Can the POWER / ANOINTING of God Rest on an Object?

During the days of the early Church, articles that Paul touched, like handkerchiefs and aprons, “were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them” (Acts 19:11-12). It was the same thing with Peter’s shadow (Acts 5:15-16). These things had the anointing of God on them and thus physically or mentally ill people exposed to them were healed and demons fled! A good example from the Old Testament would be the power of God on Elisha’s bones, which resurrected a dead man (2 Kings 13:20-21).

There’s no reason that this principle wouldn’t apply today, assuming that the man/woman of God in question is genuinely anointed of the LORD. Keep in mind, however, that, just because someone may be anointed of God, it doesn’t mean that they’re perfect in doctrine or practice.

Related Topics:

HEALING — How Do You Receive?

SLAIN IN THE SPIRIT — Is It Biblical?

Demonic Spirits — How to Deflect Them

GRACE — What Is God’s Grace? How Do You Receive It? How Do You Grow In It?

Does Christianity Weaken People or EMPOWER?

Relating to God FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES — Father, Friend, Helper, Creator, King, Almighty, Master, Savior, etc.

What is the difference between healthy fear of the LORD and unhealthy fear? Is it possible to “feel at ease” with God while, at the same time, having reverence for God?

These are good questions. Think of it in terms of a wise father and his boy on Earth: The dad takes the kid places, teaches him things and has a loving relationship with him, but the son doesn’t want to rebel because (1) he loves & respects his father and (2) he knows he’ll be properly disciplined (Hebrews 12:10-11).

Also, consider that we (believers) relate to God from different angles as disclosed in the Bible: God is our Father, Christ is our savior & friend, the Holy Spirit is our helper & comforter; the LORD is our Creator, our King (Psalm 74:12), the Almighty, etc. From each of these perspectives we relate appropriately as child, friend, recipient, created one, priestly servant and so forth.

God is our Father in Heaven (Matthew 6:9 & 23:9). Christ called the disciples his friends (John 15:15), but also stressed servanthood (Luke 17:7-10). The epistles emphasize believers being sons/daughters of the Father (Romans 8:15), but also says that we are royal priests of the Most High (1 Peter 2:9 & Revelation 1:6) as well as servants/slaves (Philippians 1:1).

In short, our relationship with our Creator isn’t one-dimensional and therefore shouldn’t be one-dimensional. Balance is key.

The Basics of Christianity

Prayer—Communing with God

Is Christianity a “RELATIONSHIP With God”?

Legalism — Understanding its Many Forms

Is There Such a Thing as RIGHTEOUS HATRED or RIGHTEOUS ENMITY?

Yes, there is such a thing as righteous hatred or righteous enmity. Believers are instructed to “be imitators of God” and “follow God’s example” in Ephesians 5:1 and the Scriptures clearly show that the LORD hates certain things:

¹⁶There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷        haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸        a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
¹⁹        a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Proverbs 6:16-19

⁴For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
with you, evil people are not welcome.
⁵The arrogant cannot stand
in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
⁶    you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
    you, Lord, detest.
⁷But I, by your great love,
can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
toward your holy temple.

Psalm 5:4-7

⁴The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
⁵The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.

Psalm 11:4-5

In response, someone might understandably ask: ‘But I thought God loved the whole world, as it says in John 3:16?’ Let’s read that popular verse:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

The Greek word for ‘love’ in this passage is the verb form of agapé (ah-GAH-pay), which refers to practical love, as observed in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. In other words, God so loved the world that he did something practical — the suffering & death of His Son — to redeem those who are willing to repent and reconcile (Acts 20:21). However, this obviously does not mean that God has tender affection for every person on Earth, past & present. In other words, God isn’t close to every person and adores them with warm fuzzies. There’s another Greek word for love in the sense of tender affection & respect and that is phileo (John 11:36).

With this understanding, you don’t have to have phileo love for people — affection/respect/closeness — to agape love them. Why? Because agape love refers to practical love and has little to do with affection, that is, liking the person. This explains how we can fulfill Jesus & Paul’s instructions to love our enemies (Luke 6:27; Romans 12:20-21). Do you like your enemies, that is, phileo love them? Are you close to them? Of course not. But this isn’t a problem because we are not commanded to phileo love our enemies, we’re told to agape love them. Are you following?

This explains why agape love is often defined as “unconditional love” since it is practical in nature and, again, not dependent upon liking the individual or on how well they treat you. I should add that loving someone in an agape sense — i.e. practically loving them — does not just refer to gentle love since tough love is sometimes in order.

