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CHAPTER ELEVENWHERE ARE THEIR GODS"They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they Him to anger. They sacrificed unto... gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee... O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!... For the Lord shall judge His people, and repent Himself for His servants... And He shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted...? See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with me..." -Deuteronomy 32:16-l8,29,36-39. "...I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband...to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he...preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or...another Spirit...or another gospel...ye might...bear with him" -2 Corinthians 11:2-4. "Now go, write it before them... in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers...and to the prophets... Prophesy deceits...cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us" -Isaiah 30:8-11. In the previous chapter we looked at the history of Trinitarianism, and some personal insights of how certain Trinitarians view their doctrine. We also saw that even some Trinitarians admit that the Trinity is not a purely Biblical doctrine. However, there are many Trinitarians who do believe the Trinity is a Biblical doctrine. In this chapter we ask the question 'Where are their Gods?' Is the doctrine of the Trinity found, stated, and defined in the Bible, or must the Bible first be interpreted, and it's wording changed in order to define the Trinity? We will quote a few Trinitarian statements, and compare their statements to Biblical passages, and find out whether the Trinity is found in the Bible, or only in the minds of certain men. Quote #11.1-
Does the scripture used in the above quote specifically say the Spirit, the Highest, and the Son are separate persons? Notice that the author refers to "other passages of scripture" that "reveal that the term 'Highest' refers to God the Father" yet he fails to give us the chapter and verse where these references can be found! Question # 11.1 - Who does the Bible say is the Most High? "...Thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth" -Psalm 83:18. "For the Lord (Jehovah) is...the Holy One..." -Psalm 89:18. And "I am the Lord (Jehovah), your Holy One..." -Isaiah 43:15. "For David speaketh concerning him...thine Holy One...this Jesus..." -Acts 2:25-32. "Wherefore he (David) saith (in Psalms 68:18), When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens...)" -Ephesians 4:8-10. "For the Lord most high (Jehovah-elyon)... is a great King over all the earth" -Psalm 47:2. "...And His name is called The Word of God... And He hath...a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS..." -Revelation 19:13,16. "...The Lamb...He is Lord of lords, and King of kings... -Revelation 17:14. "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord (Jehovah)..." -Isaiah 40:3. "...Zacharius...thy...son...John...shall be great in the sight of the Lord... And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before Him... to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" -Luke 1:13-17. "Zacharius...prophesied, saying... Thou child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways..." -Luke 1:67,76. "John...said...I am not the Christ...I am sent before Him... He that cometh from above is above all...He that cometh from heaven is above all" -John 3:27-28,31. "And (Jesus) said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins" -John 8:23-24. Quote # 11.2-
Question # 11.2 - Do we "see" the Spirit and the Father in these verses? "Jesus saith...He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? -John 14:9. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him" -John 1:18. Question # 11.3 - Does the Bible teach that God is confined to being, and working, in only one place at a time? Does showing God working in more than one place, or doing more than one thing prove a separation of individuals in the Godhead? "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord?" -Jeremiah 23:23-24. "...O God of Israel... behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?... Of which thou hast said, My name shall be there..." -1 Kings 8:26-27,29. "...There is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few" -I Samuel 14:6. "...Seek the Lord...though He be not far from every one of us: For in Him we live, and move, and have our being..." -Acts 17:27-28. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect before Him..." -2 Chronicles 16:9. "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations... Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" -Matthew 28:18-20. "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit... For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit..." -1 Corinthians 12:4,8-11. "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ... When He ascended up on high, He...gave gifts unto men... He that descended is the same also that...gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers..." -Ephesians 4:7-11. "Now the Lord is that Spirit..." -2 Corinthians 3:17. "For as the body is one, and hath many members...so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized...and have all been made to drink into one Spirit" -1 Corinthians 12:12-13. Quote #11.3-
Notice that Jesus never used the terms "Trinity", "Triunity", or "three Persons"' anywhere in relation to any aspect of the Godhead. Our question is not, nor should it be, What does the Bible imply? Doctrine, in order to be Scriptural, must be stated and expressed in Scripture. Otherwise how can it be said to be Scriptural? Question # 11.4 - What did Jesus say when Philip asked him to show them the Father? "...Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? -John 14:8-9. Question # 11.5 - Whom did He say the Comforter is? "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" -John 14:18. The question comes down to Why did Jesus direct the focus of worship off of Himself, and towards the Father if He and the Father are one and the selfsame individual? (The way in which this particular question is answered is what separates those who believe in the complete Oneness of God from, not only Trinitarians, but also from many other forms of "Christianity"). Question # 11.6 - Although the Bible itself never says that Jesus and God the Father are separate persons (as even Trinitarians admit), does the Bible in fact give a reason for Jesus to direct our worship off of Himself while He was on the earth, in the flesh? And does that reason itself also bolster the idea that He truly is the one and only King of kings, that He left His throne, and humbled Himself (totally and utterly) for the purpose of setting an example for us? "...O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee... lowly..." -Zechariah 9:9. "...Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart..." -Matthew 11:29. "...The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister..." -Matthew 20:28. "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you" -John 13:13-15. "...The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them... But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth"' -Luke 22:25-27. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who...made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself..." -Philippians 2:5-8. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law...I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil" -Matthew 5:17. ("Which is the first commandment of all?... The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart...soul...mind, and...strength... And the second is... love thy neighbor as thyself... For there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart... understanding...soul, and...strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all...offerings and sacrifices" -Mark 12:28-33). The above Scriptures contain the only Biblically stated purpose for Jesus to direct our, and his, worship off of His human nature, and toward the divine nature. We could pose a number of other questions which the above scriptures answer, namely- How else but to become a servant could He have been an example of a servant? And to whom else would He become a servant to, if not the one aspect of His nature that mankind does not share with Him, His deity? How else could He have shown us not to be self-worshippers, but God worshippers? The answer is found by searching the Scriptures. The scriptures do not need to be either reinterpreted, or rephrased in order to come to this conclusion. We have shown that Jesus said- "If you have seen me you have seen the Father" (John 14:9), and "I am the root and the offspring" (Revelation 22:16), and that "The Word was God...and the Word was made flesh" (John 1:1,14). But where does Jesus, or the Bible, specifically say that Jesus and the Father are separate Persons? Question # 11.7 - What is the Trinitarian reply to this conclusion? Quote #11.4-
