1 = 3, 3 = 1. The Plurality and
Mathematics of God
And The Iglesia Ni Cristo
By Jason Stevens
http://www.dk777.com/inctrinity.pdf
http://www.dk777.com/trinityfaq.pdf
INTRODUCTION
This document has been written and compiled in order to express and discuss the mathematics of God, that our one true and amazing God is one entity, being and Lord. But while our gracious God is one entity it is the belief of most Christians that He is comprised of three unique and distinct persons as will be demonstrated and analyzed in this document.
While in discussion about the deity of Jesus Christ with a great friend the comment was made that 1 + 1 +1 = 1? How could this be that just does not add up? The conclusion is that when a person who believes in the plurality of God makes the statement that the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit are one they are making 3 different gods or do not know how to do math. This is not the case of the Christian whom is labeled as a Trinitarian. Trinitarian Christians believe that all of the verses where Jesus makes claims to be “one” with the Father and “equal” with the Father, where followers and disciples refer to Jesus as “Our God and Savior” and verses that describe the plurality of God all are in agreement with each other and are of the fact that all three are truly One. That God = the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 1=3, 3=1. In this study many verses will be discussed and analyzed as to what the Bible and scripture says about this issue and whether or not the conclusions of those who reject the trinity make solid, biblical and rational arguments. If you are a Biblical Unitarian (belief that God is only the Father) I encourage you to note down all of their/your doctrinal beliefs and compare them to all of the verses I point out and discuss.
Believing in Jesus Christ means believing who he is and who he claimed himself to be. Jesus is clear that you must believe 100% who Jesus Christ claimed himself to be or you will die in your sins unsaved.
John
But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this
world; I am not of this world. I told you that you
would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to
be, you will indeed die in your sins."
John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.”
Acts
It is extremely important for us
to know who exactly Jesus Christ is because it is through Jesus Christ we are
saved. I hope this study will give everyone the clear understanding of these
facts in the Bible as God has spoken them to us.
Secondly this study will cover certain areas of religious groups that are called “One true” churches, focusing on one. These churches consider themselves to be the one and only true church of God and that all other churches and doctrines are either false or apostatized and going to hell. These “One true” churches have many doctrinal similarities the main one being most all deny the deity of Jesus Christ.
Before we begin there are a few baseline understandings that must be made in order to properly debate this issue from a Christian or anti-Trinitarian position. The first is that there is one true God (Jehovah) of the Bible. It must be made clear that the Bible emphatically states that there is one God and one Creator and that no other gods may be worshiped. God has many different names that describe His many attributes.
Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O
Secondly is that the Holy Scriptures in the Bible are inerrant and infallible. They are God breathed and fully inspired by God without error. There is no greater book of truth that has stood up over thousands of years as that of the Holy Scriptures. This means that there are no conflicts between any verses or parts in the Bible. When a debate occurs around what a particular verse means it is important to read the verse in context. Meaning to read before and after the verse or the entire section or the entire chapter. We must read the word of God in consistency and context. We cannot just pick and choose what we want to read and believe, as this is how many people become lost and misled.
Here are some common descriptions
of churches that are considered to be a “
1.”They all claim to be the restoration of Christianity; they are the only true Church, the remnant, movement, and only organization of God. All others are in error.”
2.”They all have extra biblical authority. The Bible is never enough; it cannot be understood apart from the messenger or leaders and that they can only interpret the Bible correctly or that God has revealed only to them additional necessary information of salvation.”
3.”They all deny the deity of Jesus Christ. They all deny that Jesus is the eternal God made flesh.”
4.”They all deny salvation by grace alone. OTC’s emphasize that works are absolutely necessary for salvation and membership or involvement in their church is required.”
The primary way to tell if your church or religion is a false religion or cult is to test and review their teachings against what the Word of God says. Many verses will be twisted, taken out of context, miss-interpreted or greatly falsified to conform to the false teachings and ideas that the founder had created. For your own spiritual health and salvation you must test your churches teachings and search deep down with the power of the Holy Spirit whether or not what they teach is the truth of God. Please try to understand what the verse says, not what your church or religion says it means, what if they are wrong? Many are.
2 Timothy
WHO CAN
UNDERSTAND THE WORD OF GOD?
I would like to briefly
expound upon number 2 “They all have extra biblical authority. The Bible is
never enough; it cannot be understood apart from the messenger or leaders and
that they can only interpret the Bible correctly or that God has revealed only
to them additional necessary information of salvation.”
Most all OTC’s, sects and
aberration church groups teach the doctrine that only the messenger who founded
their church or those in its administration can know and understand the Word of
God and no one else. The main reason for this is control and concealment. If
one is teaching something un-Biblical one must conceal it and not let the flock
or congregation question what the administration and pastor is teaching. A sign
of a truly inspired
The first step is to have
faith that it was by divine inspiration that the authors of Scripture wrote
from. The words in the Bible are not just those of narrators but of God
himself.
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
Peter 1:19-21 “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
Private means by one
person alone, everyone who can read the Word of God can understand the Word of
God. If one can read the Word of God, they can understand it.
2 Corinthians
1:13
For we
do not write you anything you cannot read or understand.
And it is only what is
written in the Bible that is the Word of God.
1 Corinthians 4:6
Now, brothers, I have
applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may
learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not
go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man
over against another.
Romans 16:25 Now to him
who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26but now revealed and made known through the prophetic
writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations
might believe and obey him
How does one understand
the Word of God?
1 Corinthians 2:10-14 “but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
What OTC’s fail to tell
you is that even during the time of Jesus and in the first days of the Apostles
founding the early church there were many false teachers and deceivers. Jesus
and the Apostles warned the churches many times of this. Satan started on day
one trying to create confusion, miss-interpretation and lies to deceive people.
Does not every Christian have the Holy Spirit inside of them? Is not every
believer told to know the scriptures?
Romans 8:9-11
9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
1 Cor
19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Matthew
Luke 24:45 "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures."
God allows all of our
minds to understand the Scriptures through the power of the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit teaches, councils and guides us. We are encouraged to do so just
like the Bereans did.
Luke
John 14:26 “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
Acts
Acts
1 Timothy
Everyone, all public are
to read and learn the Word of God. For the Scriptures are not for “private
interpretation”! The reason why people stay in these false religions and cults
is because they do not read and understand Scripture for themselves. They do not
devote themselves to the reading of Scripture. I encourage everyone to take
what your church and leaders say and apply the test of Scripture against it
just like the Bereans did. I also encourage you to do the same for this study.
2 Peter 3:15-17 “Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.”
There are some scriptures
that ignorant and unstable people distort. The reason why God just does not
appear out of the sky and make Himself known and crystal clear is that he wants
our decision to follow him to be from the heart and be real. There are some
people who needed to see miracles to believe, but God wants us to believe by
faith and faith alone, for that is the greatest.
We are commanded to be
stewards of God.
1 Corinthians 4:1-3
Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.
And now a few words about
Bible translations, most all cults either create or generate their own
translation or use many different (true and perverted) translations to make
their points. Debate on the validity of certain Bible translations, especially
the modern new age translations is a study in itself. I do cover one of them
later on. I am sticking to the three translations that I consider to be the
most valid and accurate, the KJV, NKJV and NIV. I say this for the following
reasons; I believe strongly that only translations based primarily on the
Textus Receptus are valid. Those translations that choose to render
translations based on Alexandrian manuscripts or the Vaticanus or the Sinaiticus
I consider to be suspect and at the worst perverted and incorrect. While the
NIV does this the general meaning of all of these verses are 95% consistent
between the three I am using.
As a reference I only
consider translations listed at www.bible.com
and www.biblegateway.com to
be accepted in rebuttals (not Lamsa or Moffatt). If one translation has a
widely varying meaning in contrast to the general consensus of all others, that
translation is considered suspect. As always it would be best to go back to the
Greek of the Textus Receptus to get the full original meaning of the word or
verse but that is a bit beyond the scope of this study. At the above web sites
you may compare many different Bible translations against each other. The great
news is that 99% of the time they are all in agreement.
WHAT TRINITARIANS DEFINE THE TRINITY TO BE
Since “One true” churches, cults and other
groups have varying doctrine and theology of God and permutations or
perversions of the Trinity a true Trinitarian definition needs to be defined
for reference in this study. While OTC”s and anti-Trinitarians will disagree
and challenge the plurality or definition of the plurality of God for this
study you must understand our (Trinitarian) beliefs and what we believe the
Word of God says and means.
We believe that God is One (Echad). That there is no other God but God (Elohim) and Lord (Adonai, Yahweh) and all creation and life was created by Him and that he is Lord and Master of all. We believe that God is comprised of three unique, co-equal, and co-eternal individual persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Trinity is tri (three) unity (one), tri+unity= Trinity. One is defined as “being a single entity, unit, object, or living being”
We do not believe that there are three different gods. We do not say the Father is the Son, the Son is the Spirit or the Spirit is the Father because they are distinct. We believe that they are three eternal persons and that these persons are distinct from one another and are differentiated as Persons but are of one being. We believe that “the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all deity, fully equal and God. God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God”.
Here are some common simple examples for reference. Lets take an egg for example. An egg consists of the eggshell, the egg yoke and the egg white. But it is one egg. Another simple example is H2O, it can exist as water, ice or steam, but in any form it is all H20. Another example would be a human. Lets take Bob for example; Bob has a brother named Dan, a son named Tim and a grandson named Paul. Bob is Dan’s brother but he not Tim’s brother. Bob is Paul’s grandfather but he is not Tim’s grandfather. As you can see, an entity can be more than one thing all at the same time of being in itself one. This is how we view God. God is one but is also three distinct Persons all at the same time. When Bob is being a grandfather to Paul he is not being a grandfather to Dan but he is still being himself, Bob. When a person or church denies one of the three aspects of the plural God other schisms are created and this is how many different false doctrines are created.
There are many times where Jesus Christ claims to be “One” with the Father and where it is mentioned that God is one, or there is one God. I would like to give an English definition of the word “one” for use in the rest of this study.
one (wun)
adj.
- Being a single entity, unit, object, or living being.
- Characterized by unity; undivided: They spoke with one voice.
- Of the same kind or quality: two animals of one species.
- Forming a single entity of two or more components: three chemicals combining into one solution.
- Being a single member or element of a group, category, or kind: I'm just one player on the team.
- Being a single thing in contrast with or relation to another or others of its kind:
THE PLURALITY OF GOD – EVIDENCE OF THE TRINITY
To begin this study on the deity of Jesus Christ and the belief by Trinitarians that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are one lets start at the beginning and work our way through. I will underline the verses in order as I go from Genesis to Revelation. For all members of “One true” churches just one verse typically is not going to convince you or change your mind. However you will need to weigh all of the verses with inductive and deductive logical reasoning and make the decision and conclusion, do they all agree with one another and mean what they say, and say what the mean? Please review all of the verses I present with a deep concern and love for the truth of God.
There are some people unfortunately who will not take the time to read through this entire study on their own I have found out. While I hope this is not the case and I encourage all to read this study fully, I have created a Trinity FAQ that summarizes in much shorter form most of the main body content of this study.
http://www.dk777.com/trinityfaq.html
Genesis 1:1 “In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Question, if God created Jesus Christ and Jesus did not exist before his time on earth, how could these following verses be correct and also who then exactly did the creating of the universe?
Hebrews 1:1-2 “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.”
Question, if God created the heavens and the earth but through Jesus the universe was made, doesn’t that signal Jesus is God? Or did God just use Jesus to make the universe by giving him special powers? The thought of special powers is not anywhere in the Bible. Many verses in the OT talk about how God, Elohim, created the universe. Is the simple conclusion that, God created, Jesus made, and they are one?
The following verses about Jesus all inductively confirm and backup the above thought. Again reading these verses in context it is clear that the subject of these verses is Jesus Christ.
John 1:3 “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Colossians
Jude
Hebrews
John 17:5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
This following quote is confirming that it is God who made. God did not endow a separate Jesus with special powers to create the universe. God saw all that He had made. Do these verses conflict or do they confirm? They only conflict if one believes that the Son and the Father are not one.
Genesis 1:31” God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.”
Genesis
Genesis
Genesis 11:7 "Come, let
Us go down there and confuse their language, so
that they will not understand one another’s speech."
Question, if God is only God the Father, singular, then why does He refer to himself in plural form?
“The majority of the time in the Old Testament God referred to Himself in the plural form. (i.e, "Elohim", which is the plural of "Eloha"). There are many OT scriptures where God refers to Himself as "Us" and "We" in plural form. The two plural nouns that are applied to God: God and Lord are almost always plural. These two plural nouns (God - Elohim, Lord - Adonai) are the two most frequently used nouns of God in the Old Testament. Not only are the nouns plural but also the verbs such as make are plural. The plurality of Hebrew verbs follow the noun (us). This is not the case in English.”
The second critical point about this verse is the words image and likeness. Man is created in the plural likeness of God. The question is if you do not believe that the Son and the Holy Spirit are the other components of the plurality of God what is? Many OTC’s veer off in many directions at this point. Some think it was angels, other spirits, and even other gods. Besides some made up ideas we can know through the Bible that at least three entities existed at the time man was created, God, Cherubim and Angels. So the question is can man or Jesus be made by Angels or in the image of angels? We are certainly not made in the image of Cherubim.
1 Corinthians 6:3 “Do you not know that we will judge
angels? How much more the things of this life!”
How can man judge that which created him? If angels are included in "Let US make", then angels AND God are equally our creator. Does it directly say anywhere in the bible that angels created anything or are the creator of man? I cannot find any. Also if God created the angels why would He need the angles to create man?
Does the Bible say angels are the image of God or is Jesus the image of God?
2 Corinthians 4:4 "see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. "
Colossians
Hebrews 1:3 "And He is the radiance of His glory and
the exact representation of His nature,
and upholds all things by the word of His power.
When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty on high, "
We are told not to worship angels. We are also told that the Son is superior to angels. I am going to skip ahead and quote the entire chapter of Hebrews 1. These words are so great and pertinent I will highlight in red.
“8But about the Son He says,
"Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,””
This is quoting Psalm 45:6-7
6 Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
7 You love righteousness and
hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your
companions
by anointing
you with the oil of joy.
God the Father is calling
God the Son (Jesus) GOD!!!!
Psalms 110:1
The LORD says to my Lord:
"Sit at
my right hand
until I make
your enemies
a footstool
for your feet."
2 The LORD will
extend your mighty scepter from
you will rule in the midst of your enemies.
There are many references of God the Father to God the Son in the Old Testament specifically in prophetic verses about the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 1
The Son
“1In the past
God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various
ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed
heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining
all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat
down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4So he became as much superior
to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
5For to which
of the angels did God ever say,
"You are my Son;
today I have
become your Father"? Or again,
"I will be
his Father,
and he will
be my Son"? 6And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, He
says,
"Let all God's angels worship him." 7In speaking
of the angels he says,
"He makes
his angels winds,
his servants
flames of fire." 8But about the Son he says,
"Your throne, O God, will last
for ever and ever,
and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9You have loved
righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God,
has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy."
10he also says,
"In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the
earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
11They will perish, but you remain;
they will all
wear out like a garment.
12You will roll
them up like a robe;
like a
garment they will be changed.
But you remain
the same,
and your
years will never end." 13To which of the angels did God ever say,
"Sit at
my right hand
until I make
your enemies
a footstool
for your feet"? 14Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve
those who will inherit salvation?”
The answer is rhetorical. The conclusion from reading all of these verses is the simple and clear one that Jesus is not an angel, angels are not in the likeness or image of God but Jesus is, that God is plural and that the plurality of God is not angels, other spirits or gods but Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God even calls the Son, God!
Lastly every place God has a conversation with angels, he never uses a plural we or us. A good example is Genesis 18. If there ever were a place or time to use us/we/our this would be it. However as you will see that does not happen.
Genesis 18:16-17 "Then the [three] men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. Yahweh said, "Shall I [not we] hide from Abraham what I am about to do,"
The question is who then was this person walking on earth, in the flesh, with Abraham? Lets move on.
Genesis 18, 19 - Genesis 19:24 “Then the LORD rained
down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.”
It is clear that one of these three “men” in this passage of Genesis was God, Yahweh.
Genesis 18:13 “And Yahweh said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’"
Genesis 18:17 "Yahweh said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do"
There were also two angels present.
Genesis 19:1 "Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. "
Genesis 19:13 "for we are about to destroy this place, because their
outcry has become so great before Yahweh that Yahweh has sent us to destroy
it."
Right here the angels who are apart and away from the third man (Who was God in the flesh) state that God sent them and the word Yahweh that was used for the third man, was not used here on these two to describe them. These two angels and the third man, who is God, are separate and are not one. Otherwise a plural form would have been used in the case if angels and God were one, the plural of God. This did not happen.
Now here is the main point of this passage I am getting to:
Genesis 19:24 “Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.”
Genesis 19:24 "Then Yahweh [on earth in human form] rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh [in spirit form in heaven] out of heaven."
There are two different and unique Yahweh’s present, one on earth, speaking with Abraham and the other in Heaven. “Then the Lord, from the Lord.” That is the use of the differentiating word from. The common understanding is that God became flesh on Earth, as God the Son, Jesus Christ at this time. The word Yahweh is used for both the God on earth and the God in heaven, as they are one, but the word from in this context represents two different persons. What did the early church, the “non-apostatized” church understand this to say?
180 AD Irenaeus "Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah fire and brimstone from the LORD out of heaven." For it here points out that the Son, who had also been talking with Abraham, had received power to judge the Sodomites for their wickedness.”
200 AD Tertullian "That is a still grander statement [of Christ’s deity] which you will find expressly made in the Gospel: A much more ancient testimony [of Christ’s deity] we have also in Genesis: "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven." Now, either deny that this is Scripture; or else (let me ask) what sort of man you are, that you do not think words ought to be taken and understood in the sense in which they are written, especially when they are not expressed in allegories and parables, but in determinate and simple declarations?"
When God manifests Himself in the flesh on Earth, He uses God the Son when he does so. Jesus has dominion and power on Earth, is the Creator of the Earth and universe and is God in the Flesh (John 1:14)
Deuteronomy 6:4-6
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
I have stressed and underlined the word Echad previously in quoting this verse. The following quote is why this is so important and expresses the understanding of the word one (Echad). Excuse the missing words.
Biblical Oneness Defined
“The third word that needs to be examined in the opening statement of the Shema is the word (…). This word is a combination of two Hebrew words in construct form: (…) anachenu, which means "we" or "our," and (…) Elohiym, pronounced Eloheem, which is one of the names of God. When the final! or mem sophit is dropped from the word (…) and the (…) ending is added, the result is the constructed word (…) which means "our God" or "God of us." We want to consider the word as it appears before the construct form. This would be the word (…) which is usually translated "God" but which has a greater meaning of "God above all Gods." The root of this word is (…) (El) and this word, which is in the singular form, is often translated "God" as well. El also has a deeper meaning of power, strength, and might, conveying the idea that our God is a God of strength and power.
It is not our intention to delve into Hebrew grammar, but some points need to be made for the purpose of further discussion. The word El as stated above is in the singular form. The word Elohiym (pronounced Eloheem) is in the plural form. Hebrew words are unique because they can show number, gender, and direction depending upon the prefixes and suffixes that are attached to the root word. For the sake of this discussion, we will only consider the gender and number of the words (…) and (…). Again, we must start with the root of the word, which in this case is (…) (El) and defined as "God." If we wanted to make the word El dual (that is, plural showing more than one but less than three), we could simply add the ending (…) making the word (…) (Eloheyim). This would make the word plural (dual), two in number. Since the word ends with the dual ending of (…) and the final mem (…) or mem sophit, this word is also masculine. In order to make the word plural with reference to "three" as well as masculine, we would write it (…). The (…) ending makes the word masculine and plural, three or more. This is a very important fact in the opening verse of the Shema and would almost make the Shema obscure without this understanding. Understanding this plurality in the Godhead is a very different concept than polytheism. To believe in the plurality in one God does not make one a believer in polytheism. With this understanding, we can see that the first part of the Shema could read, "Hear, understand, and act on the fact, O Israel, the Lord, the God of us [three in number, masculine], the Lord is echad." “
One In Unity
“Now we are ready to consider the most important word in this passage, (…), (pronounced echad). It is this word that brings the richness of understanding and sets the stage for a concept that is developed throughout the rest of the Word of God. Echad has been translated "one" in the Bible. While it certainly does convey the numerical meaning of "one," it should be pointed out again that in Biblical Hebrew, we do not really need a separate word to show a number. This can be done quite easily by the suffix that is added to the root of a word. Once again, a Hebrew word can show not only number, but gender and direction. Since we have a word already present that shows both plurality and gender, there is really no need to specify the number one. Stated another way, the use of the word echad to specify number is not only redundant but contradictory. There must be a deeper meaning to this word. According to Gesenius Hebrew/Chaldee Lexicon To The Old Testament, (…) (echad) means, "to unite, to join together, to be in unity."2 Echad also conveys the idea of being "bound together" like the cords of a rope. The tighter the cords are bound, the greater the strength produced. Echad does indeed mean "one" but it is a oneness that is produced by unity. We see this idea of echad in Genesis 2:23-24 when Adam said, "This is now bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one ((…) echad) flesh." Here we see two distinct individuals declared as "one" flesh. This is not talking about one in number but one in unity, harmony, peace, and the sharing of common goals. Adam and Eve were joined together, twisted, bound, and wrapped together in singleness of purpose.
