The Oneness of God

I am often asked to explain why I believe that God is ONE as opposed to a “trinity”. Let me start by saying that I understand full well that nearly all of Christianity agrees that the Godhead is three “persons” in one - namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But my question to you is this: by the very definition of the word, IS God really three “PERSONS” in One? Or, has The Father in fact manifested HIMSELF in the ONE PERSON of Jesus Christ, who is also referred to as the Spirit of Truth? You cannot ask the question, if you are not willing to listen to the answer. So, if you will allow me, I will tell you what I, along with countless others, have come to know in our hearts. . .according to the Spirit of the Scriptures.

First of all, and just so we are clear on this point. . .Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “person” as: A HUMAN, AN INDIVIDUAL, THE PERSONALITY OF A HUMAN BEING (SELF). I say this because we can’t assign words to the Spirit that simply are not true. First and foremost, God is Spirit. Therefore, we need to say what we mean, and mean what we say. If you say there are three “persons” in the Godhead, but two of those “persons” are Spirit, then your statement cannot be true. And, not only that, but you diminish the beauty of what The Father has actually done in the earth through the One Person of Jesus Christ.

Below is a list of the Hebrew and Greek words from the Strong’s Concordance that have been translated “person”.

  • H120 - אָדַם (ʼâdam) meaning: MAN, MANKIND, HUMAN BEING

  • H326 - אִישׁ (ʼîysh) meaning: MAN, MALE, HUSBAND

  • H5315 - נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh) meaning: THAT WHICH BREATHES, LIVING BEING (with life in the blood), A BREATHING CREATURE (i.e., animal), BEAST

  • H6440 - פָּנִים (pânîym) meaning: FACE, PRESENCE, COUNTENANCE, PERSON

  • G4383 - πρόσωπον (prosopon) meaning: THE FACE, FRONT OF THE HUMAN HEAD, VISAGE

  • G5287 - ὑπόστασις (hupŏstasis) meaning: CONFIDENCE (as a setting under), SUPPORT (translated “person” only one time in the New Testament and, according to the root words, it means: A STANDING - something that is already established, or someone that is made to stand in the presence of others, in the midst, before judges, before members of the Sanhedrin - AS IN A COURT OF LAW. In other words, a PROPITUATION, or MEDIATOR.)

Thus we have a better understanding of Hebrews 1:3, “Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His PERSON (STANDING IN THE COURT OF LAW), and UPHOLDING ALL THINGS by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

“And He is the PROPITUATION for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).

From this vantage point, let us now find out who the PERSON of Jesus Christ is!

God is Spirit

In the Book of John chapter 4, the woman at the well has questioned Jesus’ authority to give her living water, and tested Him as to the proper place for worshipping God. In reply to her subtle accusations, Jesus said, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father IN SPIRIT and TRUTH; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (NKJV) The problem is, people have great difficulty understanding the concept of “Spirit”. This is precisely why the Father has manifested Himself in the PERSON of Jesus Christ - so that we might see Him, and to know what He is like. The only begotten Son is not a separate “person” or “personality” of a trinity, He is THE FATHER REVEALING HIMSELF to us in the BODY of a Man - THE PERSON Jesus Christ!

J Preston Eby writes, “In other words, the Father has been made PERSONAL to us “in the face of Jesus Christ!” And, in this personification - the embodiment of God Himself - THAT One who walked the earth nearly 2,000 years ago was none other than the Living God, the Creator who emptied Himself and humbled Himself and came into this world in the form of a Man called Immanuel, GOD WITH US. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). [And, if any man be IN CHRIST, he is likewise IN THE FATHER, and the Father IN HE.] As it is written, “There is ONE body, and ONE Spirit, even as ye are called in ONE hope of your calling; ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ONE God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).

It is incredible to us how the Father identified Himself with humanity: living where we live, feeling what we feel, experiencing what we experience. THIS is the humility of God, the servantship of God, the priesthood of God. "Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto HIS BRETHREN, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. . .for in that HE HIMSELF has suffered being tempted, He is able to succour (comfort, help, bring aid to) them that are tempted" (Hebrews 2:17-18). "For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).

The incarnation was God limiting HIMSELF to a human, physical body just like man has - with all its appetites, emotions, possibilities of suffering hunger, weakness, and death. In the person of Jesus Christ, God [the Father] demonstrated the character, the life, the love and the power of God on a human level. Jesus could not fly, He could not see further than anyone else, He could not run faster than anyone else. Jesus got tired, He got tempted, He got hungry, He got thirsty, just like anyone else! God, in Him, learned to crawl, He learned to walk, He learned a language, and His mind had to increase in knowledge, just like anyone else! IN Jesus Christ we have the perfect expression of God. [“For in Him we live, and move, and have our being. . .For we are also HIS OFFSPRING” (Acts 17:28).] Humility, self-abasement, serving, laying down OUR LIVES so that it may be POURED OUT to others - these are the very principles of the Kingdom of God! "Whosoever therefore shall HUMBLE HIMSELF as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18:4), and again, "But he that is greatest among you shall be your SERVANT. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be ABASED; and he that shall HUMBLE HIMSELF shall be exalted" (Mathew 23:11-12).

