Trinity? -
Oneness? - Godhead?
The Unity and Diversity of
The One True Living G-d of Israel
By Jim Searcy
At the end of this Article is Photos of Evidence The Biblical Doctrine of the Trinity was taught by the Apostles and their direct Disciples in the First, Second, and Third Centuries - Long BEFORE Constantine and the Council of Nicea in the Fourth Century.
The Doctrine of the Trinity is BIBLICAL and part of the Doctrine of the Apostles.
The real Yeshua Messiah, Jesus Christ, is who we must know as Lord and Savior. If you KNOW Him as Creator, not creature, then we are brothers. Let those who KNOW God, by KNOWING Yeshua Messiah as Savior and Lord, stop the division over Trinity vs Oneness. Let us preserve the unity of The Spirit in the bond of peace. If there are doctrines that are dividing the Body of Christ, it is NOW time to FIX the doctrines.
What we must remember is that understanding God's fullness is impossible for our little brains this side of Glory. The issue is Yeshua!
One of the most divisive doctrines within the Body of Messiah is Trinity vs Oneness. We know there is only ONE true God. It is the sin of pride which separates oneness folks from Trinitarians. You may call me a Trinitarian. I confess to you, that I have been guilty of separating from folks who do not believe in the trinity. I repent! I was wrong to do so. Are the Oneness folks right. No! They are just as guilty of the sin of pride as are the Trinitarians. The issue is Yeshua Messiah, Jesus Christ. Is He God come in the flesh? Is He Creator or creature? If Yeshua Messiah is God, the Creator, not a creature, then the Oneness folk are as guilty of pride in separating from the Trinitarians as the Trinitarians are guilty of the sin of pride to separate from the Oneness folk. We need to forbear for the sake of unity with UPCs and Apostolics.
We will NOT forbear with heretics like the Jehovah's Witnesses and Christadelphians. We do NOT forbear with such heretics, who deny that Jesus Christ IS Come in the Flesh. We will do the duty of love and tell such heretics that they are going to hell. There is NO possible salvation for anyone who does not believe that Jesus is God who IS (The I AM) come in the flesh, the only begotten Son of God, the "I AM" who spoke to Abraham & Moses. To those like the JW's who deny that Jesus Christ IS the "I AM," we must tell you this truth of the Holy Bible. If you do not know that Yeshua Messiah, is God, come in the flesh... if you don't know how that Messiah died for our sins according to the scriptures; that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures: SOMEBODY NEEDS TO TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE GOING TO HELL!
That is not hate speak! That is the pure simple TRUTH that everyone must HEAR. There is no other way. If you don't KNOW the Creator YESHUA... If you believe in a creature Yeshua, YOU CAN NOT KNOW THE TRUE GOD AND YOU NEED TO BE TOLD THAT WHATEVER DECEPTION YOU ARE FOLLOWING WILL TAKE YOU TO HELL!
Even if you do not believe in hell, one's belief does not change the reality of hell. Hell is the lake of fire, created for the devil and his angels. Yeshua said in Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Hell, that Yeshua said was very real is G1067 geenna: place or state of everlasting punishment: as Yeshua told us in Mark 9:44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. WHAT IF you believe that there is no hell and don't find out you are wrong till you get there?
Having said that, if you KNOW the REAL Creator, Yeshua, Jesus, then you need to know that the sin of pride in your doctrines, can put you in danger of Hell fire. Willing ignorance, and the failure to examine any doctrine that causes you to separate from brethren who do confess that Jesus Christ IS Come in the Flesh is serious sin.
Since the days of the Apostles various small groups have rejected the doctrine of the Trinity. In modern times these groups have frequently attracted some large numbers. Jehovah's Witnesses have over 3 million people. A smaller number of people, in many modern groups claiming to be Christian, with unbiblical beliefs like the JW's, are springing up in these last days of strong delusion. There seem to be new groups every day. These new groups bring new versions and little twists of that same third-century position of Modalism. Today the doctrinal error of Modalism is popularly called the "Oneness" teaching, in modern Christian and Messianic groups. These Modalist or oneness doctrine groups are not more holy and/or more spiritual in their belief system because they do not see the error and contradictions of the Word of God in their doctrines.
The Modalist doctrine is error that needs correction. In these days of strong delusion, even those whose Jesus is BOTH Creator as well as redeemer are in a state of increased danger of falling away in the great falling away from THE Faith because of the SPIRITUAL PRIDE ground given by their doctrinal error. In these days of strong delusion leading to the end, many will end up leaving the doctrine of Christ, and become apostate. While we should forbear for the sake of unity with groups like the UPC and Apostolics whose Jesus is Creator and indeed God, fellowship with them will become increasingly difficult if they persist in their modalism doctrinal error.
We do NOT have fellowship with those like the Christadelphians or JW's who are clearly heretical and antichrist. NOW is the time when the oneness groups need to fix their doctrinal errors. Now is the time when, with Holy Spirit boldness, we should study to be able to effectively warn the modal or oneness brethren, with whom we do forbear, that their wrong doctrine may soon causes them to cut themselves off from being any part of the faithful remnant Body of Christ.
