The view briefly stated:1
“The Scriptures teach that the
Godhead is comprised of one person (Jesus Christ) – not three, and that all who teach otherwise are
false teachers and will be lost in hell” (Billy Lewis, Lipe-Lewis Debate [Winona, MS: Choate, 1984]: ii).
Arguments Considered:
“John 10:30 shows that Jesus is
the Father.”
Jesus himself explains his oneness with the Father. In John 17:11, 21, 22 he
prayed to his Father on behalf of his disciples, asking “that they may be one as we are …. that they may be one, as
you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one is us … that
they may be one just as we are one.”2 Jesus never said that he was the same person as his Father but rather expressed
his oneness (unity) with the Father; they are one in purpose (Eph. 3:10-11),
teaching (2 John 9-11), words and work (John 14:10-11; 5:36), nature (Col.
2:9), love (John 15:10), et al.
“Passages like John 8:19; 14:9;
15:23 show that Jesus is the Father.” Jesus stated in Mark 9:37, “Whoever receives one of these
little children in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not
me but him who sent me.” If this statement and similar ones teach that Jesus is
the same person as his Father, it also teaches that one of these little
children is the same person as Jesus. To receive a child is to receive Christ;
to receive Christ is to receive the Father – but they are not all one and the
same person! If any other man had said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen my
father,” we would clearly understand that he is referring to similarities of
traits rather than identity. John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time. The
only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.” John 14:24, 28 = Jesus is clearly not the
Father. John 14:7; 15:23, “my Father also”
= plurality, distinction. John 15:24, “both
me and my Father.”
“John 14:10, 11 show that Jesus is
the Father.”
Jesus being “in” the Father and the Father “in” him does not make them one and
the same person. John 14:20, “I am in my Father, and you [disciples] in me, and I
in you” (cf. 1 John 3:24; 4:12-13). John 17:21, “that they all may be one,
as you, Father, are in me, and I in you; that they also may be one in us …”
“Colossians 2:9 shows that Jesus
is the only Person of the Godhead.” This passage clearly does not limit the entire Godhead
to the physical body of Jesus. Otherwise no part of God could be outside of
Christ, thus God was no longer omnipresent if limited to a physical body, and the
events at Jesus’ baptism would be impossible to explain (Matt. 3:13-17). Eph.
3:19, “that you [Christians] may be filled with all the fullness of God” (cf.
4:13).
“Jesus is prophetically called
‘Mighty God’ and ‘Everlasting Father’ in Isaiah 9:6.” The term “father” is employed
here as an anthropomorphic metaphor, signifying a progenitor, authority figure,
and caregiver (cf. 2 Kgs. 2:12; Job 29:16; Isa. 22:21; 1 Cor. 4:15), which is
descriptive of Jesus’ earthly role in relation to God’s children (Isaiah 8:18;
Heb. 2:13; 12:2). As deity Jesus is both mighty and eternal (cf. Micah 5:2),
but the later New Testament distinction between God the Father and the Son of
God is relevant only to the incarnation (cf. Luke 1:35) and the corresponding
messianic scheme (cf. Isaiah 53:4, 6, 10).
“Baptism is valid only if it is
administered in the name of Jesus alone as a verbal formula.” There is a difference in
baptizing in Jesus’ name and in using
the name of Jesus as a verbal baptismal formula. The apostles preached “in the
name of Jesus” (Acts 4:2, 17-18; 9:27, 29; etc.), but this involved more than
merely saying his name. They preached by his authority (Matt. 28:18-20). All
that we do must be done “in the name of” (i.e. by the authority of) Jesus (Col.
3:17; cf. 2 Thess. 3:6; Acts 4:7, 10). To baptize “in the name of Jesus” is to
baptize according to his authority. Jesus has been given “all authority,” and
he commanded to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:18-19). When the early disciples baptized in the name of
(by the authority of) Jesus, they did just that. If one insists on a specific
verbal formula, what exactly is to be said: “Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38), “Lord
Jesus” (Acts 8:16), “Lord” (Acts 10:48), “Father, Son, Holy Spirit” (Matt.
28:19), or nothing at all (Acts 8:38; 16:15, 33; 18:3)?
Further Observations:
In John 5:31 Jesus said, “If I bear
witness of myself, my witness is not true.” Jesus had the Father as an additional witness (v. 37). In John 8:13
the Pharisees made the following charge against Jesus: “You bear witness of
yourself, your witness is not true.” The Lord replied (vv. 16-18): “And yet if
I do judge, my judgment is true; for I am
not alone, but I am with the Father
who sent me. It is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness
of me.” If the Sabellian (“Oneness”) view is correct, then Jesus was alone in
his testimony, and according to the Law (Deut. 17:6; 19:15; John 5:31; 8:17)
his testimony was invalid. John 16:32, “I am not alone, because the Father
is with me.”
John 14:23, “We [Christ and the Father] will come to him and make Our home with him.” The pronouns “we”
and “our” show plurality. If someone says this has reference to Christ’s divine
and human natures, was Jesus therefore saying that both his divine and human natures will indwell those who
keep his word? A human being has a human nature whether he is obedient or not.
If no one has seen God the Father at any
time (1 John 4:12), yet Jesus has been seen (John 1:14), how can Jesus be the
Father? If the Father knows the day of Christ’s return, but Christ does not
know (Mark 13:32), how can Christ be the Father? Since Eph. 4:4-6 shows a
distinction between one Spirit, one Lord, and one God/Father, how can they all
be one and the same Person? Are the one body, one hope, one faith, and one
baptism all the same?
If the Father and the Holy Spirit are one
and the same, does the Holy Spirit make intercession with himself (Rom.
8:26-27)? If Jesus is both the Father and the Holy Spirit, does he divide
himself into three parts (John 15:26)? Out of whose hand did Jesus (the Lamb)
take the scroll (Rev. 5:1, 7)? If Jesus is the only Person of the Godhead, the
following scriptures are confusing and misleading: Gen. 1:26; Matt. 28:19; John
14:23-26; 15:24-26; 16:32; 17:1ff.; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Pet. 1:2; et
al.
What about 2 John 9, “both the Father and the Son”? If this refers to divine and human
natures, how is abiding in Christ’s doctrine a requirement for having a human
nature? All human beings have a human nature regardless of whether or not they
abide in Christ’s doctrine. This verse clearly shows a distinction between
Christ and the Father, who both share the nature of God. The Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit are not the same Person: Matt. 3:16-17; Luke 1:35; John 14:26;
15:26; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 2:18; 4:4-6; 1 Pet. 1:2; Jude 20-21; Rev. 1:4-5.
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 Although sometimes attributed
to Theodotus of Byzantium (ca. 190), the first on record to have promoted the
view that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all the same Person is Sabellius
of Libya (ca. 215-220), thus “Sabellianism.” He denied the concept of the
triune Godhead and maintained that the designations Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit merely denote different capacities or manifestations of the same divine
being. The 16th-century Spanish Reformer Michael Servetus reaffirmed this
teaching (resulting in his execution by Calvinists in Geneva), as did the
18th-century Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg. In more recent times this
view has been espoused by the United Pentecostal Church and various other
so-called “Oneness Pentecostals” or “Jesus-Only Pentecostals.”
2 Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version. Emphasis added in italics.
2 Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version. Emphasis added in italics.
Thanks Kevin, I found this useful.
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