Contention and Division

Posted on August 16, 2013 by touchingheavenministries

There has been some contention and division in the body of Christ of late. This is not a new controversy, the contention lies in the understanding of Baptism. I have recently had the personal privilege to discuss this with another child of GOD and listed below is the sticking points:

§  Jesus told His disciples, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway(s), even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:19-20 KJV)

§  “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, 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 2:36-38)

Those of us that have been Christians for some time have all had to deal with the question, “Why does the Scripture contradict itself?” When the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost blesses us with understanding and wisdom, we are led to the revelation that Jesus and Peter were speaking of the same water baptism. We have to remember that Jesus always taught in parables as to not reveal who He actually was along with not revealing the truth to those that do not believe. Not to cause contention, here is Jesus explaining why He teaches in parables:

§  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” The disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” (Matthew 13:9-11 NKJV)

Even the disciples, those that Jesus hand-picked to walk along side of Him in His ministry asked basically the same question, a parable within itself, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” as the one that we all have had to contend with, “Why does the Scripture contradict itself?” When the Word of GOD is studied without revelation Scripture does contradict itself in the understanding of the individual but when revelation is given by the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost understanding and wisdom follows so that the belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior can be shared with other believers. No matter what how you try to explain the true meaning to an unbeliever they will not understand and claim contradictions of the Scriptures when there are not contradictions anywhere in the Word of GOD.

The Apostles were with Jesus for approximately three years, they were first taught in parables, then Jesus revealed to them the true meaning of the teaching. After some time of being with Jesus the Apostles learned to understand what Jesus was actually teaching and saying. This is why they asked, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” As with each of them individually Jesus revealed to them how to discern the true meaning of His parables, a good example of this is the first time Peter, Andrew, James and John met Jesus:

§  “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:17-22)

 These four men were life long fishermen, they only knew a life on the sea. Casting nets to catch fish to be able to sell at the market, was not in their understanding of what Jesus was asking. It was common knowledge in those days that fishermen would be called upon by the Romans to use their nets to catch fugitives, but when Jesus spoke of them becoming fishers of men, it intrigued them into following Him to see what He was meaning. Since Jesus did not tell them to bring their nets, they wondered, how they would become fishers of men without nets. Jesus spoke His first parable unto the first four that day and with a little time they became aware of what Jesus was asking of them, they finally understood.

In trying to understand the parable spoken by Jesus concerning baptism, you have to remember it is a parable. Jesus knew that since His spoke, the Word would be written down for individuals even unto the last days. Jesus said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19 KJV) What is the name that Jesus is speaking of? It is difficult to understand why Jesus would say, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Holy Ghost” but that is exactly what He said. Peter also said the same thing in Acts 2:38, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name….” but Peter having the keys to the kingdom of Heaven did not say “of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” Peter simply said, “of Jesus”.

I have been asked, “Are GOD and the Father the same person? According to Psalms 89 GOD says:

§  Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one, and said: “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found My servant David; With My holy oil I have anointed him, with whom My hand shall be established; Also My arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not outwit him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague those who hate him. But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him, and in My name his horn shall be exalted. Also I will set his hand over the sea, and his right hand over the rivers. He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ Also I will make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. My mercy I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall stand firm with him.” (Psalms 89:19-28 NKJV)

§  “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor , The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6 KJV)
So in answering the question, “Are GOD and the Father the same person?” we establish that yes, GOD and the Father is the same person. Upon considering that GOD and the Father are actually one in the same we then have to establish who the Son is also. So, “Who is the Son?” According to Scripture the Son is:

§  “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1)

§  “Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God“  (Matthew 27:54)

§  “And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:32-34)

So in answering the second question, “Who is the Son?” we establish that Jesus is the Son of GOD. The next question is, “Who is the Holy Ghost?” This one is a little harder to determine unless you notice the following:

§  “But the Comforter, which is theHoly Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance , whatsoever I have said unto you“ (John 14:26 KJV)

§  “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive , because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”  (John 14:16-18 KJV)

§  Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

§  “But when the Comforter is come , whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me“ (John 15:26)

§  Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way , the , and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.” (John 14:6)

§  “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”

So in answering the third question, the identity of the Holy Ghost, Jesus refers to the Holy Ghost as the Comforter, the Spirit of truth. Jesus says that He is the truth. Jesus goes unto to say. “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come unto you.” In feeling the distress of His disciples Jesus also says, “for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”

We have established the following:

1.       GOD and the Father are one in the same person.

2.      The Son of GOD is Jesus.

3.      Jesus is the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost.

The last thing that has to be established is, “What is the name of the Father?” and “What is the name of GOD?” Since we have established that they are one in the same person we are trying to establish the name of that person, In dealing with question we will allow scripture to answer it for us:

§  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4)

§  “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.” (John 1:14)

 

 

§  “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.“ Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?“  (John 14:7-9)

So in answering the fourth and fifth questions, “What is the name of the Father?” and “What is the name of GOD?” we have established that the name of both GOD and the Father is….. Jesus.  John 1:1 says, “the Word was GOD” and 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.” showing that the only begotten SON of the Father was the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us known to us as….. Jesus.

In using the Scriptures to establish the following we are able now to know the name of:

1.       GOD and the Father are one in the same person………  JESUS

2.      The Son of GOD  ………………………………………………………  JESUS

3.      The Spirit of truth, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost…..  JESUS

Notice we used the Scripture to reveal the identity of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost by one name……. JESUS. This was done without twisting the Scriptures to make it fit our beliefs or view-point. This contention and division that is among the different ministries that claim to believe in Jesus Christ as their LORD and SAVIOR should be stopped by the Word of GOD, by His own words. We again reference:

§  Jesus told His disciples, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway(s), even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:19-20 KJV)

§  “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, 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 2:36-38)

It is disturbing to think that there are those that call themselves ministers of GOD but do not know or teach who Jesus really is. How many Christians are out there that do not know that Jesus is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. How many Ministers are baptizing literally in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost? This is not doctrines of man such as what some call the Godhead or Oneness, it is the written Word of GOD, it is in each and every Holy Bible that each and every Christian around the world should have in their possession. Christians do not serve a triune GOD, we do service the ONE GOD and his name according to Scripture is JESUS.

I was recently confronted by a Pastor of an average size ministry (Phil Taylor of NuVision-I have come to find out-Fred-Biblical Christianity) in the Midwest of the United States. He asked me in which way did I believe, Godhead or Oneness. I tried to explain my belief in the deity of Jesus Christ. This pastor said that he did not understand what the Oneness belief was about but he adamantly proclaimed his belief in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost as three separate individuals. In this the Pastor said that he had just removed one of his staff member for believing in what he called the Oneness Doctrine. I told this Pastor that I myself did not know of a Oneness Doctrine but do believe that Jesus Christ is the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. At that moment he said, “Thank you Holy Ghost for ‘REVILING’ another, lol,”, this Pastor went on to say, “I will not ever changed my mind on this bro, do not message me again.” Needless to say I was quite bewildered, I could not figure out what I had done, but in prayer the Holy Ghost that I know revealed to me that this Pastor has led the congregation away from the truth and will have to answer for those that will be lost.

It is my prayer that upon reading this teaching that GOD has revealed His true self to you and that you will lead others to this teaching. It is also my prayer that GOD opens the hearts and minds of those that claim to know Him but do not. The name of Jesus has everything to do with your salvation and without it you are not saved, you are lost. May GOD bless each and every person that reads this teaching with His Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding to know what is the truth of Jesus Christ really is.

§  Bishop J.D. Sparks

§  Touching Heaven Ministries