Some oneness or Jesus-only brethren may already be offended. Many are taught to spiritually knee jerk, recoil, and be repulsed by the very mention of the word trinity. What about Godhead, is that a biblical word? Yes indeed. I encourage any oneness brethren to practice that same forbearance for the sake of unity that many Trinitarian brethren should show to you. You are encouraged to gird up the loins of your mind and prayerfully work through this difficult process of taking back ground given by doctrinal error. That is not easy; however, the first step to victory and freedom is to acknowledge the truth. You do not acknowledge the truth by thinking you are spiritually superior in your doctrine and not having the courage to examine your doctrines. Yet it is not easy, and this is particularly true for brethren overtaken by oneness doctrine. Press on. If you are right, you will still be right. However, if you are wrong and fail to examine and be able to acknowledge the truth, you will remain in bondage. Ignorance may be more comfortable, and some to be sure believe now days it to be more spiritual. However, giving ground to deceiving spirits to false doctrines, even if they make you feel good, can be deadly in these last days of strong delusion.
Godhead? Yes, Godhead is indeed a biblical term. It occurs three times in the New Testament: in Acts 17:29, Romans 1:20, and Colossians 2:9. In contrast to theos, which is used consistently throughout the New Testament for God, in these verses (theios, theiotes, theotes), which the KJV, in contrast to other versions, carefully designates by the special word Godhead. That very term indicates a plurality of being.
Paul wrote, "In him dwelleth all the fulness if the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). This statement makes no sense if, as the "Jesus only or Yahweh only" advocates teach, Messiah is the only God, and the Father and Holy Spirit are merely modes, natures, offices, titles. Paul would then be making the meaningless statement that in Messiah dwelt all the fullness of Messiah. Did Paul mean that in Messiah dwells all the fullness of deity, as non-KJV translations render it? That would detract from the deity of Messiah. For if Messiah is intrinsically God, then what is the point of saying that "in Him dwells all the fullness of deity"? But if Messiah is the Son and there are two other Persons in the Godhead, then it does mean something: that when the Son became man He brought that fullness of the Godhead with Him into flesh.
The Antichrist comes in the place of the true Messiah. Lacking the marks of crucifixion, he must therefore promote another view of Messiah that denies that Yeshua is the one and only Messiah. He must therefore deny that God has literally become a man and that this union between God and man continues eternally in the Person of Yeshua of Nazareth, who died for our sins and is now resurrected. This common "antichrist" doctrine takes many forms and is found in many religions. Such delusions have all been part of a centuries-long preparation for the time when Antichrist will be accepted by the world as its savior.
Like Jews, Muslims, and many Modalist or oneness groups find the trinity particularly objectionable. One of Islam's most important teachings concerns the "absolute oneness of Allah." Yet the Koran repeats the Genesis statement: "Let us make man in our image." Islam has no explanation for this contradiction. The very first verse in the Bible presents God as a plural being. It declares: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Yet instead of the singular Eloah for God in the Hebrew, the plural Elohim, is used. It literally means "In the beginning, Gods created...." It is also Elohim (Gods) who say later in the chapter, "Let us make man in our image...."
The word "Trinity" is made up of two terms - "tri" and "unity." Trinitarians have but one God. Any charge of polytheism or tritheism leveled at historic orthodox biblical Trinitarian doctrine, is without basis in fact. Any such charges are false accusations. To say that oneness groups have serious error in doctrine is very true and even required by the duty of love, in Christ Jesus, in these last days.
Trinitarian doctrine that is biblical and historically orthodox, absolutely affirms that there is only ONE True God. The Father, Yahweh, is not just one third of God - He is fully God, just as the Son, Jesus, Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit is each and together fully God. The Biblical evidence for monotheism unquestionable. The Shema finds no problem in orthodox Trinitarian doctrine. Israel's famous confession of the oneness of G-d, reads in Hebrew: "Shema yisroel adonai elohenu adonai echad" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Notice the word is ECHAD not yachid. Echad is plural one. Compound unity. Yachid is singular. Moses did not make a mistake. The word of God says ECHAD. God is One God beyond our understanding. He has both Unity and Diversity. He is revealed as a compound One God, whose being is manifest in The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. This concept of monotheism of the One True God of Israel, separates Judaism (and Christianity) from any kind of polytheistic religion. It must be stressed that essential monotheism of historical biblical Trinitarian doctrine does not imply Unitarianism. When the Bible says God is one, this does not mean that God is an absolute one, or uni-personal in His being.
The many passages that teach that there is one God, in NO WAY infers a denial of the tri-personality within the Godhead. This would be going beyond and adding to what is written in Scripture. The Bible makes the necessary diversity within the Godhead abundantly clear. Over 2500 times in the old testament, we see plural nouns and pronouns used with the singular verb. God wants us to know that His being must have BOTH unity and diversity within the Godhead. The Bible very clearly indicates the existence of more than one Person in the divine nature.
