha (or Deuterocanonical) as part of the Bible. It must be mentioned now that the differences that Christians have on the nature of God are not caused by the inclusion or exclusion of any of these books in the Bible. The differences Christians have on the nature of God are the direct result of their interpretations of the scriptures that we all have in our Bibles. 

The fact that we have the same Bible but have different ideas about the oneness of God is a sure proof that some of us have misunderstood the true meaning of it. In this article we will look at the six most popular views of God’s oneness and see how they agree with or differ from biblical facts. This will enable us to see whether our belief on the oneness of God is well founded. 

1. Trinitarian Oneness 

The Trinitarian concept of the oneness of God is the one that is believed by the greater majority of Christians of different denominational backgrounds – Catholics, Orthodox churches, Pentecostals, Non-denominational groups, et al. 

The Trinitarian concept of oneness has been written out in two major creeds, the Nicaean (or Nicene) Creed of 381 AD and the Athanasian Creed which became known in the fifth century AD. The Athanasian Creed remains a pseudepigraphon up to now because no one knows its author. Its authorship was falsely ascribed to Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria (296 – 373 AD). 

Trinitarianism admits the biblical teaching that there is one God but says that the one God is eternally made up of three distinct Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each of the Persons is called Lord, God and Almighty, and each of them is said to be incomprehensible. The Athanasian Creed goes further to say that the three Persons are self-existed, coequal and coeternal. The Creed defines the terms “coequal” and “coeternal” by saying that none is greater or less than the other (coequal) and none is before or after another (coeternal). 

It is evident from the Trinitarian creeds that God has been defined as one absolute, supreme God who is made up of three absolute, supreme Beings – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Trinitarian God is made up of three coeternal and coequal Gods. 

Many hard facts have been brought against the Trinitarian doctrine. Those who teach this doctrine have been unable to answer the questions or points brought against the doctrine. A very few of them are listed here: 

• The Athanasian Creed says “the Father is Almighty, the Son is Almighty and the Holy Spirit is Almighty. This is false. In all the 57 times the title is used in the KJV (58 times in the ASV; 46 times in the NET; 345 times in the NIV), it is used as one of the exclusive titles of God, the Father. The title has never been used for either the Son of God or God’s holy Spirit. Some say Jesus is called the Almighty in Rev. 1:8, but verses 4 and 5 show

that the one “who is, and who was, and who is to come” is God, the Father [emphases added throughout]. He is the one called “the Almighty” in verse 8. It is clear, therefore, that Jesus Christ is not the one called the Almighty in Rev. 1:8. 

• The Trinitarian Creed also says that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. 

The title “God” (Hebrew: Elohim; Greek: Theos) is used 2,598 times in the Old Testament and 1,327 times in the New Testament. Most of the times, it is used in reference to the Father. A few other times, e.g. Ps. 45:6, Isa. 9:6, Acts 20:28 and Heb. 1:8, the title is used for the Son of God. Nowhere in the Bible is the title “God” used for the holy Spirit of God. Some have said that the Holy Spirit is called God in Acts 5: 3-4. That is a deliberate false interpretation of that passage. It is an act of self-deception. Apostle Peter was alerted of Ananias’ lie by the spirit of God within Peter. Since God’s spirit is a part of God, any lie to the Spirit is a lie to God. Peter’s statement in Acts 5:3-4 is similar to what Moses and Aaron said in Exod. 16:1-8. The Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron (v.2). But Moses said they grumbled against God (v. 7). Can we be right to say that Moses called Aaron and himself God? Of course, Moses did not mean that he and his brother are God. What he meant is that anyone who grumble against them, God’s faithful servants who will not do anything except what God had instructed, has indirectly grumbled against God. The same way, anyone who lied to Peter while God’s spirit was in him has lied to God. It doesn’t in any way mean that God’s Spirit in Peter is called God.  