In Matthew 19:3-6 Jesus says that when a man and woman are married, the two of them become one (…) flesh. They are united, joined, and wrapped together like the cords of a rope. They have singleness of purpose in marriage, and no man should try to destroy that unity. This unity does not destroy the diversity nor the individuality of the people in the relationship.
This is the very idea presented in the Shema. We have seen that Eloheem (…) is both plural and masculine. What is being said in this statement, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one"? Israel: hear, understand, and act on the fact that our God is a God of unity, and that this plurality and unity of the Godhead is tightly bound together like the cords of a rope. They have singleness of purpose, and you should partake of this unity by sharing the same goals with God.”
http://www.restorationfoundation.org/volume%2011/44_17.htm
Douglas A. Wheeler, Ph.D., TH.D
Job 40:6-9 “Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm: 7 “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 8 Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? 9 Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his?””
Hmm, to whom is the ‘Lord’ (God) speaking / referencing to with Job out of the storm here? Why reference externally, “like God’s” not like mine, “thunder like his” not thunder like mine”? If God is not plural and God is only the Father this verse seems to make no logical sense. However for those who believe in a plural and triune God, it makes perfect sense.
The Lord God continues speaking to Job in the following verses out of the storm:
Job 40:15-19 “Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. 16 What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! 17 His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. 18 His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron. 19 He ranks first among the works of God, yet his Maker can approach him with his sword.”
“His Maker” not Me or I. We see the same externally referenced non-singular use of nouns here. In the Genesis section above we clearly see who our “Maker” is, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who sits at the right arm of God the Father.
A now a word from God on those who cunningly and with error and folly spread lies about God such as the cults and false religions this study references to:
Job 42:7-8 “After the Lord has said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”
Reading Job one can see how many foolish and false men preach and teach utterly false notions of God just as the friends of Job did. They may sound like they know what they are talking about and their debating skills may be in such a way as to be very convincing. However look at the serious response that God has to such men. Does God stop accepting the prayers of these types of people? It is wise to be 100% certain of that what you preach and teach. I for one do not want God angry with me for teaching falsities.
Isaiah 6:1 “In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and
exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”
Isaiah 6:8 "Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send,
and who will go for Us?""
Besides of the use again of the plural “Us” and Elohim, this verse as well as Isaiah 53:1 are referenced in the New Testament by John in John 12.
John 12:37-45 “37Even after Jesus had done all
these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.
38This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
"Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom
has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40"He has
blinded their eyes
and deadened
their hearts,
so they can
neither see with their eyes,
nor
understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and
I would heal them.] 41Isaiah said this because he saw
Jesus' glory and spoke about him.
42Yet at the
same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the
Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of
the synagogue; 43for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
44Then Jesus
cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not
believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45When he looks at me, he sees
the one who sent me.”
The logical conclusion as it was of John, scripture and Biblical truth is that when Isaiah was speaking with God (Yahweh) in chapter 6, when he “saw the Lord sitting on a throne” and heard the voice “who will go for US” that “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.”
Or course I had to include verse 44 in this context. Verse 44 is plain simple English that anyone should be able to understand the simple words and meaning behind it. “When he (any man) looks (physically) at me (Jesus), he sees (physically) the one who sent me (God the Father).” This is not only one of many instances where Jesus claims to be God but also is another clear scripture example that says God the Son and God the father are one. You see one you see the other. It’s that simple.
Isaiah 7:14 “ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a
sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call
him Immanuel (God with us).“
The name of God’s son, Jesus Christ, is also called Immanuel which means……………God with us!
Mathew 1:23 “The virgin will be with child and will give
birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God
with us."
The definition of ‘with’ can be many things but here are the first and second definitions:
1) In the company of; accompanying
2) Next to; alongside of
Being in the company of or next to is a physical definition. God was physically “with us” as Jesus Christ in the flesh!
And now for my favorite verse in Isaiah
Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born,
to us a son
is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.
The Son, Jesus Christ = Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace! God truly was with us at the time of Jesus of Nazareth Isaiah prophesized it. The good news is Jesus is coming back. Are you ready?
Is God three?
Isaiah 6:1-3
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!'"
This tri plurality is also echoed in Revelation.
Revelation 4:8
"And the four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!'"
God is Holy, Holy, Holy.
Isaiah 40-55 “I AM”
There have been many books and commentary written on Jesus’ use of “I am”. A full or in-depth analysis of this particular example is beyond the scope of this document. I will however quote a pretty good summary from one of my sources that I have been using.
http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-i-am.htm (Steve Rudd)
One paragraph introduction:
“Jesus deliberately echoes a pattern of themes that are unique to Jehovah by using the expression "I AM" (Greek: ego eimi; Hebrew: ani hu). The high density of I AM sayings of Jehovah found in Chapters 40-55 of Isaiah match the high density of I AM sayings of Jesus in the gospel of John. The vast majority of these sayings are only found in Isaiah 40-55 and John because the theme of Isaiah 40-55 is the identity of Jehovah and the theme of John is the identity of Jesus. When Jesus echoes the sayings of Jehovah in Isaiah, he is clearly applying this "language of deity" to himself as Jehovah. If we see one elephant in a cloud, it may be a coincidence, but 15 elephants linked trunk to tail is a pattern of design. So too with Jesus saying "I AM". By itself "I AM" would prove little, but the pattern of His use in various themes that exactly match Isaiah, create an unmistakable mosaic that is a powerful and irrefutable proof of his deity.”
The 10 times "ego eimi" is used without a
predicate in John.
John 4:26 Jesus *said to her, "I who speak to you am He [ego eimi]."
John 6:20 But He *said to them, "It is I [ego eimi]; do not be afraid."
John 8:24 "I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am [ego eimi], you shall die in your sins."
John 8:28 Jesus therefore said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [ego eimi]"
John 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. [ego eimi]"
John 9:9 He [man born blind] kept saying, "I am [ego eimi] the one."
John 13:19 "From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am" [ego eimi].
John 18:5 They answered Him, "Jesus the Nazarene." He *said to them, "I am [ego eimi]." And Judas also who was betraying Him, was standing with them.
John 18:6 When therefore He said to them, "I am," [ego eimi] they drew back, and fell to the ground.
John 18:8 Jesus answered, "I told you that I am [ego eimi]; if therefore you seek Me, let these go their way,"
These “echo” passages stand on their own in proving the
deity of Christ:
John 6:20 echoes Isaiah 41:10,13 (fear not)
Phil 2:6-8 echoes John 13:19 which echoes Isaiah 43:10-12 (savior/God incarnate)
John 14:5-6 echoes Isaiah 40:3 (the way)
John 4:25-26 echoes Isaiah 52:6 (quoted by Jesus)
John 8:58 echoes Isaiah 40-55; Ex 3:14; Psalm 90:2 (eternal)
John 18 echoes Isaiah's "I AM"
Rev 22:12-13 echoes Isaiah 44:6 (first and last)
Acts 26:15-18 echoes Isaiah 42:6-8 (calls to service)
John 1:1-5 echoes Isaiah 44:24 (only creator)
1 Cor 10:4 echoes Isaiah 44:8 (only Rock)
King of Babylon echoes Jehovah: Isa 47:8-10; 46:9 (quote)
The above link provides a great detailed analysis and comparison of the “I AM” usages in Isaiah / John
The conclusion is that Jesus’ use of “I am” is clear that he was claiming to be God.
Isaiah 45:23-24 "I have sworn by Myself, The WORD has gone forth from My
mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That
to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. They will
say of Me, ‘Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’ Men will come to
Him, And" all who were angry at Him shall be put to shame.
Philippians 2:9-11 "Therefore also God highly
exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on
earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Romans 14:9-12 “For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written:
" 'As
surely as I live,' says the Lord,
'every knee will
bow before me;
every tongue
will confess to God.' " So then, each of us will give an account of
himself to God.”
Uh oh, we have a problem here. If “every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear allegiance” to God, Jehovah then how can every knee bow and every tongue confess to Jesus Christ? The simple answer is because every knee can; the Father and Son are one. If they were different or not equal and separate then this would be a conflict, and it is not. The correct answer is “Jesus Christ is Lord”, God. Please make special note of the word “WORD” used here. The “Word” will have special meaning later.
Micah 5:2-3 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity. Therefore, He will give them up until the time When she who is in labor has borne a child.”
This verse is talking about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. It states first “One will go forth for Me”. This does not necessarily state that Jesus is God but then again, why if God is God, would he need someone else, let alone a mere human, to do His work (Salvation) for Him? Jesus Christ as human and flesh on earth went forth from God and was / is the atoning final sacrifice for salvation. God is our Savior, through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 43:3 “For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;”
Isaiah 43:11 “I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.”
The second point is that the Messiah existed “from the days of eternity” that is, Jesus existed for all of eternity. If Jesus was created in his entirety or even partially then this verse is not true. Who or what is the only thing to exist for all of eternity, something without a beginning or end? Yes, that would be only God.
Jeremiah 23:5-6
"The days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The LORD Our Righteousness.
Above is another example of God calling Jesus, the Messiah, Lord and God (Yahweh). “declares the LORD, this is the name by which he will be called: the LORD (Yahweh) Our Righteousness.”
Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David,
and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of
grace and of supplications: and they shall
look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for
him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as
one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
It was God himself “ME” who was pierced on the cross!
Mark 2:5-12 “And Jesus seeing
their faith said to the paralytic, "My son, your
sins are forgiven." But there were some of the scribes sitting
there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this man speak that way? He
is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?" And immediately
Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves,
said to them, "Why are you reasoning about these
things in your hearts? "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your
sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your pallet and walk’?
"But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth
to forgive sins"—He said to the paralytic— "I say to you, rise, take
up your pallet and go home." And he rose and immediately took up the
pallet and went out in the sight of all; so that they were all amazed and
were glorifying God, saying, "We have never seen anything like
this."”
The Jews were correct, only God can forgive sins. This brings up the point where a lot of times OTC’s and cults will say the Jews being spoken to in scripture did not know, were wrong, or did not understand Old Testament scripture or what was being said. This is a false lie. Most of the times the Jews whom Jesus and the disciples were speaking directly to were the Pharisees, Levites, and other religious groups who had a perfect understanding of OT scripture. That is why many times when an average person did not fully understand what was being said, the scriptural educated Jews were greatly offended and went to stone and kill Jesus and the disciples for the claims they were making.
Isaiah 43:25 "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”
Here is a good quote summarizing this passage:
“It was a common practice for the Levitical priests to
pronounce forgiveness of sins based upon the law of Moses. (Lev
“Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal: Jesus power to forgive sins was given to him from God proving that it was not inherent in Him and therefore not God.”
“One of the biggest deceptions that anti-Trinitarians use to
prove Jesus was a creature is to say that because his authority was derived
while on earth, that he is not God. But such a view completely misses the grand
theme of "glory - servant - glory" that Jesus underwent by coming to
earth… the incarnation. Jesus relinquished all his inherent rights, and took
orders from the Father. God the Son, gave up his glory, came to earth and
instead of acting like a head of state, acted like a slave saying, "I will
only do what I am told". Therefore this silly rebuttal is invalid, because
obedience does not determine what rights you have inherently. Jesus had many
inherent divine rights before he became man, but chose to relinquish personal
claim to these rights and act as a perfect slave towards the Father. John
Jesus relinquished some of his deity to become the blood sacrifice for man but he is still God. He did so in order to be in the presence of sin and to be the bearer of it on the cross. Jesus became subservient to God the Father while performing his work of saving grace on earth. It is still clear by all accounts that Jesus is God.
Further on down there is another great verse:
Mark
What do you think Jesus is claiming here?
“John chapter 1 - God Became a Human Being”
John 1:1-4 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all
things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was
life, and that life was the light of men.”
John chapter 1 is an introduction to Jesus Christ. It is painfully clear that John is describing and talking about Jesus Christ. John is equating the Word (Isaiah 45:23) with Jesus Christ. “In the beginning was Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ was with God, and Jesus Christ was God.” How do we know that John is equating Jesus Christ with “the Word”? Remember that hint from Isaiah I gave earlier? Well the following is much more clear.
John 1:14-18
“14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from
the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testifies concerning him.
He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me
has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16 From the fullness of his
grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given
through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God
the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
No one has seen God the Father, but they have seen God the One and Only, Jesus Christ, who has made God the father known (when you see the Son, you see the Father), because they are one.
Let me highlight this verse again in case you missed it.
“No one has ever seen God,
but GOD THE ONE AND ONLY, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”
Jesus Christ is the One and
Only God!
Here is exactly what happened, God, in the person of Jesus Christ aka the Word “became flesh and made HIS dwelling among us.” These verses perhaps are the most powerful exclamation that Jesus Christ is God, Jehovah and Yahweh. There really is no other logical conclusion to make but as we all know, there are many that other OTC’s and cults have made. The only way to get around this verse is to inject a false and foreign notion.
Lets reiterate again, there are no conflicts, contradictions or errors in the Bible. Either this verse is true, that “the One and Only” (Jesus Christ) is God and has made the father known, physically on earth by becoming flesh and making his dwelling among us or its not? The biggest lies that Satan is trying to spread are lies about Jesus Christ. The reason is Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY of salvation. If Satan can cause confusion, cloud or create fallacies surrounding Jesus Christ, then he has caused people to teach “another Jesus” and has brought people to fall in disrepute with God. This is a very serious issue and is the reason why I am writing this. There is nothing more serious than false teachers and prophets teaching the lies of Satan concerning Jesus Christ.
I am going to have to quote from one of my primary sources again as it is very good.
The irrefutable argument stated:
“This verse is so simple it is impossible to get it
wrong. An illustrated paraphrase of the text would be:
- "In the beginning was EVE, and EVE was with MAN, and EVE
was MAN. SHE was in the beginning with MAN."
Even adopting the Jehovah's Witnesses paraphrase,
the New World Translation's, (NWT hereafter) unscholarly insertion of "a
god" of the text makes no difference:
- "In the beginning was EVE, and EVE was with MAN, and EVE
was a MAN.
Just as "man" can refer specifically to male to the exclusion of female, So also God can refer to the Father to the exclusion of the Son. However, just as "man" can include both male and female as a class of being, (Gen 5:2 "He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man"), so too "God" can include both Father and Son as a class of being, as in John 1:1.””
Here is what my Zondervan study Bible correctly states:
“What Jesus taught and what he did are tied inseparably to who he is. John shows Jesus as fully human and fully God. Although Jesus took upon himself full humanity and lived as a man, he never ceased to be the eternal God who has always existed, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and the source of eternal life. This is the truth about Jesus, and the foundation of all truth. If we cannot or do not believe this basic truth, we will not have enough faith to trust our eternal destiny to him. That is why John wrote this Gospel – to build faith and confidence in Jesus Christ so that we may believe that he truly was and is the Son of God.”
“What does John mean by the Word? The Word was a term used
by theologians and philosophers, both Jews and Greeks, in many different ways.
In Hebrew Scripture, the Word was an agent of creation (Psalm 33:6), the source
of God’s message to his people through the prophets (Hosea 1:2), and God’s law,
his standard of holiness (Psalm 119:11). In Greek philosophy, the Word was the
principle of reason that governed the world, or the thought still in the mind,
while in Hebrew thought; the Word was another expression for God. John’s
description shows clearly that he is speaking of Jesus (see especially 1:14) –
a human being he knew and loved, but at the same time the Creator of the
universe, the ultimate revelation of God, the living picture of God’s holiness,
the One in whom “all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). To Jewish
readers, “the Word was God” was blasphemous. To Greek readers, “the Word became
flesh” (
For an in-depth analysis of Greek grammatical errors that lead some to miss-interpretations of John 1 please follow up on this link:
http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-texts-john1-1.htm (Steve Rudd)
I will again quote some of the pertinent information as it is fit for this study. The biggest and greatest fallacy by miss-interpretations is that the Word was a god, and not thee God or has deity. The Jehovah Witnesses are the biggest culprit here and their mistake has been evident by the following email by William Barclay who the JW’s used to make their translation and conclusions:
“Letter written by William Barclay to Donald Shoemaker of
Dear Professor Donald Shoemaker,
Thank you for your letter of August 11th. The Watchtower article has, by judicious cutting, made me say the opposite of what I meant to say. What I was meaning to say, as you well know, is that Jesus is not the same as God, to put it more crudely, that he is of the same stuff as God, that is of the same being as God, but the way the Watchtower has printed my stuff has simply left the conclusion that Jesus is not God in a way that suits themselves.
If they missed from their answer the translation of Kenneth Wuest and the N.E.B., they missed the whole point.
It was good of you to write and I don't think I need say anything more to make my position clear.
With every good wish.
Yours Sincerely
William Barclay. “
“When Barclay says in his book, Many Witnesses, One Lord: "John is not here identifying the Word with God. To put it very simply, he does not say that Jesus was God", Barclay is refuting Modalism. Modalism states that the Father and the Son are the same person. Barclay is saying, with our brackets added for emphasis, "John is not here identifying the Word with God [the person of the Father]. To put it very simply, he does not say that Jesus was God [the person of the Father]". Jehovah's Witnesses deliberately confuse their readers by misinterpreting anti-Modalist comments. Such is the "deception of wickedness". When Barclay says in his book, Many Witnesses, One Lord: "The Word was in the same class as God, belonging to the same order of being as God." It is obvious that Barclay is viewing that Jesus is just as much VERY God as the Father. In Barclay's letter to Shoemaker, he says, "that he is of the same stuff as God, that is of the same being as God" which is echoing the Athanasian creed.”
Concerning the translation that the Word was a god or is not God here are some reputable Greek scholars:
- Barclay: Dr. William Barclay, a leading Greek scholar of the University of Glasgow, Scotland: "The deliberate distortion
of truth by this sect is seen in their New testament translations. John
1:1 is translated: '...the Word was a god, ' a translation which is
grammatically impossible...It is abundantly clear that a sect which can
translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest."
- Bowman, Robert Bowman, All scholars agree that in John 1:1
"logos" is the subject and "theos" is the predicate.
This sets the translation of John 1:1c as, (The Word was God" not
"God was the Word". Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus Christ, and the
Gospel of John.)
- Colwell: Dr. Ernest C. Colwell of the University of Chicago:
"A definite predicate nominative has the article when it follows the
verb; it does not have the article when it precedes the verb...this
statement cannot be regarded as strange in the prologue of the gospel
which reaches its climax in the confession of Thomas. 'My Lord and my
God.' - John 20:28"
- Wescott: Dr. B. F. Wescott (whose Greek
text - not the English part - is used in the Kingdom Interlinear
Translation): "The predicate (God) stands emphatically first, as in
IV.24. It is necessarily without the article...No idea of inferiority of
nature is suggested by the form of expression, which simply affirms the
true deity of the Word...in the third clause 'the Word' is declared to be
'God' and so included in the unity of the Godhead."
Some questions to answer: Trinitarians as stated in the introduction do not believe that the Son is the Father, that the Father is the Spirit, and that the Spirit is the Son, that is Modalism but we believe all three are one God, Yahweh. Three separate persons but one entity and being. Jesus is with the Father but is not the same person as the Father. This is the only logical and proper way of translating John 1:1:
- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God (equal class of being God), and the Word was God (equal class of being God)."
“Here is an argument on John
“The real clincher is that the Jews were accusing Jesus of
making himself out to be Jehovah, not some polytheistic demi-god. In fact every
major translation, renders it, "make yourself out to be God". Only
the NWT uses "a god". Any one who knows even the most basic elements
of reading Greek text knows that John
Another argument that is scriptural unfounded is the idea that the Word is not really referring to Jesus Christ but to the spirit that God sent or something else besides Jesus. Denying the following verses of John 1:14-18 usually makes this error. As I have stated previously many OTC’s and cults who have their own man made doctrine inject false notions and meaning to try and prove their ideas as correct. However reading this verse and chapter I still cannot see any argument different from the one that John as “God Breathed” was making. The idea that the Word was something other than Jesus Christ is not found anywhere in this passage or anywhere else in the Bible. In verses 14-18 John clearly states that he is referring to Jesus Christ as the Word.
UNDENIABLE
VERSES THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE WORD
John states in Revelation 19:13 that “the Word of God” is Jesus Christ!
Revelation 19:11-16
The Rider on the White Horse
11I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a
white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges
and makes war. 12His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many
crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13He is
dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is
the Word of God. 14The armies of heaven were following him, riding
on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15Out of his mouth
comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule
them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the
wrath of God Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
The Rider on the White Horse, the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” is Jesus Christ. Who else would be dripped in blood? Whose blood has more significance? Jesus is the one given power to judge and is referred to as King of Kings and Lord or Lords. It is Jesus who will establish the heavenly Kingdom on earth. It is the blood of Jesus that matters!
1 Timothy 6:13-15
13 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all
things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before
Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, 15
which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and
only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
John references Jesus Christ as the Word multiple times:
1 John 1-2 (The Word of Life)
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
Jesus Christ name is the Word and the Word is God.
