Be Ye Doers. . . Of The Word!

Mine did, and I didn't. And that is the reason behind this article. You see, my grandfather has attended the "Apostolic Pentecostal Church," the one with the neon sign just back of the mini-mart & gas- station, for years. And one of their favorite "doctrines" is best described as "Jesus-Only," or the belief that there is ONLY Jesus. No Father, and No Holy Spirit. So my grandfather questioned me in the past as follows, and I quote:

"Do you believe in THE THREE?" I nod. "Well, that's wrong! Let me show you." He opened his Bible to a marked passage - John 10:30 - and he reads to me, "I and My Father are ONE!" (The emphasis on ONE is my grandfather's.) "See that? There is ONLY ONE, not three!" A flip of pages to another marked passage - Matthew 28:19 - and he reads, "in the NAME of the Father AND the Son AND the Holy Spirit!" He stops and closes the cover. "You will be a father, right?" I nod, thinking of the future with my wife. "AND you are a son, right?" Again I nod, thinking of his son, my earthly parent. "AND you have a spirit, right?" I nod one last time, not sure where this is heading. "Well, you are a father AND a son AND a spirit, but you are only ONE PERSON and you have only ONE NAME! So, you see, that's just how Jesus is! ONE, not three!"

What do you think of this? What would YOU have said to him?

Being unprepared for such a topic (read that as "having not STUDIED about it for myself"), I could only sit there in silent confusion. As I puzzled over this "logic," he told me I just needed to think it over, and read these verses, and The Holy Ghost would guide me to the truth.
Now wait just a minute! If there is only ONE, and that ONE is Jesus, then why didn't he tell me that JESUS would guide me to the truth? Why even use the words "Holy Ghost" at all? It is THIS INCONSISTENCY that is the earmark of all false teaching! God's doctrine is NEVER inconsistent, and His Words NEVER contradict!

Knowing that study of The Word is our only defence against false doctrine, I sat down with my Bible and my pen to determine just EXACTLY what the Bible had to say on this matter.

Before beginning this, or any study, I set my goal for the study and I decided on the method to use in reaching it. My goal: To either prove or disprove that there are THREE distinct and separate persons shown in the Bible - The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. My method: To use the ENTIRE Book of John as the main source of proof, since John 10:30 is the main verse used in this dispute. From such a study must come SIMPLE and PLAIN facts as to what God's Word SAYS, not what I, or anyone else might want it to!

Look at the list of names used in John, Chapter 1:

Name. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Verse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Used by
------------------------------------------------------------------------ -
God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,6,12,13,18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The writer
The Father. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The writer
The Spirit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The writer
The Word. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The writer
The Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,8,9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The writer
The Only Begotten Son. . . . . . . 14,18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The writer
The Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,41. . . . . . . . . . The writer & The Disciples/Apostles
The Lord. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Immerser
The Lamb of God. . . . . . . . . . . . 29,36. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Immerser
The One Baptizing in the Holy Spirit. . .33. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Immerser
The Son of God. . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,49. . . . . . . The Immerser & The Disciples/Apostles
The RABBI(or Master). . . . . . . . . 38. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Disciples/Apostles
The MESSIAH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Disciples/Apostles
The KING OF ISRAEL. . . . . . . . 49. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Disciples/Apostles
The SON OF MAN. . . . . . . . . . . 51. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JESUS HIMSELF

Our first question is. . . WHO do these names apply to?

Is it GOD? This seems to be the case in verse 1. But notice that this verse SEPARATES God from the Word FIRST, then states that The Word is God AFTER making this distinction. And then the TIME of this verse is clearly stated to be BEFORE everything else; that is before this list! Besides, if this list is referring to God, then ALL the other names MUST refer to God also. But is this the case? No, because God is called God (verses 1,6,12,13,18) and THE FATHER (verses 14,18), so the names listed must refer to someone else, someone OTHER than God. Is it THE HOLY SPIRIT? No, because He is called THE SPIRIT (verses 32,33) and THE HOLY SPIRIT (verse 33), so the names refer to someone else again. If these names do not apply to God or The Holy Spirit, then to whom do they apply? Why, to Jesus of Nazareth!

