FATHER AND/OR
SON
By: H. Wayne Hamburger
The
doctrine of Trinity has been embraced by a vast majority of the Christian world
including both Protestantism and Catholicism. Yet it remains one of the most
divisive issues among Christians. Most people are hard pressed to explain how
God can be both three and one. Christian leaders from every century since
Christ have attempted to explain the phenomenon. A number of criteria have been
used and all have passed on a traditional concept of Trinity.
One of the most learned scholars of
this century, C. S. Lewis, tries to define the Trinity in his book entitled,
"Mere Christianity". Mr. Lewis explains it thus: "On the human
level one person is one being, and any two persons are two separate beings. In
God's dimension, so to speak, you find a being who is three Persons while
remaining one Being, just as a cube is six squares while remaining one cube. Of
course we cannot fully conceive a Being like that, but we can get a faint
notion of it". Well the truth is that I can't even get a faint notion of
such a being.
A fellow Christian once told me that
the concept of Trinity would be simple if I would just visualize it as an egg.
He said that an egg has three parts: yoke, shell and clear membrane, but is
still one egg. He could not tell me which part of the egg represented God, Son
and Holy Spirit.
Another person told me that the Trinity
was like a favorite food that was made up of three ingredients blended into a
recipe to make one dish. That did not register with me either. Most people who
are questioned about the Trinity simply say that they don't understand it and
can't explain it, but yet they believe it. A fellow-worker once told me that
her Sunday school teacher told her that she must believe in Trinity and so she
accepted it and has never had reason to doubt it. Another friend told me that
an unlearned person reading the Bible may come to the conclusion that God and
His Son are separate, and such a person would have to be taught the truth.
The truth of the matter is that most
persons don't know what they believe and those that think they know can't prove
their beliefs from the Bible. Most just pick out the scriptures that conform to
the beliefs they hold true and ignore the rest of the Bible.
None of us are totally objective in our
thought processes or in our speech or in our writings. I have come to some
subjective decisions concerning the Trinity, however; I am going to try to
present my views as much as humanly possible from passages of Holy Scripture.
The most that I can hope for is that the reader will study these scriptures on
his/her own. The key word here is "study".
Jewish monotheism or the worship of one
God had been practiced from the time of Abraham throughout the entire history
of the Bible. When Jesus began His ministry, He stated in Matthew 5:17.
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not
come to destroy but to fulfil". At no time did Jesus attempt to destroy
their monotheistic views. For centuries the Jewish people had been expecting a
Messiah. The Messiah literally meant the Anointed One. They were expecting a
king and deliverer and did not expect that their invisible God would send His
own son to be their deliverer.
Many of the prophets wrote about the
Messiah although only one, Daniel, called Him Messiah. Some of the writers of
the Old Testament such as Daniel, David and Isaiah recognized that God had a
son. Daniel describes in 7:13-14 how God will give His son dominion and glory
and a Kingdom. David records in the Psalm 2:7, "Thou art my Son; this day
have I begotten thee", Psalm 91:9, "Because thou hast made the
Lord", and in Psalm 110: 1, "The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at
my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool". Isaiah 53 says,
"And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all and yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief'. Moses mentions Jesus in
Genesis 21:17 and 22:11 when he refers to him as the Angel of God. Jesus
identified Himself to Joshua (5:14) as captain of the host of the Lord.
When Jesus came to earth in human
flesh, he referred to Himself as the Son of God. In fact, there are almost
seventy scriptures in the Bible that refer to Jesus as the Son of God. Forty
six of those scriptures specifically call Jesus the Son of God and the rest
simply refer to Jesus as "His Son". In Matthew 3:17 and 17:5, God the
Father speaks from heaven in an audible voice for all to hear in the presence
of Jesus. God says, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased". Matthew 17:6 records how frightened the apostles were by the
voice of God.
The Jews who heard Jesus declare
Himself the Son of God took issue with that because in their eyes He was
claiming to be equal to God. Jesus made no such claims of equality with God. On
the contrary, Jesus said in John 14:28, "I go unto the Father: for my Father
is greater than I". In John 5:30, Jesus says, "I can of mine own self
do nothing; as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not
mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me". Jesus said
in John 6:44, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me
draw him". In Matthew 19:17, Jesus says, "Why do you call me good? No
one is good but One that is God". In John 7:16, Jesus says, "My
doctrine is not mine, but His who sent Me" and in John 7:18, "He who
speaks for himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One
who sent Him is true". Again in John 8:28, Jesus says, "When you lift
up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of
Myself, but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things". Jesus also said
in John 8:54, "If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father
that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God". All of these
statements by Jesus clearly indicate that He does not consider Himself equal to
God. He always pointed people toward the Father in heaven as the eternal God.
In a book written by Josh McDowell
entitled, "Evidence That Demands A Verdict", he spends a whole
chapter on Jesus as God's Son. Mr. McDowell quotes one author after another
that concludes that Jesus is God. Dozens of scriptures are quoted relating the
fact that Jesus was and is the Son of God and yet the writers all conclude that
Jesus claimed equality with God. No proof is offered from the Holy Bible. Their
explanation is that because Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, He was also
claiming to be co-equal and co-eternal. In a book written by Carey L. Daniel,
entitled, "The Bible's Seeming Contradictions", Mr. Daniel cites John
14:28 as one of the Bible's apparent contradictions when Jesus says that the
Father was greater than He was. Mr. Daniel in effect is saying that Jesus
didn't mean to say that.
Until the apostasy of the early church
there was no confusion or controversy over the person of Christ as the Son of
God. For 4000 years Jewish documents and traditions followed the monotheistic
belief of one God. Jesus chose men to be his apostles from the common people,
none of which were highly educated, but all Jewish traditionalists.
All of the apostles recognized Jesus as
the Son of God and not the eternal God and Father of the universe. As noted
previously in the book of Matthew, they had heard God speak from heaven to
verify both His existence, and the fact that Jesus was His Son. At the
transfiguration in Luke 9:35, "And there came a voice out of the cloud,
saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him". Peter writes in I Peter 1:3,
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". Paul writes
in 2 Corinthians 11:31, "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I do not lie". Paul writes in
Ephesians 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ" and again in 1: 17, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in
the knowledge of him". These verses say Jesus had a God and these
disciples had no problem with the person of Jesus or God.
When Jesus asked Peter who he thought
that Jesus was, Peter's response in Mt. 16:16, "Thou art the Christ, the
son of the living God", and again in Mark 8:29, "Thou art the
Christ" clearly indicating Peter's full recognition of Jesus and God. Some
would have us believe that Peter stood there with the belief that God and Jesus
inhabited the same body which stood before him. In Luke 2:38, there is an
account of Anna, the prophetess, who looks upon the baby Jesus and recognizes
Him as the Son of God. Another account in Luke 2:25-32 describes how a just and
devout man called Simeon recognized the baby Jesus as the Son of God and the
fulfillment of Old Testament scripture. The apostles all referred to Jesus as
Lord and they referred to the Heavenly Father as God. Examples are as follow:
Paul writes in Romans 1:7, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father,
and the Lord Jesus Christ'. Similar greetings are found in I Corinthians 1:3, 2
Corinthians 1:2, 11:3 1, Galatians 1:1, Ephesians 1:2-3, Philippians 1:2,
Colossians 1:3, 1 Thessalonians 3:11, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, 1 Timothy 1:2, 2
Timothy 1:2, 4: 1, "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus
Christ", Titus 1:4, "To Titus, mine own son after the common faith:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our
Savior". In all of these references the apostle Paul uses the conjunction
"and" to indicate both Father and Son without confusion as to whether
they are separate.