• Neither the Lord Jesus Christ nor any of His apostles have ever spoken of the Holy Spirit as a literal spirit being like God, Jesus Christ and the angels. It is not an omission when they failed to mention the Holy Spirit in passages where the Holy Spirit ought to be mentioned. A few of such passages are Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32; Luke 9:26; 1 Tim. 5:21; Rev. 3:12; Eph. 5:5; Rev. 11:15; Rev. 21:22-23; Rev. 22:1-5; Rev. 7:10; Heb. 12:22-24. The reason the Holy Spirit is not mentioned is because it is not a literal spirit being or person. 
• The Holy Spirit has been called the hand or finger of God (1 King 18:46; 2 King 3:14-16; Ezra 7:6, 28; Ezek. 1:3; Ezek. 3:14,22; Luke 11:20 (cf. Matt. 12:28); Acts 11:21; et al). The phrases “hand of the LORD”, “hand of God” or “finger of God” are figuratively used to represent the invisible breath of God which He uses as His hand to do His work in all of His creation. It carries the power of God into wherever and whatever God directs it. Hence it is called the power of God (Luke 24:49). The Holy Spirit is also called breath, anointing, seal, oil, water, et alia (Job 27:3; 33:4; John 22:20; 2 Cor. 1:21,22; 1 John 2:27; Ps. 45:7; Acts 10:38; John 7:38, 39). An anointing, seal (mark or stamp), water, oil, et alia, are impersonal things. They are not pronouns for literal beings. 
• The Trinitarian Creeds say the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. If that is true, why is the Holy Spirit not a co-owner and a co-ruler of the kingdom of God? The Bible says that the kingdom of God belongs to and will be ruled by God and His Son. (Eph. 5:5; 1 Cor. 15:27,28; Rev. 3:12; Rev. 11:15; Rev. 21:22–22:5. Why was it not worshipped by anyone just as God and Jesus Christ have been worshipped by men and angels? It has never been thanked or worshipped because it is not a literal being; it is the divine power of God. 
• The Trinitarian doctrine that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three distinct, coequal and coeternal Gods, each of whom is said to be Lord, God, Almighty, Giver of life, eternal, self-existent, incomprehensible, amounts to a creation of three absolute Gods. This is nothing short of Tritheism. The repeated use of the phrase “yet they are not three… but one…” does not give any shred of veil or covering to this glaring tritheism in the Trinitarian so-called oneness. It is an absolute impossibility for the God so described in the Athanasian (Trinitarian) Creed to be called One God. In order to escape the criticism that can be brought against this glaring distortion of basic Bible facts, human conjectures and the use of some bogus words, clever apologists of the Trinitarian hoax now say it is a revealed truth which must be accepted without human reasoning. That has always been a tool used in frauds.  
• The Trinity, that is the three Persons, are said to be incomprehensible. In other words, it is impossible to explain or understand the Trinity. This clever answer elicits the question, “How were the church fathers able to understand and explain a God who, according to them, is beyond human comprehension? Why did they make out creeds on something that is beyond human understanding, including theirs?” We believe that it is not God alone that the fourth century church fathers, who were engrossed in Greek philosophy, did not understand. They misunderstood many scriptures which made them hand down a Greek gift known as Trinity to the Christian world. 

• The three Gods which Trinitarians say make one God are said to be coequal and coeternal. This is unbiblical and false. Note: 
• The Father is the only self-existent Being. He is the only one who did not derive His existence from any other being apart from Himself. That is why He is the one God (John 5:44; 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:6). No one, including His Son, is equal with Him (Isa. 40:25; 46:5; John 14:28). He is called “the Father” because all beings, including our Lord Jesus Christ, derived their lives or existence from Him (Eph. 4:6). 
• Jesus Christ is the monogenes, that is, the only begotten Son of God, the Father. The Father birthed Him before the Father created all things through Him. In relation to the Father, the Son has a beginning. He is not coeternal with the Father. 
• The Father is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ps. 45:7; John 20:17; Eph. 1:3, 17; 1 Pet. 1:3; Rev. 1:6; Rev. 3:12). The conjectured idea that the Son is coequal with the Father is repugnant to the biblical fact expressed in these scriptures among many others. Jesus Christ is not coequal with His God and Father. He derived His life or existence from the Father. That is why He is called the Son of God like the angels (Job 1:6; 2:1) and Adam (Luke 3:38). It was not only in the humanhood of the Son that the Father was His God. This is evident from what Jesus Christ said in Rev. 3:12 which was after His glorification. The Father is forever the God of Jesus Christ. 

