The history of some of the great Pentecostal denominations in America include a sordid tale of division and separation of brothers from brothers by the argument of whether God is one, or God is three-in-one. God himself only knows how much damage that argument did, and has done. To argue over the exact make-up of God assumes that you know and understand, perfectly, the exact make-up of God. And, that is Silly, with a capital "S". For me, I really think I could preach convincingly the "oneness" of God, then with the next sermon preach convincingly "God is three in one", and then, after everyone soaks in confusion for a while, preach a very convincing sermon that God is "two in one". I can back any of these positions with lots of Scriptures. But, is there a point to it?
To me, such an argument is a devil's device. It splits, it divides, it destroys and the end accomplishes very little. So, you believe in the oneness? So, you believe in the threeness? Are you any more saved, any more blessed, any more further along because you think you have God completely figured out? Nah! That satisfaction you are feeling, having staked out the right position, is pride sneaking up on you and you haven't recognized it yet. This is an argument that should never have happened because whatever position you think is right, is still an incomplete position. None of us on earth, can completely understand or explain God, whose ways are past finding out. And, if your position is incomplete, if you can't fully explain your concept of God, then you should not commit yourself to arguing about incomplete knowledge.
For me, I lean toward the trinity but you know, I would never argue about it, or at least, I don't want to. For me, those who I believe have got it right (concerning God), are not those staked out on the oneness side or those on the three-ness side. It is those who totally embrace God, as He is, right now, in real time, present form. That is the Holy Ghost! According to Jesus, "God is a spirit" and those who worship Him must worship Him in that form. When we worship God as He is making HImself known to us, wonderful things happen. When Jesus came, God manifesting in the flesh, those who embraced Him were blessed. Those who did not, were robbed. When God is embraced, as He is, He becomes wonderfully real, upfront, close and personal. One thing I have noticed about "oneness" folks, just by listening their music, which I love, they seem to really commit to God as He is right now - as Spirit. On the other hand, trinity folks say they believe in the Holy Spirit, third person of the trinity as they say, yet, set about to ignore the Spirit and turn their worship to the part of the trinity that is not present, not here in real time and in present form. So, while their concept of God might be correct, they lost the battle anyway. I wonder what value it is to worship God in far-off heaven while ignoring God here among us? What value is it to worship a concept of God and miss the fellowship of the manifested presence of God? NONE! This was the pit the Pharisees fell into. They clung feverishly to God in heaven and ignored God walking among them.
If you read the Bible, you can find God manifesting in different ways. He is seen as a great creator, Almighty God, a cool wind by day, a fire by night, a serpent on a pole, a Father, a Spirit, a man on a cross, etc. Stake out any concept you like, but if that is not the way He is now, you have missed the mark. To Israel in the wilderness, He was a warming fire by night and a cooling wind by day. Can you see them, congregating outside their tents angrily shouting at each other, arguing over whether He was the wind, or whether He was the fire? The day people (those who think He is the wind) would be convinced they had pegged God correctly, and the night people (those who think He is the fire) would be equally devoted to their correct defining of God. If they behaved like us, the day people would probably only move by day, following their perceived true wind-God and the night people would only move by night, following their perceived true fire-God. Who knows? Maybe there were doing this which is why it took forty years to walk what should have been walked in a couple of weeks. Well, maybe not, if they had fell into such division they would still be circling in the desert. They would probably be known now as the "Circle Nation", and only make right hand turns no matter where they go.
Dear friend, you can believe in either the one, or three-in-one God but what matters most is do you embrace Him as He is right now, where you are, where you live, where you worship? That is the argument that matters. Jesus put it this way; you can say anything bad about Him or the Father, but to blaspheme the Holy Ghost is to risk hell. Why such an extreme position? That is precisely the point! How do you relate to God as He is now? That matters. "God is a Spirit". Do you know, do you have, do you listen to, do you walk with God as He is now, the wonderful Holy Ghost? When Jesus walked on earth, He made it clear that no one could come to the Father except through Him. Why? Because Jesus, God in the flesh, was how God was manifesting at that time.
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