AN ANSWER TO THE ONENESS OR "JESUS ONLY" DOCTRINE

In these last days we rally to uphold the Word of God which will stand forever (Isaiah 40:8) as the only sure foundation for faith, calling upon Christians everywhere to earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 3).  One of the most rapidly spreading errors of our day is the teaching that God the Father and God the Holy Ghost do not exist - that Jesus alone is all three of the personalities in the Godhead.  This not only dishonors the Father whom Jesus says sent Him (John 4:34; 9:4; 11:42; 17:3; 1 John 4:9), but the Holy Ghost (John 14:16, 17).  We are expressly warned to be careful of how we speak of the Holy Ghost (Luke 12:10).

Those who believer that Jesus alone is God must confess that according to Scripture they believe:

1. Jesus is His Own Father (Acts 13:33).

2. He begat Himself (John 3:16).

3. He prayed to Himself and thanked Himself for giving the answer (John 11:41).

4. He had to go away in order to send Himself back (John 16:7).

5. Jesus promised those who were with Him on earth that as His own Father in heaven He would give Himself under a different name to them (Luke 11:13).

6. That Jesus said He was greater than Himself (John ?).

7. That Jesus as His own Father loved Himself (John :17).

8. That He gave Himself a commandment which He obeyed (John 10:18).

9. That Jesus was the way to Himself (John 14:6).

10. That Jesus anointed Himself with Himself and accompanied Himself on earth (Acts 10:38?).

11. That in the same breath Jesus said blasphemy against Him would be forgiven and that it would not be forgiven (Luke 12:10).

12. That His will disagreed with itself in the Garden of Gethsemane until He submitted His will on earth to His will in heaven, which must have been different from His will on earth.  This struggle between His two wills caused Him to sweat great drops of blood just as the struggle to conceive of such a situation may cause the believer to do likewise (Luke 22:42).

13. That Christ prayed to Himself to forgive those who crucified Him (Luke 23:34).

14. That He forsook Himself on Calvary's cross (Matthew 27:46).

15. That when He died on the cross He committed His spirit unto His own hands (Luke 23:46).

16. That when Jesus left this earth He went to meet Himself (John 16:28).

17. That Jesus then sat down on His own right hand (Mark 16:19; Mark 14:62; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; I Peter 3:22).

18. That Jesus gave Himself all power in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18).

19. That Jesus is both judge and lawgiver pleading our cause with Himself (I John 2:1; I Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 12:24).

20. That Jesus required His own death on the cross in order to satisfy Himself and reconcile a lost world to Himself by working in Himself (II Corinthians 5:18,19).  The above are only a very few of the many difficulties resulting from belief in this doctrine.  The utter folly of this teaching and the resultant confusion will be apparent if you will read your New Testament reading "Jesus" in every place where the Father, Son or Holy Ghost is mentioned.  Jesus Himself declared that He knew not the hour of His return to the earth, that neither the angels in heaven know it, but the Father only.  If Jesus was both the Father and Son, He both knew when His return would be and did not know when it would be at one and the same time.  The confusion resulting from this doctrine has brought about a Babel worse than Genesis 11 (Mark 13:32). Jesus expressly declared that it was not His prerogative to give power to sit on His right hand and on His left hand, but that these places of honor would be given to whomsoever they were prepared for by His Father (Matthew 20:23).  If we can conceive of Jesus as being both the Father and the Son as this form of unitarianism teaches, then we must understand that He both had and did not have the power to designate who should receive the seats of honor in glory.  If this statement was made of one and the same person, then a falsehood is involved since He said it was not His to give (Mark 10:40).

The first Christian martyr, Stephen, saw heaven opened and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.  He saw both the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of the same (Acts 7:55,56).  If he saw Jesus alone, why are we specifically told that God was also there? It is noteworthy that Stephen is said to have been filled with the Holy Ghost (verse 55) at the same time.  Thus Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are mentioned individually in this scene.  Those who deny the Trinity would mark Stephen a liar.

