Teaching 02 · 3 of 11 · The foundation
The God who comes near is not one deity among many. Scripture reveals one Creator, one Lord, and one God who shares His glory with no rival. Everything that follows must preserve this foundation even as Scripture reveals the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Scripture’s confession is that there is one God—not a group of gods or a divine being divided into parts. The word one establishes God’s uniqueness and undivided unity, but it does not, by itself, answer every question about personal distinction. Those questions must be answered by the rest of Scripture without weakening this foundation.
; ;The word one tells us that there is only one God. It does not, by itself, tell us that God must be only one person. We must let the rest of Scripture show us who this one God is. Even in ordinary biblical language, one does not always mean one person: Scripture calls a husband and wife ‘one flesh’ while keeping them personally distinct. This comparison does not explain how God exists, but it does establish one important point: real distinction does not automatically mean division or more than one God.
;Husband and wife remain two human beings whose union begins in time and can be physically divided. Their union can show that oneness does not always erase distinction, but it cannot serve as a model for God’s life. Scripture itself—not the comparison—must determine how we understand the one God.
Perfect agreement alone could never turn several beings into one God. Scripture’s claim is therefore stronger than cooperation: God is uniquely and indivisibly one. As the following pages examine the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, every distinction must be understood without turning them into independent divine beings or weakening this confession.
; ; ; ;The one God who made us is the God who loves us: the Father sends, the Son—Jesus Christ—comes, and the Holy Spirit brings us near without ever dividing the one undivided God.
Read the passages closely