2. Modalist Oneness 

Modalism is a doctrine developed by a theologian known as Sabellius in the third century AD. Hence, Modalism is also known as Sabellianism. The doctrine expresses belief in one God who manifests Himself in three different modes or forms as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The belief is that the one God manifested Himself in the Old Testament as the Father. He is the same Person who was the Son of God in the New Testament, and the Holy Spirit after the ascension of Jesus into heaven. The three modes or manifestations are said to be consecutive and not simultaneous. This means that at no time will one see the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, all in existence since the doctrine denies the distinctiveness of the “three Persons” espoused by Trinitarians.  This doctrine is biblically and logically flawed. In the first place, it blatantly negates the Bible which clearly shows that the Son of God is a separate and distinct Spirit Person from God, the Father, who is both the God and the Father of the Son. Jesus is not the only son of God. Angels and the first human being, Adam, are also sons of God. But Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. He is the only one that came out of God by means of a divine begettal. God gave birth to Him. His begettal by God Himself marks the difference between Him and all the other sons of God. The angels and Adam were created by God through His only begotten Son. 

Secondly, the doctrine is logically preposterous. The doctrine, in effect, says that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is the Father of Himself as well as the Son of Himself. It would also mean that whenever He prayed, He was asking Himself to do for Himself what He prayed for. It would also mean that on the day He was baptized, He, the one in the river Jordan was the same one who spoke from heaven, as well as the dove-shaped vapour which alighted on Him and went inside of Him. It also means that He is greater than Himself (John 14:28). It would also mean, according to Eph. 1:17, that He is the God of Himself. It would also mean that God died and was in the grave for three days. This doctrine also connotes the idea that there was no God in heaven during the three days the Son was in the grave. It also removed the immortality of God, the Father, from Him. The doctrine also denies God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. It also denies Jesus Christ as the Son of God, since they are not two different persons. 

3. Oneness Pentecostalism 

Oneness Pentecostals teach their belief in one God, a singular divine Spirit who manifests Himself in many ways including as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They maintain that the name of the one God is Jesus Christ and that He is the only “person” in the Godhead. They base this teaching on their understanding of Colossians 2:9 which says, “For in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (NKJV). That is why they are often referred to as the “Jesus Only” Movement. They maintain that “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit” are titles reflecting the different personal manifestations of the One God. There is much similarity in the beliefs of Modalists and Oneness Pentecostals. The difference lies in the fact that Modalists view the “three manifestations” as successive but Oneness Pentecostals view it as simultaneous.  

Oneness Pentecostals are among the Christians who have seen the falseness of the Trinitarian doctrine. However, it is unfortunate that they, like Modalists of the early centuries, have denied God as the Father of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ as the Son of God. 

4. Unitarian Oneness 

Unitarians believe that the one God of the Bible is one single Person as opposed to the Trinitarian belief of three persons making up the one God. They believe that Jesus was a human being who was inspired by God in his teachings. Although they accept the moral authority of Jesus Christ, they do not accept that He is a divine being. They reject the Divinity or Godhood of Jesus Christ. 

5. Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Oneness 

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the one God is one single self-existent Being who is the Creator of all things. They believe that Jesus is the Son of God who was first created by God before God used Him to create all other things. It is their belief that Jesus is the same being as Archangel Michael whom God adopted as His Son. They too do not believe in the Trinitarian dogma.  There are two observed errors in the teaching of the Jehovah’s Witnesses:  

