Page 43 - Prophetic Word Newsletter Archive 2010

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DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT THE
SUPPORT CHRISTIANITY’S APOSTLE PAUL

INTERPRETATION OF THE SHEMA,
(“HEAR O ISRAEL:

THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE!”)

AS ALSO BEING ONE LITERAL GOD,
BUT CAPABLE OF MANIFESTING HIMSELF

AT TIMES IN THREE DIFFERENT,
BUT YET EQUAL IDENTITIES?

(as the Father, as the Son, as the Holy Spirit)

“I WILL PRAY THE FATHER, AND HE WILL GIVE YOU ANOTHER HELPER,
THAT HE MAY ABIDE WITH YOU FOREVER, EVEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH…

HE DWELLS WITH YOU AND WILL BE IN YOU….AT THAT DAY YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM
IN MY FATHER, AND YOU IN ME, AND I IN YOU…IF ANYONE LOVES ME…MY FATHER WILL
LOVE HIM, AND WE WILL COME TO HIM AND MAKE OUR HOME WITH HIM.” John 14:16-23

In the Old Testament we find the “us” and “our” personages of the Godhead to be undefined.
Here in the New Testament we find the triune Godhead clearly delineated in which not only

the Holy Spirit dwells within the believer, but also the promise is given of the indwelling presence of
The Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to make “OUR” home inside the believer!

The existence of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is indeed the true teaching of the New Testament
Scriptures. However, it is a TRIUNE GODHEAD that is presented in Scripture rather than a three-in-
one God as commonly taught by many Christian theologians. As we shall see, the “oneness of God”
speaks of a triune Godhead that is in perfect and complete unity with one another. Therefore the
Father does not manifest Himself as the Son or as the Holy Spirit! It is not one God manifesting
Himself in three identities, but rather three individual personages comprising a Godhead that functions
in complete oneness! How else can we understand Jesus praying for all believers:

“…THAT THEY MAY BE ONE, AS WE ARE…
THAT THEY MAY ALL BE ONE

AS YOU FATHER ARE IN ME, AND I IN YOU,

THAT THEY ALSO MAY BE ONE IN US…

I IN THEM, AND YOU IN ME;

THAT THEY MAY BE MADE PERFECT IN ONE…”

Jn. 17:11,21,23

That kind of prayer makes no sense if the “oneness” of which Jesus speaks
refers to a “three-in-one” God. Can we become that kind of oneness? Hardly!
Can we become one in unity and harmony as was Jesus with His Father? Yes!

Read the last statement again, “…that they may be made perfect in one…”

As to the concept of a three-in-one God: Is it not quite ludicrous to think that when God the Father
spoke from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” (Matt. 17:5),
that God was in essence saying, “This is (Me in the role of) My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. Hear (Me) as I speak (as) Him”? If we are indeed to embrace a literal three-in-one God, then
that is what is being conveyed! Conversely, we would have Jesus stating of the Father (which He
would really be saying of Himself) things like, “The Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that
He Himself does” (Jn. 5:20). Think about it! If the Father and the Son are one and the same God, this
phrase has no real meaning for us! It would also be meaningless for Jesus to teach us, “ I do not seek
My own will, but the will of the Father who sent Me” (Jn. 5:30), if indeed the Son is in reality the Father! If
He is the Father as well as the Son, then of course He would do His will-they are one and the same!
Rather, the real lesson being conveyed is that we are being presented with TWO WILLS of two
different members of the Godhead that are functioning together in perfect UNITY and ONENESS with
one another! Jesus is teaching His disciples an object lesson of how they too can function in unity and
oneness! It is a meaningless illustration if the Father and the Son are really one and the same!