“Shema Yisrael, ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI echad …
               Hear, O Israel, ADONAI is our God, ADONAI is one.”

We believe in one, and only one, true and living God as declared in the Sh’ma (Devarim [Deuteronomy] 6:4), Who is Echad (one, a compound unity), an indivisible, infinite, and intelligent Spirit Who is the source of all being and meaning, and Who eternally, simultaneously, and distinctly exists as God the Father (HaAv or Abba), God the Son (HaBen Yeshua), and God the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), one in essence and attributes, yet three in distinct “Person,” work, and purpose; each of Whom possess all the attributes of absolute Deity and is indivisible, infinite, eternal, unchangeable, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, personal, and perfect in wisdom, power, holiness, righteousness, justice, goodness, truth, mercy, and love (Yesha'yahu [Isaiah 43:10-11; Yesha`yahu [Isaiah] 48:16-17, B'resheet [Genesis] 1:1-2, Sh'mot [Exodus] 3:6, Mishle [Proverbs] 30:4, Ephesians 4:4-6).

He is the Creator of heaven and earth, of all living beings, and of everything both visible and invisible (B'reshet [Genesis] 1:1-31, Colossians 1:15-17). He exists outside of the physical universe that He created and is thus not bound by any of the physical laws of time and space that He created; thus there is nothing within His creation to which He may be accurately compared. His true nature is thus far beyond the ability of the mind of man to adequately or accurately comprehend. Although He is limitless in power, authority, time, matter, and space, He has chosen, in His infinite wisdom, to reveal His nature to humanity in perceivable and comprehensible manners.

Scripture records HaShem as revealing Himself in the following physical manifestations, as well as others: He walked with our first parents in Gan Eden in the cool of the day (B'resheet [Genesis] 3:8); as fire He declared the covenant with Avraham when He passed between the two halves of the sacrifice (B'resheet [Genesis] 15:17); as the form of a man not born of a woman He approached Avraham with the two angels (B'resheet [Genesis] 18); as a burning bush He spoke to Moshe (Sh'mot [Exodus] 3:2); as the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire He led the children of Israel through the wilderness (Sh'mot [Exodus] 13:21-22, el al); as the Sh'khinah He inhabited the Tabernacle and the Temple (Sh'mot [Exodus] 40:34-35, 2Chronicles 5:11-14); He appeared in Babylon as the fourth Man in the furnace (Daniel 3:25); as the promised Messiah He became a Man made of flesh and born of a woman (Yesha`yahu [Isaiah] 7:14, Galatians 4:4; John 1:1-3,14). Although there are numerous examples of HaShem revealing Himself to humanity in various ways and forms, of all those many ways and forms, He has chosen to refer to Himself in the following primary contexts: as the Father (HaAv), as the Son (HaBen) Yeshua, and as Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit/Breath). What makes these primary contexts important is not only the fact that HaShem used these forms to reveal Himself to humanity, but in doing so, He refers to Himself in these primary contexts as the one and only true and living HaShem.

We therefore believe that Abba is all the fullness of HaShem invisible (John 1:18); that HaBen is all the fullness of HaShem manifested (John 1:14-18)[1]; and that Ruach HaKodesh is all the fullness of HaShem acting immediately upon the creature (1 Cor. 2:9-10). [2]

That HaShem refers to Himself in these three primary contexts can in no way can be said to imply that there are three separate and distinct Gods, as Scripture makes it abundantly clear that there is but one, and only one, true and living HaShem.

HaShem and His Word are eternal and unchangeable. That is to say that He, His Will, and His Word have always been, and will always be, the same (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8; Matthew 5:18; 24:35; John 1:1-3,14). By referring to HaShem as three Divine “Persons” we are better able to understand the various ways that the Scriptures describe His working out His plan for His creation, and to understand the relationships within HaShem Himself as HaAv, HaBen, and Ruach HaKodesh. For example: Yeshua declared that no man has seen HaShem at any time except as the Son has revealed Him; Yeshua declared that He always did the work of His Father; Yeshua declared that only the Father knows the time of the Son’s return to earth; Yeshua said that after His departure He would send Ruach HaKodesh as the Comforter; in another place Yeshua said that after His departure His Father would send Ruach HaKodesh; the Son is said to be seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of the Father; in preparation for His earthly priesthood, Yeshua was immersed while the Father declared Him to be the Son and Ruach HaKodesh descended upon Him in the form of a dove. (Other examples will be provided in our in-depth discussions to follow).

As to the “office work” of HaShem, HaAv decrees the will of HaShem, HaBen declares the will of HaShem, and Ruach HaKodesh implements the will of HaShem.

[1] That is, HaBen is HaShem made physically manifest in any form. Thus any and all physical manifestations of HaShem are in the “Person” of HaBen, with the exceptions of the dove form in which Ruach HaKodesh was manifest at Yeshua’s immersion (Luke 3:22, et al) and the tongues of fire at Pentecost (Acts 2:3). [Return]

[2] Paraphrased from Boardman, cited in Great Doctrines of the Bible, by William Evans. Chicago: Moody Press, 1912, 1949, p. 28. [Return]