John Calvin said, "Again, Scripture sets forth a distinction of the Father from the Word, and of the Word from the Spirit. Yet the greatness of the mystery warns us how much reverence and sobriety we ought to use in investigating this." "I cannot think on the one without quickly being encircled by the splendor of the three; nor can I discern the three without being straightway carried back to the one." Let us not, then, be led to imagine a trinity of persons that keeps our thoughts distracted and does not at once lead them back to that unity. Indeed, the words "Father," "Son," and "Spirit" imply a real distinction - let no one think that these titles, whereby God is variously designated from his works, are empty - but a distinction, not a division."
Historical biblical Trinitarian doctrine demands that both unity and diversity - the existence of three persons as well as the absolute claim of monotheism - MUST be maintained. The Christian church maintains that the terms Father, Son and Holy Spirit refer to actual Persons, not simply modes of existence. There is a popular, short definition saying, "There is within the one being that is God three co-equal and co-eternal Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, the Spirit is not the Father. Each is eternal - the Father has always been, the Son has always been, and the Spirit has always been. No person precedes the other, or follows another. Each of these three divine Persons are said to be eternal, each said to be almighty, none greater or less than another, each said to be God, and yet together being but one God. According to the teachings of orthodox biblical Christianity, the three persons of the Holy Trinity share one Divine Nature.
Sabellianism, Modalism, or "Oneness Jesus-Only" doctrine contends that these three "Persons" are not separate and distinct individuals. Believing this does not make one more spiritual it makes them contradict the MORE SURE word written in the Holy Bible. In fact such doctrine give ground to counterfeit spirits, or spiritual pride. Oneness doctrine may assert the so-called persons are three modes in which the divine essence exists. Modalism was rejected as heresy by the early Church. Within Christianity, Modalism presents problems in that by asserting the Christ was merely a mode of God, it negates the importance of Christ's sacrifice of his own life. Modalism assumes that the Supreme Being is not only one in essence, but one in person. This is simply not what the Bible clearly, and profoundly, and abundantly teaches. One does not become more spiritual by believing false doctrine, one gives demonic ground for the working of counterfeit spirits.
The historic and biblical Trinitarian doctrine asserts that Father, Son, and Spirit express internal, necessary, and eternal relations in the Godhead. That they are personal designations, so that the Father is one person, the Son another person, and the Spirit another person. Each says I, and Each says Thou, to either of the others. The idea expressed by the English word PERSON in its application to the distinctions in the Godhead, is just as clear and definite as in its application to men.
Since the time of the Apostles, the Church has rejected the Modalistic doctrines embraced by modern "oneness" and aberrant messianic groups. The reason for this is found in the complete Holy Bible, beginning with Genesis all the way through Revelation. The fullness of Scripture rejects and does not support modalism. The Bible presents much evidence often rejected or discounted by modalism or oneness groups, that demonstrates the existence of three Persons all sharing the one being that is God.
The Persons of the Godhead are described as personal. The attributes of personhood and personal existence are ascribed to the three. The Bible presents clear distinctions between the Persons, so that it is impossible to confound or confuse the three. The Son, is described as being eternal. The Spirit is described as being eternal, in pre-existence with the Son and the Father. The Bible presents real and eternal relationships between the Persons.
One of the characteristics of personal existence is will. Consider the will of the Father, for which cause the Son did sweat blood in agony, as He came to full submission to the will of the Father. It was the will of the Father to send the Son to be the once for ALL perfect sacrifice for the sin of man, the Lamb of God. That was obviously the will of the Father to send the Son to Redeem the world, and man as the object of His love. That particular will of the Father, caused agony in the Son, to the point of sweating great drops of blood, as the Son learned obedience by what He did suffer in submitting His will to the will of the Father. Yes it was the will of the Father, and the ONE and the SAME will of the Son, that Jesus would be the Lamb of God. In bringing perfect conformity of the will of the Son, to the will of the Father, the Bible tells us that the Son did sweat blood. The Bible absolutely teaches that the Father has a will, and also the Son has a will. The Son sweat blood in the Garden as He said to the Father, "not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42) AND "not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39).
The FACT of the will of the Son being brought into subjection and oneness with the will of the Father is what caused Jesus to sweat blood. The blood that Jesus did sweat in the agony in the garden testifies to the will of the Son coming into oneness with the will of the Father. This blood of Jesus, in the agony of the Son, in the Garden is something that the Modalist and oneness doctrine must recognize as Biblical FACT. Any denial of this Biblical Fact of the will of the Son being brought into oneness with the will of the Father would deny the Blood of Jesus which was sweat in that agony. This biblical fact of will of the Persons indicates the ability to reason, to think, to act, to desire - all those things we associate with self-consciousness, and diversity of personhood within the Godhead.
God is Love. That FACT of I John 4:8 & 16 is undeniable. The fact that God is Love, requires the diversity within the Godhead before creating other beings. Inanimate objects do not will. Animals do not will. Part of the image of God is the will, which distinguishes men from animals. However LOVE, and the Biblical FACT that God is Love, and has the ability to love, proves the essential diversity of the Godhead. Love is another aspect of personhood seen to exist with each of the Persons of the Godhead. In John 3:35 we read that "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
the Father loves the Son..." This is repeated in John 5:20. In John 15:9 the Father loves the Son, and the Son in return loves those who are His own. In Jesus' prayer to the Father in John 17, we are again reminded of the Father's love for Jesus in 17:23. In verse 24 we are told that this love between Father and Son has existed from all eternity. That Biblical FACT makes it impossible for the Godhead to be an absolute single Person. God being LOVE, by absolute necessity, requires diversity of persons within the Godhead before any of God's creatures were created. The fact that love marks every word of Jesus concerning the Father is beyond dispute. The giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church is an act of love as well. Love is a personal attribute. Giving and receiving love, and much more so being love, means that there must have been a plurality of being within the Godhead, from eternity, before angels or men were created. That biblical fact is simply undeniable if God is love.