The Greek word used for Word, is Logos which means
1
Corinthians
but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God
and the wisdom of God.
John 5:16-23 “16
So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted
him. 17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very
day, and I, too, am working." 18 For this
reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the
Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making
himself EQUAL with God.
19 Jesus
gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the
Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing,
because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father
loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show
him even greater things than these. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead
and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give
it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has
entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all
may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father, who sent him.
Does your church or doctrine honor the Son as they honor the Father? Or do they lessen Jesus Christ to something unequal and less than the Father? If they do they are in great error. Rejecting the Sons equality with the Father is greatly dishonoring Him.
Let me restate the fact that the Jews here were heavily educated and fully versed in the Old Testament. They knew fully what Jesus was saying and claiming. They did not misunderstand what Jesus was saying. They knew fully and that is why they went to kill him. Also it is John narrating / retelling the story, “God breathed”.
“Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal #1 "Another scripture
offered as support for the Trinity is John 5:18. It says that the Jews (as at
John
“Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal #1 refuted
Jehovah’s Witnesses know they are in deep trouble with this verse and resort to tricks. They imply that Jesus did not teach he was equal with God, but the Jews said this as a false charge because they misunderstood what Jesus was actually saying. Problem is that it is John the apostle who said Jesus was "calling God his Father, making himself out equal with God." This in fact is true! "So take careful note that John, as the narrator the Gospel of John, flat out states that Jesus was "calling God his Father, making himself out equal with God."”
"My Father is always at
his work to this very day, and I, too, am working. Here Jesus is claiming to be the same as the father where
he states, “and I too”.
“ because whatever the Father
does the Son also does.”
This is possible if you look at if
from the perspective that the Father and Son are one being. Whatever one does,
the other does also, because they are one, in perfect unity. Here is another
verse where Jesus claims to be God.
“God revealed Himself to us in the form of a Man, so that we could better understand the things of God from our limited, human mindsets. Yeshua came to teach us all about how God wanted us to live for Him, and how to live with each other, and He also revealed to us that He WAS God Incarnate (in the flesh):”
“After Christ came, people could know God fully because he became visible and tangible in Christ. Christ is the perfect expression of God in human form. The two most common errors people make about Jesus are to minimize his humanity or to minimize his divinity. Jesus is both God and man.” Zondervan Study Bible
John chapter 8 is Jesus’ second testimony and defense of who He truly is, chapter 5 being the first in the book of John. It all leads to the climax in verse 58. This chapter is another that is debated heavily because for those who seek to weaken and lessen Jesus Christ they must attack this particular chapter. However a simple reading from verse 1 to 59 one can see hopefully the message Jesus was making. Jesus builds up and up until his climax in verse 58 where once again he states, “before Abraham was born, I am!” Notice the exclamation mark used! This was not just a casual statement by Jesus. The second to last verse in this chapter summarizes what Jesus was preaching from verse 1. What was Jesus talking about then?
John 8:12-30 “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he
said, "I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of
life." The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your
own witness; your testimony is not valid."
Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf,
my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But
you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I
do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand
with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony
of two men is valid. I am one who testifies
for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me."
Here is how I read these particular verses. From Jewish law testimony was required by two or more persons and this is what the Pharisees were challenging Jesus on “your testimony is not valid”. Jesus answers in this way paraphrased “I am right because I am not alone. I stand with the Father. I can testify for myself because my other witness is the Father, who is here, in me, and is me”.
19Then they asked him, "Where is your father?"
"You do not know me or my Father," Jesus
replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." 20He
spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the
offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.”
Jesus answered, the Father is right here, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also” because we are one, right here.
21 Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away,
and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot
come." This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he
says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?" But he continued, "You are from
below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told
you that you would die in your sins; if you do not
believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your
sins."
If you do not believe all
that Jesus claims to be, do you believe your salvation is secure?
"Who are you?" they asked. "Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. "I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world."
“They did not understand that he was telling them about
his Father. So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then
you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own
but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with
me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." Even
as he spoke, many put their faith in him.”
God is with Jesus. Remember the definition of with, with denotes physical or tangible presence.
John 8:38 “I am telling you what I have seen in the
Father’s presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
John 8:41-43 “ Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for
I came from God and now am here. I have not
come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because
you are unable to hear what I say.”
This particular sentence is most times overlooked but I really love it, as it is very powerful. ‘Am’ is the first person singular present indicative of be, to be, to exist in a particular point or time. The sentence starts out with “God” and “Father” and ends with “I came from God” and “am here”. To connect the dots just connect God, Father, I, am here.
Some people take verse John 8:40 that states, “As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.” and say here that “Jesus is claiming to be only or just a man. Well does Jesus say or are the words “only” or “just a” man present anywhere in the Bible? Read this entire chapter to understand what Jesus is really claiming. However to answer this point, Jesus Christ is 100% fully man. Read verses 41-43 over again. Jesus came from God and says “NOW I AM HERE!” The Jews again, would not have stoned Jesus for being, physically here, Jesus was claiming to be God, physically here and on Earth.
John 8:58-59 : "I tell you the truth," Jesus
answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"
At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping
away from the temple grounds.
Jesus is eternal. If Jesus was only a creation and had a beginning this statement would be a lie. The great lie is that Jesus is a creation and not God. Does your church or doctrine teach this lie? This delusion is Satan’s greatest trick, to blind you from the truth of Jesus Christ, the truth that saves. That Jesus Chris is God for how can a mere man, creation or angel forgive the sins of all mankind? The Word of God clearly shows that Only God can forgive, by the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross.
Jesus summarizes his preaching with the heart piercing statement, “I AM!” (ego eimi). This was such a strong statement that the Jews then attempted to stone and kill Jesus. The Jews again were not confused or miss-understood what Jesus was summarizing and saying they knew fully well that he was claiming to be, God! The Jews were unclear earlier like some people are even today however Jesus then clearly summed it up with “ego eimi”!
- “John 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. [ego eimi - predicateless absolute]"
- Isaiah 43:10-13,25 "You are My witnesses," declares the Lord, "And My servant whom I have chosen, In order that you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am. [Heb: 'ani hu' - ‘ego eimi’ in LXX, predicateless absolute] Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. "I, even I, am [ego eimi, predicateless absolute] the Lord; And there is no savior besides Me.”
As with most all usages of ego eimi there is debate. Here is some quoted commentary from the early “non-apostatized church”:
- In what follows, some may imagine that he says something plausible
against us. "If," says he, "these people worshipped one God
alone, and no other, they would perhaps have some valid argument against
the worship of others. But they pay excessive reverence to one who has but
lately appeared among men, and they think it no offence against God if
they worship also His servant." To this we reply, that if Celsus had
known that saying," I and My Father are one," and the words used
in prayer by the Son of God, "As Thou and I are one, he would not
have supposed that we worship any other besides Him who is the Supreme
God. "For," says He, "My Father is in Me, and I in
Him." And if any should from these words be afraid of our going over
to the side of those who deny that the Father and the Son are two persons,
let him weigh that passage, "And the multitude of them that believed
were of one heart and of one soul," that he may understand the
meaning of the saying, "I and My Father are one." We worship one
God, the Father and the Son, therefore, as we have explained; and our
argument against the worship of other gods still continues valid. And we
do not "reverence beyond measure one who has but lately
appeared," as though He did not exist before; for we believe Himself
when He says, "Before Abraham was, I am."
Again He says, "I am the truth; " and surely none of us is so
simple as to suppose that truth did not exist before the time when Christ
appeared. We worship, therefore, the Father of truth, and the Son, who is
the truth; and these, while they are two, considered as persons or
subsistence’s, are one in unity of thought, in harmony and in identity of
will. So entirely are they one, that he who has seen the Son, "who is
the brightness of God's glory, and the express image of His person,"
has seen in Him who is the image, of God, God Himself. (Origen Against
Celsus, book 8, chapter 12, 225 AD)
John 10:22-39 (The Unbelief of the Jews)
22Then came the Feast of
Dedication at
25Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not
believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, 26but you do not
believe because you are not my sheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know
them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who
has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my
Father's hand. 30I and the Father are one."
31Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32but
Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father.
For which of these do you stone me?"
33"We are not stoning you for any of these,"
replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because
you, a mere man, claim to be God."
34Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your
Law, 'I have said you are gods'? 35If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word
of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken— 36what about the one whom the
Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why
then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? 37Do not
believe me unless I do what my Father does. 38But if I do it, even
though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that
you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." 39Again
they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
Whoa, is this not so clear and so undeniable? This is, in my opinion, one of the best and most clear points where Jesus claims to be God and confirms equality with Him. There is not anything more I can add to make these sentences any clearer. If you are still in doubt, read and re-read the underlined words. However as with all aberration and OTC groups their eyes are continually blinded. I will quote again to answer some of the rebuttals that have been created by man but first here is the definition of “one” again.
one
Being a single entity,
unit, object, or living being.
Characterized by unity; undivided: They spoke with one voice.
Of the same kind or quality: two animals of one species.
Forming a single entity of two or more components: three chemicals
combining into one solution.
Being a single member or element of a group, category, or kind: I'm just
one player on the team.
Being a single thing in contrast with or relation to another or others of its
kind:
Jesus Christ and the Father are one single Entity.
Jesus Christ and the Father are one Object.
Jesus Christ and the Father are one Living Being!
Jesus Christ and the Father are one in unity (Echad) and Undivided.
How do we know this? JESUS CHRIST SAYS SO HIMESELF!!!!
http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-texts-john10-30.htm (Steve Rudd)
Rebuttal #1 by Anti-Trinitarian Modalists (United
When Jesus said in John 10:30, "I and the Father are one.", it proves that Jesus is the same person as the Father.
Anti-Trinitarian Modalist rebuttal refuted
The word for "one" is the Greek word "Hen". It is used of both mathematical "1" as well as a synonym for the word "unity".
"HEN" is used for "unity" (and not
mathematical "1") in Mt 19:5 "the two shall become one
flesh" and Jn
Husband and wife are one in unity (one flesh) but remain two
separate persons. The disciples one in unity but remain many separate persons.
God is one in unity, but remain three separate persons in Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. This is the meaning in James
"Since He said 'one' thing, let the heretics understand that He did not say 'one' person. For one placed in the neuter, intimates the social concord, not the personal unity. . . . Moreover, that He says one, has reference to the agreement, and to the identity of judgment, and to the loving association itself, as reasonably the Father and Son are one in agreement, in love, and in affection." (Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity, chapter 27, 225 AD)
This doesn't help Arians one bit, for the expression, "I and the Father are one" is clearly intended by Jesus to be taken as a claim of equality with the Father.
Rebuttal #2 by Anti-Trinitarian Modalists (United
If unity of purpose is all that is meant by "I and the Father are one", the Jews would not stone Jesus, for Moses was one in purpose with God in the Old Testament.
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal refuted
Jesus said more than "I and the Father are one". Jesus also said, "My Father", Yet the Jews replied in John 8:41 "we have one Father, even God." So Jesus calling God his Father was not viewed by them as fundamentally offensive or a claim of deity. It is the statements like: "I give eternal life to MY sheep" combined with the other statements that caused the Jews to view, "I and the Father are one" to be a claim of deity! We have not problem admitting that taken by itself, "I and the Father are one" would not likely be viewed as a claim of deity, but taken together with the other statements, it certainly was. Jesus clearly made claims that only deity would claim and the Jews got the distinct impression that Jesus was claiming to be God. "You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God." A claim Jesus DID NOT DENY!
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal #3
The Jews mistakenly thought that Jesus was claiming to be God and that is why they wanted to stone him.
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal refuted
In fact the Jews wanted to stone Jesus for two things: blasphemy and making himself out to be God. Did they also misunderstand the blasphemy… that Jesus "gives eternal life" to men? Not at all! In fact they fully understood this to be something only God can do. Only God is the source of eternal life!
But if you stop and think about this Jesus had done too good a selling job teaching the Jews he was more than an ordinary man. When Jesus says to the Jews "you are not my sheep" was this because they had too high an opinion of Jesus? Talk about overdoing the Job! This means that the Jews first impression of Jesus was too high, rather than too low! Jesus might have said to them, "downgrade your first impression of who you think I, (THE God) to what I really am (a god)". Only a Jehovah's Witness could think this makes sense! Remember, the Jews were expecting the messiah. A prophet designated by God who could perform miracles was a well accepted long-standing tradition. But Jehovah's Witnesses would have us believe that Jesus was unable to convey Himself in a way that would not confuse his listeners that he was not divine! They would not stone him for even being a created angel. They believed in angels! So again we say, it is ridiculous to suggest that the Jews "were not Jesus' sheep" because they walked away with the impression that Jesus was more than he claimed to be rather than less. They fully understood what Jesus was saying, but rejected Jesus claims of being God!
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal #4
"I and the Father are one" is not a claim of deity.
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal refuted
Then why did the Jews interpret it that way? Whose fault was it? The Jews for misunderstanding, or Jesus' for being a poor teacher? No! The Jews correctly understood this to be a claim of death!
(Also please remember, this was not just related to stoning, the Jews persecuted Jesus all the way to crucifixion and death on the cross, the final course of salvation. Was Jesus’ death on the cross a mistake or done through confusion and miss understanding?)
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal #5
All Jesus was really claiming is that Jesus was "in step with God", not that He was divine.
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal refuted
This makes no sense because the Jews thought that they were "in step with God". At the very worst, they would have viewed him as the new kid on the block, as competition on an equal playing field as creatures. The fact they wanted to stone him shows they thought Jesus was claiming to be God. The Jews were accustomed to inspired prophets and angels who were "in step with God". If this were all he was saying, they never would have wanted to stone him. They wanted to stone him because he was making a claim of deity that no man or angel had ever made before!
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal #6
We note there is no article before the theon (God) in 10.33 so this could be translated "a god." The Jews said, "because you being a man make yourself a god." Jesus wasn't claiming to be THE God.
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal refuted
Then the Jews correctly understood what Jesus was teaching and this was exactly what Jehovah's Witnesses believe, yet they still wanted to stone Him! This would prove that Jesus WAS claiming to be A GOD. Sounds like Jn 10:33 it is right out of the Watchtower! Jehovah's Witnesses are illogical and hypocritical because they want to claim the Jews misunderstood Jesus on one hand, yet argue he was merely claiming to be "A GOD" on the other. The truth is Jesus was claiming to be equal to the Father, and that is why they wanted to stone Jesus.
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal #8
John records what the Jews mistakenly thought, not what Jesus was actually teaching. The Jews misunderstood many things and John merely records this misconception.
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal refuted
It has completely escaped the notice of Arians that there
are no examples of where Matthew, Mark Luke or John ever records a
misconception without pointing out that it was an error. Jn 21:22-23 is an example
of where a misconception was corrected by John, the narrator. When they thought
Jesus was a spirit after resurrection, (Like Jehovah's Witnesses believe) Jesus
corrected them: Jn 24:39. John
The primary reason why the Jews wanted to kill and crucify Jesus was for one reason:
John 19:7
The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by that
law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God."
The Jews understood that Jesus made the claim that he was God and equal to God the Father. If Jesus were only claiming to be a son of God or a prophet of God they would not have pursued all the way to crucifixion. The Jews understood that the title Jesus was claiming as the “Son of God” equated him with God. For a son is of the same species of his Father. If one says that the Jews were mistaken and Jesus was crucified for a mistake, then that makes the death of Jesus a mistake. Is your salvation a mistake? It is definitely not. Also to note, nowhere in the Bible does Jesus ever say he is a creation or he is not God. The Bible always says Jesus Christ appeared. If there ever were a time to do so, during his trial before Pilate would have been a good time to make any corrections.
Also Jesus was directly stated to /said to the meaning and thought that He was truly Jehovah who came into the world, that Jesus claimed to be God. If this was a miss conception Jesus would have corrected it, and of course, He did not. If the narrator John knew there was a miss conception here don’t you think he would have noted so? The fact is, the truth of the Bible is, Jesus Christ claimed to be God, because he IS God.
John 11:21-27
Martha therefore said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been
here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of
God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother shall rise again.”
Martha asid to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last
day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and
everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe
this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed
that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”
27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of
God, who is to come into the world.” (NKJV)
Now is a good time to restate the fact that the Word of God means what is says and says what it means. There is no confusion, miss-understanding or hidden secrets. No errors, conflicts, fallacies or falseness. All scripture is “God Breathed” and is useful for teaching, rebuking and correcting. Jesus is “Christ” and Messiah, “Son of God” and “even He who comes into the world”, God! If this was wrong, Jesus did not correct it, Jesus did not correct it because, it is the truth!
Secondly, in this verse is one of many statements that Jesus makes concerning salvation. Jesus, being the Messiah, knew everything possible about salvation. He is salvation. So, like all other places where Jesus talks about salvation and the requirements for salvation, what does Jesus teach? Here are a few words on salvation.
“he who believes in Me shall live
even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.”
He who believes in Me and joins the
John 3:16-19
"For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but
whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed
in the Name of God’s one and only Son. This
is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead
of light because their deeds were evil.”
I am emphasizing this because all OTC’s and cults themselves make salvation into something other than the Grace of God. I feel that all OTC’s do this for control and power. You must join the church, do what they say or you are going to hell. This is just a method of control. For all who are in an OTC or cult I strongly encourage you to do a study on Salvation, Grace and “In the Name of Jesus Christ”. As with the Trinity you will see that what all of these OTC’s teach are not the truth of God.
John 20:31
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God, and that by believing you may have life in his
name.
Acts
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This verse can throw people off if they fail to read it correctly. “Repent and be baptized”, (comma) “everyone one of you”, (comma)
“in the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of your sins”. (period) “And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Multiple thoughts here, this is how I read it. Repent and be baptized and you
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (one thought), second one is
“forgiveness of sins” = “name of Jesus Christ”. Repent and be baptized and you
will receive the gift (gifts) of the Holy Spirit, not the Holy Spirit itself.
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Acts 15:10-11 “Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
John 12:37-45
37Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence,
they still would not believe in him. 38This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah
the prophet:
"Lord, who has believed our
message
and to whom
has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"
39For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40"He has
blinded their eyes
and deadened
their hearts,
so they can
neither see with their eyes,
nor
understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and
I would heal them." 41Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about
him.
42Yet at the same
time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees
they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the
synagogue; 43for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
44Then Jesus
cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only,
but in the one who sent me. 45When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me.
Getting back to our main topic. At this point I am hoping that you, the reader, can see what is being said in verse 44 and 45. Even though I have listed this verse previously it is definitely worth a review again. What is Jesus saying and confirming in these verses? I pray that it is clear to you now. I am hoping that from all of the scriptural evidence I have shown you here, you can see the consistent and clear message of who Jesus Christ is in relation to God the Father.
John 13:31-32
When he was gone, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in
him. If God is glorified in him, God will
glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him
at once.
{all at once (adverb) [All at the same time]} Plural
This verse should be obvious but let me restate. God is glorified In Jesus Christ, God will glorify the Son in Himself and will glorify Him at once. God is in Jesus, Jesus is in God and they are all in each other all at once and at the same time. They are one!
John 14:5-20
5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so
how can we know the way?"
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From
now on, you do know him and have seen him."
8Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be
enough for us."
9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me,
Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen
me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10Don't you
believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The
words I say to you are not just my own. Rather,
it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the
Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles
themselves. 12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I
have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going
to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may
bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will
do it.
I really love this verse. God says what he means and means what he says through scripture. This is crystal clear. Unfortunately there are many people in this world who are like Philip. They cannot or will not see the plurality of God. It all makes sense when you view this in the framework of the Trinity.
15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask
the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the
Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor
knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and
will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not
see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father,
and you are in me, and I am in you.
How is this possible? Amazingly so the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth will live in us and be in us. I guess some can argue what the definition of “in” is and how it is applied in this verse. Those who are ‘in’ agreement with scriptural consistency on the Trinity know what is being said here. But lets define in regardless. In can be used many ways in English, as an adverb, adjective, preposition or noun. I will list those that I think are appropriate.
[In]
prep.
Having the activity, occupation, or function of: a life in politics; the
officer in command.
During the act or process of: tripped in racing for the bus.
With the arrangement or order of: fabric that fell in luxuriant folds; arranged
to purchase the car in equal payments.
After the style or form of: a poem in iambic pentameter.
With the characteristic, attribute, or property of: a tall man in an overcoat.
Made with or through the medium of: a statue in bronze; a note written in
German.
adv.
Within a place, as of business or residence: The manager is in before anyone
else.
So as to include or incorporate: Fold in the egg whites.
In a particular relationship: got in bad with their supervisor.
adj.
Located inside; inner.
Incoming; inward: took the in bus.
Relating to, understandable to, or coming from an exclusive group: an in
reference.
They all sound good to me. Search your heart and soul and see what you think this verse means. I will quote what my study Bible says and what I agree with.
“The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God within us and all believers, helping us live as God wants and building Christ’s church on earth. By faith we can appropriate the Sprit’s power each day.”
John 16:14-15
He (the Holy Spirit) will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
If viewing this verse in consistent principle of the Trinity, one can see how this is possible, since they are one.
Acts2 :34-36
34For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
" 'The
Lord said to my Lord:
"Sit at
my right hand
35until I make
your enemies
a footstool
for your feet." '
36"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God
has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and
Christ."