We know from the Scriptures that “God is love” (1 John 4:16) and so our Creator loves (agape) the world, just as the most popular passage states, John 3:16. What this means is that God is extending practical love to all human beings even though unbelievers are unregenerated “children of wrath” by nature (Ephesians 2:1-5). I was only saved and “made alive with Christ” because of God’s great agape love!

But God does not phileo love everyone, that is, have tender affection for them. He doesn’t have a close bond with every human. Why else do you think the Scriptures instruct us to “come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:8)? If we have to make a willing effort to come near to our Creator in order for the LORD to come near to us, that obviously means God isn’t near to everyone. For instance, do you think God is up there observing the many pedophile priests and saying, “Oh, I just have so much warm affection for these sick perverts?” Do you think the LORD was close buddies with genocidal political monsters, like Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot? Of course not.

You can read more about the different types of love in the Bible here.

Hatred of Evil is Righteous

The Bible says “Let those who love the Lord hate evil” (Psalm 97:10). Furthermore, we know that Christ is the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24) and wisdom plainly says: “To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech” (Proverbs 8:13).

A critic wrote me and said he felt I was “hateful.” To which I responded: “The only thing I hate is evil, lies and corruption.” As the Bible says: “The righteous hate what is false” (Proverbs 13:5).

This is why I hate the Democrat Party & Liberal idiotology because so much of what they say & do is based around gross lies, slander, corruption and immorality (RINOs too, of course). They’re satan’s favorite political party in America in light of the fact that they’re anti-Christ, anti-JudeoChristian, pro-thug, anti-police, pro-lawless, pro-strife, pro-perversion, pro-deviance, pro-baby killing (including letting abortion survivors die on the table), pro-silencing Conservative voices and more. All of these things are the bad “fruit” of Dems/Libs — their beliefs and policies — and Christ said that we can identify false prophets “by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-23).

While I don’t like hardcore Dems/Libs — that is, I don’t have any affection/respect for them and therefore I’m not close to them — this does not prevent me from loving them in the practical sense of agape love, which of course includes tough love when necessary, like “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15; John 7:7) .

Righteous Hatred / Righteous Enmity / Righteous Hostility

‘Hatred’ means “enmity” or “hostility” and, as detailed above, there is such a thing as righteous hatred, righteous enmity or righteous hostility. Righteous hatred is not evil, but good. Why? Because it’s righteous.

Consider Hebrews 10:13, which references Christ’s “enemies” who will eventually be made his “footstool.” ‘Enemies’ in the Greek is echthros (ech-THROS), which is where we get the feminine echthra (EKH-thrah) translated as “hatred” in Paul’s list of works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21. So there is such a thing as righteous hostility or righteous enmity; and this explains passages that say point blank that the LORD hates the arrogant, the violent, etc. (e.g. Psalm 5:5 & 11:5).

The wages of sin is death, which the Almighty Creator must ultimately execute on those who reject the gracious offer of reconciliation and eternal life through the gospel; that is, those who refuse to repent (Acts 20:21). This is the “second death” that the unrepentant will face where “raging fire will consume the enemies of God” (Revelation 20:13-15; Hebrews 10:26-27,31).

Notice that those who refuse to repent are called the “enemies of God.” They’re God’s enemies by their own choice (James 4:4). The LORD must carry out this “second death” because He’s perfectly just; and divine justice demands the execution of the penalty of sin. However, the LORD is also love, which is why He’s offering a way out for sinners; i.e. redemption. The Creator doesn’t “want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Please notice the balance of God’s righteous hatred and agape love. Too many believers swing to one extreme or the other and end up with error: The LORD is either a big mean cop in the sky who can’t wait to punish sin and abolish sinners or God is so loving he would never judge & punish sin. The truth is in between these two extremes. As they say, the middle road is the way to go. See the article Hermeneutics — Proper Bible Interpretation for details.

Close

Most believers are ignorant of these biblical truths and don’t realize that enmity can be righteous and justified. Did you know that the LORD loves justice and hates crime (Isaiah 61:8)? This explains why He ordains human governments to punish wrongdoers; that is, criminals (Romans 13:1-4). Believers are called to imitate God (Ephesians 5:1) and therefore we are to love justice and hate crime as well, which involves seeing to it that criminals are apprehended and punished according to the God-ordained governing authorities.

