The significance of oneness, as opposed to Trinity

As one of the Ten Commandments, The Almighty God stated that the Israelites were to have no other gods before Him. The context was designed to draw their attention to the oneness of God (Exodus 20:3). This was particularly projected as prelude to the Greatest Commandment—leading to the codification of what is commonly known as the Old Covenant:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) (ESV).

As coming from the Creator of all things, these words ought to be treated as Law—not to be changed, willy-nilly. The violation of God’s Laws was the main instigator of Israel’s troubles. But, given as prelude to the rest of the Commandments, the oneness of God appears as overriding everything.

The starting point is to appreciate the fact that God is Spirit, not to be examined according to dimension, weight, measurement, or viewed by physical eyes. The Spirit can also not be imagined or likened to anything in the physical universe.  Yet the term spirit can cause some confusion, without adequate understanding. This is just as Satan is also spirit.

Therefore, the spirit world is codified in two forces—the Holy Spirit (God) and the evil spirit (Satan). These two spiritual forces are opposed, one to the other. Without these two contradictory forces, nothing else exists. Of the two spiritual forces, Satan does not claim being one, as God declares Himself as one.

In Satan you have variants of demonic spirits, which can be classified discordantly, as emanating from the devil. The nature of Satan is derived in confusion. The anatomy of confusion is randomness, where nothing is predictable in behaviour and nature. With confusion, you have many particles existing without sequential cohesion.

The opposite of this phenomenon is order, represented in the Holy Spirit (God). There is no division in order, but there is harmony, co-operation and understanding. Everything exists, not for its own, but for supporting the other components. A good example that can be cited, as typifying oneness, is the physical body, whether of a human being or any other living organism.

A hand is not a foot. An eye is not an ear. A stomach is not a mouth. Yet these physical body parts represent one structure—a physical human being. A person not possessing the full complement of these physical components is said to be crippled—therefore being abnormal. While possessing different body parts, with different functional autonomy, none can claim to be independent of the others.

Christiano Ronaldo is a world renowned footballer. I do not know which of his two feet, particularly makes him a genius. No-one cares about which limb of his body makes him a genius, except that Ronaldo is a world-class footballer. His fans do not necessarily think about his two feet that kick the ball, but his entire personality.

His feet cannot even be considered as more important than the other parts of his body. This is just as Ronaldo would not be able to play football, when blind, or having a heart problem. The possibility of inconsistent functionality of any of those body limbs, implies abnormality. Anything said to be abnormal, therefore, points to what characterizes the demonic spirit—Satan’s kingdom.

However, both the Holy Spirit and the demonic spirit cannot be likened to anything seen in the physical universe. These are simply portrayed in the behaviour and quality of what is observed in the physical universe. We can see the orderly functions of the human body, but we cannot see the one responsible for such orderly function. We can also see the effects of a tribal war, but we cannot see the demonic spirit (Satan) causing that tribal war.

For instance, what causes tribal wars may just be linguistic differences or culture. People might have similar aspirations and structurally look alike. But as long as promoting what divides them tribally, they are susceptible to being involved in tribal war. Having discovered the datum that division causes conflict—characterized in confusion—Satan is therefore the author of all confusion.

The derivation of unity is projected in oneness. Anything can be as normal as observed in projecting natural oneness. And anything can be as abnormal as disunited in different fragmentations. All this can easily be observed when following scientific law patterns.

That which causes co-ordination of different functions to co-operate in cohesion, is the Holy Spirit (God). This is, as has been given in the example of a human body. Yet that which causes different functions to be uncooperative and disunited is the demonic spirit (Satan).

A person can be as cooperative as causing unity and harmony, whose maximum quality is oneness. And yet a person can be as uncooperative as causing division, of which the maximum degeneration is the unlimited number of parts. Therefore, God’s declaration of being one, is not idle. It represents a principle of highest order, just as multiplicity represents a principle of deranged confusion.

Though created in God’s image, human beings, lost that privilege at the Garden of Eden. A human being is also a spirit, as created in God’s image. Having lost that privilege, humanity fell victim to a demonic spirit (Satan).

As representing confusion, Satan took advantage of humanity, ever since. As a result, humanity has been groping in darkness—represented in confusion. Humanity is currently confused—as unaware of the principle of oneness. Though possibly conscious of the existence of demonic force known as Satan.

Surprisingly, while most Christians are conscious of the existence of Satan, as opposed to God, they cannot avoid Satan’s cunning schemes. Christians love God and assume that they pray to Him on day-to-day basis. They are unable to distinguish which God they pray to—due to inability to appreciate God’s oneness.

The god they pray to, may be the god of multiplicity, not the God who is represented in oneness—hence Trinity appeals to them. God is represented in oneness, while Satan is represented in anything that is more than one. In the doctrine of Trinity, how does the problem arise?

Theology is assumed as used in determining how close to God a Christian can be. But Theology serves to draw a Christian further away from God’s oneness. Unknown to many Christians—Theology promotes division, instead of promoting unity. Terms like heresy—to describe those not having accessed the assumed privileged knowledge—imply another aspect of causing division.

Theology promotes comparisons between those assumed to know and those assumed to be ignorant. Division is derived—when seeking to determine who is more superior to the rest. This is opposed to co-operation, which seeks to understand another person, before addressing what negatively affects him/her. Logically, such behaviour leads towards solving problems. Preoccupation with understanding and cooperation, is what promotes unity, instead of division.