James, the brother of Jesus, records in
1:1, "James a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ". Peter
records in I Peter 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ". John records in 2 John 1:3, "Grace be with you, mercy, and
peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the
Father, in truth and love".
Many people take Paul's passage in
Philippians 2:6, "Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to
be equal with God", to mean that Jesus claimed equality with God. Paul
goes on to explain in 2:9, "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him,
and given him a name which is above every name". Paul leaves no doubt here
that Jesus is not equal to God. The second chapter of Philippians concentrates
on how Jesus had humbled Himself before God and had taken on a role of servant
before both God and man. God exalted Jesus and the Son always recognized that
fact. Paul says that Jesus was obedient to the Father even unto death on the
cross which was not His will but the will of the Father who sent Him.
The apostles used the Greek word Theos
in relation to God the Father and the corresponding Hebrew words for God were
Elohim and Jehovah. The Greek words the apostles used for Jesus the Son of God
were Kyrios and Despotes. The terms were used to designate Jesus as their Lord
and Master. There is no doubt that the apostles recognized His Lordship as the
Son of God and at the same time they were aware of His subordinate role to God
the Father. There was no conflict in their monotheistic view of God and of His
Son Jesus. These were clearly two different deities to them. They saw nothing
wrong in the Son being submissive and obedient to His Father.
Just how did these beliefs of the
apostles get adulterated? Where did the terms like deity, divinity, trinity,
homoousios, co-equal, co-eternal, consubstantial come from? The terms aren't in
the Bible so how did they come to be used in relation to Jesus and God? The
word "divine" is used mostly to connote understanding, prophecy, and
intuition.
For four thousand years the Hebrews
accepted God as an unseen spirit whose power and presence was beyond
comprehension. When their Messiah finally came as Jesus the Son of God, they
could neither recognize Him nor accept Him as the Messiah. Part of this was
that they were expecting a King and part of it was due to the fact that they
could not accept deity among them that they could see, touch and feel. Conversely,
the Romans who ruled the known world at that time embraced their own
mythological gods as well as some of the Greek gods of that time. These
mythological gods were given human attributes and many were thought to have
walked among men and participated in daily activities. When the Romans finally
realized that they could not stamp out Christianity and decided to embrace it
during the time of Constantine, they found it the natural thing to do to
combine both their mythological religion with Christianity. The Romans could
easily relate to Jesus because they had seen Him in the flesh, but they could
not relate to God the Father who was an unseen spirit.
For example, Constantine was a solar
henotheist, believing that the Roman sun god, Sol, was the visible
manifestation of an invisible "Highest God", who was the principle
behind the universe. This god was thought to be the companion of the Roman
emperor. Constantine was reported to have dreamed that Christ appeared to him
before a major battle and he had the first two letters of His name in Greek
placed on the shields of his troops. When he won the battle, Constantine, who
had been a pagan solar worshiper, now looked upon the Christian deity as a sign
of victory. Of course, the apostasy of the early church began long before
Constantine's time, but is related here as an example of how the religious
philosophy prior to Christ contributed to the adulteration of Christ's
teachings and that of the apostles.
As the apostles died off, church
leaders came from the ranks of the learned philosophers rather than from common
people like Jesus chose. These philosophers found it advantageous to combine
both Greek and Roman mythology with Christian teachings. These leaders could
relate to Jesus who had been here in the flesh, but found it harder to relate
to an unseen God. Their answer for this dilemma was to embrace the idea that
this Jesus who had been seen had to be the one and same God of the Hebrews who
had never been seen. This gave credence to both mythology and Christianity.
This received wide acceptance from the Roman masses which provided a favourable
environment for novel religious ideas. There were many mystery religions and
mystery cults that made their way to Rome. All of these philosophies had a
Greek rootage into which Christianity moved. Aristotle seemed to have a
striking influence on Christian thought following the demise of the original
apostles. Christianity quickly moved out of the Jewish community and became
prevailingly non-Jewish. In the book, "A History of Christianity" by
Kenneth Scott Latourette, it states: "Christianity, still relatively
flexible in thought forms, would tend to find expression through the ideas
abroad in Hellenism and perhaps would even be molded by them and some of the
initial converts came straight from pure paganism". In a book by Howard F.
Vos entitled, "Highlights of Church History", he writes: "The
approach and purpose of the Apologists was entirely different from that of the
Apostolic Fathers. The Apologists sought to win legal recognition for
Christianity and to defend it against certain charges leveled against it by the
pagan populace. In constructing this defense, the Apologists wrote in a more
philosophical vein than the Apostolic Fathers. A generation of Christians from
a higher social class and with more extensive education had arisen".
It was into this climate that the
formation of Trinitarian thought began to materialize. The apostles and their
followers did not cast off Jewish monotheism simply because the Son of God had
been revealed to them in the flesh. Trinitarians argued that the Jewish
traditionalists did not have to give up their beliefs to accept it. Paul warned
his followers about this in Romans 16:17, "Now I beseech you, brethren,
mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye
have learned; and avoid them". Again Paul writes in Ephesians 4:14,
"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive". Jude 19, "These be
they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. Peter writes in 2
Peter 3:17, "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before,
beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from
your own steadfastness". The Gentile concept of God in the trinity surely
fulfilled the prophecies of both Paul and Peter. It was a pagan idea that came
straight from mythology that there was a triune God. The theory of God and
Jesus being one deity is like saying that black and white are variations of the
same color.
As late as the Council of Nicea in A.D.
325, church leaders such as Arius were still trying to preserve the teachings
of the apostles and was labeled a heretic for doing so. His beliefs that Jesus
had a beginning is founded in scripture and will be presented in this document.
We have already shown where Christ Himself wrote that He was subordinate to the
Father. The real heretics were legitimized by Constantine.
In order to understand the separateness
of Jesus and God the Father we have to start with what is referred to in the
Bible as the beginning. The beginning can't refer to God the Father because a
number of scriptures say that God the Father is eternal and has no beginning
nor ending. God the Father is called the everlasting or eternal God in Genesis
21:33, in Psalm 90:2, Isaiah 40:28, Habakkuk 1:2, and in Romans 16:26. The
words everlasting and eternal are always used in describing God the Father and
never in relation to Jesus because He did have a beginning according to the
scriptures. All the scripture refer to Jesus as the only begotten son of the
Father. This is mentioned in the Old Testament in the book of Psalm 2:7,
"Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee". This is not talking
about the birth of Jesus in human flesh but rather His existence from the
beginning. John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God". When Jesus was begotten of the Father He
became the Word. This denotes the initial existence of Jesus the Son of God.
In numerous places in the New Testament
the writers speak of Jesus as the only begotten son. Some of these are as
follow: John 1: 18, "the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father", John 3:16, "He gave His only begotten Son", John 3:18,
"not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God", Hebrews
1:5, "For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son,
this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he
shall be to me a Son?" Hebrews 5:5, says "Thou art my Son, to day
have I begotten thee", I John 4:9, says, "because that God sent his
only begotten Son into the world". Revelation 1:5, says "And from
Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the
dead". John 13:3, says "Jesus knowing that the Father had given all
things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God".