Obviously carnal hostility (hatred) is different from righteous hostility. Carnal hatred is rooted in enmity based on arrogance, envy, jealousy and rivalry, which are all works of the flesh (Proverbs 6:16-19 & Galatians 5:19-21). People who regularly and unrepentantly walk in carnal hostility are “in the darkness,” even those who say they’re believers. That’s what John was getting across in 1 John 2:9-11. Being “in the darkness” is STAGE ONE level spirituality, which is the lack of spirituality; you can read more about the stages of spiritual growth here.

What Is ONENESS Theology—aka “JESUS ONLY”—and Is It Biblical?

There are variations of Oneness theology, but it comes down to the idea that the LORD is one singular person and thus manifests as Father, Son or Holy Spirit. This belief is unitarian and opposes the tri-unity of God. More specifically, Oneness theology advocates that Jesus is the one true God and can manifest as the Father or the Holy Spirit. Put another way, the LORD manifests as one person in three different ways or modes, but God does not consist of Father, Son & Holy Spirit at the same time, that is, distinct and coexisting persons in the divine nature. This belief is called modalism in theology and is a popular doctrine with Oneness Pentecostals, also known as “Apostolic” and “Jesus Only.”

With any biblical topic it’s important to look at all the relevant passages. We must be careful not to draw a conclusion based on certain passages at the expense of other pertinent ones. Obviously, the more overt and detailed verses on a topic take precedence over the more sketchy and ambiguous ones, not to mention they expand our understanding of them. But its error to ignore or “write off” clear passages on a subject. (For details on common sense Bible interpretation go here).

We know that God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-6,18), but the Scriptures reveal that Father, Son & Holy Spirit are included in this divine oneness. This is why the LORD spoke of himself in the plural in the opening chapters of the Bible (Genesis 1:26 & 3:22, not to mention 11:7).

Christ said “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) (see also John 14:9, 8:19 & 12:45), but he also clearly revealed that they are distinct (John 5:19-27 & 15:10). The distinction of Father, Son & Holy Spirit can plainly be observed in this passage:

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:16-17

Something similar happened when the Messiah took Peter, James and John up a high mountain and was amazingly transfigured before them. Notice what Father God says to the three disciples as Peter started babbling:

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

Matthew 17:5

Here’s yet another passage in which the Father speaks from Heaven in reference to the Son:

27“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

John 12:27-28

All of these verses disprove Oneness theology. If the plain sense makes sense — and is in harmony with the rest of Scripture — don’t look for any other sense lest you end up with nonsense.

The Son Prayed to the Father

Furthermore, Christ prayed to the Father throughout the Gospel accounts, as shown in Matthew 11:25-26, John 11:41-42 and John 17. For those who argue that he did this merely as a pretense to set an example for believers, this would mean that Jesus was just putting on an act whenever he prayed, which is what hypocrisy is (the Greek word for ‘hypocrite’ literally means “actor”).

Secondly, Yeshua was often ALONE when he prayed, as observed in Mark 1:35, Matthew 14:23 and Luke 22:39-42. Needless to say, you can’t very well “set the example” for someone else when you’re alone with the Heavenly Father. Those who embrace Oneness theology would argue that Christ was setting an example for readers of these biblical accounts in centuries to come but, if this is so, 1. Jesus’ communion with the Father would be fake since he wasn’t literally praying to the Father in Heaven while alone on Earth and 2. there’s zero indication in these texts that the Son & Father’s communion wasn’t real and merely an example for readers of the Scriptures in centuries to come.

Look up any of these passages and you’ll notice that none of them say anything whatsoever about Jesus’ prayers being phony and merely a pretense to set an example for believers. I repeat: If the plain sense makes sense don’t look for any other sense lest you end up with nonsense.

The Father and Son Conversing in the Old Testament

When Christ prayed in the New Testament he was conversing with the Father (remember, prayer is communion with God). The Son and the Father can also be seen conversing in the Old Testament:

So the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. ¹⁶When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

2 Samuel 24:15-16

The Angel of the LORD is the pre-incarnate Christ and both the Father and Son are the LORD — aka YHWH, Yahweh.

Thus when the LORD talks to The Angel of the LORD as a separate person on this occasion, it is evidence of what theologians call “Father or the Holy Spirit”: Father God instructed the Son to withhold his hand from destroying the capital city and the Son complied. This is in harmony with what Jesus testified — He only does what the Father commands (John 8:29 & 15:10).

