The Nicene Creed has defined historical orthodoxy for centuries. And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests? 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. 28 So Jesus said to them, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. Who is God? 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. What is wrong with the Oneness view of God? It is something like an executioner acting in the name of the king. They try and provide contradictions in God's word to weaken CARM is a nonprofit, non-denominational, multi-staffed Christian Apologetics Ministry that supports evangelism, radio outreach, and provides full-time support for several foreign missionaries. It was a time in which Jesus promised that the Father would answer all of their prayers for the growth of the church (John 14:13-14), people would instantaneously learn other human languages so that non-believers would be convinced (1 Corinthians 14:22), people would be able to handle snakes and drink poison (Mark 16:17-18), and perform many miraculous signs. God is dependent on nothing. On several occasions, Ive had in-depth discussions with oneness believers. authority on Oneness Pentecostalism, David Reed.2 Reed has spent much of his academic life researching and writing on Oneness Pentecostals, especially the UPCI. This entails that there is one God who is one person. Zechariah 12:10, I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. It negates Nestorianism, which states that in the body of Christ are two distinct persons. It is simple. Let me explain. In other words, can he think about what hes going to do and draw conclusions and make decisions based on that contemplation? Instead the . 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. The Hebrew term for an agent or legal emissary isShaliachwhich is comparable to the Greek worldApostolosand the English word Apostle. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. The main sticking point among oneness believers is maintaining the deity of Christ. The Father even died on the cross and rose from the dead. But firstly, we should note that Izzy Folau and oneness adherents believe that Jesus is fully God, they hold to the Bible as the Word of God, the sinfulness of all mankind, the doctrine of hell, and see the urgency of evangelism. The table below shows the supporting scriptures. (Luke 22:41-42). 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. These "forms" are not three distinct persons, but one person who occupied consecutive modes. But there is nothing about these passages that refutes or challenges the trinity. Jesus is a servant of God who mediates for us. The Father is relaying that he will say these things to the Son in the future. If you want to know who God is, you look to Jesus. Bernard, The Oneness of God, pp . the interpretation of the psalms given by the author of Hebrews seems to disconfirm any insight that would suggest the finitude of the Son. The one God and Father is the God and Father of Jesus. 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. Jesus, our high priest mediates a better covenant with his own blood. Why is the Father referred to as the one God and source of all things, while Jesus is referred to as the one Lord (as a distinction between him and God) in 1 Cor 8:5-6? Yet they speak of each other and to each other designating separation among persons. But the author suggests that this psalm is referring to Jesus. If this were a formula, we would see consistency. The ontological classifications of God vs man are categorical distinctions that cannot be crossed. Prior to that, the pre-incarnate Christ existed as the word (John 1:1). 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. This is precisely what happens to many people. He is totally God. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, He is the Son of God. 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? Oneness advocates routinely ignore the logic of how the Trinity is deduced from Scripture. Jesus had a totally human nature and a totally divine nature. 38 For I[DIVINE NATURE] have come down from heaven, not to do My [HUMAN NATURE] own will, but the will of Him who sent Me [DIVINE NATURE]. 39 This is the will of Him who sent Me [HUMAN NATURE], that of all that He has given Me [HUMAN NATURE] I [HUMAN NATURE] lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. The mark of salvation in Oneness Pentecostalism is not bringing forth good fruit (Galatians 5:22-23), it is not repentance (Mark 1:15), and it is not throwing yourself on the mercy of God (Acts 16:31). John 6:3739, All that the Father gives Me [HUMAN NATURE] will come to Me [HUMAN NATURE], and the one who comes to Me [HUMAN NATURE] I [HUMAN NATURE] will certainly not cast out. Rather, it was necessary that the remedy for the sin of man be of a type of Adam a man who was made in the likeness of the first Adam a direct creation of God made without sin. The text reads, In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. In context, this psalm is clearly referring to YHWH (v. 1). Copyright 2003-2023 | Outreach, Inc., All rights reserved. Bernard, Essentials in Oneness Theology, p. 21. They have realized that the doctrine is apparently supported by a handful of vague verses when interpreted in a particular way. This will raise the question of why Peter and the apostles baptized in the name of Jesus. