Oneness Is About Relationship

Oneness is About Relationship

by Carl McMurray

Many get confused when you start talking about “oneness,” and theological meandering has not helped over the years. The one flesh description between husbands and wives has been presented as intimacy. The oneness between the Heavenly Father and His Son has been described in various ways ranging from one person who has taken three names to three persons inhabiting one mind. Unbelievable. The term “oneness” in Scripture is about relationship.

In Genesis 2:24, the text is about relationship. The man is to leave father and mother (thus the child relationship with them) and cleave to (form a new relationship with) his wife. By doing so they become “one flesh,” or one (in the) flesh. They become one in this life; one in purpose, in goals, in unity, etc. While they live in this flesh, they become one. It’s about relationship.

In Deuteronomy 6:4, Israel is clearly told that the Lord is one! The Hebrew word here for “one” is “echad.” Echad is not the word for ONLY one, the number one. Echad is the word for a UNITED one, a group that gathers as one, or works as one. The oneness of Deity is not the single person with three names advocated by the Oneness Pentecostal groups. The oneness of Deity, or God, is the oneness of a team that works as one toward one goal or purpose. There are three with the traits of Deity and in their work, purpose, and goals of man’s redemption they are one. Oneness is not a scary, mysterious, “God-thing” that can’t be understood. The term oneness is about relationship.

In 2 Peter 1:4, the apostle promised that Christians might become partakers, or sharers in the divine nature. What is he promising? He is promising the oneness that Jesus prayed for in John 17:21, i.e., that all believers might be one in Him, as he was one with the Father. In the Scriptures oneness is about relationship.

Oneness is about partnership in the effort of salvation that works together toward the same end. It is NOT about just getting along, or putting up with another. It is about a relationship of love that is so strong that individual and personal gains are put on the back burner for the sake of the primary effort. Although He could not divest Himself of His Deity, for that is who He is, Jesus divested Himself of His divinity and unselfishly gave Himself as the sacrifice to pay for our sins. He encourages you to join this partnership and plan of Father, Son, and Spirit and become one with them and a spiritual family working together. Oneness is about relationship.

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