I got an email today from someone having a problem with a page I wrote titled He who comes to God must believe that He is.
This is what he wrote:
it all started out so good but, how do you get “And these three are one, and are each one, God” ? how do you deal with these scriptures: 1.here o israel the lord thy god is one lord.: 2. one lord one faith and one baptism.:3. one god and father of all.:4 and his name shall be called wonderful……….everlasting father.5.god is spirit and they that worship him must do so in spirit and in truth. my point is i do believe that you must first believe that god is but after you need to seek god for the understanding of who is. i know that some say the trinity is mystery but it’s one that we should not even have to try to solve because to understand the oneness of god is to truly learn of gods’ love. he said he looked for a man and could not find one so his own arm has gotten him this salvation. no greater love than this that a man would lay down his life for his friend. we know god is not a man but he took upon himself the form of a servant and humbled himself even to death on the cross. isaiah writes i even i am he and besides me there is no savior. i conclude that trinity makes no sense at all and to believe in one would cause us to question who is the father of jesus the holy ghost that overshadowed mary or the father that said this is my beloved son in whom i’m well pleased.
Here was my response:
Thanks for writing. I read your email with interest. The scriptures you have used below are all valid. I will not dispute with you what they mean. A simple reading explains what each of those references mean. I accept what they say.
In my page that you read I also use scriptures. I will honestly expect you to read them with the same determination you used when pointing out your own scriptures. I have laid out for you the scriptures themselves and then I go further and point out to you what they mean to me. The conclusion I wrote about is the one that I believe is right.
Does this mean that I think you are wrong? No, not according to the scriptures you have used. The question then becomes; “what of the scriptures that Joe quotes?” In the beginning was the Word etc… is John’s way of saying that the Jesus he saw in the flesh is the same person who said… “let there be light” in Genesis.
The question you need to ask yourself is, “do I use all the scriptures to understand what God says about himself?” I know this is a hard question to honestly answer. I have struggled through years of searching to understand “the mystery.” There came a point for me when I had to simply believe what the scriptures revealed… all of them… and accept that your core statement “hear O Israel, the Lord is One” and one of mine “in the beginning… the Word was God” and “became flesh.” Do they seem at odds with each other? Of course they do. Does that mean one or the other is wrong? No, they are both right.
I would like you to know the Jesus that I know. That comes from revelation. Not because I am smart or clever or specially holy, I am not, it comes from God the Father. I needed to stretch “my faith” to accept what the bible declares. Read my page again and then pray.
Like the scriptures say, “God is the rewarder of those that diligently seek him” (which is the next page in the series).
May God bless your continued search for the truth… wherever He may lead you.
I am interested in knowing what you think on the subject. Ahem… play nice (as Patti says).