Now let us look at what is SAID about these THREE different names in this chapter. Notice The Immerser was sent from God, not from The Word [Jesus] (verse 6), and he was to bear witness of The Light [Jesus], not to bear witness of God (verses 7,8). Notice that The Word [Jesus] was made flesh and this was called being "begotten of The Father," not being begotten of HIMSELF.

And finally, in verse 51 of this chapter Jesus says who controls the angels. Jesus says they are God's angels. If there is ONLY JESUS, why didn't He call them HIS angels?

Notice also that Jesus called the Temple "My Father's House" (all through the book of John. . . John 2:16 & 14:1-2 as examples). If there is ONLY JESUS, why didn't He call it HIS House?

In the often-quoted statements that Jesus made to Nicodemus about being "born-again" (John 3:3-8), notice that Jesus said that we "must be born of water and THE SPIRIT." Before this verse is applied to the topic at hand, please notice that the denominational world teaches that the water in these verses refers to the so-called "water of birth," or rather the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby while in the womb. Any scientist or doctor will tell you that this fluid IS NOT WATER. It may be that many people have called it "water" over the years, but I DARE anyone to take a glass full of this fluid and drink it! And to emphasize this fact, look at John 1:13, where John states that people are born OF BLOOD, as the original Greek reads. The ancients simply watched the birth process, and saw that the child came from the mother WHILE BLOOD WAS FLOWING. The so-called "water of birth" ALWAYS occurs at the beginning of labor. The ACTUAL BIRTH occurs a good deal LATER – so the ancients KNEW that the amniotic fluid only SIGNALLED the coming of a birth, and that the BLOOD was what the baby PASSED THROUGH in order to be born! So, back to the statements of being born of water and THE SPIRIT; BOTH elements listed have NOTHING TO DO with NATURAL BIRTH! Jesus is talking about a SPIRITUAL BIRTH, which occurs in baptism! So if He is talking about a SPIRITUAL BIRTH in the waters of Christian Baptism, and there is ONLY JESUS, then why didn't He say we must be born of the baptismal water and of HIMSELF?

Also, recall Jesus' words from John 3:16-17. Everybody knows them. If there is ONLY JESUS, why didn't He say that HE GAVE HIMSELF?

In John 4:21-23, Jesus tells us we are to worship THE FATHER. If there is ONLY JESUS, why didn't He tell us to worship HIM? And notice what Jesus says in verse 24: "God is A SPIRIT," not THE SPIRIT! If there is ONLY JESUS, why didn't He say God is ME – MY BODY? Because in verse 26 Jesus admits who He IS — THE MESSIAH, THE CHRIST, THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. . . NOT GOD THE FATHER!

In John 5:17-18, Jesus says that God was "His Father" and that He was "equal" with God. Now that I am an adult, with a good job that supports my wife and daughter, I AM EQUAL WITH MY FATHER. . . meaning I have the same POWERS and AUTHORITY in our society as he does. I will even go so far as to say that since I am a Christian, I AM SUPERIOR TO MY FATHER (not by my own doing, but by Jesus' shed blood that washed me in baptism)! But I want you to know this: I am NOT my FATHER! He is a DIFFERENT – AND SEPARATE – man! And in verses 19 & 30 (and all through John's book), Jesus says that He doesn't do what He wills, but what THE FATHER wills. Now listen, if there is JESUS ONLY, and any reference to "The Father" is actually a reference to JESUS, then Jesus is telling us that He doesn't do what HE wills, but what HE wills! If Jesus tells us that He DOESN'T do HIS OWN will, and then turns right around and says that he DOES do HIS WILL, THEN HE LIED TO US!!!

Well? Did He? Not if there REALLY IS a SEPARATE PERSON of THE FATHER!

For the conclusion of this article, see "Jesus Only — Fact of Faith or Fatal Falsehood? Part II"