Sunday, February 8, 2015

What We Believe

All scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible unless otherwise noted.
I am curious by nature. I would think that I am probably not alone. Thus when I hear of a different church I usually go to their web site (if they have one) and click on the "About Us" tab to see what they believe in regards to God. In most cases what I find under the tab, "What We Believe," is their stated belief in One God existing as three persons, or the Trinity. I have looked at the doctrine of the Trinity numerous times and I have some real problems with it. 

First and foremost  is its origins. My understanding of the Trinity is that it was first formulated in the 2nd century by a fellow named Athanasius. It was no doubt an attempt to understand the godhead, e.g.how Jesus Christ could be God and the Father could be God and the Holy Ghost (or Spirit) could be God and yet God could be one! The Bible mentions in many scriptures that the Father sent the Son into the world for the purpose of redemption of mankind (See John 3:17, John 10:36, Acts 3:26 and Galatians 4:4 for some examples) but in no place does the Bible say that God is three persons. In no place does the Bible say that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. There is no scripture in the Bible where Jesus is called, "God the Son." In most references He is referred to as either the Son of God or the Son of Man.


What the Bible does say is that God is one (See Deuteronomy 6:4 and Mark 12:29). While the trinitarians generally profess to believe that there is only one God, they usually claim that the one God is a trinity of three persons, the Father, Son and Spirit. But in John 10:30, the Lord Jesus said, "I and my Father are one." It seems to me that if the doctrine of the Trinity were in the mind of the Lord when He made that statement, He would have said that He and His father were two. When the Lord Jesus was asked by Philip in John 14:8, "Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Philip apparently speaking for the other apostles said, in essence, we will be happy if you will show us the Father. Jesus' response was clear. He said in John 14:9, "...Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" While they had been looking on Jesus the Son of God, They had been seeing the Father. 


This is in accord with what the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 9:6, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Again if God had wanted to establish that the son that was to be given was the everlasting son, this would have been an ideal place. The trinitarian theologians undoubtedly know what Isaiah said. They just don't understand it. The Lord went further to explain to Philip and to the other disciples His relationship to the Father. In John 14:10-11 Jesus said, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake." (See also 2nd Corinthians 5:19)


My friend, it is not my purpose to cause confusion. The Bible states in 1st Corinthians 14:33a, "...God is not the author of confusion..." That scripture, by itself, speaks loudly against the trinitarian doctrine. For if ever there was a confusing doctrine, it is the doctrine of the trinity. Listen to what the Apostle Paul said in Colossians 2:9-10a, "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him..." The Apostle John put it well in 1st John 2:22-23, "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also."


To the Apostles and early church there was no controversy as to who Jesus was. Jesus Christ was God "manifested in the flesh." (See 1st Timothy 3:16) In closing let me quote what the Apostle Paul said in Titus 2:13-14, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." This is what I believe, how about you?

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