The cardinal point in the doctrine of Jesus Only groups is the baptism in water in Jesus' name, without which, they  teach, there is no remission of sins. This teaching is based principally on Peter's statement in Acts 2:38, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."  Overlooking the fact that this verse means to repent in Jesus' name as well as the reference to baptism, emphasis is laid upon baptism in the name of Jesus ONLY, omitting the Father and Holy Ghost, as essential before sins are remitted. A careful reading will show that no such doctrine is here taught.  VErse 41 of this chapter records the fact that those who heard these words were baptized, but does NOT SAY what form of words were used in the baptismal service. The fact that Peter spoke to them in the name of Jesus Christ does not necessarily indicate that His name ONLY was used in the baptism.  In fact Jesus had commanded that the baptism be done in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19).  There is no reason to suppose that any other formula was used in this baptism.  The expression in Acts 8:16 that "they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus" in no way precludes the use of the names of the Father and the Holy Ghost also in the actual baptismal rite which is not here described.  Those who have been baptized in the names of the Trinity have already been baptized in Jesus' name since He is the second person of the Triune God.  In Acts 8:38 where Philip baptized the Ethiopian, we are not told what form was used in the ceremony.  Why should we assume that any other form was employed than that commanded by Christ; In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  It is objected that the use of the words "Father" and "Son" and "Holy Ghost" are not names but titles only - that the name of Jesus alone expresses the one name of all three.  Isaiah 9:6 states His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, and the EVerlasting Father, the by which the promised Son should be called.  It is true, Jesus said "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30).  My son and I are one also.  My wife and I are one.  The Bible says we are "no more twain": but one flesh (Matthew19:6).  We still pay two subway fares.  My wife does not like to be called "Mr." She has taken on my last name, but she has a name of her own which she still uses.  We are one, but we are separate personalities.  When Jesus' name was revealed to His parents in Matthew 1:21, it was expressly said to be His name.  The Holy Ghost is mentioned in the preceding verse under His own name.
 

FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH

The Trinity of God is a fundamental fact of the faith which is shown from Genesis to Revelation and cannot be denied.  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1).  Then the "Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2).  In verse three, God spoke the words bringing forth light.  A reading of John 1:1-14 will show that Christ is here introduced.  The name of God used in the original in this passage as is well-known is the Hebrew "Elohim" which is plural - more than one.  Yet the unity of this Elohim is shown in the fact that a singular verb is used.  There were more than one - yet all acted together.  This plurality of power in the Godhead is further expressed in Genesis 1:26 where we read that God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." The singular, ONE God, again speaks of Himself as plural.  This agrees with Genesis 3:22 where we read Jehovah Elohim (the Lord God) speaks of Himself as "us."  The three men who appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18 were not the Persons of the Trinity but undoubtedly were sent to represent God to Abraham. In Daniel 3:25 we read of One "like the Son of God."  Jesus spoke of the Father and of the Holy Ghost as personalities separate from His own (John 17:5; John 16:7- 16).  Jesus said He went to the Father (John 16:16).  Believers in "Jesus Only" say He had no Father to go to.  The Trinity of God is clearly shown at the Baptism of Christ where Jesus was in the water, the Spirit descending like a dove and the Father speaking from heaven (Matthew 3:16,17).  To say that this only means Jesus was the Son of God as far as His earthly ministry was concerned is to admit the personality of the Son apart from the Father.  It does not account for the Holy Ghost manifesting Himself apart from both Father and Son. It does not account for the fact that Daniel mentions the Son before the incarnation of Christ.  It does not account for the continued mention of Him as the Lamb of God in Revelation after His ascension from the earth.  Evidently there is a denial of the Scripture "Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever" in this doctrine. If Christ were only the Son of God while He was here on earth, then a change is involved.  In Matthew 28:19, we have Jesus' Own testimony to the Trinity.  In II Corinthians 13:14, we have the apostolic blessing giving distinctly "grace of Christ," "love of God" and "communion of the Holy Ghost." Ephesians 4 give us:  Verse 4, one Spirit; Verse 5, one Lord; Verse 6, one Father.  Acts 1:4,5 tells how Jesus spoke of the promise of the Father, which they had heard from Jesus Himself which was of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. How these three can be understood as one personality, is incomprehensible.  First Peter 1:2 speaks of the "foreknowledge of God the Father," "sanctification of the Spirit" and "the blood of Jesus Christ."  Peter believed in the Trinity.  The Trinity before Christ may be seen in Genesis 1:1-3; Numbers 6:23-26; Psalms 2:7; 33:6; 51:11; 110:1; Isaiah 6:3; 48:16. It is further reflected in John 14:15-26; 16:13; 16:15; Ephesians 2:18. In Revelation, we have repeated references to God "and the Lamb" (Revelation 5:12) to the very end of time (Revelation 21:22).
 

DANGERS AND FALLACIES

We believe in Jesus' name.  We also believe in His Father and His Holy Ghost.  We have not denied any of the several manifestations of the Godhead.  The real fallacy and danger is in the doctrine that unless you have been baptized in Jesus' name you have no remission of sins.  That is, you must be baptized employing the name of Jesus ONLY in the baptism ceremony.  This is contrary to Acts 10:43 where we are told "whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins."  Receiving of remission of sins is then an act of faith - not of works.  Obedience to God in baptism is showing our faith by our works (James 2:18).  A large number of those who believe in the Jesus Only baptism also teach that without the baptism of the Holy Ghost speaking in other tongues you will be lost.  This is contrary to Acts 16:31 and Luke 23:43.  Matthew 7:21 shows that it takes more than the use of Jesus' name to make true Christians.  It is not baptism in Jesus' name but the washing in Jesus' blood which will give us the victory (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:22; Revelation 7:14; 12:11).
 

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