The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
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LESSON 6: THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Under the leadership of Ahab,
one of the most spineless kings in the history of the people of God,
Israel has fallen into deep apostasy.
Ordered by his wife, queen Jezebel,
Ahab had redirected the entire nation of Israel to forsake the Lord,
and turn to the worship of the abominable Baal.
Gradually, God’s people can no longer discern between YHWH and Baal,
which one is their Only True God.
After three and a half years of taking rain away from Israel,
the Lord finally had their attention.
He then sent the prophet Elijah
to confront Ahab and his priests of Baal.
“When Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him,
‘Art thou he that troubleth Israel?'” [11] I Kings 18:17.
In the mind of Ahab, stunningly,
the one troubling Israel isn’t him,
but the prophet Elijah!
“And he answered, I have not troubled Israel;
but thou, and thy father’s house,
in that ye have forsaken the commandments of YHWH,
and thou hast followed Baalim.
Now therefore send, gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel,
and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty,
and the prophets of the groves four hundred,
which eat at Jezebel’s table.” [11] I Kings 18:18-19.
And then before all the people and the prophets of Satan,
Elijah said: “Let them therefore give us two bullocks;
and let them choose one bullock for themselves,
and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood,
and put no fire under:
and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood,
and put no fire under.
And call ye on the name of your gods,
and I will call on the name of YHWH:
and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God.”
“And all the people answered and said: ‘Well said!'” [11] I Kings 18:23, 24.
The showdown commenced.
The priests of Baal killed the bullock,
calling upon the name of Baal,
dancing around the altar from morning till noon,
but no god answered them.
How glad would these deceivers be
if only they could smuggle a fire into their sacrifice.
They only need a small fire to start rising on their sacrifice
to manipulate the entire apostate Israelite multitude
to murder Elijah on the spot.
But that Elijah also understood too well,
and he was fully awake, keeping a close watch over them,
and they couldn’t cheat in the slightest.
He even mocked them: “Cry aloud: for he is a god;
either he is talking,
or he is pursuing,
or he is in a journey,
or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked!” [11] I Kings 18:27.
Thus the priests of Baal screamed even louder,
even cutting themselves bleeding all over,
according to their brainless customs,
even unto the offering of the evening sacrifice,
still no god answered or regarded.
And then, Elijah arose, and built an altar of 12 stones,
dressed the bullock and laid it upon the wood on the altar.
Then he dug a trench roundabout,
and had the people pour 4 barrels of water over the sacrifice and the wood 3 times,
that even the trench was overflowed.
Then, the prophet prayed:
“YHWH God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel,
and that I am thy servant,
and that I have done all these things at thy word.
Hear me, YHWH, hear me,
that this people may know that thou art YHWH The God,
and that thou hast turned their heart back again.” [11] Kings 18:36, 37.
“Then the fire of YHWH fell,
and consumed the burnt sacrifice,
and the wood, and the stones, and the dust,
and licked up the water that [was] in the trench.” [11] Kings 18:38.
“And when all the people saw it,
they fell on their faces: and they said,
YHWH, he is The God;
YHWH, he is The God!” [11] Kings 18:39.
With just one man,
God has managed to defeat the entire legion of almost a thousand false prophets,
and brought His people back to Him.
The Bible tells us that Elijah didn’t die afterward,
but was translated to heaven without seeing death, unto life everlasting.
He is the very shadow of the last generation of the Lord’s warriors in the history of mankind,
raised and walk in the spirit of Elijah of old,
to wage wars against false worship, false gods and apostasy unto the end of the world,
to return the people of God
to the correct understanding of the identity of the Only True God.
1. According to the Bible, who is the Only True God?
[04] John 17:1, 3 Father… this is life eternal,
that they may know Thee, the Only True God,
and JESUS Christ whom you have sent.
From the mouth of our dear Lord JESUS Christ Himself, in the New Testament,
comes the cutting truth that strikes directly at the false assumption
that the identity of the One True God
has somehow changed from the Old to the New Testament.
Not only so, our Lord declares plainly that this truth,
that the Father alone is the Only True God,
is critical to our salvation.
[07] I Corinthians 8:6 But to us, there is but one God, The Father.
All through the Old and the New Testament,
before, during, and after our Savior walked the earth,
the Bible consistently declares that there is only one God,
and that only true God is the Father.
In the Bible, there exists only the term “God the Father”,
nowhere can the terms “God the Son”, God the Holy Spirit”, and “Trinity” be found, not even once.
