Three in One

By Jerry D. Ousley

        Three or one … which is it anyway?  It’s been an argument that has been contemplated for decades.  In 1913 a man by the name of R.E. McAlister decided to baptize using the words of Acts 2:38 (“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”) rather than the words found in Matthew 28:19 (“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit …”).  Beginning with that event a movement began that was referred to as “The Oneness Movement.”  The basic doctrine of this movement teaches that unless one has been saved and consequently baptized in “The Name of Jesus” then receives the Holy Spirit that they are not truly saved and ready for Heaven.

            On the other side of the extreme are those who claim that God is three separate beings, namely God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Son and The Holy Spirit.  From this some have determined that Christians serve three Gods and not one. 

            As with all things, there is truth on both sides and there is fallacy on both sides.  The battle is really just another distraction of the devil to redirect us from the beautiful truth of God.  Many times, he takes a simple, and wonderful teaching of scripture and twists it in ways that cause division and takes us away from the truth that sets us free.  It has been done with baptism, with the teaching of the infilling of the Holy Spirit and with the topic of the Trinity verses Oneness.

            In the last article we established that the words spoken when a person is baptized are really just words.  The act of baptism simply gets us wet.  It is the symbolic example of baptism that makes all the difference.  Baptism is a representation and a public testimony that we have died with Christ, been buried with Him, then resurrected with Him in a new creation of life.  Jesus spoke the words of being baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  In other articles we have taught that doing something in the name of a country or person in essence means that we are doing it by their granted permission and authority.  This being the case, Jesus was telling us that we go to all nations and baptism them by the authority of God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit.  In the book of Acts Peter was saying that we are baptized by the authority of Jesus Christ.  And so, we do.  Jesus said so in Matthew 28:19. Therefore, when we baptize, whether it is in the name of Jesus or in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we are saying the same thing – basically we are baptizing by the authority of Heaven.

            The first thing those promoting the Oneness gospel will tell you is that that word “Trinity” is nowhere to be found in the Bible.  And they are correct.  The word is not there.  The Bible doesn’t teach a trinity, nor does it teach a oneness.  It teaches of God – that He is one God and that He is made up of three important parts of His existence.

            First of all, let’s demonstrate the three parts of One God.  The most obvious example is the baptism of Jesus.  This incident is found in all four Gospels.  John emphasizes Him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world because God had showed him that upon the one he saw the Holy Spirit descending would be the Messiah.  Jesus was that person.  The other Gospels tell us that Jesus was baptized, that God spoke from Heaven and that the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon Jesus.  All three parts of God were present that day.

            Perhaps we’ll never completely understand God until we get to Heaven and He truly reveals Himself to us.  In fact, I’m certain of that.  We’ve used many examples to demonstrate the triune God.  The most used is that of water that can exist in liquid, ice, or steam.  The Irish used the shamrock because it is a single-stemmed plant that extends to three distinct leaves.

            However, the true example of God is found within our own selves.  You see, we are told that we were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27 and Genesis 9:6).  Consequently, we have three parts just like God.  We have a body, a soul, and a spirit which truly makes us in the image of God.  The difference is that all parts of us on this earth must always remain as one.  When we die our soul (which is our life) continues to exist in our spirit until the day that we are reunited with a new, glorified body.  The difference between us and God is that God can separate His three manifestations.  God is the eternal being, Jesus is the bodily form and the Holy Spirit is the spiritual form. 

            Will we see three or just one when we get to Heaven.  We are not told.  But I believe that it will depend on what God wants to do.  And that’s the whole bottom line of the subject.  No matter what man may teach, regardless the proof we bring up, whether we argue about it or not, and who may really be right, God is God.  He can do whatever He wants.  If He wants to make us look foolish in our supposed knowledge then He can.  And quite often that is the case.  In our ever-arguing disagreeing teachings, we will ultimately be found by God with our big foot in our mouth.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.?  Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.