Question # 11.8 - To whom do the subject-object references apply? (See Chapter 8, Question # 8.3 "Is Jesus fully man and fully God?, for the Scriptures to our reply) Question # 11.9 - What is the reason for which the subject-object references appear? (The scriptures answering this question were covered immediately previous to the above quote) The oneness "movement" does neither ignore, nor pervert the subject- object passages of Scripture. What the oneness "movement" fails to do is to describe the Godhead in a manner that Scripture also fails to use. The oneness "movement" also fails to use terminology not found in Scripture to describe the Godhead. Following are some of the verses used by the above author to show a separation of "egos" between the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost- John 5:17-24- "...My Father worketh hitherto, and I work... The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do..." 1 Timothy 2:5- "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Notice that these verses, if used to prove a separation of persons between God the Father and Jesus Christ, remove Christ's status as God. On the other hand, if the dual natures of Christ are applied, there is no contradiction to the complete oneness of God, and no glory has been removed from Christ. Also used in the above quote is- John 1:1- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God the Father, and Jesus was God the Father! A Trinitarian may say that God in John 1:1 refers to the trinity (although the scriptures plainly tell us that- "there is but one God, the Father -1 Cor. 8:6). So let us see what happens if the trinity is inserted in place of God- In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with the trinity, and Jesus was the trinity! No conclusive separation of persons is found in John 1:1. No wonder Colossians 2:8-10 says- "...In (Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all..." Question # 11.11 - Is the Trinity a tradition of men, or is it taught, stated, and commanded in the Bible, the Word of God? Quote #11.5-
The above quote (#5) is from the same author from quotes #1 thru #3. Here is how that statement is found- Quote #11.5(B)-
Question # 11.12 - Was the creator, according to the creation references in Scripture, a Holy One, or a Holy Three? Who is the Creator? "Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven...the earth, and all things therein..." -Nehemiah 9:6. "At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One..." -Isaiah 17:7. "...See, and know, and consider, and understand together, that... the Holy One of Israel hath created it" -Isaiah 41:20. "I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator..." -Isaiah 43:15. "Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer... I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself...". -Isaiah 44:24. "For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord... the Holy One... the God of the whole earth shall He be called" -Isaiah 54:5. ("...One husband...Christ" -2 Corinthians 11:2). "...A throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne... The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne... saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord... for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created" -Revelation 4:2,10-11. "For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth... all things were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is... the firstborn from the dead..." -Colossians 1:16-18. "In the beginning was the Word... and the Word was God... All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made... He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" -John 1:1,3,10-11. ...of the Oneness of God- 1. God is a Holy One (never Holy Trinity) in scripture- Chap. 9 2. Jesus declares Himself to be God, and is declared to be the Holy One- John:8:24,58; Acts 2:22-27. 3. We have described the oneness doctrine purely by quoting scripture- Chap. 8. And we have answered the most prevalent questions towards the complete oneness in the Godhead entirely by the scriptures- Chap. 9. 4. Belief in the oneness of God was the prevalent doctrine, with numerous adherents during the 2 centuries immediately following the apostolic age- Chap.10 5. We have shown that the oneness of God is not just an idea, opinion, or philosophy of men, but the very first and foremost commandment- "...The first of all commandments is....The Lord our God is one Lord" -Mark 12:29. ...of the trinity doctrine- 1. Trinitarians admit to worshipping three individually complete Gods-Chap 10 . 2. In practically every attempt to use scripture to prove a separation of persons between the Father and Son, Jesus' status as God is compromised or diminished, if not totally nullified- Chap. 10 & Chap. 11. 3. We have shown that (as trinitarians themselves admit) the doctrine of the trinity is not stated or described in scripture- Chap. 11. Scripture must be privately interpreted in order to formulate the doctrine of the trinity, which is forbidden by the Word of God- 2 Peter 1:20. 4. The trinity was not defined until 325 A.D. at the council of Nicea. And then only by compromising scripture with pagan philosophy- Chap. 10. 5. The trinity is a tradition of men, and as such should be rejected by all true believers in Christ. For Jesus said- "...This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me....In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandments of God, ye hold the tradition of men... Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own traditIon... Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition which ye have delivered..." -Mark 7:6-13. "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lbrd... Beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of... bondage. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve Him... Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth" -Deuteronomy 6:4,12-15. "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am He: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no Saviour... Thus saith the Lord... I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King" -Isaiah 43:10-15. "...And there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me" -Isaiah 45:21. "See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with me" -Deuteronomy 32:39. "...If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins" -John 8:24. Question # 11.13 - Even after all this evidence is clearly presented, there will be many who will reject the great truth of the oneness of God. How can this be possible? "...For flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven..." -Matthew 16:17. Jesus said- "All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him" -Luke 10:22. Question # 11.14 - But how can so many people be wrong? "...For wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth into life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing...!" -Matthew 7:13-15. Thank you for your interest in this Bible Study. We would love to hear from you. If you would like, please send us an email, and let us know you stopped in. Bibliography for The Commandments of God, and the Traditions of Men Bible Study Tom Raddatz
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