Only faulty Bible translations in various languages,
translated by those who would add words to the Word of God,
only those translations carry those terms in them.
Beware of translations
that translate terms like “the Son” into “God the Son”,
“the Holy Spirit” into “God the Holy Spirit”.
In the time of the apostles, this doctrine of the Trinity
was still nowhere to be found in the church.
It was not until 325 AD at the council of Nicaea,
centuries after all the apostles were dead,
was this made-up heresy established by the Roman Catholic Church,
the Anti-Christ power described in [27] Daniel 7
that we studied in the lesson “who is the Anti-Christ?”
The Trinity doctrine is not a Truth so wondrous
that it is beyond human understanding.
It is a heresy deliberately designed to be confusing,
to give off the false feeling of sacredness,
to scare off people from examining it thoroughly
and uncover its heretical nature.
This doctrine and all of its variations
– triune, tritheism, and even the doctrine of a Korean “god the mother” –
can all easily be exposed as heresies
with these two Bible verses, [04] John 17:3, and [07] I Corinthians 8:6.
2. Then who is JESUS?
[04] John 3:16 For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
[01] Matthew 16:15-17 He saith unto them:
“But whom say ye that I am?”
And Simon Peter answered and said:
“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Blessed art thou, Simon son of Jonah:
for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven.
JESUS is the Only Begotten Son of the Only True God, the Father,
He is the literal Son that the Father Himself literally beget in eternity past,
before anything was created,
in the most literal sense of the word of the Bible.
He is NOT a created being,
like us humans made from the dust of the ground,
but the only Begotten Son that was BORNED from the being of God,
of the same substance as His Father.
Please understand the term “only begotten” literally as it is.
This word does NOT mean “created”.
Unlike us humans, God the Father doesn’t need a God the Mother to beget His Son.
Amazingly enough, many people,
despite believing that a virgin can give birth to a son without a husband,
refuse with the fiercest determination to believe that God Almighty Himself
– the very Being behind that miracle –
can indeed give birth to a Son without a wife.
They even mock at that ability of His.
It is the very Sonship of Christ to God the Father
that gives Christ His Godhood, His divine nature.
Just as a tiger father will give birth to a tiger being,
and just as a human father will give birth to a human being,
a God-being Father will give birth to a God-being Son.
Christ is fully a God-being
because His Father who begat Him is a God-being.
They are the only two beings that belong to the “God-kind” in the entire universe.
One of them occupies the title of THE GOD,
the other is His Only Begotten Son,
equal with the Father in the sense and by the virtue of possessing the same nature,
like you and your dad are two equal human beings,
but still, “the Father is greater than I am”,
saith Lord JESUS in [04] John 14:28,
because the Father is the origin of even our Lord JESUS Christ.
Many people misunderstand whether someone is a God-being
would depend upon that person’s length of existence.
But no. It actually depends entirely upon who, or what your daddy is:
whether your father is a God-being.
If God the Father, right now, beget another child besides Lord JESUS,
that child will automatically be a God-being,
even if he is younger than us!
3. What does the Bible mean then,
when it says in various places that JESUS is God?
Does it mean JESUS is THE GOD,
or does it just mean He is a God-being?
In the original Greek, the word “theon” or “theos”, simply means “god”,
and can denote a God-being, or the God nature.
But when it has a prefix equivalent to the prefix “the” in English,
it can only be referring to a specific being,
the equivalent to “The God” in English.
In the English translations,
the translators usually eliminate all the prefixes “the” before “theon” or “theos”,
and translate all of them simply into “God”,
this is not grammatically incorrect,
but can cause confusion at times.
For example:
[04] John 1:1 “…the Word was with ton theon, and the Word was theos“
was translated to “…the Word was with God (“the” has been erased), and the Word was God.”
The first word “ton theon” denotes “The God” of the Bible, the Father;
the second word “theos”, without the prefix “the” before it,
can also denote the God-kind, not just a specific being.
Especially in this context, where the author had deliberately added the prefix “the” before the first “god” word
and wrote the second “god” word without the prefix, to differentiate between the two,
the second “god” word thus could ONLY be referring to the God-kind.
This saying is similar to:
“Eve was with The Human (Adam), and Eve was human.”
Similarly, “the Word was with The God (the Father),
and the Word was God (in the sense that He is a God-being).”
Likewise, in [04] John 10:33,
where the Pharisees were accusing JESUS:
“thou, being human, makest thyself God”,
there is also no prefix “the” before the word “God”.
They were not accusing Christ of claiming to be The God of the Universe,
but they were accusing Him of claiming to be a God-being,
because He said He is the Son of that “The God”.
