Study to Show Thyself Approved - Part 806

How many times have you heard church ministries state -- "Here are the Biblically sound words of preacher or priest so and so" in an effort to encourage you to read their particular insights? And then, upon further investigation, you discover that these same preacher/priest's respective statement of faith and doctrines, are not Biblically sound. What do you do? 

For example, today, I was reading an article and happened upon the scripture Isaiah 40:25. It states: "To whom then will you liken Me that I would be His equal?" In the King James version, this same verse puts it this way: "To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One." (Isaiah 40:25) Regardless of the translation used, the message (at least in this scripture) is still the same. 

That is, there is one God and besides Him, there is no other. "Yet I am the Lord thy God ... and thou shalt know no God but Me, for there is no Saviour beside Me." (Hosea 13:4) "I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from Me, there is no Saviour." (Isaiah 43:11) "Declare what is to be present, present it -- let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from Me, a righteous God and a Saviour. There is none but Me." (Isaiah 45:21)

This is a critical point in the gospel message of the kingdom because if we do not know God by name, then how do we even know in whom we believe? In whom we worship? I have been told that the number one question (when it comes to religion and spirituality) is "Who is God?" Number two is similar in nature -- "What is He like?" 

But if the very religious experts that we regularly subscribe to in our literature choices do not have this very basic understanding of the Godhead, then how can we realistically believe that they have valuable insights on the rest of the gospel narrative?

This is particularly true of those churches who present the trinity or a triune god (God in three persons) as truth. What is worse is when these same churches are questioned on this stance, there is even further distortion of the Godhead. Instead of believing that God is One God who became our Saviour -- our heavenly Father in creation, the precious Son in redemption and now today the Holy Spirit as our Comforter -- the latest deviancy from the scriptures is to suggest that the Son of God became flesh, or that God is one but co-equal with three persons. 

These ignore I Timothy 3:16 that states: "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."  Not another God but the same God was manifest in the flesh. "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Colossians 2:9)

This is why Jesus could say, as He did in John 10:30, for example, that "I and My Father are one." Not two persons in the Godhead but one. "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." (John 1:1-18) This is why the disciples saw "Jesus only."

But John is not the only disciple to allude to Jesus being God in the flesh. Mark wrote: And Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord." (Mark 12:29)

Further, throughout both the old and new testaments, God reveals Himself to His people by name. In this current dispensation of grace, His name is Jesus. The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

"For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

Put another way, "Ye are My witnesses," saith the Lord, "and My servant whom I have chosen: that you 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 apart from Me, there is no Saviour." .(Isaiah 43:10-11) The first commandment tells us to worship the Lord thy God with all our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength. Indeed, the Bible states: "You shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:3)

Other verses that confirm that God is one and that this same Creator that was in the beginning became flesh (in a sin-prone body but without sin) and shed His precious blood on the cross for us? We could start with Philip when he said unto Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us." What did Jesus say? "Have I been so long time with you and yet thou hast not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, "Show us the Father?" (John 14:8-9)

Even the devil believes that there is one God and these same tremble. (James 2:19) So why then do the religious of this day attempt to divide this same one God into three persons? God as a tri-une God. Does the word "deceived" come to mind?  If not, then why do church organizations have statements of faith that do not align scripturally with the Word?

The Bible states: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending," saith the Lord, "which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8)

"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, [even] in His Son Jesus Christ -- This is the true God, and eternal life." (I John 5:20)

"Who being the brightness of [His] glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the Word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Hebrews 1:3)

"For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him." (Colossians 1:16)

"But to us [there is but] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we by Him." (I Corinthians 8:6)

"For it pleased [the Father] that in Him should all fulness dwell ..." (Colossians 1:19)

"One Lord, One faith, One baptism." (Ephesians 4:5) 

And Thomas answered and said unto Him [Jesus] -- "My Lord and my God." (John 20:28) "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." (John 14:10) 

"God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship [Him] in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24) 

Then saith Jesus unto him, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." (Matthew 4:10)

"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28)

"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." (Hebrews 2:9)

"To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the Word of reconciliation." (II Corinthians 5:19) "To the only wise God our Saviour, [be] glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." (Jude 1:25) "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Matthew 1:23)

"Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I [am] the LORD that maketh all [things]; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself ..." (Isaiah 44:24) "Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren." (I John 3:16) Not another but the same God who created us in the beginning. by 

There are many more verses that point to the same Lord God in the beginning becoming our Saviour. But don't take my word for it. Study the scriptures for yourself and discover just how much our Lord God loves us. Most of all, don't be deceived or blinded by the god of this world which believes not "lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." (II Corinthians 4:4)

Let him who hath ears to hear, hear. Stand in the offering plate.