The Bible clearly expresses the three Persons of the Godhead. One of the clear examples of the existence of three Persons is the baptism of Jesus recorded in Matthew 3:16-17. Here the Father speaks from heaven, the Son is being baptized, and the Spirit is descending as a dove. Jesus is not speaking to himself here. No matter what the cults may try to say this Jesus was not a ventriloquist. Jesus, according to the more sure written word of God, is spoken to by the Father. There is no confusing of the Persons at the baptism. The transfiguration of Jesus in Matthew 17:1-9 again demonstrates the separate personhood of the Father and the Son. The Father spoke to the Son at another time, recorded in John 12:28. The Bible distinction of person of the Father and the Son is clear.
Some of the most obvious passages relevant to the Father and the Son are found in the prayers of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not speaking to Himself. Jesus' humanity speaking to His deity. Jesus is clearly communicating with another Person, that being the Person of the Father. John 17 is really the real Lord's Prayer for us, as He prays to the Father for us. Study that prayer and the Holy Spirit should blow the confusion of oneness or modal doctrines away from you, unless you are guilty of spiritual pride. No one can miss the fact of the communication of one Person (the Son) with another (the Father) presented in this prayer. The usage of personal pronouns, and the direct address, proves the separate personhood of Father and Son. The statements of the Son regarding His relationship with the Father prove the Deity of Jesus in the Bible.
There
is ONLY ONE God in orthodox Trinitarian doctrine,
even though the
doctrine clearly expresses the biblical diversity of being,
or
nature of God, and the Persons who share equally that being,
within the Godhead.
ONLY IF there is more than one God, AND ONLY IF there
is less than three Persons,
THEN AND ONLY THEN could the biblical doctrine of the Trinity be
in error.
If there ever was a MUST hear
Audio on
This Subject it is the CLASSIC MESSAGE
of the late Dr. Walter Martin
Jehovah's Witnesses vs The Holy Trinity
Here is the Link to hear the best teaching on this
subject that I have ever heard.
http://gjigt-radio.com/podcast/audio/JWvTrinityDWM-Radio.mp3
Jesus was not a ventriloquist in Matthew 27:46 where Jesus, quoted from the cross He quoted Psalm 22:1. At the conclusion of that suffering of crucifixion, He cried out, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Jesus was speaking to the Father and that is clear from Luke's account of the next and last thing Jesus said, "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:46) That the Son is addressing the Father is crystal clear.
In Matthew 11:27 we see the equality between the Father and Son. Matt 11:27 also declares the absolute deity of both. This relationship of the Father and Son is also clear in John 5:18, John 8:16-18, John 8:58-59, and John 10:30. The are actually 7 times in John's gospel where Jesus clearly states that He is the "I AM" who spoke to Moses from the burning bush, who wrote with His finger the 10 Commandments of God's royal law, and was in the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. There are times when the Jews who heard Jesus say that He IS, Yahweh, "I AM," because they immediately took up stones to stone Him for blasphemy. We see how the Bible clearly maintains the distinct personhood of Father and Son while asserting the full deity of Jesus Christ. Outside of a Trinitarian concept of God, this position so clear in John's gospel, makes no sense. The FACT that these same passages that affirm the Deity of the Son, also emphasize His distinction from the Father. In John 5:19-24, Jesus clearly differentiates himself from the Father, yet claims attributes that are only proper of Deity (life, judgment, honor). In John 5:30 the Son says He can do nothing of Himself, yet in 37-39 he identifies Himself as the one witnessed to by the Scriptures who can give eternal life. Only Yahweh of the of the old testament can do that in honest FACT.
Intellectual honest would therefore require that the deity spoken of by Jesus is not the Father dwelling in the Son, but is the Son's personally. This is seen even more plainly in chapter 8. Here it is the Son who utilizes the phrase ego eimi, "I AM," in the absolute sense, identifying Himself as Yahweh. It is the Son who says He is glorified by the Father (v. 54) and yet only four verses later it is the Son who says, Before Abraham came into existence, I AM! The clear biblical FACT is that the Son is fully God just as the Father. And what of the Spirit? Jesus said in John 14:16-17 that the Father would send another (Gr: allos) comforter. Jesus had been the Comforter for the disciples during His earthly ministry, but He was about to leave them and return to heaven where he had been before (John 17:5). The Holy Spirit, identified as a Person by John (through his usage of the masculine ekeinos at John 16:13), is sent both by the Father (John 14:16) as well as by the Son (16:7). The Spirit is not identified as the Father, nor as the Son, for neither could send Himself.