These are classical Greek grammar mistakes,
that can be uncovered easily
when we pull out the interlinear of the original text.
Let us be thankful still for the translators,
though faulty human beings,
were still effective tools of the Lord in the saving of many souls.
4. Then why does [23] Isaiah 9:5 call Christ “the Almighty God” and “the Eternal Father”?
The right understanding of the name “Almighty God” has been explained above.
It does not mean that Christ is The God of the Universe, His Father,
but it means He is a God-being, and an Almighty one, just like His Father is.
About the name “the Eternal Father”,
in order for someone to be called a “father”,
that person only needs to have children,
and oh boy, how numerous are the children of JESUS Christ!
[19] Hebrews 2:13, Christ said:
“Behold I and the children which God hath given me.”
[07] I Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written,
The first man Adam was made a living soul;
the last Adam a quickening spirit.
One of the names of our Lord JESUS
is the Second Adam, or the Last Adam.
Because as the first Adam was the father of the entire fallen mankind,
having children born after his sinful fallen nature,
the Last Adam is also the father of a new mankind,
having children born AGAIN after His holy nature.
We can well say:
God the Father has reborn us the second time through our Lord JESUS Christ.
THIS is the accurate understanding
of the title “the Eternal Father” given to Christ in [23] Isaiah 9:5.
The Bible is NOT trying to say that JESUS is His Father.
5. Then what does JESUS mean when He said “I and the Father are one” in [04] John 10:30?
[04] John 17:22 (JESUS was praying to the Father) And the glory which thou gavest me
I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.
The “oneness” of the disciples was expected by JESUS
to be just like the “oneness” of Him and His Father.
Question: when the disciples became one on the day of Pentecost,
did all of them merge into one person,
or are they still separate entities,
but having the same mind, the same purpose, the same spirit?
THIS is the accurate understanding of the saying “I and the Father are one”:
our Lord JESUS Christ and His Father
has the same spirit, same character, same purpose, same mind,
there was never a disagreement of any kind between Him and His Father.
Be very mindful that Lord JESUS and His Father are NOT one being,
but two distinct beings.
Some people would like to believe
that God has given birth to Himself,
and send Himself to the world
to live a life of obedience to Himself,
glorifying Himself and praying to Himself daily,
calling Himself His Father and calling Himself His Son,
and on the cross had committed His Spirit into the hands of Himself,
then rose from the dead, ascended to heaven to sit on the right hand of Himself,
waiting until He Himself has put all the enemies of Himself to be the footstool of Himself.
Now if anyone insists on believing such Babylon confusion, enjoy yourself,
but please: do not put a cherry on top of that steaming pile
by accusing those who refuse to believe likewise to be “unbiblical”.
6. What about the Holy Spirit? What is the Holy Spirit?
[06] Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
[07] I Corinthians 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which is in him?
even so the things of God knoweth no man,
but the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit is the spirit of both God and JESUS Christ His Son.
In the Bible, the relationship between someone with his own spirit,
is identical to the relationship between the Father and the Son with their own Spirit.
Just as the spirit of someone is not a different one than that person,
the Spirit of God and of Christ is not a different one than the Father and the Son.
7. So who then is the Holy Spirit?
[08] II Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit:
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
[08] II Corinthians 13:5 Know ye not your own selves,
how that JESUS Christ is in you,
except ye be reprobates?
The Holy Spirit is our very Lord JESUS Christ coming and abiding in our souls.
The Holy Spirit is not an emotionless sphere of energy,
but neither is the Holy Spirit someone that is neither the Father, neither the Son,
but somehow is still God, like the Trinity doctrine teaches.
Granted: God has two persons:
His bodily person that sits on the throne of Heaven,
and His spirit person that roams outside His body;
JESUS also has two persons:
His bodily person that sits on the right hand of God,
and His spirit person that roams outside His body.
And because the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ is one and the same,
sometimes the confusing expression “the third person” is used for the Holy Spirit,
but it is critical for us to understand that expression in a correct way:
there are still only TWO BEINGS here,
namely, the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit is NOT someone that is neither the Father, neither the Son,
but somehow is still God.
Moreover, thus saith Lord JESUS:
[04] John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?
Meaning: our Lord JESUS always has His Father in Him.
So when we receive JESUS into our souls,
we receive both Him and His Father.
This is the reason why Christ was called “Emmanuel”,
meaning “God with us”:
throughout His entire journey upon the earth,
His Father, God Himself, has been walking around using His Son as His vessel
– the only vessel ever capable of housing the infinite God in full.
