Oneness

[Chesed]

Hello everyone!

We have just started a student ministry class at my church and are currently talking about Oneness vs. Trinity. Now the people who are teaching the class strongly believe in Oneness meaning God is only ONE being and the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not separate. This is probably the most confusing thing in the Bible to me...I have always thought of God being 3 that are separate but ALL make up God, and God is One because they are all in one accord, same heart, same mind, same purpose kind of like marriage and the scripture that says "the two shall become one flesh" of course that belief is being challenged in this class. I believe Jesus is fully God the bible clearly says that in 1 John "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." It also says the Word became flesh...that's Jesus.
What I'm stuck on is is God only ONE being or is God made up of 3 beings?
I have been studying several scriptures and asked God to help me see the truth....I'm curious what's your take on this? Do you believe God is made up of 3 beings or is God only One being who manifest himself in 3 ways? Please back up your answer with scripture I'm not looking for just a personal opinion or what someone else told you, if its not in Gods word it wont help me.

 

[FORHISGLORY]

Hello ! I believe in God the Father,Jesus Christ His only Son,the blessed Holy Spirit distinct yet three in One ! Here's a illustration : A woman is a daughter, a mother, and a grandmother( three in one ). Illustrations aren't perfect. The concept of the Trinity is taught throughout scripture. Example: Genesis, "Let Us create man in Our own image. Tertillian(early church father) coined the word " Trinity. Here's another lesson on the trinity from the book of Ephesians : Ephesians 1:3 God the Father chose us before the foundation of the world ; Ephesians 1:5-7 Jesus the Son redeemed us by His blood ; Ephesians 1:13-14 We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. I hope this helps.

 

[jimmydiggs]

Oneness is a heresy.

If they don't believe the Trinity, they've never understood Matthew 3:13-17. If you're church teaches oneness, I suggest you find another church for you're in a den, and it ain't no den of lambs.




Matthew 3:13-17
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

 

[Crypto]

Oneness is one of the worst heresies I've seen, and it denies common sense. Look at the example of Jesus' baptism:

Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

If oneness is true, how can Jesus be baptized, descend upon Himself like a dove and speak from heaven at the same time? It's absurd.

 

[jimmydiggs]

Hello ! I believe in God the Father,Jesus Christ His only Son,the blessed Holy Spirit distinct yet three in One ! Here's a illustration : A woman is a daughter, a mother, and a grandmother( three in one )

What you describe is a heresy called Modalism. It's not the Trinity.

 

[Crypto]

And I agree with jimmydiggs if your church is teaching that it's time to find a new church. I went to a oneness church last summer and they said the trinity was from the 'pit of hell' and if a person was baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost they weren't baptized, 'they just got wet'. Not a church that teaches sound doctrine.

 

[Chesed]

Alright everyone... I tried to say SCRIPTURE ONLY for this reason, please don't call the doctrine of Oneness heresy. As I said I don't have a clear understanding yet of which is truth, and God has no boundaries, so if He is One being manifested in 3 ways that is possible, He can do anything. Just be careful with your words, same with those who have opposing opinions on this to those who have already posted. I'm all for you proving what you personally believe with scripture but lets not do name calling or saying one or the other is heresy. Thanks

 

[tribesman]

Modalism wasn't taught by the Apostles, nor was it taught by the early fathers. In fact the early fathers opposed the teachings of Sabellius, Noetus and Praxeas who in the 3rd century introduced that teaching.

Food for thought for modalists: The Father loves the Son. How can that love be perfect if it is not a loved shared by two parties? Jesus prayed to Himself?

The oneness "chesed" of God has not much to do with numbers of persons. Trust scripture's plain witness about the separate persons of the Godhead. Beware of gnostic "enlightenment".

 

[RachelBibleStudent]

2 corinthians 13:14..."The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all."

in this verse we have all three...evidently they are three distinct persons...

however there are not three Gods...because the three are also one...as we see here...

deuteronomy 6:4..."Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!"

so we have three persons that are all one God...

but we also should not imagine God being divided into 'thirds'...each of the three persons is -fully- God...for example here is what the bible says about jesus...

colossians 2:9..."For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,"

the best way i know of to explain the trinity given these verses and others is to say that God is three persons...each of the persons is 100% of God...but they do not add up to 300% or three Gods...

 

[RickyZ]

Think for a minute of water. It's all one thing, but according to it's environment it can be of three forms - water, ice or steam. In the eternal enviroment He's the Godhead, in the physical environment He's the Christ, and in the interface between the two He takes the form of the Holy Spirit. The 3 are just different manifestations of the One.

 

[Tintin]

Chesed, name-calling isn't godly but calling a spade a spade is. Sometimes false teaching is just that, false teaching. It's okay to call Oneness a heresy for that reason.

