God is One (The simplicity of God)

On Wednesdays we celebrate “walking in the Word” through study & application of Biblical doctrine. Rightly understanding Biblical doctrine fuels doxology, delight in Jesus, & gospel centered discipleship. This week we dive into theology proper: Knowing God (4 of 5).
 
Previous posts in this series include: Knowing God, God is Eternal, and God Never Changes.

Key Verses: “The Lord your God is One.” Deuteronomy 6:4 (see the full chapter); and Mark 12:29-30
 
I hate math, but that is not why I love studying the oneness of God. There is no place for addition or division in God because God is one. God is fully His essence in all of His existence. 
 
Unlike creatures which have a distinction between who we are (essence) and that we exist (existence); in God, these are one in the same. God does not “have” existence like us- He is existence itself. Every attribute of God is not a separate part of God but fully and completely God’s essence- eternally. God is one. God is simple.
 
Stated basically: Divine simplicity celebrates God’s oneness. 
Stated negatively: Divine simplicity rejects that God is composed of parts, properties, or pieces. 
 
Embracing the oneness of God is indispensable in Christian discipleship because, according to Jesus, knowing God’s oneness is essential to knowing God. Jesus said to Phillip, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Phillip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) Jesus and the Father are one. (John 10:30) To rightly understand the gospel, salvation, the church, sanctification, marriage, or beauty, we must understand Divine simplicity. 
 
God's Oneness is NOT
Here are some common images and analogies of God’s oneness that all fall short: 

• Puzzle- A complex puzzle has many pieces. A simple puzzle only a few. No puzzle is only one piece or it is not a puzzle. When we say God is simple, we are saying God is one. 
• Legos- Many Legos together form one project, but no Lego direction book only consists of one piece. God is not made of bricks, or parts, to form a whole. God is one.
• Recipe- There are many ingredients that make one dish, but what do you call a recipe with only one ingredient? Preparation food- not a recipe.  Likewise, God is not the sum total of all of his attributes, as if they are distinguished from one another at the metaphysical level and brought together to make something delicious. God is one.
• A pie- God is not the sum of his attributes and His attributes are not a percentage of God. God is not one big piece of love, a small piece of holiness, a portion of justice, a slice of goodness… “God is Love” (1 John 4:7) just as God is good, holy, just, wise, and every attribute- all the time. God is identical with His essence and His existence. God is one. 
• A book- One book has many pages, together making one volume. God is not only one in Himself, impossible to distinguish between essence and existence, He also cannot be edited like a book.  If God were parts, bound together like one book, then we would prioritize different attributes to see which would be included for publishing. We cannot edit out any of God’s attributes. God is one.

 
GOD IS ONE
God’s oneness is essential for God to be God. Herman Bavinck summarizes it best:
“God’s attributes coincide with His being. Every attribute is His being. He is wise and true, not merely, good and holy, just and merciful, but He is also wisdom, truth, goodness, holiness, justice, and mercy. Hence God is also the source and fount of all the attributes of man. He is everything that He possesses and is the source of everything that creatures possess. God is the abundant source of all goods.” (Wonderful Works of God- pdf here, p 118)
 
Six quick reasons on why the simplicity of God matters:

• God commands His people to celebrate and teach His unity- His oneness, that we may know God, love God, and obey God. (Deuteronomy 6:4 (see the full chapter); Mark 12:29-30
• The gospel and salvation: God does not change for us to be saved, as if He moves from being a loving God to a just God so that He can expose His part that is mercy or wrath. People change in salvation, not God. Through Jesus and His work, believers are given God’s righteousness so we can know God’s love and approach His holiness with confidence. God is one, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
• The Church is “one body in Christ” who is “one with the Father.” We have one hope, one faith, one Spirit, because we belong to one Lord! To celebrate the oneness of God helps us understand Christian unity.
• Marriage. God is three persons, but God is not multiple properties. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are coequal and coeternal- one God. Likewise, in marriage the two are made one flesh, a oneness that points to God Himself as well as Jesus and His relationship with the church. (Ephesians 5:21-31)
•  Sanctification. To know God as one, and our oneness with God through union with Jesus, is to deepen our love for God and lead us to be more like God. Love is the greatest catalyst to likeness in Christian discipleship.
• Beauty. Nothing is more beautiful than the oneness of God, the essence of His attributes as His existence. God Himself- Love, goodness, truth, mercy, justice, holiness… is the standard of true beauty.  

 
The celebration of true beauty leads to our conclusion, helpfully illustrated by the 33rd canto (section of a long poem) in Dante’s classic poem, The Inferno. When he is about to enter the heavens, going into the beatific vision in Paradiso, Dante sees the oneness of God bound by love and light. The image is helpful (though not perfect) because it acknowledges the difficulty of understanding the mystery today:
​
 "Within its depthless clarity I saw
ingathered, bound by love in one sole volume,
what, in the universe, seems separate, scattered:
substances, accidents, and modes of being,
as though conjoined—in such a way that what
I tell is but a simple light."

God’s essence is His existence, oneness in one love, as one light- and every other attribute-  a mystery we will comprehend when our faith becomes sight.
 
Richly Dwelling
-Is it difficult for you to know God, to want to know God as He reveals Himself?
-Which of the six reasons, or applications above do you believe is most relevant to you in understanding God’s simplicity, His oneness?
-Take a moment to worship Jesus, asking His Spirit to make you and His Church more like Him- One, more fully love, goodness, holy… bound together in Him- the Light of His Love.

Key Verses: “The Lord your God is One.” Deuteronomy 6:4 (see the full chapter); Mark 12:29-30

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