Everything the Son says and does,
was His Father in Him talking and doing through Him.
[04] John 14:10 The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself:
but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
This is also the reason why Thomas, one of the apostles,
when he saw the Lord came back to life with his own eyes,
could not but said: “My Lord! And my God!”
He didn’t mean that JESUS is The God of the universe,
because he well knew the Father is the only true God
from the mouth of JESUS Himself in [04] John 17:3,
but Thomas was expressing his affirmation
to the truth that JESUS had previously told him:
the Father has been inside his Master all along.
And Thomas was bowing down to confess them both.
8. Then what about the “another” Comforter in [04] John 14:16?
Isn’t the Holy Spirit “another” one than JESUS?
[04] John 16:25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs (parables).
[04] John 14:17, 18 ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
[04] John 14:23 If a man love me, he will keep my words:
and my Father will love him,
and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Our Lord JESUS Christ is well-known for His habit
of talking to others about Himself as if a third party other than Him,
especially in His proverbs and parables,
like when He talked about “the Good Shepherd”.
Same goes for the parable of the “another” Comforter:
we don’t need to look any further than a few verses down
to discover that JESUS Himself has plainly revealed unto us
who this “another” Comforter is:
In verse 17: the one who was currently with the disciples is obviously JESUS Himself.
In verse 18: the one who will be coming to the disciples is “I”.
In verse 23: “We” – more precisely, “me” and “My Father” – will come to be with those who love JESUS and keep His words.
It is crucially important for us to understand
that the Holy Spirit is JESUS Himself, with His Father in Him:
the very being who defeated Satan with just a mortal human body like ours,
thoroughly acquainted with temptations, hunger, pain and suffering,
is the One dwelling inside us, empowering us,
and granting us victory against Satan similar to His.
In the Bible, depending on the context, the term “the Holy Spirit”
can be referring to the Father, or the Son, or both of them.
For example, “the Holy Spirit” that descended unto JESUS
in the form of a dove at His baptism,
was simply the Father;
but “the Holy Spirit” that later on descended upon the disciples in [05] Acts,
would be the Son, with the Father in Him.
9. What about the many verses that mention “the Father”, “the Son”, and “the Holy Spirit”?
Like [01] Matthew 28:19?
Aren’t they evidences for a trinity?
[01] Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s see what this verse does tell us,
and what it does NOT tell us.
It does tell us:
– There is “The Father”.
– There is “The Son”.
– There is “The Holy Spirit”.
It does NOT tell us:
– What is the relationship between “the Father”, “the Son”, and “the Holy Spirit”.
– Which one is God.
– Whether the Holy Spirit is God.
– The word “God” doesn’t even appear in this verse.
There is “the Father”, there is “the Son”, and there is “the Holy Spirit”,
are obvious facts that nobody is disputing.
But just from these,
to exaggerate into “the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
are three separate, co-eternal persons,
each of them are God,
and three of them together make up one God,”
is obviously an act of fabricating up many things that are simply not there.
This is the reason why all the verses
that merely MENTION “the Father”, “the Son”, and “the Holy Spirit”,
and the works done through each,
without providing any extra information regarding their relationship,
simply cannot be used as evidences for the Trinity.
They simply don’t say or affirm anything about that doctrine.
Only the mistaken interpreting style
of imagining up things that the verses do NOT even say,
would lead people to mistake these verses
as evidences for the Trinity.
Some even reasoned since it is said in this verse
“in the name (not names) of…”,
then it must mean that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
must be a Trinity having one name (?!).
But if we take into consideration the plain use of language,
even when this term is used with a plural noun,
“in the name of…” is never required to be changed into “in the names of…”.
For example:
[05] Deuteronomy 18:20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name,
which I have not commanded him to speak,
or that shall speak in the name (singular) of other gods (plural),
even that prophet shall die.
Another notice regarding this verse is that some anti-trinitarians,
because they do not know how this verse [01] Matthew 28:19
does not prove that doctrine in the slightest,
when failing to give an answer for it,
had turned to believe the Bible to be adulterated here.
That belief, sadly, is also false.
[19] Psalm 12:6-7 The words of YHWH are pure words:
as silver tried in a furnace of earth,
purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, YHWH,
thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
The Word of God, the Holy Bible,
had indeed been attacked, attempted to change and exterminate
by the generation of the wicked throughout the entire history,
but has been preserved intact by the Lord until today,
just as these two verses declared.