It is clear biblical FACT, from this short review, that the Scriptures show the difference and diversity in the three Persons of the Godhead. The Person of the Father and the Person of the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the three Persons of the ONE true God. The Son is God, according to the Holy Bible, IS, and has always pre-existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Son, can not be anything less than God according to the Holy Bible. The Son, as well as the Father are each divine a divine Person of the Godhead. The Son as well as the Father has existed from all eternity. Jesus made it clear and simple in John 10:30 where Jesus says, "I and my Father are one." At the same time Jesus is not the Father. This is one of the perfect paradoxes of the bible which BIBLICAL FAITH knows BOTH to be TRUE.
Most cultic denials of the clear biblical doctrine of the Godhead or Trinity stem from a misunderstanding of the term monogenes, or the term "begotten" as used in Psalm 2:7. Such denials cannot stand under the weight of the Biblical evidence. Here are 7 of the many passages that clearly teach and prove the pre-existence of the Son as a Person within the divine being.
You are encouraged to examine the following 7 passages:
Colossians 1:13-17.
Philippians 2:5-7
John 8:58
John 1:1-18
Hebrews 1:1-14
Micah 5:2
Isaiah 6:1-8
In the beginning of the Gospel of John, without a Trinitarian understanding of God, this passage ends up self-contradictory and illogical. John defines his terms in verses 14 and 18. In verse 14 he tells us that the Logos of whom he has been speaking became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. He also tells us that it is Jesus Christ who, though clearly not the Father Himself, is the one who "makes the Father known" and who is, indeed, the monogenes theos, the "unique God." It simply cannot be denied that verse 18 has two separate Persons. That these two Persons are the Father and the Son is just as sure and undeniable. That makes John 1:1-3 perfectly and absolutely clear. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."
Jesus Christ, Yeshua THE Messiah, is the One whose Name is called The Word of God, the Logos. The Logos was "in the beginning," that is, the Word is eternal. This Logos was "with God" (Gr: pros ton theos.) can only refer to personal contact and communion. It is clear that one cannot completely identify the Person of God the Father, as the Logos, the Son. John then gives the CLEAR and ONLY BIBLICAL answer, regarding the identity of the Logos, the Person of the Son, by saying, "the Word was God." What God was, the Word was, and the Logos, the Word was as to His essence absolutely God. By placing the term theos in the emphatic position, and by using that term itself, rather than theos, which means a "godlike" one. THAT IS AWESOME. By the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, John clearly tells us Jesus IS God, and at the same time, does not make logos and theos identical to one another. The biblical doctrine of the Godhead or Trinity is the only way that word can be RIGHTLY Divided.
John clearly identified the Logos as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, proclaiming the pre-existence of the Son. Knowing the pre-existence of the Son, then we are forced by the Biblical data itself to deal with the internal relationships of the Persons who make up the Godhead. Though many Oneness doctrine proclaimers would object to the terminology, it is they, not the Trinitarian, who are ignoring the clear words of the Bible and its clear teaching. This is certainly not by any means but a fraction of the Bible evidence showing the clear distinctions (not divisions) within the Being of God. The understanding of the Persons of the Godhead are necessary and eternal, not temporal and passing. God has eternally been and will always BE three Persons in the ONE TRUE GOD.
What does all of this mean? It means that when Jesus spoke, He spoke as one Person, not two. It is nonsense to say that, when claiming deity, Jesus' "deity" spoke, or when He referred to His humanity, it was His "human nature" that spoke. Natures do NOT speak - only Persons speak. And, since Jesus is one Person, not two, He speaks as a whole Person. When Jesus speaks, He speaks as Jesus, God, the Son. The two natures (divine and human) make up but one Person, Jesus Christ. The divine nature is the Son of God, the eternal Logos. Jesus was a true Person; he was not non-human, nor less than human, nor a multiple personality. He had two natures, but those natures were made personal by only one Person, the Word made flesh. Though Jesus may say things that indicate his two natures, what He says represents His whole being, not a certain part of His whole being.
Look what the Bible says, and not what men say the bible says. How does the Bible about Jesus. IN NO PLACE DOES THE BIBLE EVER TEACH THAT THE LORD JESUS WAS SCHIZOPHRENIC, HAVING TWO PERSONALITIES. In EVERYTHING recorded in the entire KJV Holy Bible, regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, there is not one word spoken by Him, not one action He performed, not one thing said of Him, which suggests that He is not a single indivisible person. There is not one hint of biblical evidence to be found in the MORE SURE word which is written of Christ, that even would hint that two personalities came to redeem us, ONLY ONE PERSONALITY - THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Both natures of Messiah, in ALL SCRIPTURE, may only be found as united in one person. The Holy Bible proves beyond question, the FACT that what can be true of only one or the other of Christ's two natures is written not regarding the nature, but of the one Person.
Jesus Christ is uni-personal; He is one person. It is absolutely clear that the Lord Jesus Christ is never identified as the Father, but is shown to be another Person beside the Father, and yet Jesus and the Father are one. One troop may have many men. One class many students. THE ONE TRUE GOD, TRULY IS ONE, FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT.