These scriptures state that Jesus was begotten or born or created by God first
as a spirit and then later as a human being. The creation of Jesus was His
birth as an offspring spirit of God the Father.
The word, "begotten", in
current usage means to father or sire or procreate a child. In Vine's
Dictionary of Biblical words transcribing the Greek into English, the following
is found in relation to begotten: "gennao" means to be born; another
form of the word is "apokueo" meaning to give birth to or bring
forth, and yet another form of begotten called "k-ueo" meaning to be
pregnant, and finally "tikto" which also means to bring forth.
Had Jesus always co-existed with the
Father as Trinitarians proclaim, there would be no need for Him to have been
begotten by the Father. The only co-existence prior to the time that Jesus was
begotten of the Father would have been in the seed or the mind of God. The
Bible would have had to have erred in more than sixty entries relating the fact
that God the Father had begotten a son. Jesus always deferred to the Father as
a good son should do. He prayed to the Father and not to Himself The very act
of praying is an act of submission to something or someone. Jesus clearly
emphasized that both He and the Father had separate wills. In Matthew 26:39,
Jesus says, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:
nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt". Paul writes in Romans 15:3,
"For even Christ pleased not himself'. Jesus states in Psalm 69:7,
"Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my
face".
These passages show that there are two
different deities with two different wills. Jesus specifically told His
disciples that the Father was greater than He was in John 14:28. Jesus states
in John 5:19, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of
himself,” but what He seeth the Father do". God begat Jesus to perform
certain responsibilities as the Son of God. His primary responsibility was to
become the creator. John 1:3, "All things were made by Him; and without
Him was not anything made that was made". In Colossians 1: 15, Jesus is
described, "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every
creature", 1: 16, "For by Him were all things created, that are in
heaven and that are in the earth"; 1: 18, "And He is the head of the
body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in
all things He might have the preeminence". Hebrews 11:28,"lest he
that destroyed the firstborn should touch them". Hebrews 12:23, "To
the general assembly and the church of the firstborn". Hebrews 1:6,
"And again when He bringeth in the first begotten into the world, He
saith, And let all the Angels of God worship Him". In Revelation 3:14,
Jesus calls Himself the beginning of the creation of God.
The author of Acts becomes even more
specific in his reference to Jesus in verse 2:36, "Therefore let all the
house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye
have crucified, both Lord and Christ". Isaiah writes about Jesus in verse
45:1 1, "Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and His maker".
Paul writes in I Corinthians 3:23, "And ye are Christ's; and Christ is
God's". He also writes in Ephesians 1:17, "That the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory", Peter writes in I Peter 1:2 1,
"Who by him do believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave
him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God". Again these
scriptures have emphasized the predominance of God the Father over Jesus the
Son.
Jesus is quoted in John 4:25, "God
is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in
truth". Also in John 1: 18, "No man hath seen God at any time; the
only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared
Him". Jesus again in John 6:46, "Not that any man hath seen the
Father, save He which is of God, He hath seen the Father". I John 4:12,
says "No man hath seen God at any time". John 4:20, "If a man
say, I love God. and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not
his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
Jesus said in John 4:37, "And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath
born witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his
shape". Paul writes in Colossians 1: 15, "Who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature". In Exodus 3:6 it is
written that Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look on God. In I
Kings 19:13 it explains how Elijah was not allowed to look upon God and he
wrapped his face in his mantle. How is it then if Jesus was God that literally
thousands of people were allowed to look upon Him and converse with Him?
In a prior reference, John 4:24, Jesus
is quoted as saying that God is Spirit. Since Jesus was begotten of God, He too
was Spirit. The Son became flesh at God's command, but the Father did not
change from an unseen spirit. The Father used the same process to impregnate
the virgin Mary with His Spirit as He did when He begat Jesus in heaven eons ago.
The only begotten son was the firstborn of all creation. Colossians 1: 15,
"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every
creature". Colossians 1:18, "And He is the head of the body, the
church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things
he might have the preeminence" and in Revelation 3:14 Jesus is called the
beginning of the creation of God. Paul writes in Romans 8:29, "For whom He
did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren".
Having
been the firstborn or first creation of God the Father, Jesus was given the
responsibility of all other creation as stated in John 1:3 and the first
chapter of Genesis. Jesus is rightfully called God because His beginning was as
the only begotten Son of God giving Him the rightful family name of God. Jesus
was the first and only offspring of God the Father and as such inherited
authority and power from His Father. Paul writes in Hebrews 1:2, "Hath in
these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all
things, by whom also He made the worlds". In Romans 8:17, Paul writes,
"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ". Paul also writes in Galatians 4:7, "Wherefore thou art no
more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through
Christ". If Jesus is God the Father as the trinity doctrine emphasizes,
how then did he become an heir of Himself. How can Christians be joint heirs
with Jesus if Jesus isn't an heir of God?
The plural pronouns and verbs used in
the Bible in reference to God and His Son designate two separate Gods. The
first chapter of Genesis uses the pronouns "us" and "our"
in describing the Father and His Son Jesus. Isaiah 6:8, "Also I heard the
voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?. Jesus
says in John 14:23, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my
Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him".
Jesus once again uses a plural pronoun in John 15:24, "If I had not done
among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now
have they both seen and hated both me and my Father".
A number of scriptures state that God
sent His Son Jesus. If Jesus and God were the same deity there would be no
reason for one to send the other. John 3:17, "For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be
saved". In John 3:4, "For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of
God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him". Acts 3:26,
"Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless
you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities". Galatians 4:4,
"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law". In I John 4:9-10, "In this was
manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten
Son into world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we
loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for
our sins". Jesus says in John 7:28, "Ye both know me, and ye know
whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye
know not" and again in 7:29, "But I know him: for I am from him, and
he hath sent me". Jesus says again in John 8:29, "And he that sent me
is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things
that please him". And again Jesus says in John 8:42, "If God were
your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither
came I of myself, but he sent me". Why does Jesus keep saying that He was
sent and that He came from God if He were God the Father? If He actually was
God in one being, why didn't He just say so instead of all the statements about
His separation from the Father?
The oneness of the Son and the Father
is stressed repeatedly in the book of John and this has been the basis of
confusion among the Trinitarians. Paul writes in I Corinthians 8:6, "But
to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him;
and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him". Solomon
writes in Proverbs 30:4, "Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?
Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in a
garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and
what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? John 10:30 seems to be the primary
scripture used by Trinitarians in their belief that Jesus/God is one entity.
Jesus simply said, "I and my Father are one". Had they been the same
entity Jesus would have had to make the same statement that Moses made in
Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, 0 Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord".
Jesus fully explains what he meant by one in John 17:11, "Holy Father keep
through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one even
as we are". He further explains it in verse 21 "I in them, and thou in
me, that they may be made perfect in Him, and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me". Paul stresses
this same concept in Philippians 2:2, "Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be
like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind". Paul
again in Ephesians 4:5, "One Lord- one faith, one baptism. One God and one
Father of all". Once again Paul is calling Jesus Lord and the Father God.
