LET'S TALK ABOUT GOD

The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans 16:16)


Introduction:

Jesus is not only the Son of God, but also God the Son.  Since no greater truth is affirmed in the Sacred Text, one cannot read the Bible (especially the New Testament) without recognizing the One who is God the Son (cf. Heb. 1:8).  This doctrine in fact permeates the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation; only a materialist would fail to see it.

I.  LET'S TALK ABOUT DEITY

 Some of you reading this article misunderstand the term “God.”  So, let’s talk about Deity!  Deity is a name of the Supreme Being (from the Latin, “Deus,” God).  The term signifies in a concrete sense Him whom we call God.  Concerning our Lord Jesus, the term means to assert that He was the very and ETERNAL God.
   
The word “GOD” is not the name of a personality, it is the name of a nature, a quality of being (as opposed, for example, to the angelic or human natures).  It is simply a name for the Divine nature or substance.  Therefore, when the Bible affirms there is but one God (cf. Mark 12:29), the meaning is that there is but one Divine nature, one Deity, or one Godhead.  And because there is but one Divine nature, it follows there is but one God.
   
There is a unified set of traits or characteristics that distinguish a personality as being “God.”  And those persons possessing these attributes are referred to as “God” in the Bible.  So there is no contradiction whatsoever in the biblical teaching that there is but ONE Divine nature or one God.  The Bible reveals that the Father, the Son (the Word), and the Holy Spirit (three persons) each possess the Divine nature - the infinite characteristics of deity.  There is but one Divine nature, but there are THREE possessing this unified set of qualities.  Thus, each is called God (cf. John 6:27; 2 Pet. 1:17; Heb. 1:8; Acts 5:3-4).
   
Indispensable to a clear understanding of Deity is an awareness of the difference between "nature" and "person."  Deity is eternal!  Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are ETERNAL in nature. Jesus said, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30; cf. John 17:20-23).  Some falsely teach that this means they must be one person.  But everyone knows that persons and things can be one in one sense and more than one in another sense.
   
For example, God has declared that husband and wife are one (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:5-6) - but this certainly does not mean they are ONE person.  They are still two persons, yet in another sense they are one.  The word "one" must here be recognized as neuter gender which has to mean one in “nature.” Jesus and the Father (and the Holy Spirit) are “one” in substance, essence, doctrine, unity, aim, and purpose.
   
As further proof that John 10:30 does NOT teach (as the Oneness “Jesus Only” Pentecostals falsely teach) that Jesus and the Father are one person, Jesus prayed in John 17:20-23 that His followers might be ONE “even as” the Father and He were one.  We who believe and follow Jesus certainly are not ONE big fat person!  Neither are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit one person.
   
Some conceive of God as a mathematical unit; and as a thing cannot be both mathematically singular and plural -- one and three, at the same time and in the same sense -- they deny the true and proper divinity of the Son of God and the Spirit of God.  But it would seem that they reason NOT in harmony with the sacred style of inspiration.
   
Why should we imagine that there cannot be a plurality of personal manifestations in the Divine nature any more than in the angelic or human, especially as man was created in the image of God.  The Bible says, “...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” (1 Timothy 3:16).
   
Deity means God.  God is Deity.  The Son is Deity.  Therefore, the Son is God.  Deity, when complete, requires THREE Beings. Thus, the Spirit and the Son merge with the Father to form the Godhead - a term meaning the Divine Rule of God (cf. Gen. 1:1-2; Acts 17:29).  When Deity is referred to and the word, “God” is used, it is necessary to determine from the context whether it is God the Father (John 17:1, 3, 5), God the Son (John 1:1), or God the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4).
   
The adjective word “Holy” is applied to all three persons of the Godhead at different times in the Bible.  Jesus prayed to His Holy Father (John 17:11).  Jesus is called Holy child Jesus (Acts 4:30).  Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35).  Jehovah is a Holy Spirit, but NOT the same Spirit or person, as God the Holy Spirit.  Jesus is called God, but that doesn’t mean that Jesus is God the Father!  He couldn’t be the Father because He is the Son.
   
In John 3:16 it is revealed: “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.”  Is it possible to read even this one familiar passage of Scripture without understanding that there are TWO distinct persons referred to: God - the giver, and the Son - the given?
   
There is not one single solitary individual upon the face of God’s green earth that is able to prove from the Bible the false teaching that the Godhead consists of only one Divine Being.  It is an unprovable proposition because the Bible nowhere teaches such.  It is simply not a part of God’s truth.  The Bible does teach, however, that there is One, Perfect, Eternal, Divine nature, essence, or substance who alone is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.  And this ONE Divine Essence, Substance, or Nature belongs equally to THREE distinct persons designated in the Bible as the Father, the Word (the Son), and the Holy Spirit.

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