If we are to understand the final conflict between Messiah and Antichrist, we must know the nature of the G-d Whom Satan opposes, and the false views of G-d which Satan has inspired in his cosmic struggle with the Creator. In view of Messiah's statement that eternal life is "to know the only true G-d, and Yeshua Messiah" (John 17:3), it is easy to see why a major part of Satan's strategy is to promote false concepts of G-d and to present to mankind a counterfeit Messiah. Those whom Satan can keep from KNOWING the true G-d and Yeshua Messiah will share his eternal doom.
Throughout the world and in all ages there have been two general concepts of G-d:
1)PANTHISM / NATURALISM - that the universe itself is G-d; and 2)SUPERNATURALISM - that the Creator is distinct from His creation.
Related to these are two more opposing views:
1)POLYTHISM - that there are many gods (Mormons, for example, are polytheists); and 2)MONOTHEISM - that there is only one G-d.
Antichrist's claims are built upon a worldview that is pantheistic and polytheistic. If everything is G-d and there are thus many gods, it then follows that every person is a god whether he realizes it or not. It was on this basis that Satan became convinced that he could be "like the Most High." He apparently still labors under that delusion. The Antichrist, having apparently "realized" this inner potential, is in a position to help others to achieve their godhood also. Such is the great lie of the Serpent.
Supernaturalism / Monotheism is divided into two rival beliefs; 1) that G-d is a single being; and 2) that G-d has always existed in three Persons who are separate and distinct, yet ONE.
Only Christians and Messianic Jews hold the Monotheism view - and even some who call themselves Christians reject it. Yet it is the ONLY biblical, logical, and coherent view of G-d possible. It is also the only opposition to the Antichrist's ecumenical world religion. All other views of G-d can be accommodated by the Antichrist; but, not the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. Pantheism is really a form of atheism and shares the same fatal flaws. If everything is G-d, then there is really no G-d. G-d over what, or in charge of what, or Creator of what? Of Himself? Pantheism leads to numerous other contradictions. G-d would be death as well as life, evil as well as good. The very concept of G-d would be self-contradictory.
If the universe is G-d and thus all there is, then no outside reference point exists from which the universe can be evaluated and given purpose and significance. Nothing has meaning or value in itself, but only as some personal being has use for it and values it. The universe, and mankind as part of it, could have no meaning unless created for His purposes by Another, who must be separate and distinct from His creation. Pantheism can offer only meaninglessness, hopelessness, and ultimate despair. There is no basis for morals, truth, or peace in heaven or earth. Polytheism's basic problem is diversity without unity.
At the other extreme is the belief that G-d is a single Personage. Muslims insist that Allah is "one." Jews insist that Adonai is "one." The same belief is also held by pseudo-Christian cults such as the Jehovah's Witnesses. Some aberrant "Messianic or Christian" groups also claim that G-d is a single Personage and that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are G-d's three "titles," or "offices, or "manifestations." Here we have unity without diversity.
That G-d must have both unity and diversity is clear. The Allah of Islam, or the Jehovah of Jehovah's Witnesses, or the G-d of aberrant oneness "Messianic or Christian" groups would be incomplete in Himself. He would be unable to love or communicate before creating other beings capable of interacting with Him in these ways. (For G-d to be just, true, holy, and pure would not require the existence of other beings in order for these qualities to be expressed, as would be the case for G-d to express, let alone, be love.)
The quality of love and the capacities for fellowship and communion, by their very nature, require another personal being with whom to share them. And G-d could not fully share Himself except with another Being equal to Him. Yet the Bible says that "G-d is love." This could only be true if within the Godhead itself there is a plurality of Personages, or divine Persons, who could express and experience love in relation to one another. Although the actual word "trinity" does not occur in the Bible, the concept is clearly expressed there, providing the unity and diversity that makes possible the love, fellowship, and communion within the Godhead.
The Bible presents a G-d who did not need to create any beings to express love, communion, and fellowship. This G-d is complete in Himself, existing eternally in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, individually distinct from each other yet at the same time eternally one G-d. These three loved, communed, and fellowshipped with each other and took counsel together before the universe, angels, or man were brought into existence. Truly the biblical triune "G-d is love" (1 John 4:8, 16) - and He alone.
Love is G-d's principal weapon in His battle with Satan for the souls and destiny of mankind. For the battle rages not only for man's mind but above all for his love. Every sin, therefore, has its root in man's failure to respond to G-d's love in the fullness of the capacity of love which He has given us. As the first and greatest commandment declares: (Mark 12:30) And thou shalt love the L-rd thy G-d with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. (Deuteronomy 6:5)
We don't have the ability within ourselves to keep this commandment, for "love is of G-d." It is G-d's love to us that woos and wins our hearts and awakens in us a love for Him: "We love him because he first loved us." The great act (and thus the proof) of G-d's love is that G-d became a man in order to personally pay the penalty demanded by His justice against our sin. He could only do this because He is a personal and triune Being.
The idea that G-d is a single Personage (Unitarianism), and not three Persons existing eternally in one G-d (Trinitarianism), invaded the church around 220 A.D. Though the idea is condemned by the vast majority of Christians, this idea survives to this day in some "Jesus only" groups.