Romans 12:4, "for as we have many members in one body", 15:6, "that
ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God", Acts 2: 1, "and when
the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one
place", 4:24, "they lifted up their voice to God with one
accord", 8:6, "and the people with one accord gave heed unto those
things which Philip spake". Vine's Dictionary of Biblical Words specifies
that the term "one accord" appears eleven times in the book of Acts
and means of the same mind. Jesus could only have meant that He and the Father
were of one mind in John 10:30 especially when Paul says in Ephesians 4:5-6,
"One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above
all, and through all, and in you all". This statement by Paul specifically
makes distinction between Jesus, God, faith and baptism. Paul, in the second
chapter of Ephesians explains how both Jews and Gentiles are made one with the
middle wall of partition broken down. Paul again explains in the third chapter
of I Corinthians how he had established churches and Apollos had watered, but
they were yet one: "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are
one".
The oneness throughout the New
Testament is not concerning individual personalities, but rather a singleness
of mind and purpose. This was the way Jesus describes His relationship with God
the Father. When He was praying for his disciples in the seventeenth chapter of
John He was asking that they become one in mind and not one single disciple. He
was asking that the disciples be in one accord, one mind and one spirit just as
He and His Father were. The Father and the Son are so attuned to each other in
will, purpose and intent that Jesus desired this same quality in Ms disciples.
This theme of oneness is carried throughout the New Testament. In Acts 4:32, it
is written, "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and
one soul; neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed
was his own; but they had all things common". Romans 12:16, says "Be
of the same mind one toward another". Romans 15:5-6, states "Now the
God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another
according to Christ Jesus: that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God,
even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". I Corinthians 8:6, says "But
to us there is but one God the Father, of who are all things, and we in him;
and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him". In 2
Corinthians 13:11 it says, "be of one mind". Paul again says in
Philippians 1:27, "that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind
striving together for the faith of the gospel". He follows up in 2:2,
"Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of
one accord, of one mind". Paul once again in Philippians 4:2, "I
beseech Euodias and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the
Lord". Peter also stresses this in I Peter 3:8, "be ye all of one
mind". John in the book of Revelation 17:13, "These have one mind,
and shall give their power and strength unto the beast". I believe we can
conclude from these many references that Jesus in John 10:30 was not limiting
Himself and the Father to one individual deity.
It is recorded many times in the New
Testament that Jesus ascended and sat down at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus even spoke in Revelation 3:21 and said, "To him that overcometh will
I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down
with my Father in his throne". This statement says that not only are Jesus
and God separate, but Jesus has His own throne. Mark 16:19, "So then after
the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the
right hand of God". Acts 2: 4, "Therefore being by the right hand of
God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,
he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended
into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on
my right hand". In Acts 7:56, "I see the heavens opened, and the Son
of man standing on the right hand of God". In Romans 8:34, "It is
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God". In Colossians 3: 1, "where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God". In Hebrews 12:2, "Looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of
God". I Peter 3:22, "Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right
hand of God". If God and Jesus were the same deity, it would not be
possible for the Bible authors to describe Jesus as being at the right hand of
God the Father. It would have been easier to say that Jesus represents the
right side of God and the Father represents the left side of God. No such nonsense
is entered in the scripture. The Bible clearly delineates between the Father
and Son and the Son is in an ancillary role.
The very fact that the Son took on
human flesh is evidence of His subservient role to the Father. Jesus was seen
by hundreds or maybe thousands of people when He was in human form, but the
Father has never been seen by man as recorded in the Bible. Jesus was seen by
both Steven and Paul after He ascended as recorded in Acts 7:55-56 and in the
ninth chapter of Acts. In Exodus 3:6, it is recorded that Moses could not look
upon the face of God. In John 1: 18, it states, "No man hath seen God at
any time" and again in John 5:37, Jesus states, "And the Father
himself, which hath sent me, hath born witness of me. Ye have neither heard his
voice at any time, nor seen his shape". Paul records in I Timothy 6:16,
"Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can
approach unto; Who no man hath seen, nor can see". John 4:24 states that
God is a Spirit and as a Spirit no man has been able to see Him. God the
Father, a Spirit, beget a Son who was also an invisible Spirit until God
converted that heavenly spirit into a human seed in the body of Mary. This
transformation of Spirit into flesh was at the behest of God the Father who was
and is in supreme control of the celestial bodies, heaven and earth. Jesus does
those things that God the Father bids Him to do.
Even Satan is recorded to have
recognized Jesus as the Son of God rather than the Supreme God the Father.
Satan says in Matthew 4:3, "If you are the Son of God, command that these
stones become bread". Again in Mark 1:24, "Let us alone; what have we
to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?--I know who thou art, the Holy one of
God". Luke 8:28, "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God
most high". Luke 4:41, "And devils also came out of many, crying out,
and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them
not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ". Jesus in the service of His
Father Was on a mission for the Father and was not about to destroy Satan at
that time. He knew that God the Father has a timetable for the destruction of
Satan and Jesus was not about to compromise His Father's plan.
David the King recognized Jesus as the
subservient Son of the Father. In Psalm 91:9 and again in Psalm I 10:1, David
writes, "The Lord, said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I
make thine enemies thy footstool". Jesus quoted the Psalm in Matthew
22:42-45, "Saving, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto
him, the son of David. He saith unto them, Now then doth David in spirit call
him Lord, saying, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I
make thine enemies thy footstools If David then call him Lord, how is he his
son?" Jesus repeatedly reminded His followers of His obeisance to the
Father even to the extent that He reminded His disciples that no one could even
come to Him unless they were drawn by the Father. Jesus acts like and manifests
the same Spirit as the Father and as the Son is of the family of God He is
called Emmanuel, God with us. Revelations 3:21 quotes Jesus saying to
overcomers that they will be allowed to sit down with Him in His throne, just
as the Son was allowed to sit at the right hand of the Father in His throne.
The message in this passage is one of two deities in two separate thrones.
The Bible uses many different titles in
reference to Jesus the Son of God. A number of these titles can't possibly be
used in reference to the Father, but apply only to the Son:
Jesus the Son of God--nowhere
in the Bible is this title used to describe anyone other than Jesus the Christ.
Advocate
-I John 2: 1, "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous".
Propitiation--
I John 2:2, "He is the propitiation for our sins". Romans 3:25,
"Whom God set forth to be a propitiation by His blood'.
Mediator
-Galatians 2:19-20, "It was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one". I Timothy 2:5,
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus". Hebrews 8:6, "By how much also He is the mediator of a
better covenant". Hebrews 9:15, "And for this cause He is the
mediator of the New Testament". Hebrews 12:24, "And to Jesus the
mediator of the new covenant".
Intercessor--Isaiah
59:16, "And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no
intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation" 59:20, "And the
Redeemer shall come to Zion". Hebrews 7:25, "Wherefore He is able
also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever
liveth to make intercession for them".
Reconciler--Ephesians
2:16, "That He might reconcile both unto God", 2:18, "for
through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father". Romans 5:
10, "We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son". 2
Corinthians 5:19, "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself'.
Servant
-- Isaiah 42: 1, "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my
soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles". This passage is repeated again in Matthew 12:18. Jesus
calls Himself a servant in John 13:16, "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the servant is not greater than his Lord; neither He that is sent greater than
He that sent Him". Luke 22:27, "But I am among you as He that
serveth". Philippians 2:7, "But made himself of no reputation, and
took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men".
