1. Core Old Testament witness: one God
– Deuteronomy 6:4
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”
“Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me… I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.”
– Isaiah 44:6
“I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”
– Isaiah 45:5
“I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God.”
Mapping:
One LORD. One God. No other gods. No second or third deity introduced anywhere.
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2. New Testament: one God, one Lord, one Spirit, one baptism
– Ephesians 4:4–6
“There is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all…”
– 1 Corinthians 8:4–6
“There is no God but one… for us there is one God, the Father… and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things…”
– 1 Timothy 2:5
“There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Mapping:
New Testament never moves to “three Gods” or “three Spirits”. It preserves one God, one Lord, one Spirit, one baptism.
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3. Jesus as God, before Abraham, Creator of all
– John 1:1–3, 14
– “In the beginning was the Word”
– “The Word was with God”
– “The Word was God”
– “All things were made through Him”
– “The Word became flesh”
– John 8:58
“Before Abraham was, I AM.”
– Colossians 1:15–17
“By Him all things were created… He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
– Hebrews 1:3, 8
– He is “the exact imprint” of God’s nature.
– The Father says of the Son: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.”
Mapping:
Jesus is:
– Before Abraham
– Before creation
– The Word who was God
– The Creator of all things
– Addressed as God by the Father
So He is not a lesser being; He fully shares the identity of the one God of Israel.
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4. The Spirit as the Lord, the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of Christ
– 2 Corinthians 3:17
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
– Romans 8:9–11
– “The Spirit of God”
– “The Spirit of Christ”
– “Christ in you”
– Galatians 4:6
“God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.”
– Matthew 10:20
“It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
Mapping:
The same Spirit is:
– Spirit of God (the Father)
– Spirit of Christ (the Son)
– Called “the Lord”
One Spirit shared, not many spirits.
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5. “I and the Father are one”; “He who has seen Me has seen the Father”
– John 10:30
“I and the Father are one.”
– John 14:7–11
“Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father… I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.”
– John 5:18–23
The Jews understand He is “making Himself equal with God”; the Father gives all judgment to the Son “that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.”
6. Father, Son, and Spirit together, yet one God
– Matthew 28:19
“Baptizing them in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
– John 14:16–23
– The Father sends another Helper, the Spirit
– Jesus says He will come
– “We will come to him and make our home with him”
– 2 Corinthians 13:14
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Mapping:
Scripture holds together:
– One name
– One God
– One Spirit
– Yet Father, Son, and Spirit all active and present.
“There is one God, the LORD, and no other. Jesus is the eternal Word who was with God and was God, before Abraham and before creation, through whom all things were made. He and the Father are one; to see Him is to see the Father. The Spirit is the Lord, the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, God’s own presence in us. There is one God, one Lord, one Spirit, one baptism. Father, Son, and Spirit are never three gods or three spirits, but the one God of Scripture revealing, giving, and indwelling Himself.”
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