Yeshua said, "The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand" (John 3:35). G-d's love is not just toward mankind but first of all among the three Persons of the Godhead. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can't be mere offices, titles, or modes in which G-d manifests Himself, for such cannot love, consult, and fellowship together. Not only is the Son presented as a Person, but the Father and the Holy Spirit are as well. The Bible presents each as having His own personality: each wills, acts, loves, and cares, and can also be grieved or become angry. Unitarianism robs the Godhead of the essential qualities of self-existent and self-sufficient deity.
This plural noun (Elohim) is found over 2500 times in the Old Testament. Yet a singular verb, bara, is used in Genesis 1:1 and in almost every other place that Elohim is found. So we have both singularity (in the verb) and plurality (in the noun). The same is true all through the entire Tanakh (Old Testament). If G-d was a single Personage, then the single form, Eloah, would have been used, not Elohim. That fact is inescapable.
At the burning bush incident we read: "And G-d (Elohim) said unto Moses, I am that I am..."(Exodus 3:14). Here G-ds speak, but they don't say "We are" but "I am." Again that peculiar singularity and plurality at the same time in the same Being! So it is in Exodus 20:2 - "I am the L-rd thy G-d (Elohim)...." And Leviticus 11:44- "I am the l-rd your G-d (Elohim)...." Each time G-d uses Elohim (G-d's) of Himself (90 percent of the time) instead of Eloah (G-d)(10 percent), He reveals to us the plurality of His Being. And when He uses a singular verb and pronoun along with Elohim, He is clearly telling us that He is a unity.
Nor is the word Elohim the only way in which G-d's plurality is presented. Consider, for example, Psalm 149:2 "Let Israel rejoice in their Maker" (literally "makers"); Ecclesiastes 12:1; "Remember now thy Creator" (literally "creators"); and Isaiah 54:5 "For thy Maker is thine husband" (literally "makers, husbands"). Unitarianism has no explanation for this consistent presentation of G-d's plurality all through the Tanakh (Old Testament). Most Jewish people are not aware that the plural noun G-d's is found in the very center of Israel's famous confession of the oneness of G-d. It reads in Hebrew: "Shema yisroel adonai elohenu adonai echad" (Deuteronomy 6:4). From this scripture Rabbi Maimonides taught Jews to recite daily, "I believe with a perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is ONE."
Maimonides, however, perverted the Scripture, apparently deliberately. To express "ONE" he used the Hebrew word yachid, which means single and absolute one. Yet Moses used echad, which could mean a unity of several into one. For example, it is used in Genesis 2:24, where man and woman become "one flesh"; in Exodus 36:13, when the various parts become one tabernacle"; in 2 Samuel 2:25, when many soldiers "became one troop"; and elsewhere.
G-d is telling us something important about Himself by His choice of Hebrew words. Had G-d wanted to show that He is an absolute one; He would have chosen yachid, but instead He chose echad. Maimonides made a serious mistake in changing G-d's Word. As a result, millions of Jews have been led astray and still are to this day.
The rabbis surely knew that Adonai had repeatedly declared, "I am the L-rd thy G-d, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior...and besides me there is no savior." Then who else, if He was to save His people, could the Messiah be except the L-rd G-d of Israel come down as a man? The full wonder of this fact, so essential to our salvation, shattered the skepticism of doubting Thomas and caused him to exclaim, when confronted by the resurrected Messiah, "My L-rd and my G-d" (John 20:28). Yet the rabbis accused Yeshua of blasphemy because He said "that G-d was his Father, making himself equal with G-d" (John 5:18). They knew that He was claiming to be "the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," even though many today deny that Yeshua ever made such a claim.
This "blasphemy" became the charge with which the Sanhedrin condemned Him to death: "For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy...thou being a man, makest thyself G-d"(John10:33; Mark 14:64) They were blind to the prophecy of Zechariah that Israel would pierce Adonai - and they fulfilled that prophecy, for Yeshua is G-d, a conclusion one cannot escape. When Messiah returns visibly in power and glory at His second coming, the surviving Jews (whom He rescues from the Antichrist at Armageddon), will recognize Him by the marks of Calvary: "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him" (Zechariah 12:10). Adonai, the G-d of Israel, is speaking. When was He pierced? The Hebrew word means the piercing to death as when King Saul begged his armor bearer, "Draw thy sword, and thrust me through"(1 Samuel 31:4). Zechariah's prophecy is both remarkable and clear; G-d Himself will come as a man to rescue Israel when, in the last days, they will be surrounded by the armies of the world and will stand on the brink of destruction. Nor does he come as an ordinary man, but as One who was thrust through to death and has come back to life. When Israel sees Him, they will know Yeshua by the marks of crucifixion that His resurrected body still bears. In that moment all Israel will be convinced at last that Yeshua of Nazareth, whom they crucified and have rejected for so long, is the Messiah long promised by their own prophets. They will repent and believe in Him (Zechariah 12:10-14:9).
Just as Israel's misunderstanding of G-d's triune nature caused her to reject her Messiah, so that same misunderstanding will allow her to be deceived into accepting the Antichrist. He comes not as a member of the Trinity - in the name of the Father and under the anointing of the Holy Spirit - but "in his own name."