This verse is most likely where a lot of OTC’s and cults derive their false notion that Jesus was a creation only. From all of the preceding verses and information I have given it should be clear the true nature of Jesus Christ. I read this verse as saying the physical man of Jesus was made by God both Lord (God) and Christ (the Messiah). It is beyond human understand to know how exactly Jesus became both fully man and fully God at the virgin birth in Mary but there are many aspects of God and Christianity that we have to take on as faith. We don’t know exactly how, but we know for sure it did.
We can be sure however that Jesus is fully Lord God and Christ the Messiah. This verse also quotes again where God is referring to Jesus as Lord (God) and Christ (Messiah). To recap a little, 1 + 1 + 1 = 1. By this point I hope we can agree that both the Father and the Son are one, but what about that last one, the Holy Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit also God? We will see a bit later.
NIV Romans 1:3-4 “regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God, by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”
NKJV Romans 1:3-4 “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”
Christ has two natures:
Man – “who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh”
GOD - declared and not made "declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness”
Acts 20:28 NIV
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which
the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God ,
which he bought with his own blood.
“Church of God”, emphasizing that “God” is the noun here, and the verse does not state Church of Christ. “Which He bought”, God bought “with HIS OWN BLOOD.” God’s Blood. So why then may you say I am highlighting this verse? Who’s actual blood was it on the cross, Jesus Christ’s blood! It is by the blood of Jesus Christ we are saved.
Acts 20:28 NKJV
Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock,
among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of
God which He purchased with His own blood.
This brings up the topic. Is there really a difference between Lord and God, both Lord and Christ, my Lord and God? Does not Lord and God refer to Jehovah? Is not the Father equally called Lord (Lord God) in the OT numerous times? Is not Jesus Christ called Lord numerous times in the NT? It is beyond the scope of this study to compare and contrast this idea but it is evident to me that there is no difference. Both the Father and Son are both Lord and God.
Genesis 2:4
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens-
Colossians 3:24
since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
We have already touched on the verse that has both Lords in it, the Father and the Son.
Genesis 19:24 “Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and
Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.”
Peter has a few more important “God Breathed” sayings to make about the most important aspect of Jesus Christ:
2 Peter 1:1-2
1Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God
and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious
as ours:
2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Is God not Peter’s Lord? No, both God the Father and Son Jesus Christ are Peter’s and our God, our Savior and our Lord, because they are one, Jehovah, Yahweh, Adonai!
We have one Lord and God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
1=3,3=1
Therefore
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:19
God is the Father “AND” the Son “AND” the Holy Spirit!
Baptized in one NAME not names.
I hope it is clear to you Peter’s position on the deity of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 4:1-6
1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a
life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle;
be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There
is one body and one Spirit—just as you were
called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord,
one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of
all, who is over all and through all and in all.
The consistency of scripture is great, one Spirit, One Lord, One God and Father, they are one. It gets better!
7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8This is why it says:
"When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men." 9(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10He who descended is the VERY ONE who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
“He who descended” (Jesus Christ, the Word, the Son of God) IS THE VERY ONE who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.
“He who descended” is distinct from the one referred to as "the very one who fills the universe" in this verse. BUT, while they are distinct, they are the same. "IS". "He who descended" "IS" "THE VERY ONE who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.
WHOA, who is Paul talking about here? My bet is God himself! Who else can it be? This description fits no one else!
And what does Paul mean by "reaching unity in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God"?
What unity of knowledge of the Son of God would that be? "Attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ". The whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Fullness:
Containing all that is normal or possible.
Complete in every particular: a full account.
I hope that those with an open mind will see what the fullness of Christ is. I hope that those who do not give the whole measure, but only a half measure or none at all of the fullness (deity) of Christ, that you will re-evaluate your ways.
Ephesians 4:30-31
30And do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of
God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get
rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every
form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other,
just as in Christ God forgave you.
The Holy Spirit is “of” God just as the Son and Father are. The neat thing is that we “were sealed” with the great Counselor and Holy Spirit inside of each and every one of us. How cool! In verse 32 there is another reference of the deity of Christ, Christ God. Christ God is one name just as George Washington is. Christ Jehovah! I am going to do another quote here again as it sums up the unity of the Holy Spirit very well.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”
2 Corinthians 13:14
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
Philippians 2:1-2
If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if
there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if
any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind,
maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
1 Corinthians 1:9
God is faithful, through whom you were called into
fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Acts 5:3-4
3Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have
kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn't it
belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at
your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are
being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes
from the Lord, who is the Spirit
Now the Lord (Yahweh) is the Holy Spirit. (Spirit of the Lord is).
Not only is the Father eternal, Jesus Christ is eternal, but the Holy Spirit is also eternal. Makes perfect sense because again God is comprised of all three.
Hebrews 9:14
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to
God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve
the living God!
Romans 8:9-11
9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if
the Spirit of God lives in you. And if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of
sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in
you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
I think that rocks! But we can also see that the Spirit of God is exactly the same as the Spirit of Christ!
“Three different things are given to Christians by three different persons of the Godhead. This verse is so powerful in proving the Holy Spirit is a person, that anti-Trinitarians are at a loss what to do with it! They are forced into the most uncomfortable position of having to render the meaning of the verse as: " The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the sharing of electricity, be with you all." “
“2 Cor
“2 Cor
“2 Cor
“The verse says that the "person of Jesus Christ" is the source and supplier of grace, the "person of God" is the source and supplier of Love and the "person of the Holy Spirit" is the source and supplier of fellowship. This is the only logical and consistent way to read the text.””
http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-texts-2corinthians13-14.htm (Steve Rudd)
While I am focusing on Jesus Christ the importance of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity of God should not be over looked. There are also many great verses that talk about the purpose and role that the Spirit plays in each of our lives. Since we are getting a bit long here I will bring it back to the primary reason of redemption, Jesus Christ. The first verse below is a dire warning to those of the OTC’s and anti-Christian cults. Most all cults take emphasis away from Jesus Christ and place it on themselves, either the church, their doctrine, certain acts and deeds one must do and even on baptism for salvation. It is another study on salvation and whether a person has to do more than just “believe on the Name of Jesus Christ” to be saved. Perform a keyword search on the words “name of Jesus” and see what I mean. Study what I have mentioned previously. The point I am getting to is all OTC’s and cults have man made and hollow deceptive philosophies that put the emphasis of salvation on their own deeds rather than on Christ’s saving grace. From this point in our study here, have you been able to determine if your church or doctrine falls into that category of deceptive philosophy?
Colossians 2:8-10
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow
and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic
principles of this world rather than on Christ.
For in Christ all the fullness
of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness
in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
Wow, another great verse that is consistent with all the rest. All the fullness of the Deity, God, lives in bodily form in Christ. What is also neat is this verse also touches on the Holy Spirit. “And you have been given fullness in Christ,” how might you ask? Well by the Holy Spirit of course!
1 Timothy 3:15-16
“15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. 16Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:
God appeared in the flesh,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.”
1 Timothy
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory.
This is yet another verse in the consistency of the God. I hope we can all see by now who the subject of this verse is, “Beyond all question”. Who is the living God? Who is the pillar and foundation of the truth of salvation and of the church? Jesus Christ! Was it not Jesus who was “preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and was taken up in glory.”?
GOD APPEARED AND WAS MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH, AS JESUS CHRIST!!!!
James
“This is a most unusual thing to say about the demons who do not question if God exists, having seen Him with their own eyes. Instead, this verse is saying that the demons understand that the three persons of the Trinity are in perfect unity, without difference of opinion, plan or authority. The unity between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is what makes the demons shudder, not the fact that God exists. The verse makes no sense if the demons shudder merely because they believe in God. Its God's unity that makes them shudder.” (JR)
Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has
appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness
and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in
this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of
our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for
himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
God = Savior = Jesus Christ = Savior = God. God “appeared to all men” in the human form as Jesus Christ.
John 15:27-28 I came from God. I
came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and
going back to the Father."
God entered the world as the Word, Jesus Christ and left the world and went back into heaven. Clearly, Jesus Christ is not a creation, as he existed in heaven with the father since the beginning. God appeared to all men.
The Book Of Titus
In the book of Titus the apostle Paul clearly teaches that Jesus Christ is God and that the Grace of God is God the Father and our God and Savior Jesus Christ. He also has a few choice words for those who do not teach correctly.
1:3 and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the
preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our
Savior,
1:4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
1:15-16 To the
pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe,
nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16They
claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.
They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
2:1 You must teach what is in accord with sound
doctrine.
and that is
2:13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
2:15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and
rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
3: 4-7 But
when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,
5he saved us, not because of righteous
things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the
washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured
out on us generously through Jesus Christ our
Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope
of eternal life.
No further comments are needed by me, Paul sums up the unity of the
Grace of God perfectly and clearly. Now if you believe that Paul was inspired by
the Spirit of God to speak the inerrant and infallible words of God, then how
can you deny these verses if you believe that Jesus Christ is not God? No the
fact of Jesus Christ is, Jesus Christ is our “great God and Savior”! That our God and Savior appeared and that our Savior is “Jesus
Christ”.
Revelation
Revelation 22:1-5 "Then he showed me a river of the
water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the
Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree
of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be
any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His
face, and His name will be on their
foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need
of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God
will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever."
Quoting from Mr. Steve Rudd yet again:
“The Father and the Son themselves are a single temple not
two and with one light they shine, not two! Oh how this confuses Jehovah's
Witnesses. 2 Cor
The Father and the Son, although two distinct persons, are seen sitting one throne not two. (
Christians are called, "bond-servants" (common
word for slave) who serve the Father and the Son who are referred to as
"Him" rather than "them." Yet we also know that the very
first statement in the book of Revelation 1:1 is that Christians are
bondservants of Christ. Then again Jesus calls Christian’s, "His
bondslaves". Then again in
Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His [Christ’s] bond-servants,
the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His
angel to His [Christ’s] bond-servant John,
Revelation 2:20 ‘But I have this against you, that you tolerate the
woman Jezebel , who calls herself a prophetess , and she teaches and leads My [Christ’s] bond-servants astray so that they commit
acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols .
Revelation 22:3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of
God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His
bond-servants will serve Him [both Father and Son]
In Rev 22:3 they will serve the Father and Son as "him" rather than "them".
It uses the singular "face" that they see, rather than faces. Yet if both are sitting on the throne, it is obvious they see the faces of both at the same time.
Both the Father and the Son's name is to be marked on the
foreheads of Christians. (
In Rev 22:5, The Father and Son reign forever. Yet in Rev 20:6 the singular "Him" is applied to the two of them, as though they are one.” (Steve Rudd)
And now I have saved the best for last. I have been quoting out of the NIV translation because it rests in the middle between literal and thought (paraphrased of meaning). Also at www.biblegateway.com it is the most easily searched and browsed. However for this verse one must go back to the best and most accurate translation, the KJV. It is my belief that the follow is the full and correct translation of this verse.
1 John 5:7-13 KJV
7 For there are THREE that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the WORD, and the Holy Ghost: and these THREE are
ONE. 8 And there are three that bear
witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three
agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God
is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that
believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record
that God gave of his Son. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life;
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I
written unto you that believe on the NAME of the Son
of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on
the NAME of the Son of God.
1 John 5:6-13 New King James Version
6This is He who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not only by water, but
by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit
is truth. 7For there are three that bear witness in
heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
8And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the
blood; and these three agree as one.
The above verse is in question and highly
debated. Here is the NIV.
1 John 5:6-7
6This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by
water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because
the Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the Spirit, the
water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
How can this verse be so much different? Reading each verse, which one makes
more sense? In the NIV and others doesn’t it seem like there is a big section
missing? There is, “There are three that testify:” and then the verse stops!
Then verse 8 starts. This verse is called the Comma Johanneum,
which is worth a study on its own. What does the
received text state? I will take the clearest and most complete reading. The
NIV really does not make any sense as in this case it’s missing the half of the
verse, the most important part. Here is a link on this verse http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/vindicationof.htm
John 16:25-32
25"Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time
is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you
plainly about my Father. 26In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying
that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27No, the Father himself loves you
because you have loved me and have believed that I came
from God. 28I came from the Father and
entered the world; now I am leaving the
world and going back to the Father." 29Then Jesus' disciples
said, "Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30Now
we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have
anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that
you came from God." 31"You believe at last!" Jesus answered. 32"But
a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own
home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with
me.
Colossians 1:15-22
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or
authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all
things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and
the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the
supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his
fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself
all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were
enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But
now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present
you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—“
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Heb 1:3
JESUS CHRIST IS GOD!
DO YOU BELIEVE AT LAST
WHY THEN?
Why then did God come to earth as a man in Jesus Christ? Why did God come as a servant?
Philippians 2:6
5Your attitude should be the same as
that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being
in very nature God,
did not
consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as
a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to
the highest place
and gave him the name that is above
every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under
the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Romans 8:1-4
Life Through the Spirit
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Conclusion
I hope this study has been as convincing to you as it has been an encouragement to me. I hope that you will see the consistency of scripture and that the truth and meaning of God and Jesus Christ is fully evident to you now. For those who are in one true churches and cults of all different types the conclusion of this study will be a concern and shock to you or I hope it will be. I encourage you to pray deeply and search your heart and Spirit to confirm the truth, as it should be. I encourage you to read and re-read these scriptures before applying what your church, leader or teacher says they should mean. I encourage you to put your faith in God and Christ alone, not in a particular church, religion, acts or deeds. Let God speak to you directly through these verses for each and every Christian has a direct and personal relationship with God through Christ and the Holy Spirit.
I hope you can see the simple and consistent truth. Is it that all these verses have the same truth and underlying meaning, or that each and everyone has a special, unique and different meaning? I pray that you will see the underhanded deceit and technique of OTC’s and cults who purposely alter and change the meaning behind a verse to suit their own doctrine and desires for that is not of God. For those who come to the same conclusion as I have concerning the mathematics of God and are in a group or cult that teaches false doctrine; for many cults and aberration groups there are usually multiple web sites that you can turn to for further information on the false teachings of the group you are in and also to find support groups and others who have gone through the same feelings and challenges you have. To understand God’s mathematics one must not “judge by human standards” and limit themselves to “human tradition” and understanding. One does so when they rely on their own intellect and intelligence of human understanding. God in his grand awesomeness and mathematics has revealed the truth of who He is in Scripture. Our awesome God cannot be fully comprehended by our mere human intellect and mind. However the Words of God reveal much and we can know much.
Some say the greatest lie Satan has ever said is that he doesn’t exist; I say the greatest lie that Satan has ever said is to say that Jesus Christ is not God. There is only one plan of salvation and that is Jesus Christ. If you are under a different plan than the one scripture teaches, I highly encourage you to get on the right one for your salvation and eternal life depends on it! We must believe in who Jesus Christ is and who he claimed himself to be in order to be saved.
1 John 4:1-3 NKJV
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
1 John and 2 John are both letters written to confirm the Deity of Jesus Christ to those who had other heresies being taught to them. John is clear, those with the Spirit of God confess that Jesus Christ, God himself has come in the flesh. If you do not confess and believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, you are not under the true Spirit of God.
Your salvation is a most serious concern.
John
But he continued, "You are from below; I AM FROM ABOVE. You are of this
world; I AM NOT OF THIS WORLD. I told you that you would die in your sins; if
you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your
sins."
"I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I
am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."
The person who does
not believe what Jesus Christ claims to be will surely die in their sins. That
is why it is extremely important if you are reading this study and are in a
church or religion that teaches that Jesus Christ is not God, to take action.
Otherwise your beloved brothers and sisters in the church or also your family
will suffer a terrible fate. I encourage you to pray to God for guidance so
that your actions will be in accordance with His great will.
John 10:33
"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews,
"but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
1 John 2:21-23
Warning against antichrists
“ I do not write to you because you do not know the
truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who
is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is
the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has
the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”
2 Peter 2:1-3
False Teachers and Their Destruction
“But there were also false prophets among the people,
just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce
destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing
swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will
bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit
you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging
over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”
Have you been able now to determine that the religion or church you are attending is not in accordance with God? If you have you have many difficult choices to make. I encourage you to hold onto the promises of God where he states that he will not give us a burden heavier than we can carry. Through the love of God and his strength He will guide and encourage you on your decisions whether to leave your church or try and affect change within it.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”
I greatly encourage you not to put up with false teachings and heresies. As a believer in God and Jesus Christ I encourage you to honor Him always and in every way.
I would like to now give a small response to the question, is the word “Trinity” in the Bible?
The thought for “Trinity” is mentioned in the Bible. In the Bible “Godhead” is the Trinity.
Romans
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His
eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
Colossians 2:9 (KJV-NKJV)
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily;
GODHEAD = TRINITY (Full Divinity and Essence of God)
Romans
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead (Theiotees), so
that they are without excuse.
Colossians 2:9 (KJV-NKJV)
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead (Theotees) bodily;
Both Theiotees and Theotees are used only once in the Bible in these two
verses. Both words are taken from Theos which is God. The common understanding
that these two words mean is the total essence and completeness of God’s
divinity. The writers of the KJV knew what the fullness and complete essence of
God’s divinity was and that is why they choose to use the word Godhead. However
it must be said that no other translation uses the word Godhead but this is
what the early church believed.
I hope I have given you enough Biblical evidence proving that the Trinity is a Biblical fact. That God is plural and that God is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I am just totally amazed of the fact that God himself, God came down from heaven to die a terrible death on the cross for us, because He loves us so much. What an amazing and loving Lord we have. God himself died for us.
Here are some quotes from the early
church fathers relating to the Deity of Jesus Christ
50 AD The Huleatt
Manuscript
- 50 AD The Huleatt Manuscript "She poured it [the perfume] over his [Jesus'] hair when he sat at the table. But, when the disciples saw it, they were indignant. . . . God, aware of this (referring to Jesus), said to them: 'Why do you trouble this woman? She has done [a beautiful thing for me.] . . . Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest and said, 'What will you give me for my work?' [Matt. 26:7-15]" (Huleatt fragments 1-3).
74 AD The Letter of
Barnabas
- 74 AD The Letter of Barnabas "And further, my brethren, if the Lord [Jesus] endured to suffer for our soul, he (referring to Jesus) being the Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, 'Let us make man after our image, and after our likeness,' understand how it was that he endured to suffer at the hand of men" (Letter of Barnabas 5).
80 AD Hermas
- 80 AD Hermas "The Son of God is older than all his creation, so that he became the Father's adviser in his creation. Therefore also he is ancient" (The Shepherd 12).
140 AD Aristides
- 140 AD Aristides "[Christians] are they who, above every people of the Earth, have found the truth, for they acknowledge God, the creator and maker of all things, in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit" (Apology 16).
150 AD Justin Martyr
- 150 AD Justin Martyr "The Father of the universe has a Son, who also being the first begotten Word of God, is even God." (Justin Martyr, First Apology, ch 63)
160 AD Mathetes
- 160 AD Mathetes "[The Father] sent the Word that he might be manifested to the world . . . This is he who was from the beginning, who appeared as if new, and was found old . . . This is he who, being from everlasting, is today called the Son" (Letter to Diognetus 11).
170 AD Tatian the
Syrian
- 170 AD Tatian the Syrian "We are not playing the fool, you Greeks, nor do we talk nonsense, when we report that God was born in the form of a man" (Address to the Greeks 21).
177 AD Athenagoras
- 177 AD Athenagoras "The Son of God is the Word of the Father in thought and actuality. By him and through him all things were made, the Father and the Son being one. Since the Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son by the unity and power of the Spirit, the Mind and Word of the Father is the Son of God. And if, in your exceedingly great wisdom, it occurs to you to inquire what is meant by `the Son,' I will tell you briefly: He is the first- begotten of the Father, not as having been produced, for from the beginning God had the Word in himself, God being eternal mind and eternally rational, but as coming forth to be the model and energizing force of all material things" (Plea for the Christians 10:2-4).
177 AD Melito of
- 177 AD Melito of Sardis "It is no way necessary in dealing with persons of intelligence to adduce the actions of Christ after his baptism as proof that his soul and his body, his human nature, were like ours, real and not phantasmal. The activities of Christ after his baptism, and especially his miracles, gave indication and assurance to the world of the deity hidden in his flesh. Being God and likewise perfect man, he gave positive indications of his two natures: of his deity, by the miracles during the three years following after his baptism, of his humanity, in the thirty years which came before his baptism, during which, by reason of his condition according to the flesh, he concealed the signs of his deity, although he was the true God existing before the ages" (Fragment in Anastasius of Sinai's The Guide 13).
Polycarp (70-155/160). Bishop of
"O Lord God almighty...I bless you and
glorify you through the eternal and heavenly high priest Jesus Christ, your
beloved Son, through whom be glory to you, with Him and the Holy Spirit, both
now and forever" (n. 14, ed. Funk; PG 5.1040).
Justin Martyr (100?-165?). He was a Christian apologist and martyr.
"For, in the name of God, the Father and
Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit,
they then receive the washing with water" (First Apol., LXI).
Ignatius of
"In Christ Jesus our Lord, by whom and with
whom be glory and power to the Father with the Holy Spirit for ever" (n.