This isn’t something peculiar to 2 Samuel 24:16 as we observe the same thing in other passages, like this one:

Then the angel of the LORD said, “LORD Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?” ¹³So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.

Zechariah 1:12-13

This passage shows that both “the angel of the LORD” and Father God were present at the same time. Since we know Christ is The Angel of the LORD this text is simply depicting two persons of the Father or the Holy Spirit talking to each other. This explains why God refers to Himself in the plural in the creation account, as noted earlier:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…”

Genesis 1:26

And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

Genesis 3:22

Again, this plurality doesn’t suggest the false notion of polytheism because the Scriptures stress that the LORD is one (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-6,18). It simply denotes one God in three persons: Father, Son & Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

Addressing the Main Argument for Oneness Theology

Let’s consider the main argument of those who embrace Oneness theology (or lean toward it):

‘Christ instructed his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). However whenever the apostles applied this directive they always baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (e.g. Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48 & 19:5).

Were these disciples disobedient or did they do exactly what Christ instructed?

Jesus commanded to baptize in the name (not names) of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Is Father, Son and Holy Ghost a name? Or are they titles?

If they are titles then when Jesus says to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, doesn’t this plainly mean that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost ALL have ONE name?

And what is this name?’

The Father, Son & Holy Spirit do share a name and that is the LORD, which is YHWH, transliterated from the Hebrew, and pronounced Yahweh (YAH-way) (or YAH-hoo-way for devout Hebrews). This is the name of God, known as the Tetragrammaton, which appears in English Bibles whenever you see the word “LORD” (all capitals). You can read details here.

As for the name ‘Jesus’ (or Yeshua in Hebrew), this was the name the angel Gabriel gave to Mary to call her miraculous God-given son, as shown in Luke 1:31. This name was specifically given because ‘Jesus’ is the transliteration of a Hebrew term meaning “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation.” So ‘Jesus’ is the God-given proper name for the Son when he manifested in the physical realm while ‘Christ’ — aka “Anointed One” — is his title, signifying that Jesus was sent from God as humanity’s King and Deliverer, our “salvation” and, hence, our Savior.

However, the Son existed prior to his incarnation and before he was known as Jesus (Yeshua), as clearly shown here:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning. ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

John 1:1-3

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Matthew 1:23

This explains the careful phrasing of this verse:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

The human Christ was born, but the eternal Son was given because the Son already existed from eternity.

Whilst Father/Son/Holy Spirit are the LORD, Yahweh — and therefore “share” that name — only the Son has the name Jesus (or Yeshua in Hebrew) and the title Christ or Messiah, aka “Anointed One,” not to mention Immanuel, “God with us.” Remember, ‘Jesus’ literally means “the LORD is salvation.”

‘But why did the apostles baptize in the name of Jesus if the Messiah instructed us to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?’

Before the Lord ascended he instructed believers:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Matthew 28:19

This is the method for baptizing believers in water. So why do we see so many instances in the New Testament where people were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ without mentioning the Father or Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48 & 19:5)?

The answer is simple: The phrase “in the name of” is one-and-the-same as “in the authority of.” This can be observed in this passage, which takes place after the miraculous healing of a crippled beggar:

They [the Hebrew rulers, elders & teachers of the Law] had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, ¹⁰then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.

Acts 4:7-10

The Hebrews asked, “by what power or what name did you do this?” Peter replies that it was by the name of Jesus Christ that they healed people. In other words, “in the name of Jesus Christ” meant by the power and authority in Jesus Christ. This can be observed in several New Testament passages:

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

Acts 3:6

She [a girl who had an evil spirit] kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

Acts 16:18

So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, ⁵hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 5:4-5

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:11

always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:20

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.

2 Thessalonians 3:6

The phrase “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” and its variations are synonymous to “in the authority of Jesus Christ.” Thus when a new believer is water baptized in the name of Jesus, they are baptized by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. While the Father, Son & Holy Spirit are one in the sense that they are all three the LORD — that is, Yahweh — they are not indistinguishable. Human salvation is focused on the Son, which is why the most popular verse of the Bible says:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

First, notice that Father God and the Son are distinguished. Secondly, note that it’s necessary to believe in the Son to receive eternal life. While both the Father and the Holy Spirit are the LORD, Yahweh, it’s necessary to believe in the Son to receive redemption & eternal life. Why? Because he is the part of God — or person of God — that died for our sins and was raised to life for our justification (Romans 4:25, 5:8, 5:10; 1 John 4:10; Revelation 1:18).