The New Testament presents three Persons who are distinct, yet each is G-d. At the same time we repeatedly have the clear statement that there is only one true G-d. Messiah prays to the Father. Is He praying to Himself? "The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world"(1 John 4:14). Did He send Himself? Worse yet, did one "office" pray and send a "title"? Messiah said, "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter...even the Spirit of truth" (John 14:16,17). Throughout the New Testament, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each separately honored and act as G-d, yet only in perfect unity with one another. G-d is one in purpose, power, and divine attributes - yet He is three Persons. The Old Testament also presents three Persons in the Godhead interacting with each other. Take for example the following: Isaiah 48:12,13 &16 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I [am] he; I [am] the first, I also [am] the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens... from the time that it was, there [am] I: and now the L-rd G-D, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
The one speaking refers to Himself as "the first and the last" and the Creator of all, so He must be G-d. But he speaks of two others in the same passage who must also be G-d: "the L-rd G-d, and his Spirit, hath sent me." By whom could G-d be "sent" on some mission - and where? This can be none other than the Father and the Holy Spirit, sending the Son into the world to be our Savior.
One cannot escape the fact that all through the Bible G-d is presented as a plurality and yet as one, as having both diversity and unity. This concept of G-d is unique among all the world's religions. To reject the triune nature of G-d is to reject the G-d of the Bible - and to come, ultimately, under the delusion that will cause the world to obey and worship the Antichrist when he comes.
It is a mystery that G-d can exist in three Persons yet be one G-d; but, both Scripture and logic demand this fact. It is also a mystery how G-d could have no beginning and create everything out of nothing, yet it must be so. There is much else that we cannot explain - love, beauty, truth, or what a human soul or spirit is - but we don't reject it on that basis. G-d has revealed His triune nature to us so that we can believe in and know Him. We dare not reject what He says or lower Him to the level of our finite minds.
The G-d of the Bible is the Creator of the universe, separate and distinct from it and not subject to the laws He made to govern it. And this truth is the only hope for mankind. For the G-d of the Bible can, in fact, reach into the dying universe and re-create it and restore it to be totally new. Reincarnation can only recycle that which is steadily sinking into oblivion. Resurrection, on the other hand, represents an influx of G-d's power from outside bringing immortality to that which otherwise would be eternally dead.
Such is the G-d whom we must know personally in order to be saved. And such is the G-d whom the Antichrist denies. It is this triune G-d who made man in His image and who alone could come as a man and still remain G-d. He alone could rescue mankind from sin, and self, and from eternal separation from His love and presence. To deny the triune revelation of G-d is to deny the majority of the price which G-d paid at Calvary to save the redeemed. Yeshua, by separation from an infinite closeness with the Father from all eternity past, albeit for a finite time of three days and three nights, literally suffered hell for all the redeemed. However the reason to believe the doctrine of the Trinity is that the Father also suffered in this separation and also the Holy Spirit suffered that hell of separation from Yeshua. To reject the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity is to trash the majority of the great price, beyond our understanding, which was paid at Calvary. G-d redeemed those who would come to really KNOW Him and according to 2 Pet 1:11, provided that an entrance unto the redeemed abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our L-rd and Saviour, Yeshua Messiah, Jesus Christ. 2 Pet 2:20 ... they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour, Yeshua Messiah... The only way to escape the pollutions of the world is through the knowledge, and relationship to the REAL Yeshua. The Messiah, Yeshua, is G-d come in the flesh, the Creator. He is the only way of access and relationship to the One True G-d of Israel.
If you KNOW the real Yeshua as G-d, the Creator come in the flesh as our redeemer, we are brothers. None of our peanut brains can understand the Trinity this side of glory.
We must KNOW the real Yeshua, who is G-d come in the flesh to redeem you, and Who provides the ONLY Way, you can in TRUTH, know Yahweh. There is no other Way for the redeemed. Any other Yeshua, who is not equal with G-d, Who is not G-d the Creator, is not capable of redeeming you. Unless you believe that Yeshua is ONE with the Father, Yahweh, you will die in your sins. Give up the idolatry of such religious knowledge that prevents you from KNOWING the One True G-d, the Father AND Yeshua Messiah that He has sent. Give up your intellectual idol Yeshua. The Jews killed the real historic Yeshua, because He told the truth that He was equal with His Father, Yahweh. John 5:18. The real Yeshua will not conform to the religious knowledge and idolatry of our finite human understanding. REPENT!
No man can come to the real Yeshua, except by the Father and the Holy Spirit drawing him. Don't make the real Yeshua a liar by idolatrous religious knowledge. The real Yeshua, Who redeems those who KNOW Him, said "Before Abraham was, I AM." The Jews knew what He meant because they took up stones to cast at Him. The real Yeshua told Moses, to tell the people of Israel that His name was I AM. In John 8:24 Yeshua said in no uncertain terms, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that Yeshua is I AM, you shall die in your sins.
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Yeshua Messiah is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
2 John 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Messiah, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Messiah, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2 John 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2 John 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Alleluia.