Anyone claiming a Bible version to be adulterated,
must show forth the correct surviving version
and prove its correctness by evidences and clear reasoning,
or in essence will be falsely accusing the Lord
of failing to protect His Word intact according to its declaration.
To know why the Majority Text Bible is the correct Word of God
that He had declared to preserve,
check out the video posted upfront in the Majority Text Bible tab,
accessible via the menu bar on top of this website.
10. If Christians accept the Trinity doctrine,
to believe that besides the Father and the Son, there is a third God-being,
what will the next logical conclusion be?
A quote from the book titled “The Trinity”
by Jerry A. Moon, John W. Reeve, Woodrow W. Widden II,
of the Seventh-day Adventist church,
one of the most, if not THE most zealous church in adhering strictly to the Bible, page 273:
“The oneness in nature and character of the three persons of the Godhead
raises the very useful question of prayer, praise and worship…
But what about direct prayer to the Holy Spirit?
While we have no clear example of or direct command
to pray to the Spirit in Scripture,
doing so does have, in principles, some implicit Biblical support…
It only seems logical that God’s people
can pray directly to and worship the Holy Spirit.”
What we have here, are 3 leaders of a Protestant church
claiming to be most zealously adhered to be Bible,
advising their flock that they can pray to, even worship someone
who they believe is neither the Father nor the Son,
despite the fact that they themselves acknowledge:
there is NO BIBLICAL EXAMPLE NOR COMMAND for such actions.
How could they have given such an advice? Simple.
Because they have been poisoned by the Trinity heresy.
Indeed, if we accept that doctrine,
praying and worshiping “God the Holy Spirit”
would be something most logical to do.
11. What if we still cling to the Trinity doctrine,
but do not pray to or worship anyone besides the Father and the Son?
Would that be acceptable?
[04] John 4:23 the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
The Lord has never given the least permission for His children
to compromise with lying heresies contrary to the Bible,
especially when He had sent forth the light of truth regarding the matter.
Besides, the Christian’s act of worship
has always been performed in spirit and in truth:
if we accept someone other than the Father and the Son to be our God,
our spirit would automatically render worship to that being on the spot.
This is one of the most fundamental laws of worship,
applies to everything there is:
whatsoever we considered to be God or Supreme in our mind,
automatically receives worship from us,
even if they are senseless objects like money or idols,
or imaginary ideas in our minds,
like a god that doesn’t even exist.
12. If our spirit worships someone that is neither the Father nor the Son,
who will immediately jump in to claim that worship as rightfully his?
[01] Matthew 4:8, 9 Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain,
and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them,
and saith unto Him: “All these things will I give thee,
if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”
In the entire universe, there is only one being
that is neither the Father nor the Son,
yet lusted after their position
and desire to receive the honor of worship.
Another fundamental law of worship:
every worship that is contrary to the instructions of Scripture
is automatically claimed by Satan as his.
And throughout the Scripture,
all legal worships are directed to God alone
either directly, or through worshiping His Son (Him who sits on the throne, and the Lamb – [27] Revelation 5:13).
There is no legal worship offered to any other third being besides them.
See Appendix “Does JESUS have the authority to receive worship?”
There are too many benefits for Satan
in deceiving people to believe in this Trinity heresy.
Through it, he receives worship and prayers,
and can impersonate “the third one” to deceive and control man,
even working miracles to lead multitudes astray.
13. Believing in the doctrine of the Trinity is a direct violation of which Commandment of God?
[02] Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
Believing in the Trinity doctrine immediately disqualifies a person
from being among those “who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of JESUS” in [27] Revelation 12:17.
It is truly fortunate that we are saved by grace
through a surrendered faith in our Lord JESUS,
and violations that we made
because we simply didn’t know any better
are not counted against us.
Thus many would still be saved
who were ignorant trespassers of the first commandment
by believing in the Trinity doctrine,
because they never had the light of the Truth
shining upon them regarding this matter.
They can only follow their Lord to the best light they have.
14. However, if we have received the knowledge of the Truth, but still war against it,
willfully believing a lie to trespass one of the Ten Commandments of God,
can we still be saved?
[14] II Thessalonians 2:8-12 And then shall that Wicked be revealed…
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan
with all power and signs and lying wonders,
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,
that they should believe a lie:
that they all might be damned who believed not the truth,
but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
[06] Romans 1:21, 22 Because that, when they knew God,
they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful;
but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
See Appendix “What is the unpardonable sin of “blaspheme against the Holy Spirit”?”
to better understand how dangerous it is
to persistently refuse to repent and accept the truth.
