Biblical and Historical Proof
by Eddie Jones
The Pentecostal phenomenon of "speaking in tongues" has created widespread controversy among modern Christendom today. Without the knowledge of the truth, which only comes to an honest heart by divine revelation, many have misunderstood the purpose of tongues. Do not be confused by theories and ideas of men; learn the truth about this important subject. The Bible teaches three principal ways in which tongues are manifested: as the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism, as one of the nine gifts of the Spirit in the church, and in a believer’s personal devotion to God.
Initial Evidence of the Holy Spirit Baptism
Isaiah prophesied, "With stammering lips and ANOTHER TONGUE will he speak to this people." Is. 28:11. In the great commission, Jesus said, "And these signs shall follow them that believe...they shall speak with NEW TONGUES." Mark 16:17.
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the SOUND thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit." John 3:8. As the sound of wind blowing is the evidence of its presence, so is the sound of speaking in tongues evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism.
"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a SOUND from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:14. The initial evidence of the Holy Ghost, upon the 120 disciples, was witnessed by devout Jews, out of every nation. They said one to another, "Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?" Acts 2:6-8. Then Peter preached, "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel (See Joel 2:28); And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh...Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he (Jesus) hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." Acts 2:1&33. Cornelius and his household spoke in tongues when they were baptized with the Holy Ghost. “They of the circumcision which believe were astonished.. .because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. FOR THEY HEARD THEM SPEAK WITH TONGUES..." Acts 10:4548. Peter confirmed,"...The Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning." Acts 11:15. The believers at Ephesus spoke in tongues when they received the Holy Ghost baptism. "And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake in tongues, and prophesied." Acts 19:1-6. When the Samaritans received the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the apostles’ hands, there was a miraculous evidence of God’s power which exceeded the miracles and signs already experienced. This prompted Simon the sorcerer to offer money to buy this power: that on whomsoever he laid hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. According to the Biblical signs that follow believers, and the experiences received at Pentecost, Cesarea and Ephesus, there should be no doubt that the Samaritans received the Holy Ghost with the same initial evidence of speaking in tongues. Acts 8:5-25.
The apostle Paul was filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues. Acts 9:17, I Cor. 14:18.
History also proves that speaking in tongues was the evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism in the early church, and has not ceased to be a Biblical experience among believers today.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 1972 Edition, Vol. 22, p. 75 -Tongue-speaking manifested itself early in the Christian experience. At Pentecost (Acts 2) the gift appeared as a sign of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which marked the character of the earliest Christians...During later church history, glossolalia (speaking in tongues) occurred among the mendicant friars of the 13th century, little prophets of Cevennes, the Jansenists, and the Irvingites. Tongues were found also among the early Quakers, as well as among the converts of John Wesley and George Whitefield... In modern times glossolalia has been found chiefly among Holiness and Pentecostal groups.
The Saturday Evening Post, May 16, 1964, p.32 - Praying in tongues has recurred at intervals throughout the Christian era, although it did not affect large masses until early in this century. Its advocates were quickly expelled from the established churches, whereupon they established the Pentecostal churches. For 50 years it remained the almost exclusive possession of the Pentecostal churches.
Newsweek, June 25, 1973, p.80 - The Pentecostal phenomenon has spread with surprising speed through all of the world’s major Christian churches. Why did God choose tongues for the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism? Note the following reasons:
1. Isaiah asked, "Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counselor hath taught Him?" Is. 40:13. God is sovereign to choose as He will without being accountable to anyone!
2. Such a marvelous experience as the baptism of the Holy Ghost demands a marvelous evidence. So God chase to speak through the believer in a language foreign to him as the outward evidence of the marvelous infilling of the Holy Ghost!
3. The tongue is the most unruly member of the body and full of deadly poison, which no man can tame. It is a world of iniquity and is set on fire of hell. Therefore, the tongue is capable of defiling the entire body. James 3:6. Before man can be fully sanctified, the tongue, which defileth, must be brought under control. Who can tame the tongue? James compares the tongue to the bit in a horse’s mouth which gives the driver complete control. James 3:3. So whoever controls the tongue controls the person. How beautiful is this glorious truth! God chose tongues, as evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism, to symbolize His complete control of a believer. And this is important for the sanctification of the individual’s body.
4. Although other signs were manifested at Pentecost, God chose tongues for the uniform sign of the Holy Spirit baptism. (Compare Acts 2:2-4, 10:46, 19:6.) Jesus said that this SIGN shall follow every believer of the gospel. Mark 16:16,17. The Jews were convinced that the Gentiles at Cesarea had received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, FOR THEY HEARD THEM SPEAK WITH TONGUES. Acts 10:45-47.
Gift of Tongues in the Church
"For by ONE SPIRIT are we ALL BAPTIZED into one body." I Cor. 12:13. “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit." I Cor. 12:4. The gifts of the Spirit are as follows: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, the gifts of healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, divers kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. But by one and the selfsame Spirit, God divides these gifts severally to every man as He will. I Cor. 12:8-11.
Since the gift of tongues is a manifestation of the Spirit (I Cor. 12:7,11), it cannot operate in a person without the Holy Ghost being resident within him. Therefore this gift is only given to believers who have been baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit evidenced by Tongue-speaking. The gift of tongues is different from the tongues as the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism. Compare the following:
1. These tongues differ in purpose. The gift of tongues, along with the gift of interpretation of tongues, has been given to some in the church to convey a message from God to the congregation as the need requires. I Cor. 12:7, 27,28. But the tongues, as evidence of receiving the Holy Ghost, is the believer’s personal experience with God, and is not designed to convey a message to the church.
2. Also these tongues differ in operation. The gift of tongues in the church is limited to two or three messages, and that by course; and one must interpret. I Cor. 14:27. But the tongues as evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism is an unlimited manifestation and requires no interpretation. Paul said, "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, EXCEPT he interpret, that the church may receive edifying." I Cor. 14:4,5. Certainly the apostle did not try to discredit or do away with the importance of tongues. Because, in comparison, he illustrated that the less honorable members of the body are necessary, and receive more abundant honor. I Cor. 12:22,23. Each gift of the Spirit has its proper time and place in the church, and when tongues are interpreted they become as important as prophecy! So Paul emphasized, "...Let all things be done unto edifying." I Cor. 14:26. To edify the church, the gift of tongues must be coupled with the gift of interpretation of tongues. To avoid confusion, Paul gave instructions to follow for the use of tongues and interpretation of tongues in the church. (See I Cor. 14:27.) He said, "If there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church: and let him speak to himself, and to God." I Cor. 14:28. Also he said, "IN THE CHURCH I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." I Cor. 14:19. It is better for the edification of the church to speak five words of understanding than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue without a divinely inspired interpretation. However, lest anyone misunderstand the importance of tongues, Paul concluded, "Wherefore brethern, covet to prophesy, and FORBID NOT TO SPEAK WITH TONGUES." I Cor. 14:39.
"Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not..." I Cor. 14:22. This Scripture deals with God’s speaking to man. (See I Cor. 14:21.) Of course, the believer should know when the Lord speaks, whether by tongues or not. But as a proof to the unbeliever, or anyone who doubts the Word of God, tongues are manifested for a miraculous sign of His presence.
Paul asked the question, "Do all speak with tongues" I Cor. 12:30. The context of this Scripture requires a negative answer, because Paul is discussing tongues as a gift of the Spirit only, and not as the evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism. (See I Cor. 12:28.) The gift of tongues is in addition to the tongues experienced with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. (By the same rule, the gift of faith is in addition to the measure of faith given a person to be saved. Compare Ram. 12:3, I Cor. 12:9.) So everyone may not receive the gift of tongues. But in every case, where the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism is recorded, "ALL" spoke in tongues. (For examples see Acts 2:4, 10:44, 19:7.)
Personal Devotion to God
Tongues are also manifested in a believer’s personal life of prayer and worship. They serve as a means of his secret communication with God in the Spirit. These tongues are not meant to be understood by men; therefore, they need no interpretation. "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries." I Cor. 14:2. "The Spirit itself maketh intercession far us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Rom. 8:26. Paul said, "If I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." I Cor.14:14,15.
These devotional tongues are also for the personal edification of the believer. They are for self-encouragement and uplifting of his spirit. Paul said, "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself..." I Cor. 14:4. So the apostle gladly stated, "I thank my Gad, I speak with tongues more than ye all." I Cor. 14:18.
How long will tongues continue to be manifested? "Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." I Cor. 13:8-10. The phrase, "when that which is perfect is come," is translated from the Greek phrase "to teleion". The word "teleion" is a singular neuter term which refers to Jesus Christ. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, p.618, defines the phrase “to teleion” as used in I Cor. 13:10: "The perfect state of all things, to be ushered in by the return of Christ from heaven." Paul said, "Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then (when that which is perfect is come) shall I know even as also I am known." I Cor. 13:12. When the church, having reached her state of perfection, stands face to face in the presence of God, there will be no need for prophecies, tongues and knowledge. But until that which is perfect (Jesus Christ) is come, that which is in part will remain. And as long as there remains prophecies and knowledge, tongues shall not cease. So Paul instructed the church to COME BEHIND IN NO GIFT, WAITING FOR THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. I Cor. 1:7.
Believe the Truth! The Pentecostal phenomenon is for you today! If you desire the greatest experience God has offered to mankind, I urge you to repent, and be baptized with water in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost, evidenced by speaking in tongues! Acts 2:4,38,39
Bible Studies that will change your whole eternity ....
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Q & A about the Oneness of God
ONENESS OF GOD
by David A. Huston
“Hear, O Israel:
The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your strength.”
