After a meeting, Sister Yang and I were on the way home. There were many flowers in full bloom in the grass by the road and on the branches of the trees, and each of them was vying to be the most beautiful. The fragrance of the blossoms assailed my nose. It was really a fine view. However, I, hanging my head and walking slowly, didn’t have the heart to enjoy it. Sister Yang saw there was something bothering me and thereupon asked me with concern: “Sister Li, what’s wrong with you?” I looked up and said: “Ah, at the end of every meeting, we sing “Doxology” to praise the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but I didn’t find this saying of the ‘Triune God’ in the Bible. Is God truly triune? I feel very confused about the subject.”

She said to me with a smile: “Oh, so that’s it. Actually, I also felt confused about it. It was several days ago when I met a friend I had not seen for many years that my confusion was finally released.”

“Please quickly tell me this. I’m dying to know it.” I said eagerly to her.

She continued saying: “In AD 300s, the religious leaders from different countries once argued fiercely about God’s unicity and multiplicity in the Council of Nicaea; eventually, according to man’s imagination and logic, the saying of the ‘Triune God’ was established. From then on, this concept was passed down. Sister Li, from this we can see the ‘Triune God’ was established by man and was completely out of man’s will. This wasn’t spoken by prophets, nor was it said by God, much less was it revealed by the Holy Spirit.”

I listened thoughtfully.

She said: “We can search the Scriptures. The saying of the ‘Trinity’ is not recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures. Only after the Lord Jesus was incarnated to do the redemptive work is there the saying of ‘Father and Son.’ As we all know, the Gospel of John says that Philip asked of the Lord Jesus: ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it suffises us’ (John 14:8). At that time, how did the Lord Jesus respond to Philip? The Lord Jesus said to Philip: ‘Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father; and how say you then, Show us the Father? Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak to you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake’ (John 14:9–11). From the word of the Lord we can see that the Father is the Son and the Son is the Father. ‘Father and Son’ are one and are one Spirit. The Lord Jesus’ words clearly tell us that He and the Father are one and inseparable.”

I was still confused and said again: “Hmm, what you said can hold water. From this I indeed see that the Lord Jesus and the Father are one. But in Matthew 3:16–17, it recorded: ‘And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, see, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting on him: And see a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ Why did the Holy Spirit bear witness that the Lord Jesus is God’s beloved Son? Did this report the Lord Jesus was really God’s Son?”

She said patiently: “We can’t know God with logic. Knowing God must be done according to God’s word and the facts of the work of God. Only in this way will we not misunderstand. At that moment, when the Lord Jesus worked on earth, it was actually God’s Spirit clothed in flesh as a man and came into the world of men. God is Spirit, invisible and intangible to man. But when He becomes clothed in flesh, we see only a man and cannot see His Spirit. If the Holy Spirit had directly borne witness to the fact that the incarnate Lord Jesus was God, we humans wouldn’t have accepted it. Because people of that time didn’t even know what it meant for God to be incarnated, and they never imagined that this regular Son of man would be the embodiment of the Spirit of God and the appearance of God in the flesh. Even though the Lord Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is at hand, brought the way of repentance to man and manifested many miracles, full revealing God’s authority and power, man failed to recognize from His word and work that He is God Himself but only acknowledged He was one of the prophets or Master. Hence, according to the stature and the understanding of people at that time, God testified the Lord Jesus was God’s beloved Son. This way fit in better with the conceptions of man, and was easier to accept. As long as they accepted the Lord Jesus as their Savior, their sins would be remitted, and they were thus qualified to enjoy God’s grace.”

After listening to her fellowship, I had a sudden realization and felt ashamed, saying: “I have believed in the Lord for over 10 years and received a great deal of grace and blessings from the Lord. However, I don’t recognize that the Lord Jesus is God Himself, just thinking that the Lord Jesus was God’s Son. I never treated the Lord Jesus like God Himself. So when I prayed to the Lord Jesus, I would also pray to the heavenly Father, Jehovah God. Now I have understood that even though God was incarnated as the Lord Jesus, in essence, He still is God Himself. But I have another question. In His prayer to the Father before He was crucified, the Lord Jesus said, ‘O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as you will’ (Mat 26:39). Here it mentions that the Lord Jesus called the God in heaven Father in His prayer; how can this be explained?”

She continued saying: “Sister Li, you have paid attention to this verse and I know that you are a seeker of truth. As we all know, the Lord Jesus is God in the flesh. When the Lord Jesus called God in heaven Father in His prayers, He did it in the position of a created being, that is, a man. But it doesn’t prove that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God in heaven. Before He went to the cross, the Lord Jesus was only the Son of man, the Christ, but not a glorious body. So, He called the God in heaven Father in the position of a created being, that is, the flesh called the Spirit Father. It shows His humbleness and obedience. When He returned to the spiritual realm after His redemptive work, He came to possess His real identity. From then on, there’s no longer such a saying of ‘Father and Son.’ So, we shouldn’t regard God as a ‘Triune God’ because there’s the saying of ‘Father and Son,’ because the Holy Spirit bore witness that the Lord Jesus is God’s beloved Son or because the Lord Jesus called the God in heaven Father in the position of a man. This is untenable and is completely the conception and imagination of man. God has never said that He’s triune. He is the only true God.”

“Sister Yang, after listening to your fellowship, now I have finally understood that God is the only true God and the ‘Triune God’ is completely human notion and imagination. The confusion in my heart is finally released. Thank God for giving us this fellowship.”

At this time, looking at the flowers and grass on the roadside, I felt they were so pleasing to my eyes. Breathing in the fresh air, I was extremely happy in my heart.