7; PG 5.988).
"We have also as a Physician the Lord our
God Jesus the Christ the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who
afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. For ‘the Word
was made flesh.' Being incorporeal, He was in the body; being impassible,
He was in a passable body; being immortal, He was in a mortal body; being life,
He became subject to corruption, that He might free our souls from death and
corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health, when they were
diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts." (Alexander Roberts and James
Donaldson, eds., The ante-Nicene Fathers, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975 rpt.,
Vol. 1, p. 52, Ephesians 7.)
Irenaeus (115-190). As a boy he listened to Polycarp, the disciple of John. He became
Bishop of Lyons.
"The Church, though dispersed throughout
the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles
and their disciples this faith: ...one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of
heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one
Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in
the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God,
and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection
from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ
Jesus, our Lord, and His manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father
‘to gather all things in one,' and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole
human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and
King, according to the will of the invisible Father, ‘every knee should bow, of
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that
every tongue should confess; to him, and that He should execute just judgment
towards all...'" (Against Heresies X.l)
Tertullian (160-215). African apologist and theologian. He wrote much in defense of
Christianity.
"We define that there are two, the Father
and the Son, and three with the Holy Spirit, and this number is made by the
pattern of salvation...[which] brings about unity in trinity, interrelating the
three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are three, not in
dignity, but in degree, not in substance but in form, not in power but in kind.
They are of one substance and power, because there is one God from whom these
degrees, forms and kinds devolve in the name of Father, Son and Holy
Spirit." (Adv. Prax. 23; PL 2.156-7).
Origen (185-254). Alexandrian theologian. Defended Christianity and wrote much about
Christianity.
"If anyone would say that the Word of God
or the Wisdom of God had a beginning, let him beware lest he direct his impiety
rather against the unbegotten Father, since he denies that he was always
Father, and that he has always begotten the Word, and that he always had wisdom
in all previous times or ages or whatever can be imagined in priority...There
can be no more ancient title of almighty God than that of Father, and it is
through the Son that he is Father" (De Princ. 1.2.; PG 11.132).
"For if [the Holy Spirit were not eternally
as He is, and had received knowledge at some time and then became the Holy
Spirit] this were the case, the Holy Spirit would never be reckoned in the
unity of the Trinity, i.e., along with the unchangeable Father and His Son,
unless He had always been the Holy Spirit." (Alexander Roberts and James
Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975 rpt.,
Vol. 4, p. 253, de Principiis, 1.111.4)
"Moreover, nothing in the Trinity can be
called greater or less, since the fountain of divinity alone contains all
things by His word and reason, and by the Spirit of His mouth sanctifies all
things which are worthy of sanctification..." (Roberts and Donaldson,
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4, p. 255, de Principii., I. iii. 7).
For a complete look at the early Christian writings please visit http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Tarsians
Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which
is at
From Syria even unto Rome I fight with beasts not that I am devoured by brute beasts, for these, as ye know, by the will of God, spared Daniel, but by beasts in the shape of men, in whom the merciless wild beast himself lies hid, and pricks and wounds me day by day. But none of these hardships "move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself,"1 in such a way as to love it better than the Lord. Wherefore I am prepared for [encountering] fire, wild beasts, the sword or the cross, so that only I may see Christ my Saviour and God, who died for me. I therefore, the prisoner of Christ, who am driven along by land and sea, exhort you: "stand fast in the faith,"2 and be ye steadfast, "for the just shall live by faith; "3 be ye unwavering, for "the Lord causes those to dwell in a house who are of one and the same character."4
Chapter II.-Cautions Against False Doctrine.
I have learned that certain of the ministers of Satan have wished to disturb
you, some of them asserting that Jesus was born [only5
] in appearance, was crucified in appearance, and died in appearance; others
that He is not the Son the Creator, and others that He is Himself God over all.6
Others, again, hold that He is a mere man, and others that this flesh is not to
rise again, so that our proper course is to live and partake of a life of
pleasure, for that this is the chief good to beings who are in a little while
to perish. A swarm of such evils has burst in upon us.7
But ye have not "given place by subjection to them, no, not for one
hour."8
For ye are the fellow-citizens as well as the disciples of Paul, who
"fully preached the Gospel from
Chapter III.-The True Doctrine Respecting Christ.
Mindful of him, do ye by all means know that Jesus the Lord was truly born
of Mary, being made of a woman; and was as truly crucified. For, says he,
"God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of the Lord
Jesus."11
And He really suffered, and died, and rose again. For says [Paul], "If
Christ should become passible, and should be the first to rise again from the
dead."12
And again, "In that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth,
He liveth unto God."13
Otherwise, what advantage would there be in [becoming subject to] bonds, if
Christ has not died? what advantage in patience? what advantage in [enduring]
stripes? And why such facts as the following: Peter was crucified; Paul and
James were slain with the sword; John was banished to
Chapter IV.-Continuation.
And [know ye, moreover], that He who was born of a woman was the Son of God, and He that was crucified was "the first-born of every creature,"14 and God the Word, who also created all things. For says the apostle, "There is one God, the Father, of whom are all things; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things."15 And again, "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus; "16 and, "By Him were all things created that are in heaven, and on earth, visible and invisible; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist."17
Chapter V.-Refutation of the Previously Mentioned Errors.
And that He Himself is not God over all, and the Father, but His Son, He [shows when He] says, "I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God."18 And again, "When all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall He also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all."19 Wherefore it is one [Person] who put all things under, and who is all in all, and another [Person] to whom they were subdued, who also Himself, along with all other things, becomes subject [to the former].
Chapter VI.-Continuation.
Nor is He a mere man, by whom and in whom all things were made; for "all things were made by Him."20 "When He made the heaven, I was present with Him; and I was there with Him, forming [the world along with Him], and He rejoiced in me daily."21 And how could a mere man be addressed in such words as these: "Sit Thou at My right hand? "22 And how, again, could such an one declare: "Before Abraham was, I am? "23 And, "Glorify Me with Thy glory which I had before the world was? "24 What man could ever say, "I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me? "25 And of what man could it be said, "He was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world: He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not? "26 How could such a one be a mere man, receiving the beginning of His existence from Mary, and not rather God the Word, and the only-begotten Son? For "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,27 and the Word was God."28 And in another place, "The Lord created Me, the beginning of His ways, for His ways, for His works. Before the world did He found Me, and before all the hills did He beget Me."29
Chapter VII.-Continuation.
And that our bodies are to rise again, He shows when He says, "Verily I
say unto you, that the hour cometh, in the which all
that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that
hear shall live."30
And [says] the apostle, "For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality."31
And that we must live soberly and righteously, he [shows when he] says again,
"Be not deceived: neither adulterers, nor effeminate persons, nor abusers
of themselves with mankind, nor fornicators, nor revilers, nor drunkards, nor
thieves, can inherit the
Chapter VIII.-Exhortations to Holiness and Good Order.
May I have joy of you in the Lord! Be ye sober. Lay aside, every one of you, all malice and beast-like fury, evil-speaking, calumny, filthy speaking, ribaldry, whispering, arrogance, drunkenness, lust, avarice, vainglory, envy, and everything akin to these. "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."35 Ye presbyters, be subject to the bishop; ye deacons, to the presbyters; and ye, the people, to the presbyters and the deacons. Let my soul be for theirs who preserve this good order; and may the Lord be with them continually!
Chapter IX.-Exhortations to the Discharge of Relative Duties.
Ye husbands, love your wives; and ye wives, your husbands. Ye children, reverence your parents. Ye parents, "bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."36 Honour those [who continue] in virginity, as the priestesses of Christ; and the widows [that persevere] in gravity of behaviour, as the altar of God. Ye servants, wait upon your masters with [respectful] fear. Ye masters, issue orders to your servants with tenderness. Let no one among you be idle; for idleness is the mother of want. I do not enjoin these things as being a person of any consequence, although I am in bonds [for Christ]; but as a brother, I put you in mind of them. The Lord be with you!
Chapter X.-Salutations.
May I enjoy your prayers! Pray ye that may attain to Jesus. I commend unto
you the Church which is at
Iglesia ni Cristo (INC)
I strongly do not believe in coincidence of life. God’s power, control and purpose are greater than we can even begin to fathom. When I look back at things I see God’s hand in them and I just love that feeling. We, with our own eyes, can see God’s active work in the world and in us. This entire study was created because I was introduced to the INC by a great friend of mine. This person is a member of the INC, which before hand I had never heard of. Once learning more and delving into the doctrine of the INC the need and purpose of this study for my best friend was very evident.
At the very end of this study will be many Internet links to my sources and links on the INC. If you are a member of the INC or a member of an OTC I cannot recommend highly enough the desperate need for you to review the information at these links. One of my favorite movies is Contact, with Jodie Foster. This movie touches on God and faith and one of the great points to the movie is the discussion on ‘Occam's Razor’: the simplest explanation, all things being equal, tends to be the correct one.
Question, all things being equal what is more probable and likely, if your church or religion has multiple credible websites and literature stating that your organization is a cult and contains many false doctrine and ideas with factual evidence as backup, is it most likely true or just hysteria and attacks? I encourage you to view the information on the links I provide that are critical of your organization. If what they say is false then their content should not bother your soul. However if the information they contain is true, then your eyes may be opened to the truth of error occurring in your church or religion. One if not thee most respected cult web sites is The Bereans.
http://www.thebereans.net/prof-inc.shtml
There are many websites dedicated to issues with the INC and even current INC members who realize the errors within and are trying to change the false teachings of the INC from inside. For my study with my INC member I have picked what I consider to be the most important issue, Jesus Christ and his deity.
http://members.tripod.com/insiders_inc/
However sometimes a person will only hear and see something coming from one they love and trust. I will try and answer some of the claims and interpretations made in the INC’s magazine Pasugo, also known as “God’s Message”. Here is a quick summary of the false teachings of the INC.
Vehemently oppose the Biblical revelation of the Triune God.
Believes in the absolute oneness of God the Creator in the Person of the Father.
Believes the Son as the literal Word (which has no pre-existence) who became man. He was given power by the Father to do supernatural miracles. He is not God.
Believes in an impersonal Holy Spirit, a power sent by the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is not God but one of the spirits sent by God.
Believes the Father (Creator) and Son (creature) must be worshipped. The Son must be worshipped because the Father says so.
Believes a person must hear the "gospel" from authorized INC messengers and INC ministers. They are the only ones who have God's Holy Spirit in order for them to understand the Bible.
Believes the official name of the church is "Iglesia ni Cristo" while other names are not.
Believes a person must be a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), be water baptized, follow the church rules (must avoid the eating of "dinuguan," avoid joining labor unions, avoid court sessions, do block voting, be under compulsory church attendance, practice giving to the church) and perform his good deeds as an INC member in order for him to be saved.
Believes Felix Y. Manalo is the fulfillment of Isaiah 43:5-7; 46:11, and Rev. 7:2-3 prophecies.
Prospects must pass a 27 point doctrine
course and a 6 month trial before being accepted into the Church, being saved.
The core doctrine of the INC is based on the false heresy of Gnosticism. This false doctrine is what the NT writes tried to warn the new believers against. Unfortunately we still have modern day Gnostics as that of the INC. I will not repeat the readily available information on the web about this false heresy.
http://www.triumphpro.com/antichrist.htm
There are many factors that added up to the
large amount of false doctrine created by the founder of the INC, Felix Manalo.
The first and foremost is that Felix used many inaccurate sources, primarily
Lamsa. Here is a large quote on Lamsa.
http://www.letusreason.org/Iglesia7.htm
”The George Lamsa translation is from the Aramaic language. Lamsa believed the original texts were written in Aramaic and were latter changed to Greek. That the Aramaic were more authoritative, but he is wrong. While it may be true that many things were spoken in the Aramaic language (though the bible makes the point of the Greek being used as well). There is no evidence for what Lamsa presupposes.
This is upheld despite all the manuscript evidence that
contradicts his theories. Although the
language principally spoken by Jesus was Aramaic almost all Jews were bi or tri
lingual. This is even upheld by the fact that the Hebrew scriptures were
translated into the Greek language ( Septuagint) 200 years before Christ. The
Aramaic text (the Pershitta) is a later 4th century Syriac translation, a Semitic language
used in
Then how does he explain the Septuagint? All this is contradicted by the facts of Greek manuscript evidence found in the Quamrun caves and quotes from the Septuagint in the New testament which are more in number than quotes from the Masoretic text (the Hebrew)
He was a man who was into psychic phenomenon, this alone should disqualify him from being a reputable source for the Scriptures. He denied the Trinity which is clearly expressed in his translation, which is why it is accepted by certain churches. This is why it is the most popular translation among the cults. He believed sin was error and he was a universalist believing all would be saved (not even the Iglesia ni Cristo church would accept this). He also believed the Holy Spirit was a influence or power. Like the Sadducee's he denies a belief in personal angels or demons. He also had a view of Christ as 2 persons in one body (Nestorian heresy which some trace to his upbringing) not 2 natures in Christ the one person. Lamsa also claimed to be the sole competent interpreter of the scriptures. "Moreover, the author was educated under the care of learned priests of the church of the east who knew no other language but Aramaic,..the author, through God's grace, is the only one with the knowledge of Aramaic, the bible customs and idioms, and the knowledge of the English language who has ever translated the Holy bible from the original Aramaic texts into English and written commentaries on it, and his translation is now in pleasingly wide use" (G. Lamsa More light on the Gospel (NY 1968). Certainly Iglesia would not agree with Lamsa's position on salvation since they teach one MUST join their Church to be saved. So why use a man who they would discredit for these things as well? Because He's one of the few published authors they can find that can agree with their position.
Lamsa was anti supernatural and found natural explanations for his understanding Scripture. For example the floating axe head with Elisha Lamsa thought the axehead came to the top of the water because Elisha put the stick in its hole. He translates this verse, And he cut off a stick and thrust it in there; and it stuck in the hole of the axehead (George Lamsa, translator, The Holy Bible Translated from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts, 1961, p. 417).
Secondly, Felix took many teachings, true and false from
many different religions and denominations and conjured up his own doctrine.
That is why we see many similarities between the INC and other anti-Christian
cults such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons rooted in an ideology of
the Arians. I will try to not defame Mr. Manalo too much however he is
ultimately responsible for his actions and the lives he has affected including
his son Erano. Felix Manalo grew up in Catholicism. When he reached his teenage
years he went through 5 different denominations including a far out spiriting
sect called the Colorum. Felix then left organized religion and became an
atheist. After witnessing a debate he later joined and became a minister of the
Methodist Episcopalian church. After the death of this mother he began studying
at a
In 1911 Felix took part in a debate with a 7th day Adventist and lost. He then decided that they were correct, left the COC and converted to Seventh Day Adventism. During this time his wife died and he later eloped with a 7th day Adventist named Honorata de Gusman which he was later disciplined for in 1913.
Felix Manalo started the INC in 1914. He had a vision or
calling, not unlike Mohammed and other false prophets, went into seclusion for
3 days and came back with “the only correct Biblical truth”. Now here is where
it gets weird, in 1919 Manalo left the
The big problem with Manalo’s final messenger story is for it and him to be true, we would have had to be in the tribulation in 1922 which is when Manalo says it was happening. Well if one performs a study on end time prophesy it’s beyond all obviousness that this is not the case. We are certainly getting closer to the end times but many groups were mistaken into belief that the time of the First and Second World War was the tribulation. As we know now that is not the case.
Lastly, after Felix’s Manalo’s death his son Erano took over and has added many more false teachings the primary being that Jesus Christ is not God (purpose of this study) and additional legalism practices. Like all false cults and religions their doctrine changes and gets added to just like Islam, Mormonism and the rest.
Felix Manalo claims to be God’s final messenger, the 5th angel. Here is a quote:
“His message is no different than the 7th day Adventists 3rd angels message of which he probably was influenced from when he studied with them. Rev 7:2: "Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea." Manalo claims to be this angel.
How do they apply this prophecy to a Manalo? They claim the angel in this context means a human messenger. Angels do not preach the gospel so this must refer to a man. But we do find an angel preaching the gospel in Revelation from mid heaven Rev.14:6 "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth-- to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people." I don't think he's using a plane! Angels are creatures that are spirits that dwell in heaven and do Gods bidding to mankind on earth.
Rev.7:1: "After these things" Which they believe is the war described in Rev.6:12-15 which is the first world war, then Rev.7:1 there are four angels mentioned which are then interpreted as men.
Rev 7:2-3: "Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having
the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels
to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Do not harm
the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on
their foreheads." Who are these other 4 angels who hold back the wind
(war) they are 1. Lloyd George of
Manalo was already preaching "the gospel" in the
Angels spoken of in the end of time in the book of Revelation come from heaven. Even if it says from the east it still has its origin in heaven Rev.10:1 "I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire."
http://www.letusreason.org/Iglesia5.htm
Revelation 7:1-4
144,000 Sealed
1After this I saw four angels standing at the four
corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any
wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2Then I saw another
angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out
in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land
and the sea: 3"Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a
seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." 4Then I heard the
number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of
It is really beyond all logical evidence to conclude that we were/are in the great Tribulation back in 1922 or back to 1914 and Manalo is God’s final messenger. If he was, he certainly has failed as the world population of Protestant Christians far beyond exceeded the membership of the INC. The majority of the INC are Filipinos. Now I have nothing against Filipinos, my dearly loved one is Filipino. However it absolutely makes no rational, logical and Biblical sense to state that God’s only remnant are primarily Filipinos. It makes no logical or Biblical sense to say that God has forsaken the entire population of the world since Christ and has only allowed only 144,000 or just the INC to be saved. We also know that the 144,000 are Jews, not Gentiles.
Also, if reading Rev 7 in context, did Manalo ever prove or show that he had the “seal of the living God”? Now, if Manalo being this 5th angel, spoke out to these 4 other angles to hold off their destruction until the 144,000 were sealed, would that not have happened in his lifetime? Is there any evidence that he spoke to these other angels holding back their judgment? Are they still holding back their judgement since 1922 or soon after? Is the INC only going to be the 144,000? Did the sealing of the 144,000 already occur? No it obviously has not. The timeline of end time prophecy and the Tribulation is clear enough to prove that Manalo certainly is not the 5th angel.
For an absolute great summary by “Bob” on the INC and Manalo please view this link at:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=70213&messageid=1123097219
Getting back to Occam's Razor what is the simplest answer to the following question? At www.bible.com and www.biblegateway.com why is the Lamsa translation not listed? As stated earlier there are many great web sites that discuss all of the false doctrine and issues of the INC. http://www.letusreason.org/igleidir.htm is a good one. Ask any INC members, are we really in the Tribulation, are there worldwide famines, wars and heavenly judgment occurring since 1922? What I am going to do is analyze some of the comments in the Pasugo as it concerns to the Trinity and deity of Jesus Christ and apply their comments to what scripture says.
OCT 2004-VOL 56-NUM10 “Does the “I AM” statement of Jesus in
John
INC claim 1: “Why did they come up with this line of
reasoning – that Jesus is God – simply because Christ uttered, “I am?” Because
God also made the same statement in Exodus
INC refutation: This understanding came from the facts of the mirroring of all “I AM” statements that Jesus makes echoing those in Isaiah for His intended purpose of establishing definition of equality with God. It is a misunderstanding to state that “Trinitarians conclude that Jesus is God simply because Christ spoke the same terms uttered by God”, especially minimized in this case in one verse, and is inaccurate.
“By itself "I AM" would prove little, but the pattern of His use in various themes that exactly match Isaiah, create an unmistakable mosaic that is a powerful and irrefutable proof of his deity.”
Of course this entire study gives more than enough scriptural evidence why Trinitarians believe in the tri-unity of God. Please reference the section and link earlier concerning the use of “I am”.
INC claim 2: “This type of reasoning was utilized by Josh McDowell and Bart Larson, two defenders of the alleged divinity of Christ, in their book…”
INC refutation: It is a logical fallacy to attempt to disprove one particular group, persons or books information and apply that result to the entirety of the question or issue at hand. The goal of this article is in effect to disprove the claims made by these two people in their book and then the INC successfully defends their position and can claim their position as correct and truth. In all matters related to Biblical discussion, one must debate what the Word of God says.
Secondly, because these two authors make claims and attempt to substantiate them it is a logical fallacy to say that they speak for all Trinitarians. There is only one fully God inspired scripture and that is the Bible.
INC claim 3: “What was He affirming in this verse? That He was before Abraham…He is before Abraham because He was foreordained by God even before the foundation of the world. It is in this sense that He was before Abraham.”
INC refutation: The word foreordained and its corresponding thought is a foreign idea inserted to justify the INC’s doctrine in this particular verse. Simple question, why would the Jews, when Jesus said, “before Abraham was born, I am!” “pick up stones to stone him”? It makes absolute no logical sense that the Jews would stone Jesus for claiming to be only foreordained by God. What does the scripture say as to why the Jews would stone Jesus?
John
The true answer is the Jews, correctly so, understood Jesus to be making “Yourself out to be God”. As stated above, the Jews were not misunderstanding Jesus or anyone. The concept of scriptural misunderstanding is false. In every case there is a misunderstanding, it is pointed out and corrected.