– Deuteronomy 6:4-5 –
The Bible teaches plainly and without ambiguity that God is one! It never says that God is two or three or any other number. It simply says that God is one! Yet many who believe in God have been taught that God is not one. They have learned that God is two, which is called Arianism or binitarianism. Or that God is three, which is called trinitarianism.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia states, “When one does speak of an unqualified Trinitarianism, one has moved from the period of Christian origins to, say, the last quadrant of the 4th century. It was only then that what might be called the definitive Trinitarian dogma ‘one God in three Persons’ became thoroughly assimilated into Christian life and thought. The formula itself does not reflect the immediate consciousness of the period of origins; it was the product of three centuries of doctrinal development” (Vol.XIV, p.295).
If the doctrine of the trinity was not in “the immediate consciousness” of either Jesus or His apostles, then what doctrine did they teach? The answer is, they taught the same doctrine Moses taught: that God is one! In Mark 12:29, Jesus said, “The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Yet in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 Paul wrote, “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.”
If God is one, why then does Paul make a distinction between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ? This sounds like at least two.
What we’re talking about here is how to describe God and how to understand Jesus. But because of verses such as this one, many people have had a difficult time understanding the Bible teachings about God and Jesus. So, in an attempt to be better able to describe God, let’s look at some of the questions people have asked concerning the doctrine of the Oneness of God.
In the Old Testament:
1. Isn’t the Hebrew word for “God” plural?
THE HEBREW WORD translated “God” throughout the Old Testament is the word Elohim. This word appears 2570 times. Some have said that because this word is a plural noun, it indicates that God is a plural being, that He is one God, yet simultaneously three distinct divine persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit...the trinity. But in Hebrew, plurality not only indicates more than one, it also indicates bigness or greatness or vastness. For example, the word mayim meaning “water” is also a plural form. So is shamayim meaning “heaven.” Heaven is vast!
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created....” The verb “created” is in the singular form, proving that Elohim is intended to be understood as a singular noun. When Elohim was first translated into Greek by Jewish scholars, they selected the word Theos, which is a singular noun. They never used Theoi, the plural form, which is translated “gods.” To say that the fact that Elohim is plural proves that God is a plural being is to read into this word a meaning that simply isn’t there.
Galatians 3:20 says, “Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one [Theos eis esti]. James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God [Theos eis esti]. You do well. Even the demons believe; and tremble!” Even the demons know that God is ONE!
2. What about, “Let us make man in our image”?
GENESIS 1:26 SAYS, “Then God (Elohim) said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness....’” What did God mean when He said “Us”? Some say this was the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit speaking together as one God. But Job 38:4-7 tells us, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements?... Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
In the Old Testament, the term “sons of God” always refers to angels. Throughout the life of Jesus we see angels in action—at His birth, in the wilderness, at Gethsemene, at the resurrection and the ascension. Throughout the book of Acts we also see angels involved with the people of God. Hebrews 1:14 says that angels are sent to minister to the “heirs of salvation.” Clearly angels are involved in the ongoing process of “making man” into the image of God. Language similar to Genesis 1:26 is found in Genesis 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8 where God is clearly speaking to angels.
Genesis 1:27 says, “So God [Elohim] created man in His own image....” Through the new birth each of us can be made into the image of God; yet none of us have plural identities or personalities. Each of us is only ONE PERSON! Genesis 3:22 says, “Then the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.’” 2 Samuel 14:17 says, “As the angel of God, so is my lord the king in discerning good and evil.” Is it really so unreasonable to believe that the Creator spoke with angels?
3. Isn’t Jesus the wisdom of Proverbs 8?
PROVERBS 8:1 SAYS, “Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice?” Proverbs 8:22-23 says, “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth.” And Proverbs 8:29-31 says, “When He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men.”
The idea that the wisdom being spoken of in this passage is a second divine person was first suggested by a Jewish philosopher named Philo who lived at the time of Christ. Philo tried to explain the Old Testament using the ideas of the Greek philosopher Plato. His ideas about the wisdom of Proverbs were later picked up by so-called Christian philosophers, who identified this wisdom with the Son of God. But notice what the Bible says, “Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice?” Throughout the book of Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a woman. The wisdom of God is the wise woman; the wisdom of the world is the deceitful, lustful woman. To say that the wise woman of Proverbs is the pre-existent second person of the trinity is to read into the Scripture what is not there.
In the New Testament:
1. What about the baptism of Jesus?
MATTHEW 3:16-17 SAYS, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” Here we see the man, Jesus, standing in the baptismal waters of the Jordan river, the Spirit of God descending “like a dove,” and a voice speaking from heaven. Is this a portrait of the trinity, three distinct divine persons in one God? If it is not, then how are we to understand this scene?
To understand it correctly, we must remember that Jesus did not cease to be the omnipresent God when He took on flesh. The entire time He walked the earth as man, He simultaneously ruled the universe as God. Even though the fulness of who God is dwelled bodily in Jesus Christ, the fulness of His Spirit was not confined to His body. God was in Christ; yet God was also everywhere else! Understanding this, it is easy to see that the omnipresent Spirit of God spoke from heaven and sent a manifestation of Himself in the form of a dove, even as His human body stood in the muddy waters of the Jordan river.
What then was the purpose of these manifestations? In John 1:31, John the Baptist said that he came baptizing to “reveal the Messiah to Israel.” In other words, the purpose of the baptism of Jesus was to serve as the starting point of His ministry and the public declaration of His Messiahship to the people of Israel. John 1:32-34 states that the dove was to be a sign to John. Since Isaiah 40:3 said that John would be the forerunner of Jehovah (the LORD), John needed to know that Jesus was indeed Jehovah in the flesh.
John knew it would be the one the Spirit descended upon. But since the Spirit cannot be seen, God sent this special manifestation of the Spirit in the likeness of a dove. Furthermore, the descent of the Spirit was a type of anointing. Jesus had come to fulfill the roles of prophet, priest, and king, so He had to be anointed into those roles. But since Jesus was a sinless man and was also God Himself, to be anointed by a sinful man with symbolic oil was not enough. Instead, Jesus was anointed directly by the Spirit of God.
The voice from heaven was for the benefit of the people. A similar incident took place in John 12:28-30. This manifestation of a voice served as a divine introduction of Jesus to Israel as the Son of God and their Messiah. Since there were many people present at the baptismal site, the Spirit singled out the man Jesus and identified Him by the voice. This was certainly far more dramatic and effective than if Jesus had, as a man, simply announced Himself as the Messiah of Israel.
2. If Jesus was God, why did He have to pray?
HEBREWS 5:7 SAYS that Jesus prayed “in the days of His flesh.” Psalms 65:2 says, “O You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come.” When Jesus prayed, it was not one divine person praying to another; it was flesh praying to Spirit, humanity praying to Deity, man praying to God, the Son praying to the Father.
Why would one diving person need to pray to another? If that were what was happening, then we would have to say that the second divine person was inferior to the first divine person. That would mean that they are not coequal at all. But when we understand that God was manifest in the flesh, then we realize that while He was in the days of His flesh, Jesus had to do what all flesh must do: pray to the One who hears prayer. Furthermore, He was giving us an example of what it means to live in submission to God.
3. Didn’t God forsake Jesus on the cross?
MATTHEW 27:46 SAYS, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” What was happening here? Was the first person of the trinity forsaking the second person in the midst of His greatest trial? No! This passage cannot be describing an actual separation between the Father and the Son, because the Son IS the Father manifested in the flesh. Jesus Himself said, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 5:19 says that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” It never states that God left Christ on the cross.
What then does the cry of Jesus mean? It does not mean that the Spirit of God departed from Christ’s body, only that it provided no help to the body. In other words, the fact that Jesus was God in the flesh does not mean that His flesh didn’t feel the pain of the nails just as our flesh would. There was no lessening of the physical pain by the Spirit.
Hebrews 9:14 says that Christ offered Himself to God “through the eternal Spirit.” If the Spirit had left Him on the cross, He would have ceased to be the Christ—the Anointed One. The Spirit was with Christ throughout the ordeal. Jesus was not abandoned by God, but He did experience how it feels to be God-forsaken. Remember, He was bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. He felt what it feels like to be a sinner. He felt the fiery pain of the nails. He felt the humiliating sting of the insults. He felt the awful horror of divine judgment.
In addition, Jesus was pointing the people to Psalms 22, a riveting first-person account of the agony of the crucifixion, which begins,
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?” It goes on to say, “I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me” (Psalms 22:1, 14-17).
When did the Spirit actually depart from the body? Matthew 27:50 says, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.” The Spirit departed when Jesus died.
4. What about the stoning of Stephen?
WHEN THEY HEARD these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” (Acts 7:54-56). What did Stephen actually see? The Bible says he saw “the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” How did he describe what he saw? He said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” The “glory of God” seems to be equal to “the heavens opened.”
We see something similar when a short time later Paul saw Jesus. The Bible says, “As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus....’” (Acts 9:3-5). Later on Paul said, “I could not see for the glory of that light” (Acts 22:11). So the light from heaven is the glory of God. Stephen saw heaven opened and a glorious light shining forth. And He saw Jesus, the Son of Man, (ben Adam) “standing at the right hand of God.”
Did Stephen see two distinct divine persons? Did he see both the man Jesus and a large right hand belonging to God? Does God actually have a literal right hand? Of course not! Didn’t Jesus say, “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24)? Does a Spirit have a hand?
What does the Bible means when it speaks of “the right hand of God”? Let’s allow the Bible to explain itself: Exodus15:6-7 says, “Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces. And in the greatness of Your excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You....” Psalms 20:6 says, “Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.” Psalms 89:13 says, “You have a mighty arm; strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand.” The “right hand of God” is an Hebraic figure of speech referring to the power and strength of the Almighty God.
In Matthew 26:64, Jesus said, “Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Mark 16:19-20 says, “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.”
After His resurrection and ascension into heaven, the man Jesus took His seat upon the throne of heaven. No longer is He acting in His role as suffering Savior; now He is acting in His role as the Lord God Almighty. Hebrews 1:3 says, “When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.....” Hebrews 8:1 says, “We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.....” And Hebrews 10:12 says, “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God....” 1 Peter 3:22 says of Jesus, “Who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.”