Thus God, the Father, gave the Son the name that is above all names, Lord Jesus Christ:

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11

Observe, incidentally, that verse 11 refers to the LORD as “God the Father,” as opposed to “the Son” in John 3:16 (cited above). Furthermore, verses 5-6 say that Christ is God and equal with God. In other words, both Father and Son are equally the LORD, Yahweh, which corresponds to the afore-noted John 1:1-3.

But the Holy Spirit is the LORD too, as observed in the afore-cited Matthew 3:16-17 (and Mark 1:10–11), as well as the fact that Peter said Ananias “lied to the Holy Spirit” followed by “You have not lied just to human beings but to God” (Acts 5:3-4). Bear in mind that Christ plainly distinguished the Spirit from both the Father and Himself (John 16:7). For those who argue that the Holy Ghost is merely the “force of God” and not a person, the Spirit is referenced with personalized pronouns (John 16:13), has a will (1 Corinthians 12:4-7), an intellect (1 Corinthians 2:10-13), personally guides/directs (John 16:13; Acts 16:6), speaks (Acts 13:2) and can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). Hence, the Holy Spirit is not merely a force, but a divine person, coequal with the Father and Son.

Whilst Father/Son/Holy Spirit are equally the LORD, Yahweh, there is subordination in an economical or relational sense. For instance, the Scriptures very clearly show that the Father is the head over the Son and this is explicitly stated (1 Corinthians 11:3 & 15:27-28). While the Father and Son are equal in being, the Son is subordinate to the Father in function or relationship. Hence, Jesus would never contradict the Father; in fact, he can’t contradict the Father because, as he said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) (see also John 14:9, 8:19 & 12:45).

This all ties into the point of this section: When Christ instructed that we are to baptize believers “in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” he meant in the authority or power of the LORD — Father/Son/Holy Spirit. And since the Son, Jesus Christ, is the obvious focal point of human salvation (remember, Jesus’ very name means “Yahweh is salvation”) the apostles baptized believers in the name of — the authority of — our Lord Jesus Christ.

Obviously baptizing believers in the name of the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit and baptizing them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ are acceptable when performing this ordinance.

I’m sure you’re seeing how Oneness theology is unscriptural. But this doctrine creates other glaring problems…

**In Oneness theology God is currently the Holy Spirit on Earth, which would mean that the Father is not in Heaven. If this is so, who are we praying to?**

Christ instructed that we are to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus (Matthew 6:9-13; John 14:13-14, 15:16 & John 16:23-24), but in Oneness theology God is currently the Holy Spirit on Earth, which would mean that the Father isn’t in Heaven and the Son isn’t at his right hand interceding for us (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1). This begs the question: Who are we praying to?

It’s clear in these passages that the Father is on the throne in Heaven with the Son at the Father’s right hand, interceding for us as our Advocate. Meanwhile the Holy Spirit is on Earth indwelling spiritually-regenerated believers and guiding them into all truth, amongst other things (John 14:16-17, 14:26, 15:26 & John 16:7-8). In other words, the LORD, Yahweh, is indeed one, but is not functioning as one of these three; rather the LORD functions as all three due to the tri-unity of Yahweh — Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

If all of this is clear in the Scriptures, why do some believers staunchly embrace Oneness theology?

Answer: Because of an unbalanced approach in their scriptural studies, as well as the social pressure of sectarianism.

Regarding an unbalanced approach to theology, anytime someone ignores or plays down clear, relevant passages on a subject they’re violating the hermeneutical rule of Scripture interprets Scripture and thus they inevitably wind up with error, even if it’s partial error. Error by its nature cannot set people free (John 8:31-32); on the contrary, it will put you into religious bondage. For more on common sense Bible interpretation, go here.

But why would anyone ignore or play down plain, explanatory verses on a topic? Usually because of rigid sectarianism. This is faction-ism wherein believers get stuck in a particular sect and refuse to think outside of the box of the indoctrination thereof, regardless of what the Scriptures clearly teach on the topic in question. In other words, their loyalty is to their sect/assembly/pastor to the point that it overrides clear and balanced biblical teaching, which isn’t healthy. It’s a myopic mentality that tends to hinder the apprehension of truth — and therefore freedom — but also fosters spiritual dependence & immaturity. You can read details here.

