John 8:17-18 NLT Illustrated: "What Greater Witness ..." />
Are Jesus and God the Father two separate individuals? This seems like a strange question to ask. Trinitarians try to explain how their doctrine works with explanations such as this: “While the three persons of the Godhead are distinct, they cannot be separated. That is, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are co-equal and co-eternal. They exist simultaneously, not consecutively” (Trinitarian website). Does this make any sense? They claim the doctrine is true, yet, they admit it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to understand. Let’s examine what the Bible says, and see if the truth is really that difficult to understand.
John 8:16-18– “If I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me” (NIV). In these verses, Jesus twice says “the Father . . . sent” him, which means they are two separate and distinct people, because the sender and the one sent cannot be the same, nor can they be in the same location. He also says the Father is with him, indicating they are separate and distinct. Jesus also says the witness of “two” individuals is true. ‘I’m one, and my Father who sent me is the other,’ he says. Obviously, Jesus and his Father are two separate and distinct people.
John 10:30– Are the Father and Jesus “one” within a Trinity? Or, are they “one” in unity, the same as the disciples are in John 17:11,20-23? Since the disciples are not “God”, yet are to be “one” with God and Jesus and with one another, obviously they are “one” in unity. The Greek word “hen” is in the neuter gender, and is translated as “one”, but this is not the numeral “one”. To be the numeral “one” it would have to be in the masculine gender. Anyway, at John 8:17,18, Jesus said that he and his Father are “two”, numerically speaking.read more
Is the Trinity in 1 Thessalonians? In the Bible book of 1 Thessalonians, are God and Jesus and spoken of as separate and distinct? Is the holy Spirit a person? Let’s examine these questions in some of the verses in 1 Thessalonians.
Is the Trinity in 1 Thessalonians? God and Jesus are spoken of as separate and distinct in 1 Thessalonians
“In God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:1) Here, God and Jesus are referred to as two separate and distinct individuals. Why are they not “in” the holy Spirit, if it is a person?
“Before our God and Father… inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:3) God, the Father, is one person, and the Lord Jesus Christ is another person, entirely separate and distinct. No mention of the holy Spirit here.
“Beloved by God . . . also in power and in the =&0=&The holy Spirit is twice qualified by “the,” which is indicative of the fact that it is not a person. God uses the holy Spirit to ‘inspire’ “joy” in believers.
“They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10)read more
Christians – Don’t Try to Separate Jews and Gentiles Again!
“One flock, one shepherd” (Join 10:16), “one new people from the two groups” (Ephesians 2:15 NLT)
Should Christians try to separate Jews and Gentile in the church, or in their understanding of how God and Jesus deal with people today, and in the future?
“Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and =&0=&
Some Christians still try to separate Jews and Gentiles. Is this what God wants? Let’s see what the scriptures have to say on the subject.
“In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile”—Galatians 3:26-28 NIV. The distinction between Jew and Gentile is thus removed by Jesus Christ. Among Christians, there should be no distinction. According to the scriptures. God does not want Christians to try to separate Jews and Gentiles.
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:4 HCSB) Christ is the end of the Law Covenant, which separated Jews and Gentiles.
“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is strongly urged to enter it.” (Luke 16:16 HCSB) The Old Covenant was until John the Baptist. Every kind of person, not just Jews, can enter the kingdom of God now since the New Covenant was inaugurated.
“I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:16 HCSB) No longer would there be distinction between Jew and Gentile. No longer would God separate Jews and Gentile, as they would become “one flock.”
“Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.'” (Acts 10:34-35 HCSB) Peter was helped to realize that in Christ, there is no longer any distinction between Jew and Gentile.
“But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: ‘The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’ By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.” (Hebrews 8:6-13 NIV) The New Covenant mediated by Jesus “replaced” the “old covenant” (2 Corinthians 3:11,14 NLT). That means there would be no need to separate Jews and Gentiles.
“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.” (Hebrews 10:1 NIV) The Old Covenant was a shadow of the good things to come through Christ and the New Covenant. Christians need to interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament, and not the other way around. The New Testament interprets, fulfills, and completes the Old Testament.
“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ‘” (Matthew 19:28 ESV) The twelve tribes of Israel represent all mankind.
“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.” When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings’ (these are offered according to the law), then he added, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:1-10 ESV, emphasis added) It is impossible for the blood of animals to completely remove sins, which is the main deficiency of the “old =&1=&
John 8:17-18 NLT Illustrated: "What Greater Witness ..." />
Are Jesus and God the Father two separate individuals? This seems like a strange question to ask. Trinitarians try to explain how their doctrine works with explanations such as this: “While the three persons of the Godhead are distinct, they cannot be separated. That is, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are co-equal and co-eternal. They exist simultaneously, not consecutively” (Trinitarian website). Does this make any sense? They claim the doctrine is true, yet, they admit it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to understand. Let’s examine what the Bible says, and see if the truth is really that difficult to understand.
John 8:16-18 – “If I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me” (NIV). In these verses, Jesus twice says “the Father . . . sent” him, which means they are two separate and distinct people, because the sender and the one sent cannot be the same, nor can they be in the same location. He also says the Father is with him, indicating they are separate and distinct. Jesus also says the witness of “two” individuals is true. ‘I’m one, and my Father who sent me is the other,’ he says. Obviously, Jesus and his Father are two separate and distinct people.