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. Thus, it is obviously not literally when Jesus said, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.. They each had a will, and Jesus submitted his will to the Father, whose will was different than His. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. But Christ stepped in and paid our fine when he was murdered. The Messiah of prophecy is a human agent of God the Son of Man. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. If Jesus is the fullness of deity, it follows that he is not 33% of God. . What is this? And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world? 23 Jesus answered him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. All of the wrath of God that we deserve went out upon him. 15 And I said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. The Apostolic testimony of Jesus is that the Christ is Jesus (Acts 2:36, Acts 3:18-20, Acts 5:42, Acts 9:20-22, Acts 17:1-3, Acts 18:5, Acts 18:28) It is apparent that the core Apostolic teaching is that Jesus is the Messiah (not that he himself is God), 22 Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Who poured out his wrath upon Jesus? A key point of reference will be how Jesus is identified by the Apostles in the book of Acts. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. (Luke 22:42-43), God has no need to anoint himself. The answer would be no, because if he knows everything already, how could he think about what He knows? We'd love to keep you up to date with what is happening at CARM. If it was the fleshly side of Jesus speaking to the divine side of Jesus in heaven, then does this not deny the true incarnation of God in Christ and invalidate the atonement? Answer Oneness doctrine is a rejection of the Trinity and is found in some branches of Pentecostalism. But they never, even once, indicate that everybody must do this. 1 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Phil 2:9, Eph 1:17-21), A high priest works on behalf of God in relation to men, so how is it that God designated himself a high priest? Perhaps my greatest complaint against American Christianity is how we popishly declare that people are saved. The Trinity is one of the foundational doctrines of Christianity. Scriptures: However when the Oneness Pentecostal see messianic statements in the Psalms that seem to regard the Son as existing presently, they are viewed as prophetic. While there may be some Christians in Oneness churches, the movement as a whole is non-Christian. Did He ascend to His OWN right hand? The infinite cannot be finite and remain infinite. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. Jesus can be called God because he represents God. In other words, oneness theology does not recognize the distinct persons of the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 5 They think that we are still in the apostolic age. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ., 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.. How can you say, Show us the Father? If that is the case, that means that Jesus is both the Father, and the Son. Just as a man can be a father, a son, and an employee, so also God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. It is summarized as follows: All the points above are critical to our understanding of the identity of God and Jesus and the distinction between the two. There are not three gods. Problems with oneness: Eternal Fellowship and Love God is a personal being. It is based upon a faulty conception of the trinity. (1 Cor 8:6) Correspondingly, numerous scriptural references (15x) use the term God in reference to the Father and the term Lord pertaining to Jesus. If He is still fully human (and in Heaven, how can He be the same person as the Spirit, who is on the earth ( )? 1 The LORD says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. 2 The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. If they do not do that, then they are not really born again and do not really have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Thus Saith Putin: Christianity Invaded by the Religious Right, Church Is Not Seminary: Why Young Theologically-Informed 20-Somethings Should Manage Their Expectations of Their Pastors, Why Jesus looked and acted like me, not you, Minimizing The Maximally Great Argument For Arminianism, How apologetics bloggers caused the downfall of the United States, Why Christians should apologize for using apologetics, Why apologetics is not necessary to evangelism, Something Greater Than The Crucifixion Is Here: How Jesus Shocked The Pharisees, Social Issues, Politics & Biblical Ethics. He was the full expression of the trinity. ' The relationship and communication between the Father and the Son become incoherent if we say that Jesus is identical with the Father. Understanding how Jesus identifies himself in the Gospels Read More Jesus is the Model for Us This is because in Jewish thought, a title and a name are inextricably linked. If Jesus was praying to the divine side of Himself, then isn't He still praying to Himself? In