To put it in the simplest of terms, it was GOD HIMSELF who invaded humanity! He took upon Himself human nature and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for thirty three and a half years lived, He walked, slept and died in that body - all while manifesting God in the scope of humanity. He was mocked, persecuted, hated, spit upon, His back beaten, His brow crowned with thorns, His hands and feet nailed to a cross, His side pierced, and yet. . .as He was there dying on the cross, GOD [THE FATHER] WAS LIVING AND MANIFESTING IN THE CHRIST, reconciling the world unto Himself!

Do you see what He did? The Father was making it possible for Himself to be AT HOME in human bodies! "The tabernacle of God is with MEN" (Revelation 21:3). . .NOT with angels, but WITH MEN. "And THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten [LIVING WORD] of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). What this means is that GOD can, by His Spirit - JESUS can, by His Spirit - come in and live in these human bodies of ours so that we might grow up in the fullness of His nature, His mind, and His power that is living in us, loving in us, and manifesting Himself in us UNTIL WITH CHRIST WE CAN SAY, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father; I and the Father are one." [Hallelujah!!!] The great and mighty God of the universe who created all things, could not have remained “high and lifted up” in the heavens (the realm of the Spirit). He had NO CHOICE but to come down and show Himself as He really is: meek, and lowly, and compassionate. God's dwelling place is within us by His Spirit - the same Spirit of the One WHO HAS LIVED OUT GOD'S LIFE IN THE FLESH. This is NOT the God in heaven who CAN do it, but the God who HAS done it.” - End Quote

And. . .“The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a MAN, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto Him. . .And many more believed because of His own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: FOR WE HAVE HEARD HIM FOR OURSELVES, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”

The Divinity of Jesus

As believers in the Oneness of God, we are often asked to explain how Jesus, a Divine Person, could pray IN HIS DIVINITY to the Father without undeifying Himself. The Trinitarian explanation of John 17 is that we find one Divine Person praying to another Divine Person. However, what WE see in John 17 is Christ’s HUMANITY praying to His DIVINITY! In His human nature, Jesus prayed to His Divine nature. If Jesus had a dual nature (both God and man), why should we think it impossible for Him to have performed a dual role in prayer? Why should we think it strange for His human nature to call out to His Divine nature? “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you ANOTHER Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the SPIRIT OF TRUTH; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth WITH you (as Jesus Christ in the flesh), and shall be IN you (as Jesus Christ the Spirit).” He then adds with unmistakable clarity, “I will not leave you comfortless: I WILL COME UNTO YOU” (John 14:16-18). “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. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three [dare I say “titles”] are ONE. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water [the Word], and the blood [of Christ]: and these three agree in one” (1 John 5:6-8). How many Spirit’s did Paul say there are? Can we not see that the Comforter (Holy Spirit) IS NOT a separate “person”, or “personality” from Christ, but THE VERY SAME CHRIST that was standing there before His disciples?!

Friends, there is only ONE Divine Nature. With God, thought, word, and action are all ONE. This is the essence of TRUTH. Jesus is the very thought, word, and action of God carried out in the flesh! He is the Way, He is the Truth, He is the Life! It’s the same thing we see in Matthew 3:16 & 17 when Jesus was baptized and the “heavens opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him. And lo a voice came from heaven, saying, This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Here we see the thought, word, and action of God on display as the Divine Nature of Jesus spoke over His Human form, by the Spirit of God. And yet, after His resurrection, ascension, and enthronement in the heavenly realm do we not see how Jesus retains His identity as that Man! Hear the testimony of scripture: “For there is ONE God, and ONE mediator between God and men, THE MAN Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 2:5). “And they truly were many priests (under the law), because they were not suffered to continue BY REASON OF DEATH: BUT this Man (Jesus), because He continueth (for)ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is also able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:23-25). “For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this Man have somewhat also to offer. For if He were on earth, He should NOT be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law. . .but NOW THAT HE HATH OBTAINED A MORE EXCELLENT MINISTRY. . .He is the MEDIATOR OF A BETTER COVENANT” (Hebrews 8:3-4,6). “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second Man is the Lord from heaven” (I Corinthians 15:47). Oh, yes! There is a MAN in the realm of the Spirit that is not measured by human standards, but according to the righteousness of God the dwelleth in Him!

This raises an interesting question that I would ask you to earnestly consider. In Matthew 28:19, the disciples are commanded, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them IN THE NAME OF the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost". The problem is, these are all “titles”. None of them are a NAME. Yet, it is with this very phrase that the majority of Christianity is baptized - even when every place that baptism is mentioned in the Bible it is performed IN THE NAME OF JESUS! So why, then, do we not follow the pattern set forth in the Scriptures? It’s called TRADITION - the very thing that Jesus came to BREAK!