• That Jesus was first created by God before God created all other things through Him. There is no biblical support for this. All things, without any exception, were created by the Son of God (John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2). He is different from all creation who were called out of things which were not in existence (Rom. 4:17; Heb. 11:3). In other words, all of creation were created out of nothing. But Jesus came out of the ever-existing God. He is the only begotten Son of God. He was not brought forth out of nothing. However, the fact that it was the Father who brought the only begotten Son into existence, albeit in a form different from all other beings, also technically makes the Son of God a “created” being. The Father caused His existence. It is therefore not totally wrong to say that He was first “created” by God before God created all other things through Him.
• It is wrong to say that Jesus is the same person as Archangel Michael. Archangel Michael is not the only archangel in heaven. Michael, by nature, is one of the created spirit messengers of God who are collectively called angels (Heb. 1:13, 14). Some of them were made leaders among them. They are called “chief angels” or “archangels”. An angel told Daniel that Michael is “one of the chief angels” (Dan. 10:13, GNT, ISV). The NLT renders it “Michael, one of the archangels,” while most versions render it “Michael, one of the chief princes”. Evidently, Michael is not the only archangel of God. But Jesus is unique. He is the one and only begotten Son of God. He was the one God used to create all things in heaven and on earth (Col. 1:16). These include the angels of God, one of which is Archangel Michael. God has commanded all the angels, Michael inclusive, to worship the Son (Heb. 1:6) because the Son is their creator. 

At Christ’s second coming to this earth, He will be accompanied by a great number of angels. He will descend from heaven with such a splendour never for once seen on the earth. The archangel which will give out a call from the sky will be one of the escorts of the great king from heaven (Matt. 25:6; 1 Thes. 4:16). It is totally wrong to say that “the voice of the archangel” (1 Thes. 4:16) is that of the great king. That is the duty of the accompanying servants of the King. Compare Matt. 25:1-13 where the Lord gave a parable of ten virgins awaiting the arrival of the Bridegroom, representing Himself at His second coming. In verse six we read, “At midnight the cry rang out, ‘Here’s the Bridegroom! Come out to meet Him!’” (NIV). It is apparent from this verse that the one who made the call cannot be the Bridegroom. From this passage we can confidently say that the phrase, “with the voice of an archangel,” (1 Thes. 4:16, NKJV) simply means the voice of an archangel used by the Lord to make the call. It cannot be said to be the voice of the returning King, Jesus Christ. Compare also Esther 6:7-11. It was not the honoured Mordecai on the King’s royal horse who called on the people to come out and honour him. That was the job of his escort (verse 11). 

Prior to this event, we have seen an example of God calling from heaven through His angel (servant). In Gen. 22, God used His angel to call on Abraham. This was done twice. Kings don’t shout because shouting demean them. It is very infantile for any teacher of the Bible to say that “the voice of the archangel” in 1 Thes. 4:16 is the voice of the king whom we are expecting from heaven. The archangel will be one of the escorts who will accompany Him on that day when He takes His descent from heaven to the earth to start His heavenly kingdom here on earth. 

6. Binitarian Oneness 

Unlike Trinitarians, Binitarians believe that the one God is made up of two Persons – the Father and the Son of God. They do not accept the Godhood of the Holy Spirit. God is seen as a family of two Gods. This doctrine was invented in 1933 by Herbert W. Armstrong who founded the Radio Church of God. It was later renamed the Worldwide Church of God in 1968. The doctrine is therefore very new. This teaching can rightly be called Ditheism or Bitheism – the belief in two Gods who are working either complementarily or against each other, one for good and the other for evil. 

Biblical Oneness 

Having seen that “oneness” is defined in many ways by Christians, it is important for believers to fully and clearly understand what the Bible teaches on the “oneness of God”. Such knowledge not only makes us grounded in the faith but also helps us worship God aright. 

What has been clearly taught in the Bible is that God is one single Spirit Being. He is not the God that religious speculators have created. He is neither a three-in-one God nor a two-in-one God as espoused by Trinitarians and Binitarians. Only Him is self-existent. In other words, He is the only Being who did not derive His life or existence from any other Being. All other beings derived their lives or existence from Him. This is why He is called the Father of all (Eph. 4:6). The one God of the Bible is one singular Spirit Person. 

The singleness of the Divine Person called God is explicitly taught in the Bible. A very few Bible texts are listed here to serve as proof of the fact which too many Christians have failed to grasp on the correct meaning of the oneness of God. 

Old Testament 

• “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deut. 6:4; see also Deut. 4:35).  