Oneness is possible, only when taking responsibility to address what negatively affects another person. In other words, all problems of humanity, become the enlightened person’s responsibility. Under those circumstances, there cannot be any division or bickering. Instead, there would be co-operation and unity—as the ignorant ones, eventually value knowledge, from the enlightened ones.

There is an aspect of God being our Father, because we were created in God’s image. Jesus came to show us the way to the Father—being the Almighty God, whose attribute is oneness. Jesus declared Himself as being the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). There is need for us to first analyse the significance of Jesus, as the way, truth and life:

1. If Jesus is the way, He obviously is leading us somewhere. The question is; where is He leading us to? The answer is in that Jesus leads us to the Father—known to be the only one and there being no other. This is opposed to Christ leading us to Himself. We would not be reunited with our Father—the only God who created everything—without the leadership principle of Jesus.

2. If Jesus is truth, it certainly would not be necessary for anyone to speculate or try other opinions. What Jesus said about the oneness of the only Father can therefore not be examined against any other opinion. Everything that Jesus said should, therefore, be taken as stable data.

3. If Jesus is life, therefore, in Jesus we have life that we lost at the Garden of Eden. As second Adam, Jesus represents what it takes for the replacement of life that was lost through our ancestors, Adam and Eve. The Almighty God had declared to Adam: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17) (ESV). Since Adam, life could not be achievable for humanity, until Jesus came, representing methods leading to it. As second Adam, Jesus displays what ought to have been the behaviour of humanity.

As the only way to the Father, Jesus instructed His disciples—inferring oneness of God—as codified with the Israelites: “And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven” (Matthew 23:9) (ESV).

All this flies in the face of those, all along declaring God, not as one, but as three in one. Those unable to identify God as Trinity are classified as heretics. Accordingly, many people, desiring to impress—cannot avoid adopting Trinity. But that is exactly what promotes divisions, as known to exist in Christianity.

Such developments come from the spirit of confusion, rather than from the spirit of truth—represented in the only God of the universe. As to how many Christian groupings there are in the world, and how many more splinter groups are emerging, is anyone’s guess. But the truth remains in that God—as represented in oneness—is not involved in such confusions.

Truth remains in that the one and only God used a Man called Jesus, to assist those desiring to come out of confusion. In Jesus, we have the one and only God, whose attribute is oneness—dwelling in a human body. This is not my personal opinion, but it comes straight from the Bible:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) (ESV).

Jesus was the first human being ever, with a deposit of the Holy Spirit that enables Him to truly become God’s Son. But Jesus was only leading the way, in the sequential process, necessary for any human being to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (See Matthew 3:13-17 & Acts 2:37-38). The Holy Spirit represents the one and only God—at last, being able to dwell in a person. This enables the attributes of Godliness in that person—thereby breaking the impasse that had remained since Adam.

The oneness of God is different from a declaration of one party state, for instance. The declaration of a one party state enforces oneness where there is no oneness. In other words, the declaration of a one party state seeks to achieve unity, artificially, which potentially produces the opposite of coherently achieved unity. This is why Jesus will never force anyone to join His Church.

That unity is Godly, in that it encourages spontaneous co-operation, but promoting the will of the other person, ahead of its own. It projects God’s mind, attainable through the deposit of the Holy Spirit, in the person involved.

If every Christian appreciated the process—as following the example of Jesus in every detail—only one Christian Church would exist. The prescription of true Christianity is only found in Jesus. See [Influence is method, not witnessing].

Theologians have come up with the doctrine of Trinity—which removes Jesus from humanity—producing a Triune God formula. That Triune God formula is obviously different from the God of Israel. It recognizes Theologians who came up with that formula, ahead of Jesus Himself. Hence, we have the deplorable confusion in Christianity. See [The doctrine of Trinity is not revelation].

The oneness of God displays the type of Love that is not self-seeking (1 Corinthians 13:5). It encourages obsession with interests of other people, than own interests. This is why many people get baffled when realizing that Jesus taught in parables, so as not to attract artificial followers (Mark 4:10-12). No-one could truly follow Jesus, without following due process as recommended by Jesus Himself (Luke 14:25-33).

This is why Jesus was adamant in building only one Church, against which, the gates of hell would not prevail. (Matthew 16:18). That Church projects the oneness of God. Thereby, being a Church that is different from a Church that projects Threeness in God.

The Church that Jesus founded is easily discovered, when obsessed in interests of other people, ahead of own interests. The members of that Church are not scared of death, when desiring to address the problems of other people. Like Jesus, they are prepared to die, for what they consider to be honest cause of their objectives.

True Christians love God more than themselves, as the mind of God freely flows in their personalities. Their behaviour is not different from Jesus, who also allowed the mind of God to freely flow in His mind. Trinitarians seek to idolize Jesus, without realizing that Jesus is not different from His brothers in their midst. See [Christianity can be defined in one word: Altruism].

By word of mouth, they declare loving Jesus, but their deeds project the opposite. All this is out of ignorance which is mistaken for knowledge. They remain blind to the truth, especially when supposing it as coming from those they despise. See [By rejecting the child born, they became antichrists]

Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing reliefs to those having witnessed strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social decay. In a simple conversational tone, most Zimbabweans should find the book as a long awaited providential oasis of hope.

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