So then, let us ask the Scriptures:

  • What is the name of the Father? The answer: YEHOVAH, or YAH (Psalm 68:4)

  • What is the name of the Son? The Answer: JESUS, or in the original Hebrew language YEHOSHUA, which is a conjunction of the name YEHOVAH and the word YOSHIA, meaning “savior”. YEHOSHUA (or, Yeshua) literally means YEHOVAH IS SALVATION.

  • What is the name of the Holy Ghost?

And therein lies the problem with the idea of a “trinity”! There is no name given to the Holy Ghost BECAUSE THE HOLY GHOST IS JESUS!! And, Jesus IS THE FATHER!! Peter tells us in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is NONE OTHER NAME under heaven (the realm of the Spirit) given among men, whereby we must be saved.” That is, the name of JESUS (Yehoshuah). Therefore Paul adds in 1 Corinthians 1:13-15, “Is Christ divided? was PAUL crucified for you? or were ye baptized IN THE NAME OF PAUL? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized IN MINE OWN NAME.” And hear the words of John the Baptist, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: HE shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matthew 3:11).‍ ‍And Peter, speaking to the multitude said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). Jesus is that gift!

“Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from the servant, though he be the lord of all; but under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, TO REDEEM THEM that were under the law, that WE might receive the adoption of SONS.  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit OF HIS SON into your hearts crying ‘Abba, Father’.  Wherefore thou art no more a servant [of the law/the slave woman], but a SON [of God/the free woman]; and if a son, then an heir of God through Jesus Christ.”  (Galatians 4:1-7

Even Zechariah prophesied about the Oneness of God, saying, “And the Lord shall be KING over all the earth: in that day shall there be ONE LORD (Yehovah), AND HIS NAME (HaShem) ONE. . .” (Zechariah 14:9). And from the lips of Jesus Himself comes these beautiful words, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God (which is Christ Jesus), and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name (HaShem) of My God, and the name of the City of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God: and I will write upon him MY NEW NAME” (Rev. 3:12).

King Jesus, the Lord of Glory

As J Preston Eby has so wonderfully noted, “The apostle Paul wrote about the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus saying, “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified THE LORD OF GLORY” (I Corinthians 2:8). Whom did Paul say they crucified? THE LORD OF GLORY! This is quite different from what Pontius Pilate said, “behold the man!” (John 19:5). As far as Pilate was concerned he was committing a MAN to be crucified. A good man. . .maybe the best man he had ever met, but still, a MAN. There can be absolutely NO DOUBT about the humanity of the One who was delivered into the hands of Pilate to die, yet Paul maintains that this same Man was THE LORD OF GLORY! And, speaking through the Spirit, the Psalmist has given us the identity of this Lord: “Who is the King of glory? The LORD (Yehovah) strong and mighty, the LORD (Yehovah) mighty in battle” (Psalm 24:8). Within this statement is an incredible and profound thought: The Man who was put to death in weakness was the Lord God Almighty, YEHOVAH! “GREAT IS THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS; GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH. . .BELIEVED ON IN THE WORLD, RECEIVED UP INTO GLORY” (I Timothy 3:16).”

Therefore, you must not ask us to explain to you how that Person hanging on the Cross of Calvary, writhing in the pangs of death, happened to be the Lord of Glory and the Lord of Life. It simply cannot be explained, though we believe it with all of our hearts!! Our life in Christ is not “in realtion to” Christ, but “in union with” Him. We do not live “with” Jesus as if He is sitting across from us knee to knee, but co-exist in the same oneness with the Father that Christ did, “I and my Father are One,” and “when you see me, you see the the Father” (John 17:11, 20-23). Paul aptly describes our oneness of Spirit in 1 Corinthians 6:17, saying, “But he that is joined unto the Lord is ONE SPIRIT.” This passage is speaking about becoming “one flesh” in the act of fornication, but aptly portrays ones spiritual union with either the spirit of error, or the Spirit of Christ. Therefore did Paul preach and teach, “I am crucified with Christ, so that I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live is the Life of the Son by His faith”. . .“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Everything you find on this website stems fom this one central truth. . .Christ Jesus, dividing to every man severally as He will, is the Same Person and the Same Spirit, operating in different gifts through His One Body, unto a Perfect Man.

Can you see the mystery?

With the love of Christ Jesus,

Julie Hogan

September 6th, 2026

Made In His Image

The articles on this website are made available at no cost.  God’s way is, “. . .Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8). As members of Christ’s Body, we do not have anything to sell, nor do we rely on donations.  We trust God to lay it upon the hearts of those He chooses to provide the means for publishing these studies.  God bless!