Our Lord Jesus Christ, while on earth, affirmed this fact in Mark 12:29. By this, the Teacher from heaven put a seal on this truth that God is the SUPREME. 

• “People of Israel, you are my witnesses; I chose you to be my servant, so that you would know me and believe in me and understand that I am the only God. Besides me there is no other god; there never was and there never will be” (Isa. 43:10, GNT).  

This truth which God revealed through Isaiah is unchangeable. The New Testament never contradicted it. YHWH (Yahweh) which is translated “LORD” in the KJV is the one God.  

• “Do not tremble; do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago? You are my witnesses – is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock – not one!” (Isa. 44:8, NLT).  
• “I am the LORD; there is no other God.” (Isa. 45:5, NLT).  
• “Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me” (Isa. 46:9, NLT).  
• “There is no other God but me, a righteous God and Saviour. There is none but me” (Isa. 45:21, NLT). 
• “Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other” (Isa. 45:22, NLT).  

New Testament  

a. Words of Jesus Christ 

• “And this is the way to have eternal life – to know you, the only true God, AND Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth” (John 17:3, NLT)  
• “Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (John 20:17, ESV). See also Matt 27:46, Mark 15:34 and Heb 5:5-10. 
• “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name” (Rev. 3:12, NKJV).
• “How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God?” (John 5:44 NRSV).

b. Apostle Peter’s Affirmation 

• “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” (1 Pet. 1:3, ESV).  

c. Apostle John’s Affirmation 

• And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, [so] that we may know Him [God] who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This [one who is true, i.e. the Father] is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20, NKJV, words in square brackets added by me throughout).

John was simply affirming the Lord’s words in Matt. 13:11 and John 17:3).  

• “To Him [Jesus Christ] who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood – and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father – to Him be glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:5b, 6, NASB).  

d. Apostle Paul’s Affirmation 

• “There is no God but one … yet for us there is one God, the Father form whom are all things … and one Lord, Jesus Christ through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1 Cor. 8:4, 6, ESV). See also Acts 2:36.  
• “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places …” (Eph. 1:3, ESV). 
• “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him” (Eph. 1:16, 17, ESV).  
• “For there is one God AND one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all people (1 Tim. 2:5, NIV). 

From the passages cited above, the oneness of God brings into focus the following: 

• The Bible has taught that there is only one God and the One God is the Father of all beings, including the Lord Jesus Christ. All beings – angels, humankind and Jesus Christ – derived their existence from this Father of all. However, there is one difference between Jesus Christ and all other beings. He is the monogenes, the only one who came out of God by means of a begettal. God gave birth to Him. His begettal by the one God made Him have the same “God” nature of the Father. He is God (Ps. 45:6; Isa. 9:6; John 1:1; Heb. 1:2, 8) because He was born by God. 

• The Father is the only true God. In other words, He is the only one who is truly God. This means that the Father is the only self-existent Being. He is the only one who did not derive His existence from any other being. He exists of Himself and by Himself. He is the source of all life – including that of our Lord Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ were self-existent like the Father, there will be no tenable ground of calling the Father His God. Then, there will not be one God in existence. 
• The Father has a dual relationship with Jesus Christ. He is His God; He is also His Father. Jesus also has a dual relationship with God the Father. He is His Son. He is also His Servant. Angles are servants of God but Jesus Christ is God’s Chief Servant. He is God’s second-in-command. God used Him to create all things, including God’s angels.  
• The Father is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the name of the one God cannot be Jesus Christ. The one God cannot be the Father plus the Son. Nor can the one God be the Father plus the Son plus the Holy Spirit. The one God is the Father only. He is the God of the Son. He is also the Father of the Son. They are two separate and distinct Spirit Persons. 
• Nowhere is the holy Spirit of God (Isa. 63:10, 11) shown to be a literal Spirit Person like God, Jesus Christ and angels. It is the power of God. In some instances, it is called the breath, hand, finger, or eyes of God. It is also called the seal of God. It has also been called “anointing”, “water”, “oil” or “wind”. All these depictions irrefutably show that the Spirit of God is not a literal Spirit Being. It is the divine power of God which the Almighty divinely breathes or transmits into His creation to do His divine works in them. 
• It is not only in His humanity that Jesus Christ had the Father as His God. If it were so, Jesus Christ would not have referred to the Father as His God, with a superlative emphasis, after His glorification at the right-hand side of God in heaven. See Rev. 3:12 where He called the Father “My God” four times. 
• The possession of Godhood by the Son of God derives from two factors. In the first place, He is the one begotten by the Father. Naturally, this made Him inherit the “God” nature of the Father who gave birth to Him. This is easily understood by the fact that the offspring of a human being is a human being; that of a lion is a lion and that of a dog cannot be a snake (Gen. 1:11, 12, 21 – 25). We understand therefore, that the only begotten Son of God is Himself God like the One who gave birth to Him (Ps. 45:6; Isa. 9:6; John 1:1; 3:6). 