Firstfruits
-- I Corinthians 1-5:20, "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and
become the firstfruits of them that slept", 15:23, "But every man in
his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's at His
coming".
Last Adam
-- I Corinthians 15:45, "the last Adam was made a quickening spirit".
Bread of life
-- John 6:35, "I am the bread of life".
Chief cornerstone
-- Ephesians 2:20, "Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
cornerstone".
Chief shepherd --
I Peter 5:4, "When the chief shepherd shall appear".
Firstborn
-- Colossians 1: 18, "He is the head of the body, the church: Who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead". Romans 8:29, "For whom He
did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren".
Good shepherd
--John 10:11, "I am the good shepherd".
Great
Shepherd--Hebrews 13:20, "Lord Jesus, that
great shepherd of the sheep".
High
Priest--Hebrews 3:1, "High Priest of our
profession, Jesus Christ".
Holy
One of God-Mark 1:24, "I know thee who thou
art, the Holy One of God".
Emmanuel--Matthew
1:23, "they shall call His name Emmanuel".
King
of Kings -- Revelation 19:16, "King of
Kings, and Lord of Lords".
Lamb
of God -- John 1:29, "Behold the Lamb of
God".
Light
of the world -- John 9:5, "I am the light of
the world".
Only
Begotten of the Father -- John 1: 14, "the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father". John 4:42, "Christ the savior of the
world".
Seed
of Abraham -Galatians 3:16, "Now to Abraham
and his seed--and to thy Seed, which is Christ".
Son
of Man -- Matthew 18:1 1, "For the Son of
man is come to save that which was lost". Jesus referred to Himself as the
Son of man more than three dozen times in the Bible.
The
Word -- John 1:1, "the Word was with
God".
Our
Passover Lamb -- I Corinthians 5:7, "For even
Christ our passover is sacrificed for us".
Sacrificial
Lamb -- I Peter 1:19, "But with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot".
Redeemer
-- Revelation 5:9, "for thou wast slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood".
Heir
-- Romans 8:17, "And if children, then heirs; heirs of
God, and joint-heirs with Christ".
There is no way to describe
Jesus as an advocate, mediator, intercessor, heir, and son of man without
interacting between God the Father and human kind. These terms specifically
relate to actions between two or more parties. Why would there be a need for a
mediator if there is only one to relate to? How could Jesus be an heir to
Himself? When Jesus is described as an advocate, is He pleading to Himself If
Jesus can make decisions without consulting the Father, why does He pray that
God's will be accomplished over His own will? Only the Father can be called the
most high God, Genesis 14:18, Lamentations 3:38, Mark 5:7, Acts 16:17, and
Hebrews 7: 1. There are about three dozen scriptures that refer to the most
high God. With the term "most high" there is a delineation of deity
between Father and Son. James 1: 13, states, "Let no man say when he is
tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither
tempteth he any man". Paul writes about Jesus in Hebrews 2:18, "For
in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that
are tempted". Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin". Matthew 4:1, "Then Jesus
was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil".
Since Jesus was tempted and God can't be, there is no way they could be the
same deity.
The portrayal of God and
Jesus as two deities in the previously described scriptures help to demonstrate
the humility of Jesus in the presence of the Father. Jesus the Son did not ever
claim to be the most high God nor did He ever lead anyone else to believe that.
The teachings of Jesus pointed all His followers to the Father in heaven and He
never invited worship of Himself To do otherwise would have been blasphemy
toward the most high God who is the Father. Paul in I Corinthians 15:20-24,
"But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits; afterward they
that are Christ's at His coming. Then cometh the end, when He shall have
delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down
all rule and all authority
and power". I Corinthians 15:28, "And when all things shall be
subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put
all things under Him, that God may be all in all". When Paul writes about
the fact that Jesus is subdued and subject to the Father there is a clear
division of authority between the Father and the Son.
The deity of Jesus only began when He was spoken into
existence by God the Father. The most high everlasting Father would not and
could not reduce Himself into a helpless human infant totally dependent upon
its mother. Only Jesus the Son could fill that role. God the Father sacrificed
His Son in the same manner that He called upon Abraham to sacrifice his son,
Genesis 22:9-12. Hebrews II: 17, "By faith Abraham, when he was tried,
offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only
begotten son". Only the Son of God could be a sacrifice for humanity. The
Bible states in 2 Corinthians 5:2 1, "For He hath made Him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
Him". Since Jesus was sinless, He had to be made sin in order to be the
sacrifice that would deliver mankind. God the Father could not be made sin and
He could not be a sacrifice. Romans 8:32, "He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us
all things"? God the Father cannot die, but Jesus did.
Because Jesus became the sacrifice, it was necessary for Him
to die including both His soul and His body. He could not duplicate the pattern
of animal sacrifices under the old covenant without dying both body and soul.
Isaiah 54:10-12, "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him
to grief when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His
seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied; by
His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their
iniquities. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall
divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto
death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors". Psalm 16:10, "For thou
wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see
corruption". This same scripture is quoted in Acts 2:27.
Ezekiel says in 18:4 and in 18:20, "the soul that
sinneth, it shall die". James 5:20, "Let him know, that he which
converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from
death". This leaves no doubt about the soul dying. Jesus had to experience
this type of death to replicate the human experience. A Trinitarian was
overheard saying that Jesus knew what it was like to lose a child because He
was both Father and Son. The futility of that statement is that it claims that
Jesus sacrificed Himself and raised Himself from the dead. This is preposterous
because the Bible says otherwise. A recent Christmas song states that Mary
looked into the face of God and I have quoted scriptures previously that
specifically state that no one has seen God. If we are to believe that Jesus
walked this earth as a human being, we cannot claim that He is the invisible
Father God. Humans give life to the soul and body of humans through a seed and
God gave life to Jesus from His own spiritual seed.
Paul tells us that God the Father raised up Jesus in 2
Corinthians 4:14, "Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall
raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you". Jesus could no
more raise Himself from the dead than Lazarus could raise himself from death.
Jesus prayed over the body of Lazarus, John 11:41, "Father, I thank thee
that thou hast heard me--because of the people which stand by I said it, that
they may believe that thou hast sent me". Jesus said in Matthew 10:28,
"Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but
rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body". Many people
say that Jesus raised Himself from the grave like a cork that rises to the
surface when submerged in water. The Bible repudiates that idea. Jesus would
still be in the grave without the Father raising Him from death. Acts 2:31,
"He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul
was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption". Romans 6:4,
"Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life". Romans 6:9, "Knowing that Christ being
raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him".
Other scriptures which clearly indicate that God raised
Jesus from the grave are: Romans 4:24, "But for us also, to whom it shall
be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the
dead"; Romans 8:1 1, 'But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from
the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you"; Acts 2:24,
"Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was
not possible that He should be holden of it"; Acts 13:37, "But He,
whom God raised again, saw no corruption"; I Corinthians 6:14, "And
God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by His own power";
15:15, "because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ";
Ephesians 1:20, "Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the
dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places"; I Peter
1:21, "Who by Him do believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead and
gave Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God"; Philippians
2:8-9, "And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross wherefore God also hath
highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name".