15. The one who died for us on the cross
really was the literal Son of God.
That means the Father, the only true God,
really did have to give His Only Begotten Son,
whom He loves more dearly than His own life, to save us.
If the sacrifice of one’s own child
is dreaded so much more even by wicked sinners
than the sacrifice of one’s own self,
how much more terrifying and devastating would it be
to the God of Love Himself?
The cup the Father had to drink at the cross
truly was even more bitter than that of His Son.
“How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He would give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turned His face away
As wounds which marred the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory!”
This is the moment of Truth. Answer for yourself:
Can the trinity doctrine, and all its various forms,
in any way survive these two plain proof texts of the Bible?
[04] John 17:1, 3 Father… this is life eternal,
that they may know Thee, the Only True God,
and JESUS Christ whom you have sent.
[07] I Corinthians 8:6 But to us, there is but one God, The Father.
Then shouldn’t we renounce that unbiblical heresy
to follow the Only True God and His Only Begotten Son,
even when it contradicts the creeds of your own church?
Appendix
I. Does JESUS have the authority to receive worship? – part 1: the testimonies of the Bible.
Some people who do not want to worship the Lord JESUS,
when facing countless passages showing people worshiping Him,
have reasoned that the word that was translated as “worship”
can be rendered simply as the act of “bowing down” to someone,
and not necessarily “worship”,
and then they quote instances
when people bowed down to kings in the Bible.
Now is this reasoning correct?
Let’s see what the Lexicon dictionary said
about the words that are translated as “worship”:
– “Prokuneo” in Greek: prostrate oneself in homage, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead.
– “Shachah” in Hebrew: prostrate.
Especially in the Hebrew language, which is somewhat hieroglyphic,
meaning the words were basic drawings of the very thing it is describing,
“shachah” is the combination of 3 words:
“sheen” (the picture of teeth, meaning to press down),
“chet” (the picture of a place of protection or refuge),
and “hey” (the picture of outstretched arms, meaning to look up, heed and obey).
These three words: humble one’s self down
to place one’s self into the protection of someone
and render obedience to that someone,
is the correct and full meaning of the word that they are combined into:
the word that was usually translated as “bow down” or “worship”.
And this is something we are only supposed to do towards the Lord!
In various Bible translations,
no matter how the translators translate this word to,
“bow down” or “worship”,
the full meaning remains the same.
This is why when Israel asked for a king,
so that they would have to bow down to that king,
it was a serious offense in the sight of the Lord:
He was already the King that they were to bow down to and worship,
and render absolute obedience to ([09] I Samuel 8:6-7).
True, the Bible has many instances
where men would bow down before kings,
but there is no place saying
that such an act is something pleasing to God.
No man is made by God to bow down to another man.
Claiming “to bow down is not to worship”
is a very weak argument
coming from a lack of knowledge of the Hebrew language,
which leads to misunderstandings about the word.
And if JESUS doesn’t have the authority to receive worship,
when others worship Him, He would have stopped them immediately,
like an angel had stopped John twice,
not allowing the apostle to worship him in [27] Revelation 19:10 and [27] Revelation 22:9.
So to answer the question “Does JESUS have the authority to receive worship?”,
we need only examine whether He did accept worship or not.
1) Do the angels worship JESUS?
[19] Hebrew 1:6 And again, when He (God) bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith:
“And let all the angels of God worship Him!”
And obviously the angels were more than happy
to obey this command of God.
This alone should have been enough for the case to be closed
and we need not examine the matter any further,
because the core issue of the worship does not lie in the worshipers,
but in the one being worshipped:
if JESUS can receive the worship from angels,
He obviously is a lawful receiver of worship from all creations.
But let us still see whether or not
JESUS does receive worship from human beings also.
2) Do human beings worship JESUS?
The New Testament is packed full of instances
where human beings worshipped JESUS,
and He received it as His due.
Here are three examples:
Before JESUS died on the cross:
[01] Matthew 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped Him,
saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
After JESUS rose from the dead:
[01] Matthew 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples,
behold, JESUS met them, saying, All hail.
And they came and held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him.
After JESUS ascended to Heaven:
[27] Revelation 5:13-14 And every creature which is in heaven,
and on the earth, and under the earth,
and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying,
Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power,
be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
And the four beasts said, Amen.
And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped.
That is not to mention the numerous other times in the Old Testament,
when an “angel of YHWH” appeared,
who was called YHWH right afterward
and also received as His due the worship from human beings.
[07] Judges 6:11, 14 And there came an angel of YHWH,
and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah…
And YHWH looked upon him and said.