What Stephen actually saw was the man Jesus who had ascended into heaven standing in the place of divine power and glory. He did not see two distinct divine persons. Acts 7:57-59 says, “Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him... And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’”
What name did Stephen use when He called upon God? He said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” What was the answer Paul received when He asked, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus....”
5. What about the Advocate in 1 John 2:1?
1 JOHN 2:1-2 SAYS, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” What do we see in this passage? Do we see one divine person continuously pleading with another divine person to grant us forgiveness when we sin? Didn’t Jesus say, “The Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” (Matthew 9:6)? Why would He need to be continuously pleading with the Father to forgive us?
1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus....” What we actually see in 1 John 2 is the role of the man, Christ Jesus, who has once for all time become “the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” The word “propitiation” means “the place where mercy can be found.” When we have sinned, Jesus is the place where we can find mercy. Hebrews 4:15-16 says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Our High Priest, our Mediator, is the One who sits on the throne of grace. When we come to Jesus for forgiveness, we have come to the Father.
Hebrews 7:25-27 says, “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.”
During the days of the tabernacle, the high priest had to continually intercede for the people by offering up sacrifices for their sins. But Jesus has interceded “once for all when He offered up Himself.” Hebrews 10:11-14 says, “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
The advocacy of Jesus Christ took place in the days of His flesh when He hung on Calvary’s cross and shed His own blood for the forgiveness of our sins. There are not two divine persons in this passage, but one God who has come in the flesh to save us from our sins.
6. What about Matthew 28:19?
MATTHEW 28:18-20 READS, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” What name did Jesus have in view? Did He tell His apostles that He possessed all authority in heaven and on earth, therefore, go baptize in my name plus two others?
As a companion passage, Mark 16:15-17 says, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues....’”
Moreover, Luke 24:46-47 says, “Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’”
How did the apostles understand Jesus’ instruction about baptism? Speaking to a crowd immediately after the ascension of Christ, Peter told the people, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
Jesus was not giving His apostles a baptismal formula in Matthew 28:19; He was giving them a revelation. They knew that the name of the Son was Jesus. But Jesus wanted them to understand that Jesus was also the name of the Father, for Jesus said in John 5:43, “I have come in My Father’s name....” In John 17:6 He said to the Father, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me....” What is the only name Jesus manifested? The name Jesus!
The name of the Father is Jesus. Why? Because the Father and the Son are not two distinct divine persons. The Son IS the Father manifested in the flesh. In John 14:9, Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father....” So how could the Father have a name different from the Son?
But what about the name of the Holy Spirit? John 14:26 says, “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things....” The Holy Spirit is not a third divine person distinct from the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is the Father’s Spirit. He is the Spirit of God. John 4:24 says that “God is Spirit.” 1 Peter 1:16 says that God is holy. Therefore, God is the Holy Spirit. In Philippians 1:19 He is called “the Spirit of Jesus Christ....” The spirit of a man doesn’t have a name different from the man. Therefore, the name of the Holy Spirit is Jesus. So when Jesus told His apostles to baptize in the name (singular) of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, He was telling them to baptize in the name of Jesus!
Consider the following references concerning the name that is to be used in water baptism:
Hastings Dictionary of the Bible
“It must be acknowledged that the threefold name of Matthew 28:19 does not appear to have been used by the primitive church, but rather in the name of Jesus” (p.83).
Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (1951)
“The formula used was ‘in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ’ or some synonymous phrase; there is no evidence for the use of the trine [threefold] name...The earliest form, represented in Acts, was simple immersion...in water, the use of the name of the Lord, and the laying on of hands” (Vol.2, p.384).
The Illustrated Bible Dictionary
“Unlike John’s baptism, Christian baptism was from the first administered ‘in the name of Jesus.’ It is clear that, from the first, baptism in the name of Jesus functioned as the rite of entry or initiation into the new sect of those who called upon the name of Jesus” (p.173).
Canney's Encyclopedia of Religions (1970)
“Persons were baptized first ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’...or ‘in the name of the Lord Jesus.’...Afterwards, with the development of the doctrine of the Trinity, they were baptized ‘in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost’” (p.53).
Encyclopedia Biblica (1899)
“It is natural to conclude that baptism was administered in the earliest times ‘in the name of Jesus Christ,’ or in that ‘of the Lord Jesus.’ This view is confirmed by the fact that the earliest forms of baptismal confession appear to have been single—not triple, as was the later creed” (Vol.1, p.473).
The New Catholic Encyclopedia
“There is the difficulty that although Matthew 28:19 speaks of the Trinitarian formula, which is now used, the Acts of the Apostles and Paul speak only of Baptism “in the name of Jesus.” An explicit reference to the Trinitarian formula of Baptism cannot be found in the first centuries” (Vol. 2, p.59).
The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1957)
“The New Testament knows only baptism in the name of Jesus...” (Vol.1, p.435).
Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed. (1910)
“The trinitarian formula and trine immersion were not uniformly used from the beginning...Bapti[sm] into the name of the Lord [was] the normal formula of the New Testament” (Vol.2, p.365).
Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion
[In Christian baptism there was an] “identification between the baptized and Him in whose name baptism took place. The one became thereby the personal property of the other, as part of the people of peculiar possession” (Vol.2, p.377).
7. What about the salutations?
PAUL INTRODUCED HIS LETTER to the Romans with these words, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:7). By referring to the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, the writers of the New Testament were not teaching that God is more than one divine being. What they were doing was emphasizing the two primary roles of God in salvation and the importance of accepting Him in both roles. We must not only believe in God as Creator and Father, but we must also believe in Him as the one who was manifested in the flesh as Jesus the Messiah.
The salutations not only emphasize belief in God, which the Jews and many pagans accepted, but also in God as revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ. In John 14:1, Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me [the manifestation of God in the flesh].” In John 14:6 He said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me [the manifestation of the Father].”
1 John 2:22-23 says, “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” To deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny both the Father and the Son. We must believe in one God, who is Creator, Father, and Eternal Spirit...AND, we must believe that He has come in the flesh as the Son, the one who was born of a woman, the man Jesus Christ.
What does the Bible mean when it speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?
THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT are not three divine persons in one God; they are three descriptive titles of God that show us how God has brought us salvation. First of all, we know that “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24). And, as Jesus said, “A spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). As Spirit, God is said to be invisible. John 1:18 says that “No one has seen God at any time.” As Spirit, God is said to be eternal. Hebrews 9:14 speaks of “the eternal Spirit.” So as Spirit, God has no flesh and bones, cannot be seen, and cannot die.
But after man sinned, it became necessary for a proper blood sacrifice to be offered as an atonement for sin. This is called salvation. Ezekiel 22:30 says, “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” Isaiah 63:5 says, “I looked, but there was no one to help, and I wondered that there was no one to uphold; therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me....”
There was no man who could qualify as a sufficient sacrifice, for all had sinned and come short of the glory of God. So God’s own arm brought salvation. In other words, God did it Himself. He became the sacrifice. But to do this He had to become a man, since as Spirit He had no blood and He could not die. This is the essence of God’s plan for man from eternity.
John 1:1says, “In the beginning was the Word [logos], and the Word [logos] was with God, and the Word [logos] was God.” The word logos can have two meanings which are different yet closely related. It can mean a thought or idea, but it can also mean the expression of a thought or idea. The Greeks used the term “interior logos,” which means an idea, a concept, or a mental image. They also used the term “exterior logos,” which refers to the expression or actualization of an idea or concept. In the Bible, the Logos was God’s plan. In the beginning was the Plan, and the Plan was with God [in His mind], and the Plan was God [that He would make Himself known].
What did God plan? 1 Peter 1:18-20 describes His plan this way: “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold,... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world [Interior Logos], but was manifest [Exterior Logos] in these last times for you.”
God foreordained [planned in advance] the shedding of the blood of Christ before the beginning. In other words, He planned to come into His creation as a man and shed His own blood. This is how Paul can say in Acts 20:28 that God purchased the Church with “His own blood.”
Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” At the exact time He planned, the Son came forth. Ephesians 1:3-4 tells us that God chose us in Christ before the beginning. Romans 8:29-30 tells us that God foresaw the whole company of believers in Him. 2 Timothy 1:8-10 reveals that God gave us grace before the beginning. Titus 1:1-3 says that God promised us eternal life before the beginning. And John 17:5, 24 tells us that God loved His plan before the beginning.
Nothing is more important to God than the accomplishment of His plan. So in the beginning God had a plan. And that plan was “with God.” It was in His heart. It was in His mind. He was thinking about it, considering it, envisaging it. And that plan “was God”—it was that God would reveal Himself to man, that the invisible God would make Himself known, that the Interior Logos would be transformed into Exterior Logos.
The interior is the mystery concealed. The exterior is the mystery revealed. Therefore John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” According to 1 Timothy 3:16, the mystery is that God [the invisible Father of Christ] was manifested [rendered visible] in the flesh [not just in a body, but in a human being]. 2 Corinthians 5:19 says, “God [the invisible Father of Christ] was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” God’s own image of Himself became flesh and bone and dwelt among us. We call this the Incarnation. This is Jesus of Nazareth, the uniquely begotten Son of God.
This is why the Son is called “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). He is that aspect of God which can be seen. So we can see that to bring us salvation, there had to be a Son. The term “Son” always relates to the Incarnation. It always refers to the One who was born. Speaking as the Son, Jesus never said, “I am the Father.” Why? It’s because He was more than the Father. He was the Father in the Son. He was God manifested in the flesh.
Who was the Father of the Son of God? Luke 1:35 says, “And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One [holy thing] who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’” Matthew 1:20 says, “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” When the Spirit of God brought forth the conception of the Son in Mary, God became the literal Father of Christ.
The Three Terms, Not Three Persons
FATHER IS A TERM of relationship. When we speak of God as the Father, we are speaking of Him in terms of our relationship to Him as His children. When we pray, we may speak to God as our Father, but we would not usually say, “The Father is really moving in this service.” Or, “He was filled with the Father.” Instead we would say, “The Spirit is moving.” Or, “He was filled with the Spirit.”