The previous scripture is one of many indicating that Christ
humbled Himself before the Father. The very act of prayer is indicative of
Christ's humility and submission to the Father. Luke 5:16, "And He
withdrew Himself into the wilderness, and prayed". Vine's dictionary of
Greek words defining prayer are euchomai, prosenchomai, erotas, deomai, euche,
proseuche, deests, entenxis. English translations mean to ask, desire, to call
to one's aid, a wanting or a need. Thus, the act of praying is essentially
communion with God, adoration of God, thanksgiving to God, confession to God,
petition to God or submission to God. Jesus did all of these things in His
prayers to His Father. Only Jesus could exhibit such reverence to His Father.
God the Father has no need to pray because He is the supreme deity. To whom
would He pray? Jesus felt the need to pray because He was desirous to do the
will of the Father and not His own will. John 5:30, "I can of mine own
self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek
not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me". I have
already made reference to the prayer of Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus, John
11:41-42. Jesus prayed for Himself in the seventeenth chapter of John in
addition to many others including His disciples and the church. Jesus prayed
for deliverance in Matthew 26:39, "O my Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt";
26:42, "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink
it, thy will be done". And it is recorded in 26:44 that He prayed the same
prayer a third time. Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of others in Luke 23:34,
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do". Jesus prays
His final prayer of submission in Luke 23:46, "Father, into thy hands I
commend my spirit". He had no further control over Himself as He passed
into death.
In Hebrews 5-5, Paul writes, "Christ glorified not
Himself to be made an high priest; but He that said unto Him, thou art my Son,
to day have I begotten thee", and in 5:8, "Though He were a Son, yet
teamed He obedience by the things which He suffered". Paul also writes in
Hebrews 2:17, "Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like
unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in
things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the
people". This passage refers to Christ's followers as His brethren. Paul
writes in 2 Corinthians 6:16-18, "for ye are the temple of the living God;
as God hath said, I will dwell in them; and I will be their God, and they shall
be my people-and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty". Romans 8:16-17, "The spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God, and if
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ". Jesus is
not only our Lord and Savior, but also a brother and joint heir in God's
kingdom.
The key is that the Spirit bears witness. Very seldom is the
Spirit referred to as "it" or "itself" as Paul does in
Romans 8:16. The reason is that the Hebrew and Greek languages express gender
in nouns and pronouns and have no word for "it". Thus, a masculine or
feminine pronoun is used to describe gender and in reference to the Holy Spirit
as an extension of God the Father is called "he". The use of the
pronoun "he" in reference to the Holy Spirit is offered as proof by
Trinitarians that the Holy Spirit is a third person in the trinity of one. John
records in 4:24, "God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth". This Spirit of God is called the Holy Spirit
in some places and in other places in the Bible is called the Holy Ghost. There
are no scriptures giving the Holy Spirit a personal entity. I John 5:7, states,
"For there are three who bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Ghost: and these three are one". I John 5:8, explains further,
"And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the
water, and the blood: and these three agree in one". John lets us know
immediately that his use of the word "one" is to denote agreement as
one and not one entity. David talks about feeling the presence of the Holy
Spirit in Psalm 5 1:11, "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not
thy Holy Spirit from me". In I John 4:13, "Hereby know we that we
dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit" we are
reminded that this is God's Spirit and not an entity. Romans 8:9-11, "But
ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be the Spirit of God dwell in
you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if
Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life
because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from
the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you". Paul says
in 2 Corinthians 6:16, "as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk
in them; and I will be their God".
The Bible says in many places that we can be filled with the
Holy Ghost, be baptized by the Holy Ghost, we can receive the Holy Ghost, we
can be taught by the Holy Ghost, we can pray in the Holy Ghost, we can commune
with the Holy Ghost and we can be sanctified by the Holy Ghost. To me, the most
remarkable of these is the fact that we can be baptized with the Holy Ghost
just as we are baptized in water. Water and spirit are used interchangeably
often in the Bible. John the Baptist was the first to state this in Matthew
3:11, "He that cometh after me is mightier and He shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost"; Mark 1:8. "He shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost"; Luke 3:15, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost";
John 1:33, "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining
on Mm, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost". The book of
Acts 1:5, "Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days
hence"; 11:16, "ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost"; 8:17,
"they received the Holy Ghost"; 19:6, "and when Paul had laid
hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with
tongues". Paul writes in I Corinthians 6:19, "What? Know ye not that
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of
God, and ye are not your own?" Also in 2 Timothy 1:14, "That good
thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in
us".
There are many references in the scriptures to those who
have been filled with the Holy Spirit and others who have written about being
full of the Holy Spirit. In Luke 1:15, "He (John) shall be great in the
sight of the Lord, and shall be filled with the Holy Ghost". Luke 1:41,
'Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost; 4:1, "And Jesus being full of
the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan". In Acts 2:4, "And they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost"; 4:8, "Then Peter, filled with the Holy
Ghost"; 4:13, "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost";
6:3, "Seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost"; 6:5,
"Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost"; 7:55, "But
he, being full of the Holy Ghost"; 9:17, "that thou mightest receive thy
sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost"; 13:9, "Then Paul filled
with the Holy Ghost"; 13:52, "And the disciples were filled with joy,
and with the Holy Ghost". It is
recorded that Jesus was filled with the Holy Ghost by the Father in Acts 2:13,
"Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of
the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost"; 10:38, "How God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power".
Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Ghost would be given
after His ascension as a comforter and gift, John 10:26, "But the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name";
Luke 24:49, "And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but
tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on
high". This passage was a reference to the promise God gave the prophet
Joel 2:28, "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My
Spirit upon all flesh". This gift of the Holy Ghost is mentioned by Peter
in Acts 2:-18, "Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost"; Acts
10:45, "that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy
Ghost"; Hebrews 2:4, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and
wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost"; Hebrews
6:4, "and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the
Holy Ghost". In none of these scriptures is there the slightest inference
that the Holy Ghost is anything other than a gift of God's own Spirit to both
His son Jesus and His children who are saved through the death of Jesus Christ.
John 3:14, "For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; for God
giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him"; I Thessalonians 4:8, "He
therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto
us His Holy Spirit". If the Holy Spirit was a person as claimed by the
trinity, how could it be given to mankind?
This same Holy Spirit as mentioned in
the foregoing scriptures dwells in me as a gift of God and teaches me about the
word of God. Luke 12:12, "For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same
hour what ye ought to say". My gift of the Holy Spirit directs me when I
allow it to, yet I often disobey or ignore such guidance. Just as David wrote
in the Psalm 32:8, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which
thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye". John records in I John
2:27, "But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and
ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of
all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye
shall abide in Him". Paul says in I Corinthians 2:10-14, "But God
bath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things,
yes, the deep things of God; for what man knoweth the things of a man save the
spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but
the Spirit of God; Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the
Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to
us of God; which things we also speak, not in the words which man's wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; but the natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned".
The Godhead is understood through the Holy Spirit and not through intellectual
reasoning.
In the second epistle of John is
recorded, "The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in
the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; for the
truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever. Grace be
with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love". Paul records in I
Corinthians 8:2-6, "And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he
knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know, but if any man love God, the same is
known of Him. But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all
things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and
we by Him". John 5:26, "For as the Father hath life in Himself, so
hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself.” Jesus speaks in John 17:8,
"For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have
received them, and have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have
believed that thou didst send me". Paul writes in I Corinthians 15:28,
"And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also
Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all
in all". The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 8:5, "For thou hast made Him a
little lower than the angels, and hast crowned Him with glory and honour".