The second point is the fact that, apart from giving the Son life, the Father also gave to the Son the power to give life to other beings just like the Father (John 5:25-26; John 1:3; Heb. 1:2). This divine power which God had put in His Son is what the Son used in creating all things in the beginning. The Son, therefore, can be called God like the Father because the Father created all things through the direct agency of His only begotten Son (Col. 1:15-18). 

The summary of these points is that there are two God Beings in the Bible – God and His only begotten Son. However, the possession of Godhood by the Son does not deny the fact that the Father is the One God. The Son derived His life from the Father, making the Father to be His God (John 20:17; Ps. 45:7; Eph. 1:3, 17; Rev. 3:12). The Father, who is the God of all, including His only begotten Son is the one God. He is the only one who is self-existent. Only Him truly deserves to be called God. So said His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:3). The One God is not the Father plus the Son. Neither is He the Father plus the Son plus God’s holy Spirit. The Bible has not portrayed God’s holy Spirit as a literal, distinct person or God. The personhood and Godhood ascribed to the holy spirit of God is one indefensible fabrication of the fourth century church fathers. 

We must avoid the mistake of imagining the begettal of the Son by the Father as taking the same form as that of human offspring which requires the sexual union of a male and a female. Mankind is finitely limited by the elements God created him with. But God is infinitely limitless in His wisdom and power. He brought all of creation out of nothing. He also brought His only begotten Son out of Himself. 

• Christ’s words in John 10:30 is one of the statements in the Bible that have been seriously misunderstood by many people. Therein Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” This statement does not support either the Trinitarian or Binitarian theories. Jesus Christ simply told of the unity of purpose that two of them have. The Lord did not mean that He and the Father are one person. This is evident from a similar statement He made in John 17:11, 22. Jesus prayed that His disciples may be one just as He and the Father are one – in unity of mind and purpose. 

Apostle Paul used this same “oneness” a few times to stress the need of unity among Christians. In Rom. 15, 6, he said, “that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (NKJV). In 2 Cor. 13:11, he exhorted the Corinthians to be of one mind. In his first epistle to the Corinthians, he had rebuked them for being partisan. In chapter 3, he told them that he had heard the report that there was division among them. Some said they were of Paul and others said they were of Apollos. He told them that neither Apollos nor himself mattered. He told them that the one who matters is God who gives the growth. He then made them understand that he who plants [the church, Paul] and he who waters [or establishes the church through teaching, Apollos] are one (1 Cor. 3:8, ESV). Words in square brackets are added by me. 

The NIV renders verse 8 this way: “The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose.” The same Greek words “esmen hen” (“are one”) are used in John 10:30 and here in 1 Cor. 3:8. It is evident that Jesus Christ meant the oneness of mind and purpose in Him and the Father for the deliverance of the faithful followers of Christ. He did not mean that the Father and Himself are one person in number. 

• The apostles were right in referring to Jesus Christ as “a man” (Acts 2:11) or “the man” (1 Tim. 2:5). They did not, by those words, deny the Divinity of Jesus Christ. Let us bear in mind that when the time came for Him to come to the earth to redeem mankind, God removed from Him His Godhood and gave Him a human body (John 1:1, 14; 17:5; Heb. 10:5). God did this so that His Son could offer His own blood to reconcile mankind with Himself (Heb. 2:14-17). It therefore stands to reason that the one who was born by Mary, who suffered and died on the cross, who was buried in the grave and who was raised from the dead after three days was the man, Christ Jesus.  