The Spirit is not a third divine person, distinct from the Father and the Son. The Spirit is God is action. Think of these terms this way:
The Father is God in relationship.
The Son is God in flesh.
The Holy Spirit is God is spiritual action.
As Father, God is the One who gives anointing. As Son, God is the Anointed One, the Christ. As Spirit, God is the anointing. These are not three distinct divine persons; they are simply three descriptive titles showing us the way God works in our lives to bring salvation.
For salvation to come to man, there had to be a sinless man for the sacrifice. For the Son to be a genuine man, He had to be born of a woman. But for the Son to be a sinless man, He had to be conceived by God. Therefore, to bring salvation God had to become the Father. But once the Son had died and been raised, God had to begin operating in the world as Spirit. Therefore, to bring salvation, the Spirit had to begin moving, just as it did when God brought order to His creation in Genesis 1:2.
As the Spirit, God is able to be all places at the same time. 1 Corinthians 15:45 says, “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” It is perfectly correct to say that Jesus is the Spirit, Jesus is the Son, or that Jesus is the Father. As Acts 4:12 affirms, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
When a person is filled with the Spirit, who is it that comes to dwell within him? 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” And Ephesians 4:6 says, “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Are there three divine persons living in us? No. Jesus is in us by His Spirit.
God is not three distinct divine persons. Neither does He have three identities, three personalities, or three centers of consciousness. God is not three at all, GOD IS ONE!
The doctrine of the trinity was developed by philosophers attempting to explain the God of the Bible using the ideas of Greek philosophy. But in Colossians 2:8-9 Paul warns, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily....”
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” – Deuteronomy 6:4 –
© David A. Huston, 2001 Permission is granted by the author to freely copy or reproduce this booklet for evangelistic purposes. All Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN. Anyone with additional questions may contact the author at www.GloriousChurch.com.
Bible Studies that will change your whole eternity ....
by David A. Huston
“Hear, O Israel:
The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your strength.”
– Deuteronomy 6:4-5 –
The Bible teaches plainly and without ambiguity that God is one! It never says that God is two or three or any other number. It simply says that God is one! Yet many who believe in God have been taught that God is not one. They have learned that God is two, which is called Arianism or binitarianism. Or that God is three, which is called trinitarianism.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia states, “When one does speak of an unqualified Trinitarianism, one has moved from the period of Christian origins to, say, the last quadrant of the 4th century. It was only then that what might be called the definitive Trinitarian dogma ‘one God in three Persons’ became thoroughly assimilated into Christian life and thought. The formula itself does not reflect the immediate consciousness of the period of origins; it was the product of three centuries of doctrinal development” (Vol.XIV, p.295).
If the doctrine of the trinity was not in “the immediate consciousness” of either Jesus or His apostles, then what doctrine did they teach? The answer is, they taught the same doctrine Moses taught: that God is one! In Mark 12:29, Jesus said, “The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Yet in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 Paul wrote, “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.”
If God is one, why then does Paul make a distinction between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ? This sounds like at least two.
What we’re talking about here is how to describe God and how to understand Jesus. But because of verses such as this one, many people have had a difficult time understanding the Bible teachings about God and Jesus. So, in an attempt to be better able to describe God, let’s look at some of the questions people have asked concerning the doctrine of the Oneness of God.
In the Old Testament:
1. Isn’t the Hebrew word for “God” plural?
THE HEBREW WORD translated “God” throughout the Old Testament is the word Elohim. This word appears 2570 times. Some have said that because this word is a plural noun, it indicates that God is a plural being, that He is one God, yet simultaneously three distinct divine persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit...the trinity. But in Hebrew, plurality not only indicates more than one, it also indicates bigness or greatness or vastness. For example, the word mayim meaning “water” is also a plural form. So is shamayim meaning “heaven.” Heaven is vast!
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created....” The verb “created” is in the singular form, proving that Elohim is intended to be understood as a singular noun. When Elohim was first translated into Greek by Jewish scholars, they selected the word Theos, which is a singular noun. They never used Theoi, the plural form, which is translated “gods.” To say that the fact that Elohim is plural proves that God is a plural being is to read into this word a meaning that simply isn’t there.
Galatians 3:20 says, “Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one [Theos eis esti]. James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God [Theos eis esti]. You do well. Even the demons believe; and tremble!” Even the demons know that God is ONE!
2. What about, “Let us make man in our image”?
GENESIS 1:26 SAYS, “Then God (Elohim) said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness....’” What did God mean when He said “Us”? Some say this was the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit speaking together as one God. But Job 38:4-7 tells us, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements?... Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
In the Old Testament, the term “sons of God” always refers to angels. Throughout the life of Jesus we see angels in action—at His birth, in the wilderness, at Gethsemene, at the resurrection and the ascension. Throughout the book of Acts we also see angels involved with the people of God. Hebrews 1:14 says that angels are sent to minister to the “heirs of salvation.” Clearly angels are involved in the ongoing process of “making man” into the image of God. Language similar to Genesis 1:26 is found in Genesis 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8 where God is clearly speaking to angels.
Genesis 1:27 says, “So God [Elohim] created man in His own image....” Through the new birth each of us can be made into the image of God; yet none of us have plural identities or personalities. Each of us is only ONE PERSON! Genesis 3:22 says, “Then the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.’” 2 Samuel 14:17 says, “As the angel of God, so is my lord the king in discerning good and evil.” Is it really so unreasonable to believe that the Creator spoke with angels?
3. Isn’t Jesus the wisdom of Proverbs 8?
PROVERBS 8:1 SAYS, “Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice?” Proverbs 8:22-23 says, “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth.” And Proverbs 8:29-31 says, “When He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men.”
The idea that the wisdom being spoken of in this passage is a second divine person was first suggested by a Jewish philosopher named Philo who lived at the time of Christ. Philo tried to explain the Old Testament using the ideas of the Greek philosopher Plato. His ideas about the wisdom of Proverbs were later picked up by so-called Christian philosophers, who identified this wisdom with the Son of God. But notice what the Bible says, “Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice?” Throughout the book of Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a woman. The wisdom of God is the wise woman; the wisdom of the world is the deceitful, lustful woman. To say that the wise woman of Proverbs is the pre-existent second person of the trinity is to read into the Scripture what is not there.
In the New Testament:
1. What about the baptism of Jesus?
MATTHEW 3:16-17 SAYS, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” Here we see the man, Jesus, standing in the baptismal waters of the Jordan river, the Spirit of God descending “like a dove,” and a voice speaking from heaven. Is this a portrait of the trinity, three distinct divine persons in one God? If it is not, then how are we to understand this scene?
To understand it correctly, we must remember that Jesus did not cease to be the omnipresent God when He took on flesh. The entire time He walked the earth as man, He simultaneously ruled the universe as God. Even though the fulness of who God is dwelled bodily in Jesus Christ, the fulness of His Spirit was not confined to His body. God was in Christ; yet God was also everywhere else! Understanding this, it is easy to see that the omnipresent Spirit of God spoke from heaven and sent a manifestation of Himself in the form of a dove, even as His human body stood in the muddy waters of the Jordan river.
What then was the purpose of these manifestations? In John 1:31, John the Baptist said that he came baptizing to “reveal the Messiah to Israel.” In other words, the purpose of the baptism of Jesus was to serve as the starting point of His ministry and the public declaration of His Messiahship to the people of Israel. John 1:32-34 states that the dove was to be a sign to John. Since Isaiah 40:3 said that John would be the forerunner of Jehovah (the LORD), John needed to know that Jesus was indeed Jehovah in the flesh.
John knew it would be the one the Spirit descended upon. But since the Spirit cannot be seen, God sent this special manifestation of the Spirit in the likeness of a dove. Furthermore, the descent of the Spirit was a type of anointing. Jesus had come to fulfill the roles of prophet, priest, and king, so He had to be anointed into those roles. But since Jesus was a sinless man and was also God Himself, to be anointed by a sinful man with symbolic oil was not enough. Instead, Jesus was anointed directly by the Spirit of God.
The voice from heaven was for the benefit of the people. A similar incident took place in John 12:28-30. This manifestation of a voice served as a divine introduction of Jesus to Israel as the Son of God and their Messiah. Since there were many people present at the baptismal site, the Spirit singled out the man Jesus and identified Him by the voice. This was certainly far more dramatic and effective than if Jesus had, as a man, simply announced Himself as the Messiah of Israel.
2. If Jesus was God, why did He have to pray?
HEBREWS 5:7 SAYS that Jesus prayed “in the days of His flesh.” Psalms 65:2 says, “O You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come.” When Jesus prayed, it was not one divine person praying to another; it was flesh praying to Spirit, humanity praying to Deity, man praying to God, the Son praying to the Father.
Why would one diving person need to pray to another? If that were what was happening, then we would have to say that the second divine person was inferior to the first divine person. That would mean that they are not coequal at all. But when we understand that God was manifest in the flesh, then we realize that while He was in the days of His flesh, Jesus had to do what all flesh must do: pray to the One who hears prayer. Furthermore, He was giving us an example of what it means to live in submission to God.
3. Didn’t God forsake Jesus on the cross?
MATTHEW 27:46 SAYS, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” What was happening here? Was the first person of the trinity forsaking the second person in the midst of His greatest trial? No! This passage cannot be describing an actual separation between the Father and the Son, because the Son IS the Father manifested in the flesh. Jesus Himself said, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 5:19 says that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” It never states that God left Christ on the cross.
What then does the cry of Jesus mean? It does not mean that the Spirit of God departed from Christ’s body, only that it provided no help to the body. In other words, the fact that Jesus was God in the flesh does not mean that His flesh didn’t feel the pain of the nails just as our flesh would. There was no lessening of the physical pain by the Spirit.