Closing Word

While Oneness theology & its various interpretations (e.g. “Jesus only”) is a false doctrine, I have no doubt that sincere believers who embrace this belief are genuinely saved and therefore brother & sisters in the LORD. After all, you don’t have to properly understand someone’s nature in order to have a relationship with him/her. For instance, does a person have to properly grasp my physical/mental/spiritual make-up to have close fellowship with me? Of course not. Just the same, you don’t have to have a perfect understanding of the Creator’s nature to have a genuine relationship.

T.D. Jakes is a good example of a genuine minister of God who embraced Oneness theology for decades, but came to see the scriptural truth of the tri-unity of God and publicly acknowledged it in January, 2012. Does this mean he didn’t really know the LORD before that or that he wasn’t a true believer? Obviously not.

Nevertheless, Oneness theology is a false doctrine and cannot be condoned. Once a believer who adheres to this doctrine sees the truth God expects him/her to change their mind accordingly, whatever the consequences, including persecution from staunch Unitarians or getting kicked out of a Oneness group.

“BE MERCIFUL, Just as Your Father Is Merciful”

What did Christ mean when he said “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful? Let’s read the full quote:

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Luke 6:35-36

The Lord was stressing here that, if we do good to our enemies and show them mercy we are being “sons (or daughters) of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” In other words, he’s encouraging us to imitate our heavenly Father, which is a scriptural principle (Ephesians 5:1 & 1 Peter 4:11). Since our Father in Heaven is kind and merciful to thankless evildoers we should extend them the same grace.

This is an awesome general principle to live by, but it shouldn’t be mistaken to mean that we’re obligated to perpetually offer sweetness and mercy to wicked ingrates who repeatedly spit on our genuine efforts of goodwill and peace. After all, God showed Herod Agrippa much patience and mercy even though he was a pompous persecutor of the Church, but when he imprisoned Peter and put James to death, as shown in Acts 12:1-5, Herod’s days were numbered and he was dangerously nearing the limit of the LORD’s tolerance (1 Thessalonians 2:15-16). When Herod arrogantly accepted praise that’s only due the Most High at a political speech he was swiftly wiped off the face of the earth by “an angel of the Lord” (Acts 12:23).

What should we make of this? God showed this wicked unbeliever much patience and mercy, but when Herod foolishly chose to spurn his awesome grace, time after time, the Sovereign Lord withdrew his mercy and decisively executed stern judgment. This occurred in the New Testament era and this is our heavenly Father whom the Messiah said we should emulate. Chew on that.

Christ himself acted the same way when he walked the earth. He prayerfully and patiently extended mercy and peace to his unbelieving enemies, avoiding conflict at first, but when they refused to yield to God’s grace and repeatedly responded with murderous antagonism and unrepentant legalism he radically rebuked them to their faces (Luke 11:37-40 & Matthew 23:13-33), not to mention fearsome deeds, like clearing the temple of greedy fools (John 2:13-17 & Mark 11:15-18).

Or how about the occasion where Paul openly confronted Elymas the sorcerer? He “looked straight at Elymas and said, ‘You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?’ ” (Acts 13:8-12). The passage clearly states that Paul was “filled with the Spirit” when he said this, not filled with the flesh. But there’s more: The apostle also pronounced the Lord’s judgment in the form of temporary blindness (!), obviously in the hope that the sorcerer would be humbled and wisely repent (verses 9 & 11).

In light of Paul’s instructions in 1 Timothy 2:1-3, he no doubt researched the areas he was assigned to minister, in this case Cyprus, and subsequently bathed the peoples in prayer, which would include the proconsul and Elymas, the latter of whom was a celebrity of sorts. This is what I always do before I minister at a location. Hence, before even meeting the people of Cyprus the apostle prayed for them and blessed them, including the well-known magician.

My point is that Paul extended love and peace to this man before even meeting him, but when the fool responded with persistent stubborn antagonism, trying to steer people away from God and the gospel, the apostle reacted in a decisively stern manner, led of the Spirit. I think we can all agree that Paul wasn’t Mr. Christian Nice Guy on this occasion.

So, yes, by all means “love your enemies” and “be merciful as your Father is merciful.” Repeat as necessary. This should always be our initial response to unbelieving opposition. But this doesn’t ludicrously mean we’re bound to perpetual sugary sweetness. Ministers who advocate this aren’t being balanced with the Scriptures; either that or they simply don’t know how to read.

