Section 5B
The Twoist Solution
Oneism is defined as the worship of creation, where all is one when creation is worshipped and served as divine. In Oneism all distinctions are eliminated and through “enlightenment” Oneism proclaims that man is also divine.
Twoism is defined as the worship of the divine Creator of all things. In Twoism God alone is divine and is distinct from His creation, yet through His Son, Jesus, God is in loving communion with His creation.
Twoism is so much better! Everything about it rings true, even in the middle of pain and suffering, even when we know we don’t understand everything.
First of all, our God is truly transcendent—far above us. A God we can respect and who is infinite in his knowledge, power, goodness, justice and love. He is King over all things (Psalm 47:2).
Secondly, the Twoist God is a personal God who makes himself known, through nature, his Word and his Son. Frankly, if God were not distinct from his creation, and if all the distinctions were erased from creation, so that everything is one, we could not have life as we know it! Only as Twoists can we do the following things:
- We can sing, for there is something to sing about and every tune is not reduced to one note.
- We can speak, for God made distinctions in sounds and gave us language, in which words have meaning.
- We can pray and praise, for there is someone out there who has made all this beauty and who is there to receive our thanks and honor.
- We can worship, for there is a God worthy of worship.
- We can tell right from wrong, because we are made in God’s image.
- We can paint, for God made a variety of colors.
- Our work is important, since each person is unique in God’s eyes.
- We don’t have to work our way to heaven, because God reaches down to rescue us.
- We can remain individuals in our marriages, and yet be united in love, just as God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct persons of the Trinity knit together in eternal love.
- We can overcome sin to relate to one another in love, because we are in God’s image and now in the image of Jesus. God is perfecting us to live in our final home with him and all those who love Him.
None of these things (or many others) should exist in a Oneist world. Oneism only offers annihilation and extinction of individual gifts and personalities.
It is a relief to know that there is a God “out there,” a God who cares, who has things under control, who has laid out a plan for us and has not failed to deliver it to us in language we can understand. He not only told us how to live our lives, but he told us about himself. Deuteronomy 4:33-40 tells of God’s revelation of himself to his people in the Old Testament:
Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance… know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.
Yet God’s people disobeyed and did not remember all that God had done for them. God then went further. In spite of our rejection of him, our refusal to listen to his voice, to obey him or to love him, he provided a means to restore fellowship. He offered himself to us by sending his Son, so deeply and infinitely loved, who took upon himself the punishment and justice that our rebellion deserved. The Creator God stepped into his creation, not as a weak, compromised god like the Greek or Egyptian gods, but as a real man, yet a perfect one, who succeeded where the first man (Adam) failed. Jesus perfectly obeyed his heavenly Father, in order to provide us with his record of perfection—but then bore the unthinkable, unbearable rejection of the Father whom he had only pleased for eternity. He did that when he was crucified by the hands of wicked men.
Death could not hold him for long, however. He rose and he lives today. He ascended to heaven, where he intercedes and prays for us before the throne of the Father. He sent his Holy Spirit, who now helps us to understand the revelation of God both in nature and in the written Word that God has provided through his prophets and apostles.
On the day Jesus rose from the dead, evil was conquered and a way was provided for sinners to find communion with their Creator. We finally have that “something better” for which the human heart has always longed. Because of Jesus’ death, we don’t have to fear God’s judgment, which fell on his Son instead of on us. Because of Jesus’ righteousness, which is now ours by faith, we don’t have to try to work our way to heaven. We can drop our frantic, fruitless search for the ultimate religious experience; we can throw off the heavy burden of techniques and rules and of the exertion of trying to be or do good enough for God’s approval. That useless effort can be thrown into the sea. Our personal obedience is not a duty, but a heartfelt “thank you” to our Heavenly Father. Light-hearted, we turn to look on his face, and run into his open arms, welcomed home because we bear the likeness and the righteousness of his perfect Son.
Until we arrive at the final door of our own death or until Jesus comes back, we have the joy and privilege of reading what God has written for us, of speaking to others who know him, of praying directly to him through the mediator, Jesus, and of communing with God through his Holy Spirit, who whispers to our spirits that we are children of God.
If we fail to pronounce this gospel—by actions and by words—we fail to exercise the calling God has given us. Many Christians today feel that we must show Christ’s love, without speaking the words of the gospel. “Deeds, not creeds!” is the mantra. But what of it? If you love others as Christ loved you and fail to give God the glory, who will receive that glory? You will! Do you really want that? If you love, but fail to warn unbelievers of their fate should they fail to bow the knee to King Jesus, who will be responsible? Do you dare keep silent? Suppose you saw a couple lazing down a river on an inner tube and failed to warn them of a treacherous waterfall ahead—failed to scream and yell as loudly as you could—would you not be at least partially responsible if they plunged over the falls to their deaths? Christian, wake up! The gospel has power. Your Oneist friends are still seeking the “unknown God.” God has commanded us to tell them who he is, then love them with all our hearts, as we watch the Lord accomplish his miracle of new birth.
Optional Exercises
Section 5B
Bible Research
Read and consider the following texts, then decide into which section of this course you would put them.
Suggestion
Use the sections of Oneism and Twoism in this course to develop your own list of Scripture passages that apply to each section, as you come across them in your own devotional reading. This will give you ideas as to what passages to show an unbeliever as you speak about the difference between the Christian faith (Twoism) and all other faiths (Oneism).
Challenge Questions
How has this study influenced the way you think about evangelism?
About your culture?
About your own attitude to living and speaking the truth?