Hebrews 9:14 says that Christ offered Himself to God “through the eternal Spirit.” If the Spirit had left Him on the cross, He would have ceased to be the Christ—the Anointed One. The Spirit was with Christ throughout the ordeal. Jesus was not abandoned by God, but He did experience how it feels to be God-forsaken. Remember, He was bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. He felt what it feels like to be a sinner. He felt the fiery pain of the nails. He felt the humiliating sting of the insults. He felt the awful horror of divine judgment.
In addition, Jesus was pointing the people to Psalms 22, a riveting first-person account of the agony of the crucifixion, which begins,
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?” It goes on to say, “I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me” (Psalms 22:1, 14-17).
When did the Spirit actually depart from the body? Matthew 27:50 says, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.” The Spirit departed when Jesus died.
4. What about the stoning of Stephen?
WHEN THEY HEARD these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” (Acts 7:54-56). What did Stephen actually see? The Bible says he saw “the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” How did he describe what he saw? He said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” The “glory of God” seems to be equal to “the heavens opened.”
We see something similar when a short time later Paul saw Jesus. The Bible says, “As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus....’” (Acts 9:3-5). Later on Paul said, “I could not see for the glory of that light” (Acts 22:11). So the light from heaven is the glory of God. Stephen saw heaven opened and a glorious light shining forth. And He saw Jesus, the Son of Man, (ben Adam) “standing at the right hand of God.”
Did Stephen see two distinct divine persons? Did he see both the man Jesus and a large right hand belonging to God? Does God actually have a literal right hand? Of course not! Didn’t Jesus say, “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24)? Does a Spirit have a hand?
What does the Bible means when it speaks of “the right hand of God”? Let’s allow the Bible to explain itself: Exodus15:6-7 says, “Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces. And in the greatness of Your excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You....” Psalms 20:6 says, “Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.” Psalms 89:13 says, “You have a mighty arm; strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand.” The “right hand of God” is an Hebraic figure of speech referring to the power and strength of the Almighty God.
In Matthew 26:64, Jesus said, “Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Mark 16:19-20 says, “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.”
After His resurrection and ascension into heaven, the man Jesus took His seat upon the throne of heaven. No longer is He acting in His role as suffering Savior; now He is acting in His role as the Lord God Almighty. Hebrews 1:3 says, “When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.....” Hebrews 8:1 says, “We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.....” And Hebrews 10:12 says, “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God....” 1 Peter 3:22 says of Jesus, “Who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.”
What Stephen actually saw was the man Jesus who had ascended into heaven standing in the place of divine power and glory. He did not see two distinct divine persons. Acts 7:57-59 says, “Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him... And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’”
What name did Stephen use when He called upon God? He said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” What was the answer Paul received when He asked, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus....”
5. What about the Advocate in 1 John 2:1?
1 JOHN 2:1-2 SAYS, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” What do we see in this passage? Do we see one divine person continuously pleading with another divine person to grant us forgiveness when we sin? Didn’t Jesus say, “The Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” (Matthew 9:6)? Why would He need to be continuously pleading with the Father to forgive us?
1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus....” What we actually see in 1 John 2 is the role of the man, Christ Jesus, who has once for all time become “the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” The word “propitiation” means “the place where mercy can be found.” When we have sinned, Jesus is the place where we can find mercy. Hebrews 4:15-16 says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Our High Priest, our Mediator, is the One who sits on the throne of grace. When we come to Jesus for forgiveness, we have come to the Father.
Hebrews 7:25-27 says, “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.”
During the days of the tabernacle, the high priest had to continually intercede for the people by offering up sacrifices for their sins. But Jesus has interceded “once for all when He offered up Himself.” Hebrews 10:11-14 says, “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
The advocacy of Jesus Christ took place in the days of His flesh when He hung on Calvary’s cross and shed His own blood for the forgiveness of our sins. There are not two divine persons in this passage, but one God who has come in the flesh to save us from our sins.
6. What about Matthew 28:19?
MATTHEW 28:18-20 READS, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” What name did Jesus have in view? Did He tell His apostles that He possessed all authority in heaven and on earth, therefore, go baptize in my name plus two others?
As a companion passage, Mark 16:15-17 says, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues....’”
Moreover, Luke 24:46-47 says, “Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’”
How did the apostles understand Jesus’ instruction about baptism? Speaking to a crowd immediately after the ascension of Christ, Peter told the people, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
Jesus was not giving His apostles a baptismal formula in Matthew 28:19; He was giving them a revelation. They knew that the name of the Son was Jesus. But Jesus wanted them to understand that Jesus was also the name of the Father, for Jesus said in John 5:43, “I have come in My Father’s name....” In John 17:6 He said to the Father, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me....” What is the only name Jesus manifested? The name Jesus!
The name of the Father is Jesus. Why? Because the Father and the Son are not two distinct divine persons. The Son IS the Father manifested in the flesh. In John 14:9, Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father....” So how could the Father have a name different from the Son?
But what about the name of the Holy Spirit? John 14:26 says, “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things....” The Holy Spirit is not a third divine person distinct from the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is the Father’s Spirit. He is the Spirit of God. John 4:24 says that “God is Spirit.” 1 Peter 1:16 says that God is holy. Therefore, God is the Holy Spirit. In Philippians 1:19 He is called “the Spirit of Jesus Christ....” The spirit of a man doesn’t have a name different from the man. Therefore, the name of the Holy Spirit is Jesus. So when Jesus told His apostles to baptize in the name (singular) of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, He was telling them to baptize in the name of Jesus!
Consider the following references concerning the name that is to be used in water baptism:
Hastings Dictionary of the Bible
“It must be acknowledged that the threefold name of Matthew 28:19 does not appear to have been used by the primitive church, but rather in the name of Jesus” (p.83).
Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (1951)
“The formula used was ‘in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ’ or some synonymous phrase; there is no evidence for the use of the trine [threefold] name...The earliest form, represented in Acts, was simple immersion...in water, the use of the name of the Lord, and the laying on of hands” (Vol.2, p.384).
The Illustrated Bible Dictionary
“Unlike John’s baptism, Christian baptism was from the first administered ‘in the name of Jesus.’ It is clear that, from the first, baptism in the name of Jesus functioned as the rite of entry or initiation into the new sect of those who called upon the name of Jesus” (p.173).
Canney's Encyclopedia of Religions (1970)
“Persons were baptized first ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’...or ‘in the name of the Lord Jesus.’...Afterwards, with the development of the doctrine of the Trinity, they were baptized ‘in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost’” (p.53).
Encyclopedia Biblica (1899)
“It is natural to conclude that baptism was administered in the earliest times ‘in the name of Jesus Christ,’ or in that ‘of the Lord Jesus.’ This view is confirmed by the fact that the earliest forms of baptismal confession appear to have been single—not triple, as was the later creed” (Vol.1, p.473).
The New Catholic Encyclopedia
“There is the difficulty that although Matthew 28:19 speaks of the Trinitarian formula, which is now used, the Acts of the Apostles and Paul speak only of Baptism “in the name of Jesus.” An explicit reference to the Trinitarian formula of Baptism cannot be found in the first centuries” (Vol. 2, p.59).
The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1957)
“The New Testament knows only baptism in the name of Jesus...” (Vol.1, p.435).
Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed. (1910)
“The trinitarian formula and trine immersion were not uniformly used from the beginning...Bapti[sm] into the name of the Lord [was] the normal formula of the New Testament” (Vol.2, p.365).
Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion
[In Christian baptism there was an] “identification between the baptized and Him in whose name baptism took place. The one became thereby the personal property of the other, as part of the people of peculiar possession” (Vol.2, p.377).
7. What about the salutations?
PAUL INTRODUCED HIS LETTER to the Romans with these words, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:7). By referring to the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, the writers of the New Testament were not teaching that God is more than one divine being. What they were doing was emphasizing the two primary roles of God in salvation and the importance of accepting Him in both roles. We must not only believe in God as Creator and Father, but we must also believe in Him as the one who was manifested in the flesh as Jesus the Messiah.
The salutations not only emphasize belief in God, which the Jews and many pagans accepted, but also in God as revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ. In John 14:1, Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me [the manifestation of God in the flesh].” In John 14:6 He said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me [the manifestation of the Father].”
1 John 2:22-23 says, “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” To deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny both the Father and the Son. We must believe in one God, who is Creator, Father, and Eternal Spirit...AND, we must believe that He has come in the flesh as the Son, the one who was born of a woman, the man Jesus Christ.
What does the Bible mean when it speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?
THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT are not three divine persons in one God; they are three descriptive titles of God that show us how God has brought us salvation. First of all, we know that “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24). And, as Jesus said, “A spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). As Spirit, God is said to be invisible. John 1:18 says that “No one has seen God at any time.” As Spirit, God is said to be eternal. Hebrews 9:14 speaks of “the eternal Spirit.” So as Spirit, God has no flesh and bones, cannot be seen, and cannot die.
But after man sinned, it became necessary for a proper blood sacrifice to be offered as an atonement for sin. This is called salvation. Ezekiel 22:30 says, “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” Isaiah 63:5 says, “I looked, but there was no one to help, and I wondered that there was no one to uphold; therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me....”
There was no man who could qualify as a sufficient sacrifice, for all had sinned and come short of the glory of God. So God’s own arm brought salvation. In other words, God did it Himself. He became the sacrifice. But to do this He had to become a man, since as Spirit He had no blood and He could not die. This is the essence of God’s plan for man from eternity.
John 1:1says, “In the beginning was the Word [logos], and the Word [logos] was with God, and the Word [logos] was God.” The word logos can have two meanings which are different yet closely related. It can mean a thought or idea, but it can also mean the expression of a thought or idea. The Greeks used the term “interior logos,” which means an idea, a concept, or a mental image. They also used the term “exterior logos,” which refers to the expression or actualization of an idea or concept. In the Bible, the Logos was God’s plan. In the beginning was the Plan, and the Plan was with God [in His mind], and the Plan was God [that He would make Himself known].