When some fool repeatedly spits on your gracious attempts of goodwill and peace you’ll feel righteous anger stir up within you; obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit and act boldly and decisively, just like Christ and Paul did, not to mention Peter (Acts 8:18-24). You’re being a faithful Christian when you do this. In fact, you’re emulating God Himself. Don’t let any misguided religionist convince you otherwise.

Turning the Cheek — What it Means and Doesn’t Mean

What Does “GO THE EXTRA MILE” Mean?

“If Someone Takes Your Cloak, Do Not Stop Him From Taking Your Tunic”

Gentle Love and Tough Love

Judging—When SHOULD You Judge and When SHOULDN’T You Judge?

Forgiveness—Should You Forgive EVERYONE for EVERYTHING ALL of the Time?

Absolute Pacifism (Unbiblical) vs. Limited Pacifism (Biblical)

Jesus Christ — Milksop or Mighty Lord?

Cast Your Cares! (Venting)

“If Someone TAKES YOUR CLOAK, Do Not Stop Him From Taking Your Tunic”

What did Christ mean by this instruction:

“If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. ³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.”

Luke 6:29-30

Years ago there was a woman at my (then) place of employment who would leave her purse lying around. Sometimes money could be seen at the opening, usually just dollar bills. I informed her that she shouldn’t leave bills hanging out for all to see and she shrugged, “If someone takes it they need it more than I do.” She wasn’t even a Christian, but this is the general idea the Lord was conveying here.

I am reminded of the many times over the years my wife and I allowed people to borrow books, cds, dvds, apparel & tools and never getting them back; we usually conclude, “They must need it more than we do” and let it go. (And, no, I’m not saying you shouldn’t get your stuff back from borrowers, particularly expensive items). Here’s how Messiah put it in Matthew’s gospel:

“And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well… ⁴²Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Matthew 5:40,42

Back in those days there wasn’t a Walmart or Goodwill nearby to purchase inexpensive clothing; decent apparel was worth more, which explains why Jesus’ executioners cast lots for his soiled garments (John 19:23-24). This helps make sense of Christ’s statement: “if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic…” If people are in such dire need that they’ll resort to legal measures to acquire clothing, give them another item as well; that is, as long as it’s within your power to do so. After all, there’s a limit to how much you can give.

A minister was serving in Haiti years ago and he noticed some needy people while going back to the mission compound. He gave away his shoes, shirt, tank top and socks. All he had left were his shorts and that’s as far as he would go, otherwise he’d have to streak naked to the compound! He had more clothes back with his luggage, of course, which is why he was able and willing to give away everything but his shorts.

Yet, I believe Christ’s teaching goes deeper than this. The Lord was advocating being in control of the situation: If a man takes your jacket he’s in control, but if you respond by willingly giving him something else you are in control. You just usurped control of the situation. We could put it like this: Don’t be a passive victim and don’t be a rash brawler; but be assertive and led of the Spirit. Maintain an attitude of love, wisdom and self-control in all circumstances, just like the Messiah.

I think it’s also important to stress that Jesus was referring more to people in genuine need rather than hardcore thieves, which is substantiated by verse 42: “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” The motive for giving on such occasions is generosity and compassion. You sympathize with the person’s needy situation just as you would want others to sympathize with you if it were your plight. This is the golden rule or “royal law” noted in Matthew 7:12 and James 2:8.

Yet there’s a huge difference between needy people wanting to borrow from you — or taking things and never giving them back — and hardcore criminals who routinely commit crimes, whether stealing, murder or otherwise. The latter should not be tolerated.

For instance, why did some of Yeshua’s disciples have swords in their possession as shown in Luke 22:49-50? They had ministered with Christ for over three years by this point, which indicates they carried swords because Jesus permitted it. Why did he permit it? Because they traveled with a money box that contained all their ministry earnings as they journeyed from town to town. The swords were obviously for protection from potential thieves, particularly in the many desolate regions they had to travel.

Furthermore, if the Lord meant we should be doormats to every thug that comes down the pike why did he note the obvious right of protecting oneself from criminals in Matthew 24:43 and Luke 12:39? Why did he radically chase the “robbers” from the temple twice during his three-and-a-half-year ministry, as depicted in John 2:13-17 and Mark 11:15-18? Why did he refuse to allow murderers to apprehend and kill him on multiple occasions, as illustrated in Luke 4:28-30, John 7:30,44, 8:59 and 10:31,39?

The only time Christ submitted his life to the hands of people with ill-intent was when he was arrested in Gethsemane because it was God’s will for him to suffer and die for the salvation of humanity. It goes without saying that we have to be balanced with Jesus’ teachings and his example in the Bible, otherwise we’ll fall into error and embrace ideas he never actually taught.