This could only be speaking of Jesus being made a little lower than the angels
and God has never been lower than the angels. The scripture is repeated by Paul
in Hebrews 2:7-9, "Thou madest Him a little lower than the angels; thou
crownest Him with glory and honour, and didst set Him over the works of thy hands;
thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet. For in that He put all
in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we
see not yet all things put under Him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and
honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man".
Paul writes in Hebrews 1:2-3,
"Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed
heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness
of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by
the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the
right hand of the Majesty on high". Paul's writing explains that Jesus
reflects the glory and light of the Father just as the moon reflects the light
of the sun. The source of the light is the sun and the moon just reflects the
source of the light. Jesus reflects the brightness of the Father in the same
manner, but let us not forget that the source of the light is the Father. It
has been said that one cannot have radiance without the source of the radiance
and that is God the Father. God is pleased at the adoration given to His son,
but I believe He is also grieved by the fact that man has given equal status to
the Son with the Father. God the Father gave a commandment to Moses that the
people should have no other gods before Him. When mankind places Jesus on an
equal status with the Father, they have broken this commandment.
The eternal God is both Father and God
to Jesus Christ the Son and this is clarified in Ephesians 1:3, "Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"; 2 Corinthians 1:3,
"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"; I Peter
1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". Jesus
explained the difference between Himself and the Father in the fifteenth
chapter of John. Jesus states in John 15:1, "I am the true vine, and my Father
is the husbandman"; 15:2, "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit
He taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may
bring forth more fruit". The Father is the husbandman or farmer or
landowner. The husbandman controls both the land and the vine growing on the
land. Jesus compares Himself to the vine growing on His Father's land. In other
words, He is owned by the Father. This comparison by Jesus between a human
being and a plant certainly draws attention to the fact that He does not equate
Himself to the Father in any way. Jesus specifies His separateness from the
Father by referring to Himself more than 65 times as the son of man. He uses
the personal relationship of Himself to God by calling God "my
Father" more than 50 times in the Bible.
Father God is called the "Most
High God" thirty three times in the Bible. Isaiah calls the Father,
"Lofty One", Isaiah, 57:15, "For thus saith the high and lofty
One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy". Luke refers to God the
Father as, "the Highest", Luke 1:12, "He shall be great, and
shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him
the throne of David; 1:15, "And the angel answered and said unto her, The
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God"; 1:76, "And thou, child, shalt be called the
prophet of the Highest". The Jews used a variety of names for God the
Father. Among these are Elohim as the creator of all things, Yahweh or Jehovah
as the eternal or immutable One, Elohim the omnipotent One, Eloah, the living
God, Elyon, the most high God, El Shaddai. the Almighty and Adonai as ruler or
Lord of the earth.
The Messianic passages of the Old
Testament clarified to the Jews that God would send a Messiah or Anointed One
to liberate them from their bondage. None of these passages indicate that God
Himself would leave the realm of Heaven, but would send a servant to accomplish
that purpose. The Messiah was to be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), in
Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), He would be a descendant of the house of David (2 Samuel
7:12), a man of sorrows, (Isaiah 53:3), rejected by his people, (Psalm 69:8),
betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9), crucified between two thieves, (Isaiah
53:12) His spirit commended to His Father, (Psalm 31:5), raised from the dead,
(Psalm 16:10), take His place at the right hand, (Psalm 110:1). Jesus fulfilled
all of these prophecies as the only begotten Son of God and not as God Himself
Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law,
or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." The book of
Esther in the Old Testament serves as an archetype of Jesus interceding to the
King in behalf of the people.
Jesus invites worship unto Himself as
the Son of God but not as the eternal highest supreme God and Father who is
first in the Godhead. John 3:34-36, "For He whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him. The Father
loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see
life; but the wrath of God abideth on him". The Bible gives instances of
followers worshiping either God or Jesus or both without reservation as long as
it is recognized that God is the highest order of the Godhead. Jesus is called
the direct heir of God and we humans are heirs through spiritual birth. God and
Jesus are of the same spiritual substance, but because Jesus took on a fleshly
body, He now resides at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19) with an image
similar to what He had on earth (Luke 24:39). Jesus and the Father are separated
by a generation just as human fathers and sons are. Jesus described how He was
accountable to God the Father, but the Father is accountable to no one. Jesus
was given authority by the Father, (John 5:27).
John even labels those who deny Jesus
and God as being a part of the antichrist. This is recorded in I John 2:22,
"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is
antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son". The belief that God and
Jesus are one and the same are denying the existence of both the Father and the
Son. Paul tells his followers in 2 Thessalonians 3:15-17, "Therefore,
brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught,
whether by word, or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God,
even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation
and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every
good word and work".
Every translation of the Bible from the
first printing to the present tends to lean more forcibly on the doctrine of
trinity. Modern translations unashamedly use marginal guides and study aids to
promote the doctrine of trinity without biblical basis for same. The doctrine
of the trinity was both introduced and embraced by church leaders many years
after the death of Jesus' disciples. As explained in the introduction to this
document, there were those who resisted the teaching of trinity and they were
labeled as heretics. I would rather hold to the Bible scripture and be labeled
a heretic than to adhere to some Roman priests' idea about a triune God that
has no basis in scripture. If all the scripture quoted in this dissertation can
be rejected or ignored by trinitarian thought, then so be it. I choose to
believe what the Bible says about Jesus and God. Jude 4 states, "For there
are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this
condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ".
To summarize the content of the
previous pages, I will reiterate the following main points of the document. I
have included a history of Trinitarian and monotheistic thought. I have
reviewed what the Bible refers to as "the beginning". The various scriptures
that refer to Jesus the Son as the Begotten Son of God and the Firstborn of God
are included. A review of scriptures that describe God as Spirit is made. There
is an explanation of what is meant by "one" and "oneness"
in the Bible. Many scriptures are quoted to show that Jesus now sits at the
right hand of the Father. Several scriptures are quoted to show that Jesus was
and is the Servant of God. A review of the many terms used in the Bible to
describe Jesus that in no way can be applied to God the Father is included. The
various scriptures that reveal Jesus as God's sacrifice for mankind are listed.
Many scriptures are listed to show that God raised Jesus from the dead and
there is no way possible that Jesus could have raised Himself from the dead.
There is a section that describes the Holy Spirit and the function of the Holy
Spirit in understanding the Godhead. Many scriptures were used to quote Jesus
Himself in distinguishing the separateness of Him and the Father.
My purpose in writing this treatise is
to get the reader to study the Bible for himself or herself. Over the
centuries, Christians have depended upon their leaders to explain the Bible to
them rather than study it for themselves. It is a fact that most of what we
believe we heard from someone other than God or Jesus. I strongly urge the
reader to study the scriptures noted and do not accept my personal assumptions
as fact. Neither should the reader dismiss what I have written as false. Please
study every scripture that I have listed and ask God to enlighten you
personally on the content of the Bible. Why should you or anyone let someone do
your thinking for you? Each child of God has an eternal right to know the truth
and God will reveal truth when we diligently seek it. Salvation is a personal
commitment between a man or woman and his or her God. The Bible tells us that
the Holy Spirit can teach us the meaning of any part of the Bible that we do
not understand. Through prayer and fasting and faith we can come to know God
and His Word in much greater depth than we now experience. Placing a label on a
person as a heretic or infidel is barbaric and has no place in God's kingdom.