What did God plan? 1 Peter 1:18-20 describes His plan this way: “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold,... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world [Interior Logos], but was manifest [Exterior Logos] in these last times for you.”
God foreordained [planned in advance] the shedding of the blood of Christ before the beginning. In other words, He planned to come into His creation as a man and shed His own blood. This is how Paul can say in Acts 20:28 that God purchased the Church with “His own blood.”
Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” At the exact time He planned, the Son came forth. Ephesians 1:3-4 tells us that God chose us in Christ before the beginning. Romans 8:29-30 tells us that God foresaw the whole company of believers in Him. 2 Timothy 1:8-10 reveals that God gave us grace before the beginning. Titus 1:1-3 says that God promised us eternal life before the beginning. And John 17:5, 24 tells us that God loved His plan before the beginning.
Nothing is more important to God than the accomplishment of His plan. So in the beginning God had a plan. And that plan was “with God.” It was in His heart. It was in His mind. He was thinking about it, considering it, envisaging it. And that plan “was God”—it was that God would reveal Himself to man, that the invisible God would make Himself known, that the Interior Logos would be transformed into Exterior Logos.
The interior is the mystery concealed. The exterior is the mystery revealed. Therefore John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” According to 1 Timothy 3:16, the mystery is that God [the invisible Father of Christ] was manifested [rendered visible] in the flesh [not just in a body, but in a human being]. 2 Corinthians 5:19 says, “God [the invisible Father of Christ] was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” God’s own image of Himself became flesh and bone and dwelt among us. We call this the Incarnation. This is Jesus of Nazareth, the uniquely begotten Son of God.
This is why the Son is called “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). He is that aspect of God which can be seen. So we can see that to bring us salvation, there had to be a Son. The term “Son” always relates to the Incarnation. It always refers to the One who was born. Speaking as the Son, Jesus never said, “I am the Father.” Why? It’s because He was more than the Father. He was the Father in the Son. He was God manifested in the flesh.
Who was the Father of the Son of God? Luke 1:35 says, “And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One [holy thing] who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’” Matthew 1:20 says, “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” When the Spirit of God brought forth the conception of the Son in Mary, God became the literal Father of Christ.
The Three Terms, Not Three Persons
FATHER IS A TERM of relationship. When we speak of God as the Father, we are speaking of Him in terms of our relationship to Him as His children. When we pray, we may speak to God as our Father, but we would not usually say, “The Father is really moving in this service.” Or, “He was filled with the Father.” Instead we would say, “The Spirit is moving.” Or, “He was filled with the Spirit.”
The Spirit is not a third divine person, distinct from the Father and the Son. The Spirit is God is action. Think of these terms this way:
The Father is God in relationship.
The Son is God in flesh.
The Holy Spirit is God is spiritual action.
As Father, God is the One who gives anointing. As Son, God is the Anointed One, the Christ. As Spirit, God is the anointing. These are not three distinct divine persons; they are simply three descriptive titles showing us the way God works in our lives to bring salvation.
For salvation to come to man, there had to be a sinless man for the sacrifice. For the Son to be a genuine man, He had to be born of a woman. But for the Son to be a sinless man, He had to be conceived by God. Therefore, to bring salvation God had to become the Father. But once the Son had died and been raised, God had to begin operating in the world as Spirit. Therefore, to bring salvation, the Spirit had to begin moving, just as it did when God brought order to His creation in Genesis 1:2.
As the Spirit, God is able to be all places at the same time. 1 Corinthians 15:45 says, “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” It is perfectly correct to say that Jesus is the Spirit, Jesus is the Son, or that Jesus is the Father. As Acts 4:12 affirms, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
When a person is filled with the Spirit, who is it that comes to dwell within him? 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” And Ephesians 4:6 says, “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Are there three divine persons living in us? No. Jesus is in us by His Spirit.
God is not three distinct divine persons. Neither does He have three identities, three personalities, or three centers of consciousness. God is not three at all, GOD IS ONE!
The doctrine of the trinity was developed by philosophers attempting to explain the God of the Bible using the ideas of Greek philosophy. But in Colossians 2:8-9 Paul warns, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily....”
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” – Deuteronomy 6:4 –
© David A. Huston, 2001 Permission is granted by the author to freely copy or reproduce this booklet for evangelistic purposes. All Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN. Anyone with additional questions may contact the author at www.GloriousChurch.com.
Bible Studies that will change your whole eternity ....
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Grace + 0 =Salvation?
Grace + 0 = Salvation?
Included in this Bible Study:
Grace is God's Act
God Alone is the Source of Salvation
Faith and Obedience are Man's Response
In an editorial one minister declared, "There is nothing that can be added to bring salvation to a soul. Grace," he wrote, "wrought salvation with no strings attached." Another minister stated. "Grace plus nothing equal salvation." Is this biblical? Have these ministers gone farther than the Scriptures go? Must not the recipient of salvation take some corresponding action in response to grace? If there is nothing that one can do, or if no response is necessary, what about the scriptural passages that call for action? When guilty sinners asked, "Men and brethren what shall we do?" the Apostle Peter replied, "Repent . . ." (Acts 2:37-38). When Saul of Tarsus inquired, "Lord, what wilt thou have me do?" the Lord answered, "Go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do" (Acts 9:6). After a devastating earthquake, while springing into the crumbled ruins of the prison in an attempt to take his own life, the Philippian jailer heard the voice of Paul call out, "Do thyself no harm, for we are all here." He was sure his prisoners would be gone. When he discovered them yet present, he turned to Paul and Silas and cried out, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Their answer was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house" (Acts 16:25-31). In each of these scriptural incidents, action was demanded of the inquirer. The first was, "Repent"; the second, "Go; the third, "Believe." All three called for action of the will. A command was issued in each instance. It was not Grace plus nothing equals salvation. "It was grace plus faith plus obedience equals salvation"! Or "Grace plus obedient faith equals salvation."
Grace is God's Act
Grace is the unmerited, undeserved favor of God bestowed on a person through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is the source of salvation. Grace means that God initiates salvation. It includes every act on God's part that brought salvation to mankind. God's grace caused Him to manifest Himself in flesh as Jesus Christ, assume limitations, freely give Himself on Calvary and arise on the third day for our justification.
God Alone is the Source of Salvation
Salvation was initiated in heaven as God's plan. Man was not counseled concerning it. In fact, man had nothing to do with its institution other than being the object of it! "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
"God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us. . ." (Ephesians 2:4).
"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich" (II Corinthians 8:9). From these verses the role of grace in salvation is evident---grace initiates salvation.
Faith and Obedience are Man's Response
Faith takes God's grace, mercy and kindness and appropriates it to an individual's own life. "For by grace are ye saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8).Faith is the agency in the heart of a man that receives the message of God's great grace, applies grace to his own condition, and sees a way out of his lost state. In other words, faith appropriates salvation.
Finally, obedience steps upon the scene and becomes the active agent, motivating one to act on what grace has provided and faith appropriated. Actually we can view obedience as included in true biblical faith and not something apart from it. Since many people think of faith as merely mental assent, we must stress that saving faith does involve obedience. At least nineteen passages in the New Testament adjure obedience to salvation.
In short, obedience activates salvation. "And we are witnesses of these things; and so also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey Him." (Acts 5:32). "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you." (Romans 6:17). "He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him" (Hebrews 5:9). The truth about salvation can be illustrated by a checking account. The account in the bank is the source of money and corresponds to grace. The act of cashing the check represents obedience. Let us suppose someone wants to give you a gift of $1,000. He writes a check for that amount and instructs you to cash it. It is yours; you have the check in your hands. But the money is still in the bank and not in your hands until you cash the check. Your act of cashing the check is the required obedience, and this obedient response is needed if you are to enjoy the benefits of the bank account and check. If you do not act, the bank retains the money in the donor's account and you do not get it! So it is with God. The donor is God, the check is faith, and obedience cashes the check.
The doctrine referred to in Romans 6:17 is experienced earlier in that chapter. Romans 5:20-21 depicts the wonderful grace of God that always abounds more than sin and leads to eternal life. Then Romans 6:1-7 describes the means by which grace is applied. Specifically, the Roman Christians died to sin, were baptized into Jesus Christ, thereby being baptized into His death and being buried with Him in baptism, and arose to walk in newness of life. In other words, they obeyed the command to repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and receive the Holy Spirit. This experience identified them with Christ's death, burial and resurrection, thereby bringing to them the abounding grace of God's provision. Their obedience, which was faith in action, was the channel through which they received God's grace.
No, it is not "Grace + 0 = Salvation." Rather, "Grace + Faith + Obedience = Salvation." If a person does not obey, then he does not truly believe, and if he does not believe then he has not received the grace of God. Acts 2:41 depicts the proper attitude that we must have towards the revelation of God's grace: "Then they that gladly received His word were baptized: and the same day were added unto them about three thousand souls." After hearing about the grace of God, the crowd believed by receiving Peter's word and immediately obeyed by being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Likewise Saul immediately obeyed when Ananias told him what to do (Acts 9:17-18;22:16), and the Philippian jailer obeyed after Paul and Silas had explained the way of salvation to him (Acts 16:31-34). Obedience is the criterion of faith. We must respond in obedient faith to receive the grace of God in our lives. We must not be misled into thinking that no response on our part is necessary for us to be saved. We must obey God's word. We must believe and obey the message preached by the apostles and received by the crowd on the Day of Pentecost: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38).
