Building Christians Up From The Foundation & Unto Perfection
Hebrews 6:1-3
Hebrews 6:1-3
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Before you read: This article is part of a larger series that builds on itself from the foundation up, with each study building on the last. If something in this article does not make sense to you or if you believe it to be incorrect please be sure you have read over the entire course before passing your final judgment. Also be sure to visit this page’s FAQ And Objections: What Is the Trinity
So we have already gone through a lot about the Bible. We have shown how it claims to be the word of God, and how it can be proven to be telling the truth about that. Now we are going to talk about the word made flesh.
Many people believe the words of Jesus (normally listed in red) in the New Testament are separate from the rest of the Bible. They place more trust and belief in those words than the rest of the Bible. They mistakenly believe that the words in black are NOT the words of Jesus.
But this is not the case. The entire Bible is the word of God, the words of Jesus. When you understand this it makes it much easier to understand the context of verses in the Bible. No verse stands on its own. And the context of a verse doesn’t always include only the verses just before or after it. The context is the entire Bible.
John 1:1-4
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Compare this with:
Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Ok, so let’s break this down. The word of God is God. What God says is who He is. Is that hard to understand?
Let me illustrate it for you. I met my wife online. We spoke through chat, email, and on the phone. At the time we didn’t even have the ability to use video to speak. So all we had to know each other by was our words.
Her words were with her. Until she spoke her words I could not know her. Until she sent out those letters, phone calls, and spoke to me her words were with her, and not me. I could never know her because she would have never shared her words with me. Meaning they were a part of who she was. Inside of her were the reasons, the beliefs, the very person of who she was. So in a very real way, her words were who she was, and they were with her at the same time.
In the same way, God is his word. What He says is who He is. It shows us His reasoning, His beliefs, His very personality. But until He speaks His word is with Him and only Him.
John 4:24
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
1 Timothy 2:5
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
So, the scriptures say there is ONE God. Yet Christians believe in what is called the Trinity.
1.) God the Father.
2.) God the Son.
3.) God the Holy Ghost.
Here is the real question though, … are these three really different? Or are they all the same God but in different forms?
I was asked one day, “Could God make a stone so heavy that even He could not lift it?” The question was meant to be a catch 22. If God could do that then He would not be all powerful since the stone would be greater than Him. If He could not do that then He would not be all powerful since He would not be able to make it.
What was my answer? Well, it was yes. The person doing the questioning failed to understand that God can limit Himself if He so chooses, while still being all powerful if He so chooses.
Let me explain: God the Father created all things. He has the ability to do all things. But what if He took on Himself the nature of a man? Suddenly, He would have our limits (though not being without the ability to alter that).
John 1:14
14 And the Word was made 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.
The word (who is God) was made flesh. The Father and the Holy Ghost (which we will talk about in a moment) took on the nature of man. God became a human.
I ask you again this question which is similar to the stone question: Can God die?
John 1:15
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Hebrews 2:9
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
In these verses, we see Jesus is that word made flesh. Which in itself means Jesus is God. And we know that Jesus died for us. So yes, God can do these things.
Now here is another question. The Bible calls Jesus the Son of God. Doesn’t that mean that the Father and the Son are not one, but two? How can you be both the Father AND the Son? In fact, how could Jesus be God if He prayed to God?
Colossians 2:9
9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
First: How can Jesus be the Son of God if He is God Himself?
We already said Jesus came in the flesh. But the Bible says that Jesus is from everlasting. So Jesus may have been born in the flesh that day, but He always existed as God.
There is something that many people fail to understand about this. The Bible says that God is a spirit. Jesus came in the flesh. But the Bible also says that the flesh is made alive by the spirit inside of it. So Jesus was 100% man in the flesh, while being 100% God in His spirit.
That means He could be tempted like us, live like us, and if He wanted to He could fall into sin like us (which He did not do, just to be clear). So Jesus in the flesh had a choice to make.
Romans 8:13-14
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Would Jesus live after the flesh, or after the Spirit? Jesus never committed a single sin according to the Bible, and according to the resurrection. So we know that He chose to live after the Spirit.
So even though God is the creator of all things, He became a man and had to choose to live by His own word or not. So in the form of a man, He was the Son of God (since the flesh was born). In the form of the Almighty who spoke and made all things He was the Father, and in the form of the Spirit which is not bound by any limits, He was the Holy Ghost.
And in that, we see Jesus is the one true God, with 3 main forms. Like water, you have the liquid, the solid, and the gas state of it. All are the same, yet all are different. In the ice cube, you have the gas, the liquid, and the solid. One cube, able to be many forms.
God is not 3 different people. God is one person with 3 forms. I often hear people say that God is three different people rather than one God with 3 different forms. But the truth is that there is only one God.
Jesus, in the form of the Son, said the words in red. God the Father gave the command and told what to write in black. The Holy Ghost moved on men to put those words in print. So all of the Bible is the one word of the one God. The Old Testament wasn’t written by a different God. It was given by Jesus. Just as the New Testament was also given by Him.
John 14:8-9
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus saith unto him, 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, Show us the Father?
For in Him dwells the fullness of God. Many people say Jesus didn’t give the law. But if Jesus and the Father are one (as says the scriptures) then yes, … He did. Jesus is not against the law. He wrote it! This is why it is important to understand the trinity.
The same God that spoke in the Old Testament is the same one who we find in the new. And the Bible says He never changes. So we can not throw out His word from before the New Testament. Because it is still Him.
Also, since the Bible says God does not change we can not believe His word in times past no longer holds true. Instead, we need to understand how it properly applies today.
For example, Jesus said to those who tried to follow the letter of the law that they were children of the Devil. Yet He, God, gave that law! This tells us that they didn’t understand the law. So in the New Testament, the law is explained.
Galatians 3:24
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
They thought that by offering up bulls and goats to God as was required by the law that it would be enough. But they refused the one sacrifice that God gave for them.
So the law is still in effect. It still shows us we are sinners. It is still preaching our need for a sacrifice. But that sacrifice is and always has been Jesus. Even in the days when they offered animals, it was only a temporary situation. They looked forward by faith to the coming of Jesus.
Even those who by faith hoped and trusted in God were saved by the fulfillment of the law in the sacrifice of Jesus, which was made for all who would trust in God. Even if they had no law, yet they would be saved by the blood of Jesus.
This is how even those who never hear of Jesus can be saved. They may not have the Bible. They may not even have anyone to tell them about Jesus. But they can still trust God to be merciful and forgive them if they repent and seek Him. And even as Abraham who had no scriptures, they can be called friends of God by this.
Unit 1:7 – How to Understand the Bible OR
Return To Christianity 101 Unit 1 – The Bible and Faith in God
July 12, 2015 at 1:23 pm | | 3 comments
Isn’t this Sabellianism (or modalism)? The idea that God is not one god in three distinct persons who are all fully God, but that God takes 3 different forms?
I understand and have read your FAQ about beliefs not being orthodox, but Sabellianism is explicitly heretical. Just a quick Google search will show anyone that.
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This teaching is often said to be heresy. But those who say that do so often based only on the opinion of others and have no scripture to explain why they believe it to be untrue.
I have the feeling you are basing your opinion on the opinion of others. I will often speak with people who disagree to be sure I am not missing anything myself. So I invite you to please contact me and lay out for me your scriptures to support your view that the Bible teaches there are 3 different individuals who are each gods themselves which are united only by the office they share and the fact that they agree with each other as a group.
As you can see from the scriptures I set out here I do not believe the Bible supports that idea. In fact, I believe the Bible says it is the heresy. Thanks, and I look forward to your email.
Praise the Lord God…very well explained…Thank you