INC claim 4: “There is nothing we can glean from the chapter that Jesus was claiming to be God”
INC refutation: “To recount John 8 from above: “because
I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17In your own Law
it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18I
am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent
me."
Here is how I read these particular verses. From Jewish law testimony was required by two or more persons and this is what the Pharisees were challenging Jesus on “your testimony is not valid”. Jesus answers in this way paraphrased “I am right because I am not alone. I stand with the Father. I can testify for myself because my other witness is the Father, who is here, in me”.
19Then they asked him, "Where is your father?"
"You do not know me or my Father," Jesus
replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."
Jesus answered, the Father is right here, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also” because we are one, right here.
“Nothing we can glean”?
John
John 8:41-43 “42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for
I came from God and now am here. I have not
come on my own; but he sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because
you are unable to hear what I say.”
John chapter 8 is Jesus second testimony on who He truly is, God.
INC claim 5: “Rather, He told the Jews that He is “a man”
INC refutation: This is not anywhere in this chapter. The only mention of man is when He calls himself and is referred to as “the Son of Man”. But Jesus never said, I am just a man, or I am only a man. Jesus anywhere in the Bible never spoke those words. This is a false statement. Secondly, the expression or thought that he was only a man is never made in this chapter or in the Bible. Jesus never states that he is “Not God” in words or thought.
INC claim 6: “Jesus was not telling the Jews that His name is “I AM” Likewise, He never told them, “I am God.” If Jesus were God, He would have plainly told them so. On the contrary, Jesus clarified to them that He came from and was sent by God.
INC refutation: The first statement is true; the use of “I AM” is not used as a name. However it is a logical and, by all of the evidence I have shown, a scriptural error to state, “He never told them “I am God”. He did so by in fact using the statement “I AM”. The Jews correctly understood this and began to stone him.
Wow, what a false statement this is, “If Jesus were God, He would have plainly told them so.” ARE YOU GOD, are you to say how God should reveal Himself and what He should say. How blasphemous and egregious a statement this is.
“Jesus clarified to them that He came from and was sent by God” statement is false that Jesus was clarifying that He came from and was sent by God, that is not what Jesus was talking about. He was associating himself before in time and also greater in substance and identity than Abraham. The Jews protested, “The only Father we have is God himself.” Jesus was correcting them and making a claim to His deity. The entire argument of John 8 is Jesus’ claim to be God and his testimony defending his deity.
“Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.”
INC claim 7: Paraphrased, other uses of ego eimi are used in Scripture for other people. “Does that make him or qualify him as the God of the Old Testament because he uttered what God declared in Exodus 3:14? Let our Trinitarian friends answer that question”
INC refutation: I have already stated the underlying usage of “I AM” as Jesus was paralleling and echoing Isaiah. The false injection of the INC that makes the reader believe that only because the words “I AM” are said is the reason why we understand the meaning to be a claim of deity. NO, it is because how, why and where “I AM” is used, in this chapter and in all of John and how Jesus intentionally echoes the use of “I AM” throughout all of his testimony. Refer to the “I AM” link for a detailed analysis of all of the “I AM” usage and echo’s in John.
INC claim 8: “If Jesus were the God who spoke to Moses in the burning bush, then who would be His servant by the name of Jesus in Acts 3:13? Are we prepared to accept that there are two Jesus’, one who is the God of Abraham and one who is the servant of Jesus”?
INC refutation: I am having trouble following the logic of this comparison.
Exodus 3:14-15
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are
to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you;”
God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The
Lord, the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob – has sent me to you. This is my name forever, the name by which I
am to be remembered from generation to generation.
Acts 3:13
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our
fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and
you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.
Peter, as a Jew was referring to God as the only God the other Jews knew in terms that they could relate, God the Father. The Jews did not know who the additional plurality of Us, We, and Our was. Peter was referring to their limited mindset of who they only knew God to be. Continue reading that chapter to see what Peter clarifies and teaches.
INC’s claim is “The Jesus who is the servant of God is truly different from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus is not the Jehovah of the Old Testament.” Again this is a false dilemma logical fallacy. The first statement is true, God the father is a different and unique person of God the Son but the conclusion cannot be made that Jesus is not God. God the Son, while on earth, became a servant to God the Father. Jesus by all scriptural evidence I have given is still God. These verses do not conflict.
Are there any verses where the Bible states the Father glorified the Son?
John 8:54 Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.
John 17:5
And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the
glory I had with you before the world began.
John 17:24
"Father, I want those you have given me to be with
me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved
me before the creation of the world.
I guess it’s possible that God glorified and loved Jesus, even before the creation of the world, before Jesus was created here on earth, only in God’s mind? Oh wait that sounds horribly illogical.
INC claim 9: “Moreover, Apostle Paul teaches that Jesus is the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:16). How could Jesus be the seed of Abraham and at the same time his God (Mt. 22:32). Therefore, serious theological implications would result if we accept the Trinitarians view that Jesus was the YHWH or God who spoke to Abraham in Exodus 3:14.
INC refutation: Simple answer, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God the Son is fully, 100% man and 100% God.
I take it the “serious theological implications” would be bad ones?
INC claim 10: “The most precise rendering (of Ehyeh-asher-ehyeh) is “I shall be what I shall be”
INC refutation: http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-texts-john8-58.htm#iam
“As we refute their previous arguments, anti-trinitarians adopt new positions. Problem is they argue against themselves! First they argue that the "I am" of Ex 3:14 is different than the "I am" of John 8:58. When that is refuted, they change their mind and say Ex 3:14 should really be translated "I shall prove to be what I shall prove to be". The fact is that Ex 3:14 is no more future tense, than John 8:58 is perfect tense. Both Ex 3:14 and John 8:58 are present tense. These are the facts of the original languages. The LXX confirms that the NWT is wrong.
- Perhaps the strongest proof that the correct translation of "hayah" is "I am" rather than "I shall prove to be", is the Septuagint translation (LXX)! This translation of Hebrew to Greek was done in 250 AD! We question whether modern "Hebraists" knew more than the "Hebraists" who translated the LXX. Strong's lists a wide range of meaning for "hayah", including past present and future tenses of the word: "was, come to pass, came, has been, were happened, to be, become, exist, happen". The LXX translators understood this and chose "ego eimi" and "ho on". Neither of these two Greek words could be translated into English as "I shall prove to be"
- The Hebrew for the simple "I will be" is very different than what we find in Ex 3:14. Exod 33:19 echoes Ex 3:14 and actually uses "I will be", and the Hebrew is very different. "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." Ex 33:19
- If someone asked, "Who are you" the two expressions "I am what I am" and "I will be what I will be" are almost identical in meaning. Both suggest self-determination or sovereignty.
- Commenting on "I am what I am", Zimmerli says, "In this figure of speech resounds the sovereign freedom of Yahweh, who, even at the moment he reveals his name, refuses simply to put himself at the disposal of humanity to comprehend him ... In the only passage where the Old Testament itself attempts to provide an explanation of the name "Yahweh" it refuses to explain the name in a way that would confine it within the cage of a definition." (Walther Zimmerli, Old Testament Theology in Outline, p 20-21)
- Yahweh's response to Moses in Ex 3:14, suggests that He does not have a "name" in the same way that the pagan gods had names, for he was not one god among many (a situation which would call for distinctive names), but the only real God. In light of the apparent meaning of the name "Yahweh" and the expression EHYEH ASHER EHYEH, it would seem that the Old Testament itself laid the foundation for the eventual obsolescence of the name "Yahweh" in Christian piety. This is confirmed by the fact YHWH or anything like it, is not used even once anywhere in the New Testament. If God had intended to continue using YHWH as his personal name, it would be have been found in the New Testament. However, we see a gradual revelation of the name of God. First, "El Shaddai" was revealed to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Second, Jehovah (Literally YHWH) was first revealed to Moses (Ex 6:3). Finally we arrive at the New Testament where the highest name given is that of Jesus: Acts 4:12, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name [Jesus] under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved."
- Jehovah's Witnesses do agree that God is self-existent. Regardless of how Exodus 3:14 is translated into English, general consensus among scholars is that the word "EHYEH" used in Ex 3:14, signifies sovereignty, absolute independence, and self-determination. Therefore Ex 3:14 does speak of Yahweh's self-existence and eternality, meaning that the wording "I am what I am" is not wrong, after all. This anti-trinitarian rebuttal fails to disprove the obvious connection between Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58.”
INC Final Conclusion: In view of these things, there is no parallelism between John 8:58 and Exodus 3:14. Although Jesus uttered the Greek terms ego eimi, there is no concrete proof that He is the same God who said this term in the Hebrew Bible…His utterance of the Greek term ego eimi is not a proof of His alleged divinity.”
Exodus 3:14
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.’”
John 8:58
Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Your Conclusion:_______________
NOV 2004-VOL56-NUM11 “How should we understand Thomas’ statement in John 20:28?”
INC claim 1: Paraphrased, In John 20:17 Jesus states, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” This states that Jesus is not God because he referred to the Father as his God. “The God of Jesus is also the God of the disciples whom Jesus considers to be His brethren.”
INC refutation: Jesus Christ is 100% man and 100% God. For the human and physical man on earth God the Father is God to the Son of Man, not the Son of God. You must know if you have read the names of Jesus, he is equally called the Son of God, and the Son of Man because he is equally Man and God. While on earth as stated in the main study Jesus gave up some of His deity and became a servant to God the Father to perform the work of salvation. However this is not the only meaning behind this verse.
“To my Father and your Father, to my God and your God: this echoes Ruth 1:16: "Your people shall be my people, and your God my God." The Father of Jesus will now become the Father of the disciples because, once ascended, Jesus can give them the Spirit that comes from the Father and they can be reborn as God's children (John 3:5). That is why he calls them my brothers.”
This statement is one of the many prophesies that Jesus Christ fulfilled while on Earth in the flesh.
What was the early churches understanding of this verse:
“Now, does this mean, I ascend as the Father to the Father, and as God to God? Or as the Son to the Father, and as the Word to God? Wherefore also does this Gospel, at its very termination, intimate that these things were ever written, if it be not, to use its own words, "that ye might believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? "
INC claim 2: “Christ’s statements in Luke 24:39 is also tacitly teaching them that He is not God.”
INC refutation: This is another false lie and interpretation.
Luke 24:37-39
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.
He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your
minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost
does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
Jesus corrected their false impression that Jesus, who appeared before them, was a ghost and not physically the Son of God, Son of Man.
INC claim 3: “Prior to this event, Christ had earlier instructed the disciples about the nature of God. He taught that God is a spirit, (Jn. 4:24)” Inferring that since God is a spirit, and Jesus was man, Jesus is not God.
INC refutation: What was Jesus really teaching in this paragraph?
John 4:19-26
"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you
are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that
the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming
when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You
Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for
salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind
of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship
in spirit and in truth."
The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called
Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am
he."
Zondervan study bible:
“The woman brought up a popular theological issue – the correct place to worship. But her question was a smoke screen to keep Jesus away from her deepest need. Jesus directed the conversation to a much more important point: the location of worship is not nearly as important as the attitude of the worshipers.”
““God is spirit” means he is not a physical being limited to one place. He is present everywhere and he can be worshiped anywhere, at any time. It is not where we worship that counts, but how we worship.”
This verse is not teaching that God is only Spirit; it is teaching how to worship God. True believers will worship the father in spirit and truth. How exactly is this done? What is spirit and what is truth?
John 14:16-18
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with
you forever— the Spirit of truth.
John 16:13
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He
will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell
you what is yet to come.
These verses are discussing the Holy Spirit of God. So we can see worshiping in spirit and truth is worshiping with the Holy Spirit. God is Spirit and so is the Holy Spirit. Unbelievably yet again, this verse confirms the plurality and Trinity of God. Yes, God the Father is spirit, but also the Holy Spirit is God.
INC claim 4: Others ask: “Why did Jesus not rebuke Thomas if his statement was wrong?”…Is it true that Thomas was rebuked and was blessed later? “Have you believed because you have seen me?” Jesus was rebuking him, not blessing him!
INC refutation: What deception! The INC is guilty of miss-quoting scripture. Here is what the Word of God really says.
John 20:26-29
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
First off reading in chronological order its simple to see the course of events. 1 Thomas is doubting, 2 Jesus comes in, 3 Jesus tells Thomas to put his finger in His hands and in His side, 3 Jesus tells Thomas to stop doubting and believe that the man before him was Jesus Christ, 4 Thomas believes!
What does Thomas believe, that the man standing before him, Jesus Christ, is his “Lord and God”. Jesus does not correct or rebuke Thomas let alone the statement of Thomas calling Jesus his God. Jesus comments, “because you have seen me, you have believed”. Believed what, not that Jesus Christ is God but that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Those who have strong faith that Jesus did rise from the dead from not seeing the physical facts as Thomas did they are blessed. But being blessed in this context is not a final or singular statement. Believing in Christ’s resurrection is not the only way of being blessed. This sentence is not excluding Thomas from being blessed.
INC claim 5: “Unfortunately, there are still those who insist on submitting the doubting apostle’s statement in John 20:28 as their alleged evidence in proving their thwarted belief on Christ’s state of being. The reason is simple. In the absence of explicit biblical evidences that could substantiate their claim, they have no other recourse but to give much credit to the testimony of a doubting person.
INC refutation: Hopefully the INC and the person who wrote this article will feel differently after reading this study in terms of “absence of explicit biblical evidences”. This verse is one fact and example that is evidence of Jesus being addressed as God, a fact that Jesus does not correct or rebuke Thomas for. The final fact is after Thomas physical inspected Jesus, he doubted no more, “you have believed”.
INC Final Conclusion: Thomas was under the wrong conclusion of Christ’ nature and in a state of disbelief.
Your Conclusion:_______________
Was Thomas left in a state of disbelief or did he believe? Did Thomas have the wrong conclusion that Jesus Christ is God? If so why did Jesus not correct him?
DEC 2004-VOL56-NUM12 “Do you really know who Jesus Christ is?
INC claim 1: “Make sure that your knowledge about Christ is right, lest you be among those who the Bible forewarns would be deceived and doomed for believing in a “different Jesus” or a Jesus whom the apostles did not preach.”
INC refutation: I wonder if they apply this to themselves? They/you should after reading this study and I hope the answer is clear of who is in the wrong and who is teaching a different Jesus. The problem with all cults with mind control techniques is that members are not allowed to question or challenge the doctrine and in the INC’s case the administration under fear of expulsion or discipline. Secondly the INC teaches another false idea that only the church’s administration or leader actually can know, understand, interpret and reveal the truth of God. That is a bold face lie.
INC claim 2: “While it is true that Christ’s attributes make Him greater than ordinary men, these should not be misconstrued as proofs that He is God, for the Bible teaches that the Father is the one and only true God. Christ is not the Father; they are different from each other.”
INC refutation: The main material of this study shows this statement to be false. It is true that Christ is not the Father and they are different persons, but the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are all one in unity, God.
INC claim 3: “Consider these testimonies made by no less than Christ Himself and His apostles: A Man who speaks God’s truth. Christ Himself said: “But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. (Jn. 8:40) The one Mediator, a Man. Apostle Paul said: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” (I Tim. 2:5) A very special Man. Apostle Peter said: “My Jewish brothers, listen to these words: Jesus from Nazareth was a very special man. God clearly showed this to you…”(Acts 2:22)”
INC refutation: Jesus Christ has been called a few different things in the New Testament. Jesus Christ is 100% man. That is why he is called the Son of Man. But Jesus Christ is called by many other names as well. Also, I do not read anywhere in the Bible, the word only a man, do you?
|
Names found in the New Testament |
|
Title |
Meaning/Significance of names |
Bible reference |
|
|
||
|
Son of God |
The special relationship of Jesus to God |
Mark 1:1 |
|
Son of Man |
The human identity of Jesus |
Matthew 8:20 |
|
Son of David |
Jesus is descendant of King David |
Matthew 15:22 |
|
Word |
Jesus revealed God |
John 1:1 |
|
Lamb of God |
Jesus is the sacrifice for world’s sin |
John 1:29 |
|
Christ |
The Greek for ‘Anointed One’ |
Matthew 16:16 |
|
Savior |
The one who saves |
John 4:14 |
|
Rabbi/Teacher |
Jesus taught people about God |
John 1:38, Mark 5:35 |
|
Author of life |
One who gives life |
Acts 3:15 |
|
Alpha and Omega
|
The first and last letters of the Greek alphabets, meaning that Jesus is the beginning and the end |
Revelation 1:8 |
|
Lion of Judah |
A title of the Messiah |
Revelation 5:5 |
|
King of Kings/Lord of Lords |
The ruler of all people |
Revelation 19:16 |
|
Bright Morning Star |
The one who gives light |
Revelation 22:16 |
|
Word of God |
Jesus is the voice of God |
Revelation 19:13 |
|
Holy and Righteous |
Attributes of Jesus |
Acts 3:14 |
|
Head of the Church |
The leader of all Christians |
Ephesians 5:23 |
|
Names found in the Old Testament |
|
Title |
Meaning/Significance of names |
Bible reference |
|
|
||
|
Immanuel |
God with us |
Isaiah 7:14 |
|
Prince of Peace |
Jesus will bring everlasting peace |
Isaiah 9:6 |
|
Wonderful Advisor |
Jesus will always rule with honesty and justice |
Isaiah 9:6 |
|
Mighty God |
Jesus is supreme |
Isaiah 9:6 |
|
Eternal Father |
Jesus is eternal |
Isaiah 9:6 |
The INC must have skipped over all the other names of Jesus and their meaning in the Old and New Testaments. My favorite verse in Isaiah again.
Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born,
to us a son
is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will
be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.
INC claim 4: “To accept Jesus Christ while having a wrong notion of Who He really is, is tantamount to not recognizing Him at all.”
INC refutation: Well, this statement is true. “if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."(Jn. 8:24) There are dire warnings about those false teaches and prophets who teach a false Jesus and doctrine, for their warning is very grim.
Revelation 22:18-19
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of
this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues
described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of
prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the
holy city, which are described in this book.
This is why it is crucially important that if you find yourself in a cult or church that teaches false doctrine. You must leave and absolve yourself from the corrupting influence or, take action to not accept the false teachings and fight from with inside.
For the INC there is a
great group of insiders who are trying to do just this. I pray that God will
give them the strength and courage to fight the good fight!
http://members.tripod.com/insiders_inc/
DEC 2004-VOL56-NUM12
“Distinguishing God from Christ”
INC claim 1a: God who
created all things has no beginning; He is from everlasting to everlasting.
INC refutation: This is partially
true. Yes God created all things and has no beginning, but Jesus Christ
actually did the creating, and also has no beginning.
John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Jude 1:25 To the only God our
Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and
authority, before all time and now and forever.
Amen.
INC claim 1b: “Jesus Christ came from God; “Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. (Jn. 8:42)”””
INC refutation 1b: This translation expresses the meaning more clearly. John 8:42 NIV Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. However, what the INC is failing to realize is the term “proceeded forth” and “come of Myself.” What do these terms mean?
Here is a good example. Lets say in the air is a large cloud and in this cloud is water. This water is special in that those who drink of it “will never thirst” (Jn. 4:12-14) again. The cloud is made up of water it is just in a different form. However, when the cloud decides to do so, it releases and sends forth water from it, down to the ground. When the water hits the ground, it came from the cloud, but the water never ceased to be of the same substance as the cloud.
Jesus came from God, was sent by God, and even was separated from God while on the cross while the sins of mankind were placed upon Him, but Jesus never ceased to be God.
INC claim 1: Paraphrased, God has no beginning, Jesus came from God hence, Jesus is not God.
INC refutation: Jesus has no beginning as God does. Jesus created the universe, but so did God, that’s because they are one. Jesus came from God and is a different person than God the Father, but Jesus Christ is God, Jehovah.
INC claim 2a: “God is immortal. 1 Tim. 1:17”
INC claim 2b: “Jesus Christ died on the cross. (Jn 19:30, 33)”
INC claim 2: “God is immortal, Jesus Christ died, Jesus is not God.”
INC refutation: Jesus Christ is both 100% man (Son of Man) and 100% God (Son of God). What happened when Christ “gave up his spirit” and when Jesus Christ, who died, Came Back To Life and Rose From the Dead (hello) by whose power did that (the resurrection) happen?
Matthew 27:50-53
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he
gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from
top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and
the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out
of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and
appeared to many people.
The Father
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places (Eph 1:20)
The Son
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple,
and in three days I will raise it up. (Jn.
2:19)
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. (Jn. 10:18)
And,
The Holy Spirit
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison. (1 Peter 3:18-19)
When Christ died, he went into Hades. Here is a good quote.
“The passages in which the word occurs (Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31) make it clear that Hades was formerly in two divisions, the abodes respectively of the saved and the lost. The former was called “Paradise” and “Abraham's bosom.” The lost were separated from the saved by a "great gulf fixed" (Luke 16:26). The Paradise side of Hades has been emptied. When Jesus ascended to Heaven, he took the occupants of Paradise (believers) with Him. The lost side of Hades has remained unchanged. All unbelieving dead go there awaiting their final judgment in the future.