*Taken from the Word Aflame Press Tract - "GRACE + 0 = SALVATION?" - #1567220754
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Included in this Bible Study:
Grace is God's Act
God Alone is the Source of Salvation
Faith and Obedience are Man's Response
In an editorial one minister declared, "There is nothing that can be added to bring salvation to a soul. Grace," he wrote, "wrought salvation with no strings attached." Another minister stated. "Grace plus nothing equal salvation." Is this biblical? Have these ministers gone farther than the Scriptures go? Must not the recipient of salvation take some corresponding action in response to grace? If there is nothing that one can do, or if no response is necessary, what about the scriptural passages that call for action? When guilty sinners asked, "Men and brethren what shall we do?" the Apostle Peter replied, "Repent . . ." (Acts 2:37-38). When Saul of Tarsus inquired, "Lord, what wilt thou have me do?" the Lord answered, "Go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do" (Acts 9:6). After a devastating earthquake, while springing into the crumbled ruins of the prison in an attempt to take his own life, the Philippian jailer heard the voice of Paul call out, "Do thyself no harm, for we are all here." He was sure his prisoners would be gone. When he discovered them yet present, he turned to Paul and Silas and cried out, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Their answer was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house" (Acts 16:25-31). In each of these scriptural incidents, action was demanded of the inquirer. The first was, "Repent"; the second, "Go; the third, "Believe." All three called for action of the will. A command was issued in each instance. It was not Grace plus nothing equals salvation. "It was grace plus faith plus obedience equals salvation"! Or "Grace plus obedient faith equals salvation."
Grace is God's Act
Grace is the unmerited, undeserved favor of God bestowed on a person through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is the source of salvation. Grace means that God initiates salvation. It includes every act on God's part that brought salvation to mankind. God's grace caused Him to manifest Himself in flesh as Jesus Christ, assume limitations, freely give Himself on Calvary and arise on the third day for our justification.
God Alone is the Source of Salvation
Salvation was initiated in heaven as God's plan. Man was not counseled concerning it. In fact, man had nothing to do with its institution other than being the object of it! "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
"God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us. . ." (Ephesians 2:4).
"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich" (II Corinthians 8:9). From these verses the role of grace in salvation is evident---grace initiates salvation.
Faith and Obedience are Man's Response
Faith takes God's grace, mercy and kindness and appropriates it to an individual's own life. "For by grace are ye saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8).Faith is the agency in the heart of a man that receives the message of God's great grace, applies grace to his own condition, and sees a way out of his lost state. In other words, faith appropriates salvation.
Finally, obedience steps upon the scene and becomes the active agent, motivating one to act on what grace has provided and faith appropriated. Actually we can view obedience as included in true biblical faith and not something apart from it. Since many people think of faith as merely mental assent, we must stress that saving faith does involve obedience. At least nineteen passages in the New Testament adjure obedience to salvation.
In short, obedience activates salvation. "And we are witnesses of these things; and so also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey Him." (Acts 5:32). "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you." (Romans 6:17). "He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him" (Hebrews 5:9). The truth about salvation can be illustrated by a checking account. The account in the bank is the source of money and corresponds to grace. The act of cashing the check represents obedience. Let us suppose someone wants to give you a gift of $1,000. He writes a check for that amount and instructs you to cash it. It is yours; you have the check in your hands. But the money is still in the bank and not in your hands until you cash the check. Your act of cashing the check is the required obedience, and this obedient response is needed if you are to enjoy the benefits of the bank account and check. If you do not act, the bank retains the money in the donor's account and you do not get it! So it is with God. The donor is God, the check is faith, and obedience cashes the check.
The doctrine referred to in Romans 6:17 is experienced earlier in that chapter. Romans 5:20-21 depicts the wonderful grace of God that always abounds more than sin and leads to eternal life. Then Romans 6:1-7 describes the means by which grace is applied. Specifically, the Roman Christians died to sin, were baptized into Jesus Christ, thereby being baptized into His death and being buried with Him in baptism, and arose to walk in newness of life. In other words, they obeyed the command to repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and receive the Holy Spirit. This experience identified them with Christ's death, burial and resurrection, thereby bringing to them the abounding grace of God's provision. Their obedience, which was faith in action, was the channel through which they received God's grace.
No, it is not "Grace + 0 = Salvation." Rather, "Grace + Faith + Obedience = Salvation." If a person does not obey, then he does not truly believe, and if he does not believe then he has not received the grace of God. Acts 2:41 depicts the proper attitude that we must have towards the revelation of God's grace: "Then they that gladly received His word were baptized: and the same day were added unto them about three thousand souls." After hearing about the grace of God, the crowd believed by receiving Peter's word and immediately obeyed by being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Likewise Saul immediately obeyed when Ananias told him what to do (Acts 9:17-18;22:16), and the Philippian jailer obeyed after Paul and Silas had explained the way of salvation to him (Acts 16:31-34). Obedience is the criterion of faith. We must respond in obedient faith to receive the grace of God in our lives. We must not be misled into thinking that no response on our part is necessary for us to be saved. We must obey God's word. We must believe and obey the message preached by the apostles and received by the crowd on the Day of Pentecost: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38).
*Taken from the Word Aflame Press Tract - "GRACE + 0 = SALVATION?" - #1567220754
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US-British Leaders Swear Allegiance To Pope As England Destroyed
This may be totally bogus, but... there is enough reason to believe it may NOT be bogus. Supposedly brought to us by Russian intelligence reports. I am new to this site & obviously there is questionable material here. This information reflects other information found here already. It's worth considering.
WhatDoesItMean.Com
WhatDoesItMean.Com
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
YouTube - Louie Giglio - Laminin
this is one of the coolest things I've never heard of before. Laminin. What is it? It is the basic protein molecule that acts like a glue that holds all our cells together. It is shaped just like the cross. Watch this video and praise the Lord!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Center for Science and Culture
Darwinism? Intelligent Design? Evolution? Want more info than they are offering in the classroom? Please go to this website. Under the Dissent From Darwinism link at the top left column, you will find 17 pages of Ph.D's who are willing to publicly proclaim that Darwinism is insufficient to account for the complexity of life on planet Earth! Many more articles and links provided to arm yourselves, and your family against the onslaught of human secularism. Book mark this site!
'Expelled' breaks into Top 10 on first weekend (OneNewsNow.com)
Hope for reform? I hope so! My wife and kids and I went to Muncie to see this movie, since it wasn't offered in Richmind. It was superb! Balanced! That's something that can't be said about the opposition. Go see the movie. Take a friend. Watch the interview with Ben Stein at the March 20, 2008 posting.
'Expelled' breaks into Top 10 on first weekend (OneNewsNow.com)
'Expelled' breaks into Top 10 on first weekend (OneNewsNow.com)
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Origins of the Papacy
In this time of American Papal infatuation, it is important to understand what are the true ...please follow this link: Origins of the Papacy
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Clerical Whispers: Benedict and European Unity
This comes to us from the Roman Catholic perspective. Read the whole article. It seems the writer of this article doesn't think the pope is satisfied with Javier Solana as secular leader of the revived Holy Roman Empire. Maybe we are seeing the rift that will eventually cause Solana to nuke the vatican. See! Some of this stuff is just fun.
Clerical Whispers: Benedict and European Unity
Clerical Whispers: Benedict and European Unity
Excerpt from "50 Years in the Church of Rome"
From Chapter 59 of "50 Years in the Church of Rome" by Charles Chiniquy.
Every one knows that one of the first and most solemn acts of the present Pope, Leo XIII., was to order that the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas should be taught in all the colleges, seminaries, and universities of the Church of Rome throughout the whole world, as the most accurate teaching of the doctrines of his church. Well, on the 30th December, 1880, I forced the Rt. Rev. Foley, Bishop of Chicago, to translate from Latin into English, before the court of Kankakee, and to swear that the following law was among those promulgated by St. Thomas as one of the present and unchangeable laws of the Church of Rome:
."Though heretics must not be tolerated because they deserve it, we must bear with them, till, by a second admonition, they may be brought back to the faith of the church. But those who, after a second admonition, remain obstinate in their errors, must not only be excommunicated, but they must be delivered to the secular power to be exterminated."
After the bishop had sworn that this was the true doctrine of the Church of Rome expressed by St. Thomas, and taught in all the colleges, seminaries, and universities of the Church of Rome, I forced him to declare, under oath, that he, and every priest of Rome, once a year, under pain of eternal damnation, is obliged to say, in the presence of God, in his Breviarum (his official prayer-book), that that doctrine was so good and holy, that every word of it has been inspired by the Holy Ghost to St. Thomas.
The same Bishop Foley was again forced by me, before the same court of Kankakee, to translate from Latin into English, the following decree of the Council of Lateran, and to acknowledge, under oath, that it was as much the law of the Church of Rome today as on the day it was passed in the year 1215.
"We excommunicate and anathematize every heresy that exalts itself against the holy orthodox and Catholic faith, condemning all heretics, by whatever name they may be known, for though their faces differ, they are tied together by their tails. Such as are condemned are to be delivered over to the existing secular powers to receive due punishment. If laymen, their goods must be confiscated. If priests, they shall be degraded from their respective orders, and their property applied to the church in which they officated. Secular powers of all ranks and degrees are to be warned, induced, and, if necessary, compelled by ecclesiastical censure, to swear that they will exert themselves to the utmost in the defense of the faith, and extirpate all heretics denounced by the church, who shall be found in their territories. And whenever any person shall assume government, whether it be spiritual or temporal, he shall be bound to abide by this decree."If any temporal lord, after having been admonished and required by the church, shall neglect to clear his territory of heretical depravity, the Metropolitan and Bishop of the Province, shall unite in excommunicating him. Should he remain contumacious a whole year, the fact shall be signified to the Supreme Pontiff, who will declare his vassals released from their allegiance from that time, and will bestow his territory on Catholics, to be occupied by them, on condition of exterminating the heretics and preserving the said territory in the faith.
"Catholics who shall assume the cross for the extermination of heretics, shall enjoy the same indulgence, and be protected by the same privileges as are granted to those who go to the help of the Holy Land. We decree further that all those who have dealings with heretics, and especially such as receive, defend and encourage them, shall be excommunicated. He shall not be eligible to any public officer. He shall not be admitted as a witness. He shall neither have the power to bequeath his property by will, nor succeed to an inheritance. He shall not bring any action against any person, but any one can bring action against him. Should he be a judge, his decision shall have no force, nor shall any cause be brought before him. Should he be a lawyer, no instruments made by him shall be held valid, but shall be condemned with their authors."