[06] Joshua 5:13-14 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho,
that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold,
there stood a man over against him with His sword drawn in His hand:
and Joshua went unto Him, and said unto Him,
Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
And He said, Nay; but as captain of the host of YHWH am I now come.
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship,
and said unto Him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?
[26] Jude 9 Yet Michael the archangel,
when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses,
durst not bring against him a railing accusation,
but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
This commander of YHWH’s army,
who was receiving worship,
is none other than His Only Begotten Son,
who in the Old Testament, before He took on the name JESUS,
was known as the archangel Michael
(meaning “Godlike”, the commander of angels).
Be very mindful that “angel” or “archangel”
are not names denoting certain “kinds” of creation, as many supposed,
but are titles denoting certain offices (messenger and chief messenger).
The fact that JESUS was filling these offices
does not at all mean that He had to be a created being.
God’s appointment for His divine Son to fill them
obviously does not detract or alter the God-nature of that Son in the slightest.
He is just as much a God-being as His Father,
as Eve was as much a human being as Adam.
3) What did JESUS Himself say?
Who are we actually worshiping when we are worshipping the Son?
[04] John 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.
He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
[07] I Corinthians 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him,
then shall the Son also Himself
be subject unto Him that put all things under Him,
that God may be all in all.
God’s plan was to subdue all things unto His Son,
and have His Son submit unto Him.
This is why refusing to worship the Son
is a very serious rebellion against the will of God.
Worshiping the Son of God is worshiping God Himself,
who is always in the Son. [04] John 14:10.
The Father is still the one ultimately receiving all worship,
both directly and indirectly through His Son.
JESUS obviously received worship
from the beginning to the end of the Bible:
since the Old Testament time,
to the time when He was walking on the earth as a man,
to the time when He had risen from the dead and ascended to Heaven,
to the new heaven and new earth of the future,
when sins and sinners are no more.
All authority on heaven and upon earth
has been given to JESUS by the Father,
including the authority to forgive sins
and the authority to receive worship,
all on His Father’s behalf and ultimate authority.
Worshiping JESUS IS worshiping God, His Father.
II. Speaking in tongues.
Before we talk about the gift of tongues,
I would like to stress that it is NOT the purpose of this article
to cause shame to any brethren in the Lord.
The problem is, there is a certain misunderstanding
regarding this special gift of the Spirit in many denominations,
which was given to the church
when the Holy Spirit was poured down upon them in Pentecost, in [05] Acts 2.
The Pentecost is a feast of the Jews,
celebrated 50 days after the offering of the first fruit.
Devout Jews from all over the world
would come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
Through the Holy Spirit, He has granted the gift of tongues to the disciples
to preach the Gospel to this multitude
who were speaking numerous languages.
Those among them who believe
would then in turn bring the Gospel
back to where they live and spread it there.
Many suppose that the “tongue” from the Holy Spirit is “the language of Heaven”,
only those who are gifted with the gift of interpretation of tongues can understand.
However, the Bible shows very clearly
that both the disciples and those who were listening to what they preached
understood what they were saying.
[05] Acts 2:11 we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
To be more specific, “the wonderful works of God” in this verse.
In the entire Bible, there are 3 examples of speaking in tongues.
We’ve just examined the first one.
Now on to the second,
when Peter preached the Gospel to Cornelius and his family.
[05] Acts 10:44-46 While Peter yet spake these words,
the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word.
And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter,
because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
Cornelius was Italian. [05] Acts 10:1.
While Peter was a Jew.
History tells us that the servants in the house of a Roman official,
including those sent to invite Peter,
could come from pretty much anywhere.
And thus there was a significant language diversity awaiting this sermon.
However, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Cornelius and his household,
those who were sent to invite Peter
could understand them speaking in languages they previously did not know:
they “magnify God” with these languages.
When he returned to report to the church leaders in Jerusalem,
Peter said: “the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on us at the beginning.”
[05] Acts 11:15 stressed.
Cornelius and his household received the gift of tongues
just like the disciples at Pentecost.
They spoke human languages that could be understood.
The third case is when Paul preached to 12 people in Ephesus.
[05] Acts 19:6 The Holy Spirit came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
Paul, the most educated and well-traveled of the apostles, spoke numerous languages. [07] I Corinthians 14:18.
When the Holy Spirit descended upon these 12 people,
Paul and Luke could understand them speaking in languages they previously did not know.
All three cases of speaking in tongues in the Bible
were human languages that could be understood.
