Tyler Tabernacle -- The Pentecostals

The Nature of God – a Singularity:  The Oneness of God The number one rule of studying scripture is that sound doctrine can withstand scrutiny.  If a doctrine is scripturally true and correct, it cannot be weakened by honest examination or study.

According to Jewish tradition, living the Sh’ma is essentially “an acceptance of the yoke of heaven upon the individual.”  All interaction with God by humanity is hinged upon this one verse.  From this one truth, all other doctrine and experience flow.

Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.

(Hebrew readers typically substitute “Adonai” for the Tetragrammaton YHWH because in Jewish tradition, this name of God is not to be pronounced.)  Note that this does not simply say that there is one God.  It says that God IS One.  This speaks to His essence and nature, not merely the fact that there is only one God.  Some try to manipulate the meaning of the Hebrew words used in this verse to suit their own doctrine.  For example, some claim that the Hebrew word “Elohenu” (which translates to “our God”) is actually plural.  This is not accurate.  “Elohim” (a name used to refer to God which comes from the same root) means plural in majesty.  But the word “Elohenu” is NOT plural.

Some also say that the Hebrew word “echad” (which translates to one) in this context means that there are several unified together as one.  While one definition of “echad” is “united”, the more common usage is simply a numerical ONE.  It is not uncommon for Hebrew-speaking toddlers to hold up a single finger while proclaiming “echad” to let everyone know how old they are.  In researching this lesson, I actually read one person’s rendering of this verse as “Hear, O Israel:  The Lord our Gods are united.”  This is a butchering of the intent and lacks integrity with the original text.  Perhaps the most accurate indication of what this scripture really means is to consider what it has meant to millions of Jews over thousands of years.  Those to whom it was written – in their native language, no less – have staunchly taken it to mean that God is literally ONE.  The truth in this verse of scripture is the very cornerstone upon which our entire relationship with God is based.  This verse, along with verse 5 which follows it, are referred to by Jesus as the first and greatest commandment.

(Mark 12:28-30 KJV)  And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? {29} And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: {30} And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

(Mat 21:42 KJV)  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?  The Jewish leadership of that day rejected Jesus – but in fact, He is the embodiment of Deut 6:4.  (John 8:24 KJV)  I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

(John 8:28 KJV)  Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

(John 18:4-8 KJV)  Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? {5} They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. {6} As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. {7} Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. {8} Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.  (Phil 2:11 KJV)  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

The Greek word for Lord in this verse is “Kurios.”  In Deut 6:4, the original text for LORD is YHWH (also called the Tetragrammaton).  According to Jewish tradition, YHWH is the “special” name of God, and is not to be pronounced.  So they typically substitute “Adonai.”  In the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Torah) the word “Adonai” is translated “Kurios.”  Thus, considering Phil 2:11 in light of Deut 6:4, gives the understanding that Jesus is the LORD of Deut 6:4.  This same reference is used again in Paul’s testimony:  (Acts 26:15 KJV)  And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

As previously stated, living the Sh’ma is equated with “taking on the yoke of heaven” in ancient Jewish tradition.  The imagery of a yoke evokes consideration of the concepts of commitment and dedication to a particular task or purpose.  The reference Jesus makes in the following verse is typically lost on gentile readers, but to His Jewish audience, He is clearly identifying this “yoke of heaven” as being His own.  (Mat 11:29-30 KJV)  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. {30} For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Abraham’s Relationship: Scripture describes Abraham as the “friend of God.”  It can be inferred from this that he had at least some of understanding of who his Friend was, and that he passed that understanding to his descendants.  Abraham saw what is called “the Theophony” when God appeared to him before He destroyed Sodom.  Some say that because Abraham saw “three men”, it was a manifestation of the trinity – but this is not so. 

Take a closer look:  (Gen 18:1-2 KJV)  And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; {2} And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, 

1)      Verse 2 says “three men stood by him.”  The “HIM” is not referring to Abraham because it says that Abraham RAN to meet them.  So, the three men weren’t standing by Abraham – but the LORD.  You don’t RUN to meet men who are standing BY you.

2)      Abraham’s descendants were taught that God is ONE.  So apparently Abraham didn’t think that all of those “men” were God.

3)      Abraham was the friend of God.  As such, God would have revealed Himself as “triune” if He is.  But He is NOT.

4)      It is commonly understood that the other “men” were likely angels.

5)      If God decided to manifest Himself as 3000 men, He could, but it would not imply that God consists of 3000 persons.

6)      Three places in the book of Revelation speak of the seven Spirits of God, but that does not mean that God consists of seven persons in a “septinity”.

It’s All About Son-ship:

The greatest misunderstanding of the Godhead stems from a lack of understanding of the identity and office of the Son.  The office of the Son is NOT eternal.  It had a beginning.  Prior to the moment He was BEGOTTEN, the Son only existed in the plan and thoughts (logos) of God.  The term begotten is the key to understanding the Son-ship. 