 

[BananaPie]

Well, have you considered the valuable information the Lord Jesus provides to us all?
For example, during the Lord's baptism, it is documented in the Gospel of Matthew:
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him,and Hesaw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him;
17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son,with Whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16-17).

Would you agree that the passage above has captured space and time of 3 distinct persons:
1. Jesus is on Earth,
2. the Spirit of God is descending from Heaven to Earth and towards Jesus,
3. the person in Heaven being pleased with Jesus.

The error of the Oneness thought is that it teaches that Jesus is the same identity throughout the OT & NT, yet in the Gospel of Matthew it become quite clear that there are 3 distinct persons all in harmony with each other.

Furthermore, there is the passage in the Gospel of John:

And I [Jesus] will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, to be with you forever (John 14:16).
​

Again, the Bible is clear in capturing 3 distinct persons in the same space and time reference.

The recommendation of our Lord Jesus is, "blessed are they that have not seen, yet have believed" (John 20:29).
For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations (Psalm 100:5).

BananaPie

 

[kardiaoangelous]

Hello everyone!

We have just started a student ministry class at my church and are currently talking about Oneness vs. Trinity. Now the people who are teaching the class strongly believe in Oneness meaning God is only ONE being and the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not separate. This is probably the most confusing thing in the Bible to me...I have always thought of God being 3 that are separate but ALL make up God, and God is One because they are all in one accord, same heart, same mind, same purpose kind of like marriage and the scripture that says "the two shall become one flesh" of course that belief is being challenged in this class. I believe Jesus is fully God the bible clearly says that in 1 John "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." It also says the Word became flesh...that's Jesus.
What I'm stuck on is is God only ONE being or is God made up of 3 beings?
I have been studying several scriptures and asked God to help me see the truth....I'm curious what's your take on this? Do you believe God is made up of 3 beings or is God only One being who manifest himself in 3 ways? Please back up your answer with scripture I'm not looking for just a personal opinion or what someone else told you, if its not in Gods word it wont help me.

John 17:21 "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."

Anyone care to explain?

 

[Chesed]

Tintin until God reveals to me its not the truth Id rather not have people calling it heresy (goes for either side)...you can just say you do not believe its the truth.

 

[Tintin]

I'm not having a go at you, I'm just telling it like it is. Just keep studying God's Word and listening to him.

 

[RedTent]

Oneness is one of the worst heresies I've seen, and it denies common sense. Look at the example of Jesus' baptism:

Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

If oneness is true, how can Jesus be baptized, descend upon Himself like a dove and speak from heaven at the same time? It's absurd.

Jesus never said that the mind of the divine was the mind of the human, God says it isn't. So am I to believe Crypto or believe God? Christ said, for instance, He was one with the Father. God can be manifest in diferent ways, that is God and God trumps all your common sense. The world was created by one entity. When we say "God" we can think of God having different characteristics, but we are told not to divide Him. That is what the pagans did. They had different gods for different things.

 

[Tintin]

Please God, let this not be another 150 page thread about the nature of the Trinity.

 

[crossnote]

Alright everyone... I tried to say SCRIPTURE ONLY for this reason, please don't call the doctrine of Oneness heresy. As I said I don't have a clear understanding yet of which is truth, and God has no boundaries, so if He is One being manifested in 3 ways that is possible, He can do anything. Just be careful with your words, same with those who have opposing opinions on this to those who have already posted. I'm all for you proving what you personally believe with scripture but lets not do name calling or saying one or the other is heresy. Thanks

Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
(Act 2:33)

Impossible and nonsensical to be at the Fathers right hand and simultaneously be the Father.

Do you have scriptures that concern you or are persuading you towards Oneness?

 

[GreenNnice]

"If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." John 14:9b

"I and the Father are one." Jesus John 10:30

Those of Oneness like to twist this verse to say that Jesus and God are just of the same kind of godliness, that is the 'one' meaning. But, that's not taking this scripture at face value, and, unless someone takes NO Scripture at face value, then, picking and choosing what you want for some verses to mean one thing and other verses to mean another is opening your own doctrine and translation of who God really is UP for error.

The Messiah promised to come to Israel is Jesus, is 'the Everlasting Father,' you can read Isaiah 9:6 for understanding and true meaning of this truth. This verse speaks of God as 'one.' And, also as others have already alluded, there is much proof of the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and, God, doing three seperate acts--Jesus baptized, dove (Holy Spirit) lands on Jesus' shoulder, voice from Heaven (God) says, 'This is My Son with whom I am well pleased.' This is a true understanding of the Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

God bless your study and class, your mind is real open about learning the truth, there is much going to happen in your growth of learning in this class, and, beyond, as you let He who is in your temple lead you, by the guidance of His Word and His meaning upon your life as you watch for His hand in your life--which is 'printed' everywhere.

 

[zone]

Please God, let this not be another 150 page thread about the nature of the Trinity.

want the blue Snuggie, Tin?
it's starting.