This gift is not the babbling of sounds
that the speaker himself does not understand.
The gift of tongue was given to us, not for the purpose of showing off,
but to overcome language barriers in evangelism,
bringing people to the Lord.
A well-known Christian author had commented thus regarding this matter:
‘Some of these persons have exercises which they call gifts
and say that the Lord has placed them in the church.
They have an unmeaning gibberish
which they call the unknown tongue,
which is unknown not only by man
but by the Lord and all heaven.
Such gifts are manufactured by men and women,
aided by the great deceiver.
Fanaticism, false excitement, false talking in tongues, and noisy exercises
have been considered gifts which God has placed in the church.
Some have been deceived here.
The fruits of all this have not been good.
“Ye shall know them by their fruits.”
Fanaticism and noise have been considered special evidences of faith.’
{Testimonies for the church vol.1, 412.1}
I call upon all those who are “speaking in tongues” in a meaningless way
to trust the Lord enough to offer up this prayer:
“If it does not come from You, please take it from me.”
May the Lord richly reward those of His children
who always walk in humility,
who do not even care to save face,
but just to do His will and what’s right.
III. What is the unpardonable sin of “blaspheme against the Holy Spirit”?
In [01] Matthew 12:31, JESUS said:
“All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men:
but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men.”
We can commit any kind of transgressions and sins,
and the Lord can still save us,
except this “blaspheme against the Holy Spirit” sin.
So what is it exactly?
To understand that, we must first understand
one of the most important roles of the Holy Spirit.
[04] John 16:8, 13 And when He (the Holy Spirit) is come,
He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…
Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come,
He will guide you into all truth.
So the main role of the Holy Spirit in this world
is to convict people of their sins and guide them to the Truth,
more specifically, to Lord JESUS and return to God His Father.
The “blaspheme against the Holy Spirit” sin
is therefore not the mere verbal insult against the Lord
uttered in foolishness and ignorance
(because as severe as that sin is, it can still be forgiven),
but it is on the other hand the continuous resistance against the Truth
that the Lord has through His Spirit convicted in the conscience,
which leads to the final refusal of the will of God ([19] Hebrews 10:26, 27).
A well-known Bible scholar has summed it up thus:
“The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
does not lie in any sudden word or deed
—it is the firm, determined resistance of truth and evidence.”
{Manuscript 30, 1890, par. 16}
In other words, “blaspheme against the Holy Spirit”
is simply “resisting the convictions of the Holy Spirit,
refusing to repent, refusing to accept the Truth determinedly“.
Every time someone disobeys the convicting voice of the Lord
regarding any sin they are still committing,
or refuses to acknowledge a certain truth that the Lord is presenting,
their conscience will harden,
weakening the ability to “hear” the voice of the Lord in the heart.
If that person keeps it up long enough,
he or she will eventually reach the point of becoming completely “deaf”,
with conscience completely seared,
and the Spirit will have no other choice but to leave.
It can be easily seen why this sin
of “persistently being stiff-necked and hard-hearted to the very end”
would be the only sin
that even the Great Savior JESUS Christ Himself would be unable to save from.
In the very passage of [01] Matthew 12 that JESUS was speaking this,
the Pharisees were committing this very sin
by attributing the work of the Holy Spirit
to the demon king Beelzebulb (Satan),
thus rejecting the very evidences that the Lord is supplying for the truth
that the poor young carpenter from Nazareth standing before them
is in fact the Christ, the Son of God.
In [14] II Thessalonians 2:10-12, the apostle Paul described the state of those
who have grieved away the Holy Spirit of the Lord:
“…they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,
that they should believe a lie,
that they all might be damned who believed not the truth,
but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Meaning, that right after the Holy Spirit left,
the darkness of Satan will immediately come to fill the place.
The victim will be given to the lies of the arch-deceiver,
to consider lies to be the truth.
Thus those who have grieved away the Holy Spirit
will lose all sense of their eternal danger,
to so blatantly believe they are doing fine
when the truth is completely opposite.
But that also means if a Christian can still worry
whether he or she has grieved away the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Spirit would most certainly have not been grieved away just yet,
and the sacrifice of JESUS for that person has not yet become in vain.
That Christian might have sinned,
but the unpardonable sin has not yet been reached,
and there are still some final rays of hope
to repent and return to obedience to the Truth of God.
In the next lesson, we will begin to enter
the most important and urgent prophetic truths
in these last days, in [27] Revelation,
starts with the identity of the First Beast in chapter 13.
The answer will NOT surprise you.
Click “next” to find out.