(John 3:16 KJV)  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

In my opinion, the NIV and some other translations incorrectly render the Greek “monogenes” (“begotten” in the KJV) in this verse, choosing to translate it as “one and only.”  This removes the reference to a fact that we know to be true.  Jesus WAS begotten, when the Holy Ghost overshadowed Mary.  John clearly understood that Jesus had been begotten when he chose his wording.  What I believe to be an incorrect choice of words by the translators probably stems from their own lack of understanding of the office of the Son.  Those who hold the view that the Son is eternally pre-existent dismiss the significance of removing the reference to the fact that He was begotten.  But to those of us who hold the view that the Son is the flesh conceived and born to house the fullness of the Godhead, it is a significant point.  Since Adam and Eve, all flesh that has ever existed has been begotten.  Consider this in light of the following verse:

(1 John 4:3 KJV)  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

The terms Christ and Messiah mean the same thing, “Anointed One.”  These are titles for the MAN Christ Jesus, otherwise known as the Son of Man.  Scriptures that refer to Christ, Messiah or Son of Man are particularly addressing the flesh, or body which was begotten by the Eternal Spirit of God.  This causes some confusion among those who believe that the Son is one of three persons in a triune Godhead.  It must be noted that these references always indicate that the flesh (the Son) is subject to the Spirit (the Father).  Trying to make more of it than that only causes confusion.  The very title of “Anointed One” implies two things:  1) that there is a BODY to be anointed, and 2) that there is a SPIRIT to do the anointing.  This is a concise summary of the nature of the incarnation.  The One Spirit of the invisible God filled and anointed the body which He had begotten.  There is no need to complicate it beyond that. 

Old Testament prophecies told of the advent of Messiah thousands of years before.  Many Messianic prophecies were specific only about the works that Messiah would perform.  Perhaps only one of those prophecies cut to the heart of WHO Messiah would be.  (Isa 9:6 KJV)  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 mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  This is the only place in the Old Testament where the title “everlasting Father” is applied to God.  This was speaking of the future Messiah, who was to be the “only begotten.”  It is extremely important to note that the only reference to “The everlasting Father” in Old Testament scripture speaks in the context of the Son who would be “given” in the future.  Perhaps it is due to the fact that He was to become known as “The everlasting Father” after He had begotten His Son.

It is interesting to note that the title Prince of Peace is given to Messiah.  In Genesis, we read of Melchizedek:  (Gen 14:18 KJV)  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 

(Heb 6:20 KJV)  … even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.  (Heb 7:1-3 KJV)  For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; {2} To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; {3} Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.  Here we see Melchizedek identified as the King of Salem, which is King of Peace.  Messiah is identified as Prince of Peace.  Also, Melchizedek brought forth “bread and wine.”  Messiah brought forth the bread of his body and the wine of His blood.  Melchizedek served as priest of the Most High God for Abraham, just as Messiah is our High Priest today.

Consider Paul’s description in verse 3:  (Heb 7:3 KJV) Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.  This implies that Melchizedek was a manifestation of God Himself to Abraham.  Later in Mosaic Law, it was written that no priest could be king and no king could be priest.  It appears that Melchizedek and Messiah are exceptions to this law.

Conspicuously Absent:  Perhaps as important as any Old Testament scripture that teaches Oneness doctrine is the conspicuous ABSENCE of New Testament scripture that rescinds or contraindicates it as a valid doctrine.  The introduction of any doctrinal change as sweeping as the “fact” that God exists in a trinity of persons – to Jews, no less – would have been HUGE news.  It would have required a very specific scriptural mandate, to do so.  Jesus did not mind rattling the Jewish establishment with startling announcements of truth, but He never even hinted that such a change was in store.  This is not to say that unscrupulous persons have not attempted to insert their own words into scripture to that end.  (1 John 5:6-8 KJV)  This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. {7} For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. {8} And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 
The italicized text above in verses 7 and 8 are of unknown origin, and do not exist in the original manuscripts.  Concerning this extraneous text, Bruce Metzger writes in his A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, “… it is not found in versions or quotations of any kind prior to the fourth century.”  It is interesting that unscrupulous efforts have been made to introduce the concept of trinitarian doctrine into scripture, where it otherwise does not exist.  It is further interesting that this corruption of the text appears in the same era as the Nicene Council – the point at which the doctrine of God’s alleged existence as a “trinity of persons” appeared.  Some translators have identified this text as being of suspicious origin, but many have not. 

It must be noted that most, if not all, of the “Church Fathers” involved in the Council of Nicea were rabidly anti-Semitic.  Thus, it is not surprising that they would produce such venom as rejecting the very foundational tenet of Judaism from Christianity.  They did inflict great damage, but someone should have reminded them that the very gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church, and that the poison of a few corrupt officials will never be able to eliminate the true Church of the Living God.  In any case, it is the height of stupidity to curse the very root and tree into which you have been grafted.  There are cases where doctrinal issues related to differences between Judaism and the Church had to be addressed.  In these cases, specific instructions are given in the New Testament as to how these “Jewish” issues are to be handled.  There is specific direction as to the Church’s positions on kosher dietary laws, ceremonial laws, as well as circumcision and the like.  Nowhere do we read that the classic Jewish doctrine of the Oneness of God is no longer to be taught and believed by the New Testament Church.  Perhaps the reason some New Testament scriptures are worded in a way that seems confusing for some is that most of those scriptures were written to exhort and witness to Jewish believers.  They need to understand that it is acceptable to God for them to believe that Jesus is the Messiah.  Thus, He must be presented as the Son of God in terms with which they can reconcile to their understanding of the Godhead.

Conclusion:  Scriptural patterns and doctrine from Genesis to Revelation are consistent.  Our God is ONE.  The concept of a three-person godhead entity is simply not supported in scripture.  There is one single God who manifests Himself as stated in the following verse:   (1 Tim 3:16 KJV)  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.