Jesus Christ was 100 percent human when He was on the earth. He was not a perfect God and a perfect man at the same time. If he possessed Godhood in Him during His earthly ministry, it would have been impossible for Him to die. Before His incarnation as a human being, He was a Spirit being like His Father. Right now, He is a Divine Person like God. But that does not make Him coequal with His God and Father. 

Conclusion 

The New Testament unambiguously teaches that there is one God and that the one God is the Father of all beings. He is the one God because all beings in existence derived their lives from Him. The various teachings of the one God existing as a unity of two or three distinct persons is not taught in the Bible. 

The definition of the oneness of God in the New Testament harmonizes perfectly with the Old Testament concept of one God. It is clear from the Bible that, although the Son of God is a God Being, He is not the one God. The one God is His God and Father. He inherited the nature of God by means of His begettal by God. God made Him the anointed Saviour of humanity and the Lord or Ruler of His creation (Acts 2:36). It is crystal clear that the Father and the Son are two distinct God Beings. 

We have seen that the definition of God’s oneness by Unitarians and Jehovah’s Witnesses are closest to the definition in the Bible. However, their rejection of the Godhood of Jesus Christ is an unfortunate error. The definitions of God’s oneness by Trinitarians, Modalists and Oneness Pentecostals are products of human imaginations. They are inconsistent with the clear and explicit teachings of the Bible and are therefore false. 

No falsehood is as naked as the Trinitarian teaching which says that the one God is made up of three coequal and coeternal Gods. That is not the God of the Bible. The Trinitarian Creeds have taught nothing short of Tritheism. In spite of their clever and delusive apologetics, Trinitarians are simply playing “peekaboo” game with God’s word.  

In many places, the Bible has made it clear that the one God is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. This relationship is applicable before and beyond the time of Christ’s incarnation as a human being. God still remains His God after His glorification in heaven (Rev. 3:12). It is therefore unbiblical and illogical to say that the name of the one God is Jesus Christ. Moreover, the terms “father” and “son” always connote the existence of two persons, one being the offspring of the other. Oneness Pentecostalism which denies the “twoness” of God the Father and His Son is clearly a denial of biblical truth. The terms “Father”, “Son” and “Holy Spirit” are not mere titles of the one God. The word “Christ” cannot be a title of the one God. There is no one in heaven or in the universe who will anoint the Most High, the Supreme One. He is the one who anoints people with His holy spirit to sanctify, empower, vivify, heal and guide them divinely (Ps. 45:7; Acts 10:38; 2 Cor. 1:21, 22). Only Him is called the Almighty. He is separate and distinct from His only begotten Son whom He made our Lord and Anointed Deliverer. 

The Bible has clearly and copiously revealed that the One God is one Supreme Being, the Father of all beings (John 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6). He is a “one-in-one”, not “two-in-one” or “three-in-one”. He is a singular spirit Being. His only begotten Son possesses His “God” nature because His Son came out of Him.

This is in consonance with the divine law that every living thing should produce offspring of its own kind (Gen. 1:11, 12, 21-25). But this fact does not make the One God a “two-in-one God” (Ditheism). The one God is one Person, a Spirit Person. 

There ought not be any debate about the Trinitarian doctrine. It is glaringly unbiblical, illogical and false. It is totally repugnant to biblical truth. The holy Spirit of God which is called the Holy Ghost in the KJV is not a literal spirit Person like God, Jesus Christ and the angels. It is the divine power of God which God divinely emanates from Himself to do His divine work in our lives. 

All the teachings that God is more than one Person are due to lack of insight into many passages of the Bible (2 Pet. 3:16). Apostle Paul wrote, “For us [Christians who know the truth], there is one God, the Father…” (1 Cor. 8:6). That is the Bible definition of the oneness of God. Any other definition of the oneness of God is false.