Some of the confusion has arisen from such passages as Psalm 16:10-11. This is a Messianic Psalm (referring to Jesus Christ) which reads, "For thou (Father God) wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption....Thou wilt show me the path of life..." This word hell here is used in the sense of the grave (Hades). Jesus said years later on the Cross to the thief beside Him, "Today, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise" (Hades). His body was in the tomb; His soul/spirit was in Paradise. A New Testament passage is Acts 2:27 which says, "Because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Christ in His humanity "went and preached to the spirits in prison" (the lost fallen angels, in my opinion). Christ in His deity, would not look upon the corruption side of Hades (the sinful lost). Christ the God-Man could do this in His sovereignty.”
http://www.gotquestions.org/did-Jesus-go-to-hell.html
The suggested idea of the INC that because Christ died on the cross, makes him not God, is not true from the scriptural evidence I have shown here. It’s clear that Jesus went into Hades and brought back the occupants. “The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.” Could only a mere man or creation do that?
This is another fascinating study but I will continue on. Bottom line is, only God could do such a thing, not a dead man Jesus Christ.
INC claim 3a: “The Almighty God neither grows tired nor weary. (Is 40:28)
INC claim 3b: “Jesus Christ wearied or grew tired. Jn.4:6”
INC claim 3: “Jesus grew tired hence, he is not God”
INC refutation: From all of the evidence I have shown so far, this should be an easy one. Jesus Christ, became 100% man. As a man, he had many experiences, challenges and temptations as man. While Jesus is 100% man, he is also 100% God. Jesus became 100% man to be the final sin offering sacrifice, to be able to relate and teach to mankind, to be an example on how to live, as God wants us to. Jesus Christ is still 100% God.
INC claim 4a: “God is spirit, (Jn. 4:24) without flesh and bones. (Lk. 24:39)
INC refutation: This trick is a false ploy. First off I have clarified the meaning behind Jn. 4:24. This verse is stating that the Holy Spirit is God. Secondly, Luke 24:39 is taken so far out of context, the INC is greatly miss-quoting scripture and should be ashamed!
Luke 24:37-39NIV
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a
ghost. He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in
your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a
ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
Luke 24:37-39 NKJV
But they were terrified and
frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are
you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My
feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh
and bones as you see I have.”
The disciples thought they saw a ghost. This in no way is referring to God, the spirit of the Father or the Holy Spirit. The truth is, God became flesh and bones. “God appeared in the flesh” 1 Timothy 3:15-16
INC claim 4: “Jesus Christ is a man having flesh and bones” hence he could not possibly be God.
INC refutation: This false notion has been thoroughly dealt with in this study. The facts and evidence of God becoming flesh and bones in the man Jesus Christ has been substantially shown. Jesus Christ is 100% man, and 100% God.
INC claim 5: “God knows no other God besides Himself”(Is, 44:8), “Jesus Christ called upon the Father and acknowledged Him as the only true God”(Mk. 15:34 and Jn. 17:1,3), hence Jesus is not God.
INC refutation: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons of Jehovah. The Son references the Father, and the Father speaks about the Son, and both the Father and Son speak and reference about the Spirit. The facts are true; there is no God besides Himself. However God is three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here is John 17 in context.
John 17:1-5 (NIV)
After Jesus said this, he looked
toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time
has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify
you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give
eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work
you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in
your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Reading this verse in context and within scriptural unison you can see how this verse confirms the Trinity. Jesus is addressing the Father and states “that they may know you, the only true God, AND Jesus Christ.” One can debate the meaning of ‘and’ and the comma usage in this verse however if you read the next few words one should understand the meaning of and. “in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” Jesus was with God in His presence and glory. What does this mean to you?
Now this is eternal life: (COLON)
Use of a colon "after a complete statement in order to introduce one or
more directly related ideas, such as a series of directions, a list, or a
quotation or other comment illustrating or explaining the statement."
DIRECTLY RELATED IDEAS
Use of the word AND:
"Together with or along with; in addition to; as well as. Used to connect
words, phrases, or clauses that have the same grammatical function in a construction"
The use of the Colon denoting that all of the ideas stated are directly related
and the word ‘and’ brings together all thoughts in this verse and connects all
the statements.
So there is no grammatical way or basis to state that there is a differing or
disjoining meaning anywhere in this verse. Hence, reading this verse in proper
context from 1-5 and with proper grammar this verse is confirming and Jesus
Christ is quoted as stating that he is God and the only way of salvation is
through Him but also that He is the same, is connected to, is together with and
along with, the Father because they are one.
When Jesus returned he returned in all of his glory, the glory that he had before the world began. This verse clearly shows that Jesus was not a creation of God at the time Jesus appeared on earth. Nor was he a pre-ordained thought because he was "in your presence". He was in God's physical presence.
For many INC members they say because Jesus said “,the only true God,” that Jesus is saying that the Father is the only true God. Many people rest their entire faith on these four words. However, I do not read any words that say Jesus Christ is NOT the only true God. The Son is making the comment about the Father. One has to ask what glory did the Son have with the Father before the world began. If you have read this entire study you would know what that glory and position Jesus had and has, was and is. As stated before, Jesus gave up claim to his glory when he became a servant here on earth. He never lost it.
However there is definite scriptural proof that the Son is called the True God.
1 John 5:20
We know also that the Son of God
has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.
And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus
Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Subject of this verse “the Son of God”, final thought, He (the Son of God) is the true God and eternal life.
Who is and gives eternal life:
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever
rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one
can snatch them out of my hand.
The point here is that scripturaly one cannot exclude Jesus from eternal life. Since "He is the true God and eternal life" and Jesus Christ is and gives eternal life, Jesus Christ is fully contained in the "He" of this verse. Conversely since Jesus Christ is contained in the "He" of this verse we can see that Jesus Christ is the true God.
Another example of the Bible explicitly stating that Jesus Christ is God is 2 Peter 1:1
2 Peter 1:1
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the
righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as
precious as our:
INC claim 6: “God is above all; He is subject to no one.”(Eph. 4:6) “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is subject to God the Father.”(1 Cor. 15:28;11:3) hence he can not be God.
INC refutation: When God became flesh as the Son in Jesus Christ the Son submitted to the Father for the purpose of redemption and salvation. There are many reasons for this and I have previously mentioned some of them. When Jesus returned back to the Father, from which he came from, He returned in all his Glory. Jesus Christ as the Son of God never ceased to be God.
Your Conclusion:_______________
FEB 2005-VOL57-NUM2 “Are you
worshiping the true God?”
INC claim 1: “However, if the God that you believe in is not one but three distinct beings, each one of whom is supposed to be God, and called by the term Trinity, how certain are you that you are worshiping the true God?”
INC refutation: How certain are you now after reading this study? I do have to take continued issue with the use of “distinct beings”.
Being (n)
1) The state or quality of having existence
2) The totality of all things that
exist.
3) All the qualities constituting one that exists; the essence.
4) One's basic or essential nature; personality.
To state correctly there is one “being” not three distinct beings, there is only one distinct being, and that is God. However all the qualities, totality, essential nature; and personality is that of three persons, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit.
INC claim 2: “Should man believe in many gods manifested in myriads of form or in only one God? We must consult the Holy Scripture to determine if we are indeed worshiping the true God.
INC refutation: I hope this study has helped you in doing this.
INC claim 3: “When God speaks, He alone is speaking. He is not speaking as one God among the three, as the Trinity doctrine suggests. Those who are worshiping a triune God are not worshiping the true God.”
INC refutation: What is your conclusion to this statement? Is God plural? Does God refer to Himself and talk to Himself as only one person? Did Jesus ever claim to be God? Did his followers ever worship and claim Him to be God? Was Jesus Christ crucified for the mistake of the Jews thinking he claimed to be God? Have you been able to see the evidence of equality and purpose in the scriptures I have pointed out? Have you been able to see the eternal timelessness of Jesus Christ even before creation? Where do you think the Son came from or was sent from?
INC claim 4: “He likewise proclaimed that the one God is the Father: “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?…”(Mal, 2:10)”
INC refutation: Lets try reading this in the order of which it was written shall we. 1) “Have we not all one Father?” 2) “Did not one God create us?”
True statement (We all have one Father), true statement (God created us), false conclusion (Only the father is God). All of the scriptural evidence I have given thus far should clear up who did the actual creating.
Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”
INC claim 5: “There was no mention in the Old Testament of a triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as one God. It is ridiculous and absurd to teach that the Israelites believed in more than one God, that is, other than the Father, they recognized two more gods-the Son and the Holy Spirit!”
INC refutation: Oh really? I wonder if Jose J. Ventilacion would think different after reading this study?
INC claim 6: “…If this statement were correct, then we would expect to find in the New Testament explicit teaching about the Trinity. However, the author of the book was honest enough and quick to admit at the beginning of his discourse on the Trinity that the term itself could not be found in the Bible:”
INC refutation: “Explicit”? Again, who are YOU to say how God should reveal himself. Blasphemy. Hopefully, after reading all the evidence that has been stated in this study, one should understand the true nature of God. God did not make it explicitly clear and use the word Trinity for a reason. Hopefully when you make it into heaven you can ask Him. However for those like myself who actually read all the scripture and verses concerning and referring to the true nature, plurality and tri-unity of God, it is explicitly clear to us. Also, is the word Philippines mentioned in the Bible?
INC claim 7: “In John 17:1,3…that there is only one true God and He is the Father. Jesus emphasized the absolute oneness of God by the use of the term “only”
INC refutation: Not exactly. I have previously quoted John 17:1-5 above and dealt with the INC’ mistranslation of it. Please refer back to that section on John 17.
INC claim 8: “John 5:44-45 Verse 45 tells us that the only God is the Father,”
INC refutation: Lets see if this is true:
A few verses earlier what was said?
18…, making himself equal with God.
19 he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
21For just as the Father raises
the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives
life to whom he is pleased to give it.
22Moreover, the Father judges no
one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,
26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.
27And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
41"I do not accept praise from men, 42but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.
43I have come in my Father's name, and you do
not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.
44How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the
only God?
45"But do not think I will accuse you before
the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote
about me. 47But since you do not believe
what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"
I probably do not need to point this out, but I will anyway. Did Moses write about the Messiah or about Jehovah? What does verse 46 teach? What does the entire chapter of John 5 teach and what is its meaning and purpose? I think it should be understandable to you now.
INC claim 9: “The Apostle Paul, did teach and emphasize that the Father is the only God. 1 Cor 8:5-6 “But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we exist for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life.” (NLT)
INC refutation: Did Paul really teach that God is only the Father? Not that I completely disregard the NLT but here is what the NKJV reads, very similar to the NLT: The first line tells us what Paul was teaching about but he also confirms something else.
1 Cor. 8:4-6 NKJV
Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an
idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For even
if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many
gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God,
the Father, of whom are all things, and we for
Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we
live.
So we can see that Paul was teaching about false idols that people worshiped as gods and lords. But when he teaches who the one true God is that we alone should worship, what does he actually say? Who does he include and group together as the one true God that we should worship?
“yet for us there is one God, the Father,…and one Lord Jesus Christ.” Is not Paul grouping and combining both the Father and Jesus Christ as one here? Does not even Paul state their similarities? “of whom are all things and through (or by whom) are all things”?
This is a grouping, a combining, a statement of similarity not differentiation is it not? Paul is teaching that the Father and Son are the one true God.
Yet for us there is but one God,
The Father (whom all things came and for whom we live);
AND
there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ (through whom all things came and through whom we live).
There is one God, the Father, AND Jesus Christ.
INC claim 10: “The same people “exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator”(Rom. 1:25)
INC refutation: Who is guilty here of worshiping only the creature? That would be one who states that Jesus Christ is only a creature, a creation of God and not the Creator Himself. INC, JW, other cults?
INC claim 11: “..still the world does not know God. It is for this reason that Jesus Christ came-to make known to them and to us who the true God is (1 Jn. 5:20), as He emphasized in His prayer: “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you know to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”(Jn 17:25-26)
INC refutation: But how? How exactly did Jesus make the Father known? The Father came in the flesh, as Jesus Christ. What better way to make yourself known, since the Son and the Father “are one”. Of course one cannot necessarily link these two verses, they are not even in the same book of the Bible let alone chapter. However they do agree with one another. Again here is a coupler, a combiner, a similarity of common unity, God’s love in them, and Jesus in them. The Father, God’s love is in them, Jesus is in them, and they are all one!
INC claim 12: “Today, the Iglesia ni Cristo proclaims to the world that there is no other true God except the Father. Why was the Iglesia ni Cristo singled out to carry on this task? God, through the prophet Isaiah, declared: “The Lord says, ‘You are my witnesses and the servant I chose, I chose you so you would know and believe me, so you would understand that I am the true God, There was no God before me, and there will be no God after me…” (Isa. 43:10 NCV)
INC refutation: Well I was not going to touch on this subject but since it was brought up, lets do. Felix Manalo, the founder of the INC claims to be a special messenger of God. He also claims a few verses in Revelation to justify his claim as well. But, as always, what was the context of Isaiah and does it fit, reasonably and rationally being applied to Manalo?
This verse sums up Manalo and all the other OTC and cult leaders in the world such as Mohammed, Joseph Smith and others:
Hebrews 1:1-2 “1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.”
Does this verse say there will be additional “messengers” of God, no. Does the Bible say there will be many false teachers and prophets, yes.
II Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of
any private interpretation.
Additional Anti-Trinitarian JW Claims
Sourced from Charlie Campbell
Unitarian/JW Claim 1: Colossians 1:15 says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” This is telling us that Jesus was a creation and was born (firstborn). That Jesus is not eternal but had a beginning. And since God the Father is eternal that clearly states that Jesus Christ is not God.
UJW refutation: I have discussed this verse in detail above. Jesus Christ is the “Physical Image” of the invisible God “in the flesh”. This first statement in itself shows that Jesus Christ is God; he is the image and “exact representation” of God. Secondly, Jesus Christ is firstborn over “all creation”. What exactly does this statement mean, “firstborn over all creation” and what does the word firstborn mean?
The Greek word for the word ‘firstborn’ is prototokos. Prototokos means “heir, superior, pre-eminent in rank or above”. Paul is stating that Jesus Christ is superior, pre-eminent in rank and above “All Creation”. Jesus is superior over and the heir of all creation!
Hebrews 1:1-2 (The Son Superior to Angels)
1In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the
prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has
spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of
all things, and through whom he made the universe.
Now since Jesus is superior and has “supremacy” and is above all creation the following verses 16 through 19 of Colossians 1 equally confirm this thought and meaning.
Colossians 1:16-19
(The Supremacy of Christ)
16For by him all things were
created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things
were created by him and for him. 17He is
before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the
head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among
the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
What exactly does “all his fullness” mean? Does it mean God’s full nature and deity?
Colossians 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.
Yes it does.
Unitarian/JW Claim 2: Revelation 3:14 (NKJV) “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:” Here Jesus says himself that he is a creation of God, the beginning and first creation of God, the firstborn creation of God. Hence Jesus says that he is not God.
UJW refutation: Lets find out exactly what the word Beginning (capitalized also) means and conversely this verse in context. The Greek work for Beginning is arche. Arche is the root from where we get the English word architect. The Greek meaning for arche is “origin, source, designer, supervisor, cause”. Lets plug all of these five words back into this verse and we will see that they all agree.
These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Origin of the creation of God:
These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Source of the creation of God:
These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Designer of the creation of God:
These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Supervisor of the creation of God:
These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Cause of the creation of God:
Jesus is saying that he is the “beginner” the one who began the creation of God, the one who created, the source, the designer, supervisor and the cause of all creation. Jesus is the Architect of all creation.
John 1:2-3 He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without
Him nothing was made that was made.
Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”
Also, very interesting to note are the words Faithful and True.
Revelation 21:5-6 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold,
I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and
faithful.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of
the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
This is God the Father talking by the way. God also calls Himself the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and Omega. Both the Father and Son are Beginning and the End, because they are one. Is Jesus Christ ever directly called the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, even the Almighty?
Revelation 1:7-8
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they
who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.
Even so, Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,”
says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Unitarian/JW Claim 3: John 14:28 “You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.” Here Jesus clearly states that he is not God and teaches that God the Father is greater than he is. If God the Father is greater than Jesus then the claim cannot be made that Jesus is equal to God.
UJW refutation: Lets take a closer look at what the word “greater” means. The Greek word for greater is Meizon. This is a quantitative term, not qualitative term. Here is an example of using the word great in a qualitative usage in reference to a bottle of water: “The water in this bottle is great”. The word great would describe the nature and quality of the water comprised in the bottle. Now lets see how the meaning changes when using the word great in a quantitative usage: “The amount of water in this bottle is great”. In this usage we are referencing the quantity of water.
In the Greek quantitative terms describes the “quantities, levels and positions” and qualitative terms describe “qualities, character and nature”.
Jesus was speaking of His Father as positional and authoritatively greater which is true. Jesus as the Son of God gave up his full Glory as God and became servant to God the father while on earth as our blood sacrifice. When Jesus returned from where he was sent (not created) he returned to His fully glory as God. A higher or greater level of authority does not detract from ones nature or substance. As I have said many times submission does not change what you inherently have or are.
The same is true in marriage. The woman is to submit herself to the husband, but in her essence, nature and person, she is not any lesser than the male.
Ephesians 5:24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so
also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Unitarian/JW Claim 4: John 5:25 “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” Jesus never refers to himself as God but only as the Son of God. Jesus Christ never claimed to be God and is not God he is only the Son of God, a lesser being or creation.
UJW refutation: John
chapter 5 is Jesus’ first testimony of who he is and who he claimed himself to
be. The Bible in John chapter 5 clearly tells us what Jesus was claiming in
reference to being the Son of God.
John 5:17-18 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to
this very day, and I, too, am working."
18For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he
breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his
own Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus gave them
this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he
can do only what he sees his Father doing, because
whatever the Father does the Son also does.
I have exhaustively covered John 5. Please
reference those sections above for a more detailed dissection. Son of God means
God is literally his Father (as the Jews understood the comment) and that a Son
is of the same nature and substance of his Father. If one is a Son of God, they
are in essence, species and nature, God. But Jesus is not only the Son of God
he is also the Son of Man. Jesus Christ is fully 100% man and 100% God.
Unitarian/JW Claim 5: Matthew 19:16-17 16 Now behold, one came and said to Him,
“Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” 17 So
He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Here Jesus states
that he is not good but only God the Father is and that he is not God. Jesus
was correcting the false heresy of the Trinity.
UJW refutation: Let me ask you two questions: is it true according to the scriptures that God alone is good? Yes, in that verse Jesus states that no one is good but One, that is God. Second question is was Jesus Christ good? Yes, you have to say yes “Good Teacher”. Did Jesus Christ every say that he is good?
Hebrews 7:26 Such a high priest meets our need—one who is
holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
gives His life for the sheep.
Jesus is perfect and without sin,
he is very good. So then why would Jesus make this statement? He wanted the man
to realize what the implications of calling him Good Teacher was. Jesus was not
correcting this man that he was not good and was not God as we have seen from
the previous two verses but that the implications and meaning of being the Good
Teacher is that he was God.
Unitarian/JW Claim 6:
Mark 13:31-32
“31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass
away. 32 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father.” If Jesus Christ is God and equal to God then
how can it be that only the Father knows certain things and the Son does not.
Since God is omniscient and the Son is not, then the Son is not God.
UJW refutation: One has to remember that Jesus Christ in nature is fully God and fully Man. When Jesus Christ was sent to earth and became God in the flesh he became fully man and became a servant to the Father.
Philippians 2:5-7
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on
a cross!
Jesus, who being in very nature God, choose not to be equal with God, something he did not need to grasp for because it was right in his hands but decided to empty himself and make himself nothing, taking the nature of a servant and being made in human likeness. Many theologians and myself believe that when God the Son came to earth in the flesh he voluntarily choose to give up some of his attributes of deity in order to become obedient to death on the cross and become a servant.
Unitarian/JW Claim 7: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Begotten in the English dictionary means to cause to exist or to occur. This teaches us that Jesus Christ was a creation and not God.
UJW refutation: The original language of this verse was in Greek. What is the meaning of the word for begotten in Greek? The Greek word for begotten is monogenes and the definition is “single of its kind, only, sole, unique, special”.
He gave His only sole Son,
He gave His only unique Son,
He gave His only special Son,
Unitarian/JW Claim 8: Proverbs 8:22-25 22 “ The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
23 I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
This chapter is about the Messiah. Jesus talking here says that he was established from the everlasting God, that he was brought forth and created and hence is not God.
30 Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
Jesus was beside God as a master craftsman and was rejoicing always before Him as the Angels do. Jesus is an angle and is certainly not God.
UJW refutation: This passage is not a passage about the Messiah but Solomon personifying wisdom. Verse 12 “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion”. Secondly wisdom is personified as a female. “Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?” The Messiah of course, was a man. This verse is not about Jesus Christ but Solomon’s personification of wisdom.
This section was sourced copied from the very educating and inspiring Charlie Campbell whom I have had the pleasure to listen to in person.
This study can be found at http://www.alwaysbeready.com/
Felix
Manalo
The following section is discussion on some the verses that Manalo takes to justify his Biblical authority: Felix believed that the following verse applied to him, that he was the prophet of God who was to gather the children from the east.
Isaiah 43:5-6
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east,
and gather you from the west.