The Roman Catholic Church is actively conspiratorial against the constitution of the United States of America, and against all protestants, to the end of exterminating those who refuse to renounce their faith for the Roman pagan faith! Doubt this at you own peril. The Roman clergy should be regarded as we regard Muslim clerics actively engaged in conspiracy against our great country! The Roman church IS ACTUALLY more dangerous to us than the wild eyed Muslims! G.W.Bush is suspected of being a "closet Catholic". He may as well be Al Qaeda! The war on terror is smoke and mirrors, mis-direction to keep us from seeing the true threat.
The Jesuits have infiltrated every level of our government, and our laws of "freedom of religion" are in serious jeopardy! Please take the necessary time needed to read Edmond Paris' work "The Secret History of the Jesuits", found in the links to the right.
Now Rex 84 carries more weight! If you don't understand that reference, type "FEMA" and/or "Rex 84" in the search area at the top of the page for more info. It may scare you pretty badly, if you are weak in the faith.
Every one knows that one of the first and most solemn acts of the present Pope, Leo XIII., was to order that the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas should be taught in all the colleges, seminaries, and universities of the Church of Rome throughout the whole world, as the most accurate teaching of the doctrines of his church. Well, on the 30th December, 1880, I forced the Rt. Rev. Foley, Bishop of Chicago, to translate from Latin into English, before the court of Kankakee, and to swear that the following law was among those promulgated by St. Thomas as one of the present and unchangeable laws of the Church of Rome:
."Though heretics must not be tolerated because they deserve it, we must bear with them, till, by a second admonition, they may be brought back to the faith of the church. But those who, after a second admonition, remain obstinate in their errors, must not only be excommunicated, but they must be delivered to the secular power to be exterminated."
After the bishop had sworn that this was the true doctrine of the Church of Rome expressed by St. Thomas, and taught in all the colleges, seminaries, and universities of the Church of Rome, I forced him to declare, under oath, that he, and every priest of Rome, once a year, under pain of eternal damnation, is obliged to say, in the presence of God, in his Breviarum (his official prayer-book), that that doctrine was so good and holy, that every word of it has been inspired by the Holy Ghost to St. Thomas.
The same Bishop Foley was again forced by me, before the same court of Kankakee, to translate from Latin into English, the following decree of the Council of Lateran, and to acknowledge, under oath, that it was as much the law of the Church of Rome today as on the day it was passed in the year 1215.
"We excommunicate and anathematize every heresy that exalts itself against the holy orthodox and Catholic faith, condemning all heretics, by whatever name they may be known, for though their faces differ, they are tied together by their tails. Such as are condemned are to be delivered over to the existing secular powers to receive due punishment. If laymen, their goods must be confiscated. If priests, they shall be degraded from their respective orders, and their property applied to the church in which they officated. Secular powers of all ranks and degrees are to be warned, induced, and, if necessary, compelled by ecclesiastical censure, to swear that they will exert themselves to the utmost in the defense of the faith, and extirpate all heretics denounced by the church, who shall be found in their territories. And whenever any person shall assume government, whether it be spiritual or temporal, he shall be bound to abide by this decree."If any temporal lord, after having been admonished and required by the church, shall neglect to clear his territory of heretical depravity, the Metropolitan and Bishop of the Province, shall unite in excommunicating him. Should he remain contumacious a whole year, the fact shall be signified to the Supreme Pontiff, who will declare his vassals released from their allegiance from that time, and will bestow his territory on Catholics, to be occupied by them, on condition of exterminating the heretics and preserving the said territory in the faith.
"Catholics who shall assume the cross for the extermination of heretics, shall enjoy the same indulgence, and be protected by the same privileges as are granted to those who go to the help of the Holy Land. We decree further that all those who have dealings with heretics, and especially such as receive, defend and encourage them, shall be excommunicated. He shall not be eligible to any public officer. He shall not be admitted as a witness. He shall neither have the power to bequeath his property by will, nor succeed to an inheritance. He shall not bring any action against any person, but any one can bring action against him. Should he be a judge, his decision shall have no force, nor shall any cause be brought before him. Should he be a lawyer, no instruments made by him shall be held valid, but shall be condemned with their authors."
The Roman Catholic Church is actively conspiratorial against the constitution of the United States of America, and against all protestants, to the end of exterminating those who refuse to renounce their faith for the Roman pagan faith! Doubt this at you own peril. The Roman clergy should be regarded as we regard Muslim clerics actively engaged in conspiracy against our great country! The Roman church IS ACTUALLY more dangerous to us than the wild eyed Muslims! G.W.Bush is suspected of being a "closet Catholic". He may as well be Al Qaeda! The war on terror is smoke and mirrors, mis-direction to keep us from seeing the true threat.
The Jesuits have infiltrated every level of our government, and our laws of "freedom of religion" are in serious jeopardy! Please take the necessary time needed to read Edmond Paris' work "The Secret History of the Jesuits", found in the links to the right.
Now Rex 84 carries more weight! If you don't understand that reference, type "FEMA" and/or "Rex 84" in the search area at the top of the page for more info. It may scare you pretty badly, if you are weak in the faith.
Monday, April 14, 2008
A Catholic Wind in the White House - washingtonpost.com
Now it seems that G.W. Bush has been following Roman Catholic guidance all along (which is basically what I've been saying all along). The Skull and Bonesman president fits in well with pagan Rome!
Go to the links list on the left and click on the recommended video "Roman Empire Rules Today".
Maybe you think we who espouse such sentiments are over the top, over the edge, out of touch with reality. If that is your opinion, then you haven't been paying attention! The "Mystery Babylon" of Revelation is very nearly ruling America exclusively. When she finally gains control, Protestantism will be under severe attack. Think you won't see it in the US? Read the FEMA links and rethink it all out.
A Catholic Wind in the White House - washingtonpost.com
Go to the links list on the left and click on the recommended video "Roman Empire Rules Today".
Maybe you think we who espouse such sentiments are over the top, over the edge, out of touch with reality. If that is your opinion, then you haven't been paying attention! The "Mystery Babylon" of Revelation is very nearly ruling America exclusively. When she finally gains control, Protestantism will be under severe attack. Think you won't see it in the US? Read the FEMA links and rethink it all out.
A Catholic Wind in the White House - washingtonpost.com
Friday, April 11, 2008
Dan Froomkin - Cheney on the Warpath Again? - washingtonpost.com
Just one snippet from the site, check out the whole article.
On Permanent Bases
Here's a little item to clip and save.
The Washington Post reports: "The Bush administration has assured Congress that it does not seek to establish 'permanent' U.S. military bases in Iraq. But an exchange yesterday among Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), State Department Iraq coordinator David Satterfield and Assistant Defense Secretary Mary Beth Long at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing suggests that permanence lies in the mind of the beholder:
"Webb: What is a permanent base?
"Satterfield: Senator, the administration has made quite clear that we are not seeking permanent bases in Iraq. . . .
"Webb: Right. But what is a permanent base? Are our bases in Japan permanent bases?
"Long: I have looked into this. As far as the department is concerned, we don't have a worldwide or even a department-wide definition of permanent bases. I believe those are, by and large, determined on a case-by-case basis. . . .
"Webb: Well, I understand that. But basically my point is it's sort of a dead word. It doesn't really mean anything.
"Long: Yes, Senator, you're completely right. It doesn't."
Dan Froomkin - Cheney on the Warpath Again? - washingtonpost.com
Also go back and read my Friday, October 26th, 2007, and November 27th 2007 postings on the New Embassy in Iraq.
On Permanent Bases
Here's a little item to clip and save.
The Washington Post reports: "The Bush administration has assured Congress that it does not seek to establish 'permanent' U.S. military bases in Iraq. But an exchange yesterday among Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), State Department Iraq coordinator David Satterfield and Assistant Defense Secretary Mary Beth Long at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing suggests that permanence lies in the mind of the beholder:
"Webb: What is a permanent base?
"Satterfield: Senator, the administration has made quite clear that we are not seeking permanent bases in Iraq. . . .
"Webb: Right. But what is a permanent base? Are our bases in Japan permanent bases?
"Long: I have looked into this. As far as the department is concerned, we don't have a worldwide or even a department-wide definition of permanent bases. I believe those are, by and large, determined on a case-by-case basis. . . .
"Webb: Well, I understand that. But basically my point is it's sort of a dead word. It doesn't really mean anything.
"Long: Yes, Senator, you're completely right. It doesn't."
Dan Froomkin - Cheney on the Warpath Again? - washingtonpost.com
Also go back and read my Friday, October 26th, 2007, and November 27th 2007 postings on the New Embassy in Iraq.
Obama’s Catholic Advisory Council - The Brody File: David Brody Blog - CBN News
Obama and McCain both hath Catholic Councils backing them. Any surprises here? Don't be shocked if Hillary suddenly becomes a blazing Roman Catholic.
Obama’s Catholic Advisory Council - The Brody File: David Brody Blog - CBN News
Obama’s Catholic Advisory Council - The Brody File: David Brody Blog - CBN News
Thursday, April 10, 2008
New Spot: "Troops Support Ron Paul" - Channel '08: The 2008 Election on Video
Ron Paul hasn't given up yet...have you? Please watch these Ron Paul videos. It is worthy if only for the educational value! It is worthy for more than that, but still...no one else is teaching this or making public this which should be taught in every public shcool system of our country!
New Spot: "Troops Support Ron Paul" - Channel '08: The 2008 Election on Video
New Spot: "Troops Support Ron Paul" - Channel '08: The 2008 Election on Video
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Time and Eternity
This is the BEST bunch of writings I ever came across explaining the difference between TIME and ETERNITY, and how it affects Christians NOW.
Time and Eternity
Time and Eternity
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