These labels should be reserved for those who totally reject God and His Son.
My Trinitarian friends tell me that
they can't explain how God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are three and yet one.
I have no such problem in explaining the separateness of the three. John lays
out the complete plan of man's salvation in I John 5. In the first verse is
explained how we humans are born of God when we believe upon Jesus the Son and
that He was begotten by the Father. This leads to love as described in verses
two and three. In verses four and five we learn that we can overcome the world
if we believe that Jesus is the Son of God. In verses six, seven and eight the
author delineates between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Verse ten
emphasizes the need to accept the two deities as God has given us His Son
Jesus. Verses twelve and thirteen conclude that eternal life is given by God
through the Son. In I John 4-15 the author describes how God sent Jesus into
the world and we can be saved when we acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus tells us over and over again in His own words in the Gospels how He was
sent by the Father as a servant to God in behalf of mankind. We can expect no
firmer confirmation of that than the recordings of the personal statements of
Jesus.
GENESIS
1:26,14:18-20,21:17,21:33,22:9-12
EXODUS
3:6
DEUTERONOMY
6:4
JOSHUA
5:14
I KINGS
19:13
PSALM 2:7,
8:5, 16:10, 31:5, 41:9, 51:11, 69:7-9, 90:2, 91:1, 91:9, 110:1
PROVERBS
30:4
ISAIAH
6:8, 7:14, 9:6,40:10, 40:28, 41:20, 42:1, 42:6,45:11,52:13-14, 53:1-12, 55:5,
57:15, 59:16, 59:20,61:1-3
LAMENTATIONS
3:38
EZEKIEL
18:4,18:20
DANIEL
7:13 -14
JOEL 2:28
MICAH 5:2-4
MATTHEW
1:20-23, 3:11-17, 4:1-10, 5:17, 5:45-48, 6:1, 7:21, 8:29, 9:6,10:28-40, 11:25
27, 12:18, 12:50, 15:13, 16:16, 16:27, 17:5-9, 18:11, 19:17, 20:28-31, 22:42
45, 24:36, 26:39-42, 26:53, 26:64, 27:46
MARK
1:8-11, 1:24, 1:34-35, 5:7, 8:29, 8:38, 9:37,10:45,12:36,14:36,14:62,15:34,
15:39,16:19
LUKE 1:1
5, 1:32-35, 1:41, 1:67, 1:76, 2:25-26 2:52, 3:22, 4:1-12, 4:41, 5:16, 6:35,
9:56, 10:21-22, 11:2-4, 11:13, 12:12, 12:50, 18:19, 21:27, 22:27-29, 22:42,
22:69-70, 23:34, 23:46, 24:49
JOHN
1:1-3, 1:14, 1:18, 1:29-36, 4:23-24, 4:34, 5:17, 5:19-32, 5:37, 5:43, 6:37-40,
6:44-46, 6:57, 6:65, 6:69, 7:16-18, 7:39, 8-18-19, 8:26-29, 8:38, 8:42, 8:59,
9:4, 9:35-37,10:18,10:29-32,10:36,11:4,11:41-42,12:26-30,12:44-45,12:49-50,
13:1-3, 13:16, 13:31, 14:2-31, 15:1-10, 15:15-16, 15:20-24, 16:3, 16:5, 16: 1
0, 16:15-17, 15:25-28, 15:32, 17:1-11, 17:18-26, 19:7, 19:11, 20:17, 20:21-22, 20:31
ACTS 1:2,
1:4-5, 1:8, 1:16, 2:4, 2:22-24, 2:27, 2:30-33, 2:38, 2:46, 3:13-15, 3:26,
4:8-10, 4:24-27, 4:32, 5:3, 5:12, 5:30-32, 6:3-5, 7:51-56, 8:5, 8:15-19, 8:37,
9:17-20, 9:31, 10:36-47, 11:16-17, 11:24, 1:2-4, 13:9, 13:2-:30-7, 13:52, 15:8,
15:28, 16:6, 16:17, 17:31, 19:2-6, 20:23, 20:28, 21:11, 26:14-18, 28:25
ROMANS
1:3-4, 1.7-9, 2:16, 3:22-25, 4:24, 5:1, 5:5-8, 6:4, 6:9, 6:23, 7:25, 8:3, 8:11,
8:14,-17, 8:27, 8:29, 8:32:34, 8:39, 10:9, 12:4, 12:16, 14:17-18, 15:3, 15:6,
15:16-19, 15:30, 16:20, 16:27
CORINTHIANS
1:3, 1:9, 2:13, 3:6-8, 3:16, 3:23, 6:14, 6:19, 7:17, 8:6, 11:3, 12:3, 15:12-15,
15:20, 15:24, 15:2 8, 15:47, 15:57
2 CORINTHIANS
1:2-3, 1:19-21, 2:14-17, 3:3-4, 3:17, 4:4-6, 4:14, 5:18-21, 11:3 1,
12:19,13:3-4, 13:14
GALATIANS
1:1-3, 2:20, 3:17, 3:29, 4:4, 4:7, 5:16-17, 6:8
EPHESIANS
1:1-3, 1:17, 1:20-22, 2:4-10, 2:14-19, 3:9-10, 3:14, 4:5-6, 4:13, 4:32, 5:2,
5:5, 5:20, 5:31, 6:23
PHILIPPIANS
1:2, 1:11, 1:27, 2:2-11, 2:20, 3:3,
8-9, 3:14, 4:2, 4:19, 4:23
COLOSSIANS
1: 1-3, 1:15-18, 2:2, 2:9, 2:12, 3:3, 10, 3:17
I THESSALONIANS
1: 1-10, 2:15, 3:2, 3:11, 3:13, 4:8, and 5:9
THESSALONLANS
1: 1-2, 2:16
I TIM0THY
1: 1-2, 1:17, 2:5, 6:13, 6:16
2 TIM0THY
1 1-2, 1:14, 2:8, 4: 1
TITUS 1:
14, 3:5-7
PHILEMON
1:3
HEBREWS
1: 1- 1 3, 2:4, 2:7-10, 2: l1, 2:17-18, 3:2, 3:6, 4:14-15, 5:5-10, 6:4-6, 6:20,
7:22-25, 8:1-6, 9:11-15, 9:24, 10:7, 10:9, 10:12, 10:15, 10:21, 10:29, 11:27,
12:2, 12:23-24, 13:20
JAMES 1: 1,
1:13
I PETER
1:2-3, 1:12, 1:20-21, 2:23, 3:8, 3:22, 4:11, 5:10
2 PETER
1:1-2, 1:17, 1:21
I JOHN
1:2-3, 1:7, 2:1-2, 2:13-16, 2:20-23, 3:1-2, 3:8, 3:23, 4:9-15, 5:1-13, 5:20
2 JOHN
1:3, 1:9
JUDE 1, 4,
20, 21
REVELATION
1:5-6, 2:18, 2:27, 3:12, 3:14, 3:21, 7:10, 7:17, 11:15, 12:10, 12:17, 14:4,
14:12, 19:13, 22:3, 22:13