Oneness-unitarian doctrine, the unipersonal deity (the Father), came down Himself, and put on or wrapped himself in flesh without actually becoming flesh- thus, the Father Himself dwells in the incarnate Christ. God who is immortal cannot die by definition. Since the Spirit teaches us that Jesus is in bodily form now (Col. 2:9), then how does the Oneness Pentecostal person maintain that God is in the form of the Holy Spirit? I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. The Oneness Pentecostal would agree with Arius who said that there was a time when the Son was not. The central difference is that they do not deny the deity of Christ but rather affirm that Jesus is the Father from eternity and took on the extrinsic property of sonship. Jesus, who is God incarnate, is baptized in the water. Anybody reading the gospels will see that there is some sort of distinction between Jesus and the Father. It is based on a misapplication of Colossians 2:9. 5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, You are my Son, today I have begotten you; 6 as he says also in another place, You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.. Here, Jesus is distinguished from God in four ways: These four aspects of who Jesus is affirm that the humanity of Jesus is core to the Gospel message. When I ask them for an analysis of John 6:37-39, I get some very interesting responses. The Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament describe the coming son of man as an agent of God through whom God will establish an everlasting priesthood and kingdom. Jesus is presented in Heaven in His glorified human state in Revelation 1. In Hebrew thought, the first cause or ultimate cause is not always distinguished from secondary or proximate causes. As we read through the New Testament, we will encounter what boggled on Why Calvinists And Catholics Share The Nicene Faith, on Why Charismatics Should Cut Glossolalia (Tongues) Out of Their Theology, on Why Christians Should Empty Themselves of Kenotic Christology, 5 Things Christians Can Do About Abortion. Any time God says something, it is Jesus speaking. 29 And he who sent me is with me. If God is only one person, why does Jesus say, "we"? Yet, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each called God. So what is wrong with the oneness view of God? So what does he do with us? 15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothersit is to him you shall listen 16 just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die. 17 And the LORD said to me, They are right in what they have spoken. His wrath abides upon us, he must give us just condemnation for our sins. The Son of Man is destined to judge the world in righteousness. Matthew 28:19 also affirms their views that Jesus commanded His disciples to baptize in the "name" (singular) of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Oneness risks denying the sufficiency of the atonement of Christ. But following the theme of Ecclesiastes 3, there is a time to ask questions, and there is a time to shut up and . On pages 98-99 of The Oneness of God by Doctor David Bernard, he writes, [God the Son] is not a correct term because the Son of God refers to the humanity of Jesus Christ. The key to understanding the context of John 14;9-10 is John 14;20 where Jesus says, in that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.. The Trinity is one God in three distinct simultaneous, coeternal persons. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The trinity declares that there is only one God. Box 1353 |Nampa, ID 83653 USA1-800-803-8093, own will, but the will of Him who sent Me, 39 This is the will of Him who sent Me. 34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Fathers hand. But what is interesting is that these two natures are both conscious entities. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. God is infinite, man is finite. (Heb 4:15), Jesus was taught by God. Believing strongly in one undivided God, Oneness authors teach that the whole essential Godhead is present in Jesus (an idea supported by Colossians 2:9 and other passages). 11 Comments. . Although there are over 760 NT passages that make a clear distinction between God and Jesus, we will focus on the most compelling verses covering Jesus and the Father being separate witnesses, the explicit distinction between the person of God and Jesus, common distinctions in the New Testament, and verses that show a visual distinction. This doesn't sound like a problem, until you realize the danger of questions. Why not just say that he is Greater than all? (John 10:29, John 14:28), Why does Jesus refer to the Father as the only true God and as himself as the one that he had sent? Corresponding to these criteria, Jesus cannot be God in a literal ontological sense: 1. God is not and cannot become a man. 56 And he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God., 6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 28:20). Nestorianism, the logical result of oneness theology regarding the person of Christ, leads to a scenario where the different natures of Christ speak alternately at different times even though theyre in the same sentence.
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