6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth-
It could be just me but does not this verse state west, and the next verse
north and south also? The children are gathered from the east, west, north and
south, even the ends of the earth. Exactly who gathers them? Let’s see.
Isaiah 43:10-11
10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,
"and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD,
and apart from me there is no savior.
Who was God’s servant who He had chosen, so that people would believe and understand that “I am” he? Who is the Savior? Who was the one who would bring all of God’s children, from all over the earth, back to God?
That would be Jesus Christ, the Messiah, not Felix Manalo. Felix Manalo, by using Isaiah 43 to try and establish his authority, is blaspheming the true subject of Isaiah 43, Jesus Christ! Secondly, who is this chapter addressed to, Gentiles or the Israelites? In the NIV, KJV, NKJV the title of this chapter is Israel's Only Savior, The Redeemer of Israel.
MANALO IS CLAIMING TO BE THE MESSIAH, JESUS CHRIST!!!!
Here is a good quote on this issue:
“While they claim the word Trinity is not found in the bible neither is the Island Philippine's, but no one would deny that it does exist!
Iglesia is so determined to convince its followers of this "fact," that it quotes Isaiah 43:5 from an inexact paraphrase by James Moffat which reads: "From the far east will I bring your offspring." Citing this mistranslation, one Iglesia work states: "Is it not clear that you can read the words 'far east'? Clear! Why does not the Tagalog Bible show them? That is not our fault, but that of those who translated the Tagalog Bible from English--the Catholics and Protestant" (Isang Pagbubunyag Sa Iglesia ni Cristo, 1964:131). The Iglesia thus accuses everyone else of mistranslating the Bible, when in fact it is Iglesia who is taking liberties with the original language. They use the translations that have infamously been used by other cults such as Lamsa’s and Moffatts. Prior to 1923 the Moffat translation was the first to mention this term and is the only one that does, none did before 1923 nor after. This could only be true if the tagalog version used by INC was translated from Moffatts but it was not, so their claim of wrong translation is false.
The "far east" argument is that by saying that the Philippines are the geographic center of the Far East, so the restored Church would come from the Philippines. The problem is that Philippine islands are not the geographic center of the Far East. The Far East includes China, Korea, Japan, East Siberia, the Indo-Chinese countries, and the Philippines. On a map of the Far East the Philippines is on the lower right hand corner. The geographic center would be in Southern China, not in the Philippines. Not only this but the question is who is he calling, Israel. Certainly Filipino's’s are not Semetic or Israel. Isaiah is speaking of a regathering into their homeland "I will bring your descendants.
They also teach Gods messenger will be called from a far country in the east from the Islands of the sea using Isa.46:11: "Calling a ravenous bird from the east. A man who executes my counsel from a far country."
In Iglesia's’s doctrine Manalo is that bird who is to preach the true gospel and snatch the true believers as a ravenous bird from the false religions. If one looks at the way birds are used in scripture especially one of prey it is almost unanimously of Satan (Mt.13, Mk.4). As far as executing Gods counsel because one does Gods purpose does not mean he is Gods messenger. Look a Pharaoh that was raised up to accomplish his purpose. Also Joel 2 in it they are called Gods army and yet they destroy and bring judgement on his people, and are destroyed by God in the end.
5861 `ayit-a bird of prey, a swooper (Brown driver briggs ) to scream, to shriek; (Qal) to scream 2) to dart greedily, to swoop upon, to rush upon; (Qal) to dart greedily
Isaiah 46:11 refers to Cyrus as "a ravenous bird (called) from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country"; "probably in allusion to the fact that the griffon was the emblem of Persia; and embroidered on its standard" (Hastings Dictionary of the Bible, I, 632) This is correct as far as history goes. Cyrus was used to have the Jews return from Babylon and although he is called Gods shepherd, (Isa. 45) he is not a good shepherd even though he was used by God. He allows Israel to rebuild the temple showing this all already took place in 539-536 B.C.. (compare Isa.46:11 and 44:28, 45:1)
This needs no comment and is self evident: if they want to wear this shoe it
certainly fits.”
http://www.letusreason.org/Iglesia5.htm
Here is a quote from INC members:
“Our Brother Felix Manalo was baptized a Catholic, but he left the Church as a teenager. He became a Protestant, going through five different denominations including the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. After denouncing all established churches worldwide, he became an Atheist.
A NON-BELIEVER OF GOD.
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD WOULD TAKE AN ATHEIST and make him the LAST MESSENGER on the face of this planet? If you believe that, then you are very easily FOOLED.
Finally, unsatisfied with the denominations he had encountered, Brother Felix Manalo (respect for the deceased) decided to start his own church, which he did in 1914, but he didn't begin with all current Iglesia doctrines in place. In 1919, Brother Felix Manalo left the Philippines because he wanted to learn more about religion.
If he were the Last Messenger, all he had to do was ask GOD for guidance, he would not need to study religion with anyone else. Instead he went to America to study with Protestants, whom Iglesia would later declare to be apostates, just like Catholics. (Please answer this question or explain this in service)
Why, five years after being called by God to be his "last messenger" did Brother Felix Manalo go to the U.S. to learn from apostates? What could God's messenger learn from a group that, according to Iglesia, had departed from the true faith? (Please answer this question or explain this in service)
The reason is that, contrary to his later claims, Brother Felix Manalo did not believe himself to be God's final messenger back in 1914. He didn't use the last messenger doctrine until 1922. He adopted the messenger doctrine in response to a schism in the Iglesia ni Cristo leadership. He had lost control of the church to Brother Teofilo Ora.
Brother Felix had been convicted in court of abusing his authority in the
church to satisfy his own immoral desires, which have been documented and
posted. He compared himself to the Messiah.”
http://members.tripod.com/insiders_inc/messenger.html
The power of false prophets and teachers are woefully evident in Mr. Manalo. Millions have been deceived in the INC. Millions others in other cults such as the Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons and others. The warnings for those like Manalo are very dire and alarming. That is why when one finds themselves under the power and influence of a false prophet one must take action. I pray that those of you in the INC will take action to reform the false and blasphemous teachings of the INC.
Some Additional INC claims
Online INC claim: “Jesus says the
Father is GREATER than all (John 10:29). Jesus says that the Father is GREATER
than he (John 14:28)." Jesus said "the Father is GREATER (not
co-equal) than him" (John 14:28).”
Online INC refutation: Lets review
these two verses again shall we.
John 10:29
29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch
them out of my Father's hand. 30I and the Father are one."
I have already discussed this verse
in detail above but all anyone has to do is continue reading to understand the
point Jesus Christ is making. The Father
is greater than all, but “I and the Father are one.” I have discussed what the
Son willingly choose to do in becoming a servant. When Jesus returned to God he
returned in all His complete Glory and deity.
If no one can snatch them out of the
Fathers hand, and no one can snatch them out of Jesus’ hand doesn’t that mean
Jesus and the Father are one!
John 14:28
28"You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you
loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is
greater than I.”
I have stated the idea
behind Jesus becoming a servant and that applies to this verse. Jesus gave up
his claim and glory but never lost it. He returned to His full glory. Jesus
Christ never became not God. He willingly chose to take the role of a servant
to be the final sacrifice for our eternal lives.
Online INC claim: What it takes to
understand. We do not agree with the belief that the Bible is an “open book” or
that it can be understood by simply reading it. To illustrate this point, lets
turn to the Bible and examine the case of the Ethiopian eunuch:
"The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning.
Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet
Isaiah and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud
from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Holy Spirit said to Philip, "Go
over and walk along beside the carriage." Philip ran over and heard the man
reading from the prophet Isaiah; so he asked, "Do you understand what you
are reading?" The man replied, "How can I, when there is no one to
instruct me?" And he begged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit
with him." (Acts 8:27-31, NLV)
In the preceding biblical passage we see that the eunuch was already reading
the book of Isaiah. But, when asked if he understood what he was reading, his
reply was, " How can I, when there is no one to instruct me?"
Online INC refutation:
Is this really the point of the
passage or is the INC using this verse, out of context, to justify their false
doctrine? Is verse 31 the end of this story?
Secondly, does this verse apply to everyone or was the man making this
statement as a question on his own? What was the answer to the question?
As I have stated many times, the number one tool of cults is to take the Word
of God, out of context to fool and trick poor people who do not read for
themselves.
Lets do what I claim the Bible encourages us to do, read the Word of God, on
our own and in full context.
Philip and the Ethiopian
26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road—the
desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27So he started out,
and on his way he met an Ethiopian[d]eunuch, an important official in charge of
all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to
Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading
the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot
and stay near it."
30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the
prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.
31"How can I," he said, "unless
someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with
him.
32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the sheerer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth."
34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking
about, himself or someone else?" 35Then Philip began with that very
passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Was "unless someone explains it to me" a statement and conclusion of
the Eunuch or of an apostle or God? Was the Eunuch’s statement a biblical
message of truth and fact that applies to everyone from God? Hardly. This
statement was the conclusion and understanding of the Eunuch not of Philip or
Paul.
The obvious point of this passage was this "35Then Philip began with that
very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus."
The Eunuch was reading the prophecy of Jesus Christ. He was unaware that Jesus
Christ the messiah had come (as were many Jews at the time of Christ), and
Philip had some great news for him. The Eunuch was unaware of Jesus Christ, and
Philip gave him the good news and explanation of that verse.
We know the fulfillment of that verse and know that Jesus Christ is the
messiah! Your claim is extremely weak if you try and prove your idea on this
verse alone rejecting all of the other verses given in the first section of
this study on who can understand the Word of God. The good and encouraging news
is, yes, all those who seek God’s truth will find it. All who seek God will
find Him!
Online INC claim: Therefore, no
mater how educated we are, we need someone to instruct us. This is because the
words of God written in the Bible has been hidden in mystery (Rom. 16:25).
Online INC refutation:
This is a false statement and
conclusion on Acts and also Romans 16:25. We already have the good news in the
Word of God. Of course at the time of this passage, there was no New Testament.
Not everyone knew about Jesus Christ. That is why the Eunuch did not know the
meaning of that verse exactly. We do now. Everyone who reads the Word of God
can know in detail. We do not need a false messenger to tell us the only truth.
The truth is there for everyone to see and read in the Bible! If you can read,
you can understand.
Ah, one could be tricked here if
they do not read the next few verses.
25Now to him who is able to
establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to
the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26but now revealed and made
known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God,
so that all nations might believe and obey him— 27to the only wise God be glory
forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
BUT NOW REVEALSED AND MADE KNOWN!
IT IS NO LONGER A MYSTERY!
Online INC Claim:
Romans: 10 :14-15
15 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they
believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a
preacher?
14 And how will they preach if they are not sent.
Clearly, a preacher who sent is sent by God (a messenger) is necessary to hear
and understand the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Online INC refutation:
Lets read this verse in context:
Romans 10
1Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they
may be saved. 2For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but
their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3Since they did not know the
righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did
not submit to God's righteousness. 4Christ is the end of the law so that there
may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
5Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The
man who does these things will live by them."[a] 6But the righteousness
that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into
heaven?'[b]" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7"or 'Who will descend
into the deep?'[c]" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what
does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your
heart,"[d] that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you
confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your
heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you
confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him
will never be put to shame."[e] 12For there is no difference between Jew
and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on
him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved."[f]
14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can
they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear
without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are
sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring
good news!"[g]
16But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says,
"Lord, who has believed our message?"[h] 17Consequently, faith comes
from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
18But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:
"Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world."[i] 19Again I ask: Did Israel not
understand? First, Moses says,
"I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding."[j] 20And
Isaiah boldly says,
"I was found by those who did not seek me;
I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me."[k] 21But concerning
Israel he says,
"All day long I have held out my hands
to a disobedient and obstinate people."[l]
Subject of Chapter 10
1Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they
may be saved.
The subject of this entire chapter is the Israelites not gentiles.
Two verses in this chapter proves the false claim that one must do more than
just believe in Jesus Christ to be saved:
"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved."
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Everyone.
That is all there is to it. Jesus Christ teaches exactly the same truth. Jesus
Christ, eternal life and salvation himself, never taught any further
requirements. Only man adds false deeds, work and regulations to obtain
salvation.
Now after that truth of God, the quote comes up
14How, then, can they (The Israelites) call on the one they have not believed
in And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can
they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless
they are sent (physically sent to preach to them - aka feet, going there)? As
it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good
news!"
18But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:
If you continue reading you see that these questions are rhetorical.
Even though it takes someone to go, physically, and in order for someone to go,
they must be sent, and once they reach where they are going, in order for
someone to hear, someone must preach, and in order for someone to believe, they
must have heard the good news that was preached.
The main point that is being made is
"16But not all the Israelites accepted the good news"
Even though all of the above occurred, the Israelites still did not believe.
"I was found by those who did not seek me;
I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me."[k] 21But concerning
Israel he says,
"All day long I have held out my hands
to a disobedient and obstinate people."[l]
Online INC Claim:
The Bible states that Jesus Christ
is only a man:
! Timothy 2
Instructions on Worship
1 I urge, then, first of all, that
requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings
and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all
godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants
all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one
God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave
himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. 7And
for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the
truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.
Online Refutation:
Not only do the words only or just a
not appear here again it’s clear to me, when Paul states "and please God
our Savior, he is referring to our Savior, who is Jesus Christ. Does Paul ever
refer to Jesus Christ as our Savior and God? Trick question of course. The fact
is both God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is our savior as
one God.
Jesus Christ was a man. He was full,
100% man. But again all you have to do is read this verse it states that Jesus
Christ is God.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men,
The man Christ Jesus!
For there is one God, the man Christ Jesus!
For there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus!
Trinity Summary
[1] God is plural,
not singular or only the father
Genesis
Genesis
Genesis 11:7 "Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech."
Isaiah 6:8 "Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?""
Secondly, the two most used names of God, Elohim (God) and Adonai (Lord) are plural nouns not singular. Elohim is the plural form of Eloha.
[2] In the Old
Testament God calls the Son God, Jesus is called God in the OT
Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Psalm 45:6-7
6 Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.
Isaiah
Mathew
The Name of Jesus actually means God was physically with us.
[3] Jesus Christ has
the same power and wisdom as God, making him God
Mark 2:5-12
”And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” But there were some of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming, who can forgive sins but God alone?”
1) Jesus is claiming the divine power of the forgiveness of sins directly, the absolution from sin is strictly a function of deity:
Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”
2) Jesus Christ is eternal, was before creation and never had a beginning and never has an end just as God the Father:
Hebrews 1:10He (God) also says, "In the beginning, O Lord (Jesus Christ called God), you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
John 1:1-2
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
1 Corinthians 1:24
But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the Wisdom of God.
Revelation 2:8
To the angel of the church in
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.
3) Jesus Christ has full power and deity:
Philippians 3:20-21
20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Colossians 2:9
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
[4] Jesus Christ is
the creator of the Universe, which makes him God
Genesis 1:31” God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.”
However while God created, it was actually Jesus Christ who did the making:
Hebrews 1:1-2 “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.”
John 1:3 “Through him (Jesus Christ) all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
Colossians
[5] John 1:1 /
John 1:1-2
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
John 1:14-18
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
1 John 1-2 (The Word of Life)
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
Revelation 19:13
He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
[6] The word for word
is Logos, which means Wisdom, and Jesus is that Wisdom
1 Corinthians 1:24
but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
”In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds.” Strongs 3056
QUESTION:
Since John states that he physically saw and touched the Word who is God, if that person in the flesh was not Jesus Christ who was it?
[7] In relation to
John equating the Word with Jesus Christ, God is Three
This is the most powerful verse in the Bible (well those it has not been deleted from) that clearly proves the Trinity.
1 John 5:7-13
7 For there are THREE that bear record in heaven, the Father, the WORD, and the Holy Ghost: and these THREE are ONE. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one
[8] Jesus claims
directly that he is God
John 5:17-18
17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
John 8:21
21 Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come." This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?" But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."
John 8:41-43 “ Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here.
John 8:58-59 : "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds
Revelation 1:8 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
The word for “Almighty” is pantokrator which means “Almighty God”.
[9] Additional verses
in the Bible that prove Jesus Christ is God.
John 10:28-30
28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30I and the Father are one."
And again, what were the Jews reaction?
John 10:31-33
31Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
33"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
John 17:11
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.
John 10:38-39
38But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." 39Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
John 12:44-45
44Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me.
John 14:6-7
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
[10] Verses that
explicitly call Jesus Christ God
John 1:18
No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
2 Peter 1:1-2
1Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Titus 2:13
while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
1 Corinthians 1:3
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 20:28
And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"
[11] Verses that
prove Jesus was not a creation, but is God manifested in the flesh
Colossians 2:9
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
1 Timothy
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory.
Titus 2:11
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
John 7:16
They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people."
[12] The word for
"Trinity" is actually in the Bible.
Romans
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead (Theiotees), so that they are without excuse.
Colossians 2:9 (KJV-NKJV)
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead (Theotees) bodily;
Both Theiotees and Theotees are used only once in the Bible in these two verses. Both words are taken from Theos which is God. The common understanding that these two words mean is the total essence and completeness of God’s divinity.
[13] The Bible
teaches that Jesus came down from heaven and from God,
he is not a created man
John 16:25-30
25"Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."
29Then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God."
John 6:46
No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.
John 13:3
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
John 8:42
Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.
John 7:16
They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people."
1 John 3:5
But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
John 8:16
But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.
John 3:13
No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came
from heaven—the Son of
John 6:38
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
John 14:10
Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
2 Corinthians
That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Jesus existed with the Father in heaven and in the presence of the Father before the world began.
John 17:5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Zacharias' Prophecy
Luke 1:67-69
Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit,
and prophesied, saying: Blessed is the Lord God of
[14] God is plural,
but God has one name.
Matthew 28:19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
One God, one name, three persons that comprise that name.
[15] Jesus is God and
the same nature of God
Philippians 2:6
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
[16] The early church
believed in the Trinity. The word Trinity was used as far back as 200ad.
80 AD Hermas "The Son of God is older than all his creation, so that he became the Father's adviser in his creation. Therefore also he is ancient"
140 AD Aristides "[Christians] are they who, above every people of the Earth, have found the truth, for they acknowledge God, the creator and maker of all things, in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit"
150 AD Justin Martyr "The Father of the universe has a Son, who also being the first begotten Word of God, is even God."
170 AD Tatian the Syrian "We are not playing the fool, you Greeks, nor do we talk nonsense, when we report that God was born in the form of a man"
98/117AD Ignatius of Antioch "We have also as a Physician the Lord our God Jesus the Christ the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin.
115-190AD Irenaeus "The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: ...one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father ‘to gather all things in one,' and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, ‘every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess; to him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all...'"
185-254AD Origen "Moreover, nothing in the Trinity can be called greater or less, since the fountain of divinity alone contains all things by His word and reason, and by the Spirit of His mouth sanctifies all things which are worthy of sanctification..."
[17] One must accept
the Trinity and Jesus as God in order to be saved.
John 8:21
21 Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come." This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?" But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."
John 10:28-30
28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30I and the Father are one."
John 10:33
33"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
John 5:16-23
“So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself EQUAL with God.
1 John 4:1-3
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
2 Peter 2:1-3
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”
2 Corinthians 11:3-4
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”
Galatians 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
Final
Remarks
Cars and Trucks
I would like to end with a symbolic story about salvation, baptism, and grace. Lets say that you or I are a vehicle, like a car or truck. More so, we are a vehicle that has run out of gas and has 4 flat tires. We are not going anywhere. God, seeing the predicament we are in, decided to give us an endless supply of gas, for free. This life giving fluid is Jesus Christ. Gas is the lifeblood of your vehicle. With no gas, the motor does not run. Without the motor running, the alternator does not charge the battery; the air conditioning does not run. The vehicle is useless, unable to meet its design and purpose. However, with a endless supply of life giving gas the vehicle springs to life as the motor runs, the battery charges, the air blows, the radio plays. The operation and functionality of the vehicle is now restored. It can move and drive to where it needs to go.
However, with four flat tires, it sure can’t move very fast. Depending on the purpose of the vehicle, the purpose may still not be met, even though the vehicle is alive and running. If the vehicle is a large truck that is heavy, the vehicle may only move very slowly. Baptism gives the car four new tires of which to complete its purpose with. With four new tires, the speedy car can drive fast; the big truck can haul a heavy load. However, even without 4 new tires, which are very important, the car is still alive. It is running and can drive.
The same parallel applies to salvation by grace and baptism. The only lifeblood is the saving blood of Jesus Christ. That is ALL that is needed to get our motors started and cars running. Baptism is very important and allows our purpose to be fully met, by submitting fully to God’s will, but baptism has nothing to do with salvation. God’s plan of salvation is a free gift to us. However it cost God everything, the sacrifice of His Son, even Himself.
Now lets also not forget about the driver behind the wheel. He is the Holy Spirit. He instructs when to turn left and right. The Holy Spirit being God, and “in us” we have God directing our lives. God is in control.
I want to thank you for taking the time to read through this study. My prayers are that God will use this study for His Will and Purpose. May God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be glorified.
God Bless
In Jesus Christ our Savior
Jason Stevens (mailto:jstevens1@dc.rr.com)
Last Updated: July 2, 2006
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