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1991-07-13
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CUL:Testing the Truth of the Trinity
In order to spot error it is first necessary to know and understand
the truth. In order to spot counterfeit money you study the real thing
so that when a phony is seen it is immediately obvious. You don't study
all the possible variations which might be found in a counterfeit bill.
The same principle applies to Biblical truth. We must study the Word of
God and hide it in our heart so that when a variation is presented to
us we will spot it immediately and know if it is error. R.L. Brandt,
the Executive Presbyter of the Assemblies of God, has said, "Error
springs from either deception or ignorance. And deception takes
advantage of ignorance." At this time we will deal specifically with
the Trinity, which is the term we use to express the unity of three
persons in the one God. Dr. Walter Martin, a renowned bible scholar,
gives this definition of the Trinity. "Within the unity of the One God
there are three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and
these three share the same Nature and attributes. In effect then, the
three Persons are the One God." This doctrine is often difficult to
understand because it transcends our finite comprehension. Rather than
blindly accepting a doctrine we must test it for ourselves. We can test
the doctrine of the Trinity by answering these questions:
1. What does the Bible say?
2. What does history say?
3. What do the mainline Christian denominations say?
1. Some Bible verses pointing to a triune (3 in one) God: Gen.1:1
"In the beginning God created..." The Hebrew word used for God here is
"Elohim", a uniplural noun which means "more than one." (The singular
is "El".) The word "Elohim" translated "God" is used in more than 2700
other places in the Old Testament. Gen.1:26 "...God said, 'Let\us\make
man in\our\image......' "John 14:16 "....I (Jesus) will pray the Father
and He shall give you another Comforter..." There is a clear
distinction made here between the son who prays, the Father to whom He
prays, and the Holy Spirit for which He prays. I John 5:7 "For there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the
Holy Spirit; and these three are one."
2. History The Apostles Creed - A.D. 150. The Council of Nicea -
A.D. 325. The Westminster Confession - A.D. 1647. The truth of the
Trinity has survived all the impact of denominationalism. And has
remained intact through the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the
Protestant Reformation.
3. Consider the mainline, historic Christian churches - Anglican,
Presbyterian, Baptist, United, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Roman
Catholic, etc. They all have their differences but when it comes to the
doctrine on God they all agree that the Bible teaches belief in One God
manifested in three ways, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity
has become the main doctrine that all the cult groups attack.
A recent aberration or deviation from the Trinitarian doctrine sees
Jesus as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thus it has come to
be known as the "Jesus Only" or "Oneness" movement.
In 1913 someone claimed a revelation from the Lord that "Jesus was
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." In other words
there is only one person in the Godhead and that is Jesus Christ. They
also claim that the doctrine of the Trinity is of human origin.
According to "Oneness" theology, the term "Father" designates
Christ's deity, while "Son" designates either His humanity considered
separately or His deity as manifested in the flesh. "Oneness" believers
say that the Father is not the Son and Jesus is both the Father and the
Son. Therefore Jesus is the Father, Jesus\was\the Son for a time on
earth, and Jesus is the Holy Spirit!!!
They don't believe in the eternal Sonship, but what about John 17:5,
"And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was."? If Jesus alone is God,
and the Father and the Holy Spirit are only "manifestations" of Jesus,
many passages of Scripture are meaningless and even deceptive. Did
Jesus imitate His Father's voice in Matthew 3:17, "....This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.", or the Spirit's command in
Acts 13:2, "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit
said, 'Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work unto which I have
called them.'"? Who said, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased" in Mark 1:11? Where, might we ask, was the Son when the Father
said, "Listen to Him" (Matt. 17:5 NIV)?
The very existence of an "I" - "you" relationship denotes
personality; and the followers of the "Jesus Only" movement must either
ignore or pervert these, and many other passages, to destroy the
personal Ego of the members of the Holy Trinity. Our Lord's great plea
upon the cross, "Father, forgive them," becomes a hollow sham; His
resignation to the Father's will, an illusion - "Yet not as I will, but
as you will" (Matt. 26:39 NIV); and His final words to His Father on
the cross, "into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46 NIV), a
pathetic fraud, if there is not a genuine Person known as the Father,
distinct from the Person of the Son.
The same can be said of the Person of the Holy Spirit, who exhibits
every attribute of deity and personality. The multiple references of
the Holy Spirit in Scriptures in a subject-object relationship to the
Persons of the Father and the Son (John 14:16,26) are positive proof
that the Holy Spirit is a Person distinct from the Persons of the
Father and the Son. Furthermore, Scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit
is God (Acts 5:3-4), and that He is no phantom, "mode", or
"manifestation" of Jesus Christ, as the "Jesus Only" movement maintains.
The first plank in the Trinitarian platform is the indivisible
oneness of God. However, nowhere in Scripture are we ever told that God
is one person.
The pathway to the wrong place always starts by leaving the main
trail! (For further\excellent\study read: "MAJESTY: The God You Should
Know" by J. Sidlow Baxter. Published by Here's Life Publishers, San
Bernardino, CA.)