Related Topics:

What Does “GO THE EXTRA MILE” Mean?

Handling Personal Offenses vs. Handling Criminal Acts

Turning the Cheek — What it Means and Doesn’t Mean

Gentle Love and Tough Love

Turning the Cheek — What it Means and Doesn’t Mean

Judging—When SHOULD You Judge and When SHOULDN’T You Judge?

Forgiveness—Should You Forgive EVERYONE for EVERYTHING ALL of the Time?

Absolute Pacifism (Unbiblical) vs. Limited Pacifism (Biblical)

Jesus Christ — Milksop or Mighty Lord?

Cast Your Cares! (Venting)

What Does GO THE EXTRA MILE Mean?

Christ instructed believers:

“If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”

Matthew 5:41

What did the Lord mean by this?

At that time, the Holy Land was under Roman control and Roman soldiers, who walked everywhere, were permitted by law to enlist non-citizens to carry their packs or equipment, but the limit was one Roman mile, which is close to the length of a contemporary mile. So why did Jesus encourage his disciples to go an extra mile carrying the gear of enemy occupiers? The Messiah was teaching how to maintain control in an unjust world filled with people who will take advantage of others if it’s within their power to do so. When a Roman soldier forced a man to carry his equipment for a mile he was in control, yet if the victim willingly insisted on going another mile he would be in control, not to mention he would be ‘doing good to his enemy’ (Luke 6:27).

If you find yourself in a situation where you’re being taken advantage of and the perpetrators can get away with it due to position or perhaps the law or hierarchy backs them up, consider how to “go the extra mile” and consequently usurp control of the situation. This links to the principle of overcoming evil with good (Romans 12:21). Sometimes in an ungodly world we can’t stop such abuses from happening, but we can choose not to be victims; we can assume mastery of the situation in a way that slyly stumps the perpetrators. Didn’t Christ say “be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves”? (See Matthew 10:16). And, who knows? You might just leave a life-changing impression.

But we don’t have to get so deep as the principle works on a very basic level: When someone in authority tells you to do something, simply do more than expected. You’ll be blessed. It’s “the law of the second mile.”

I should add that this data should not be misinterpreted to mean that believers are to be passive ‘doormats’ to abuse or crimes. See this article for scriptural instructions on how to handle offenses, whether personal offenses or criminal attacks.

Turning the Cheek — What it Means and Doesn’t Mean

Gentle Love and Tough Love

Judging—When SHOULD You Judge and When SHOULDN’T You Judge?

Forgiveness—Should You Forgive EVERYONE for EVERYTHING ALL of the Time?

Absolute Pacifism (Unbiblical) vs. Limited Pacifism (Biblical)

Jesus Christ — Milksop or Mighty Lord?

Cast Your Cares! (Venting)

Was Jesus Christ HOMELESS?

Christ was a carpenter up until the age of 30 and his erstwhile neighbors in Nazareth recognized him by his prior occupation (Mark 6:3 & Matthew 13:55). The Greek word for ‘carpenter’ is tektón (TEK-tohn), which refers to a craftsman, carpenter or artisan. Tektón is where we get the words tectonic and architect. In 1st Century Israel, a tektón was a general craftsman who worked with wood, stone or metal in building projects, small or large. In other words, Christ did more than make tables & chairs.

Quality carpenters/builders/architects today make good money, as do people of any profession that takes skill and is in demand (Proverbs 22:29). Imagine how skilled the Messiah was as a builder since he created everything that exists (Colossians 1:16-17)!

Scholars say that families involved in a trade in Israel back then would’ve at least been of lower-middle income status. Tradition suggests that Christ’s’ stepfather, Joseph, died a few years before he entered public ministry at the age of 30 and thus, as the eldest son, Jesus became the one primarily responsible as the family breadwinner. His four brothers would’ve worked too of course.

After entering fulltime ministry and serving as a traveling minister, there’s indication that Christ had a home in Capernaum (Mark 2:1). In John 1:38-43 we observe John & Andrew visiting Jesus’ abode with Andrew wasting no time encouraging his bother Peter to come over as well. Mark 1:29 shows that Peter lived in Capernaum. Did Christ own this home or rent it? How long did he have it? The Bible doesn’t say.

¹⁸When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. ¹⁹Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Matthew 8:18-20

The Messiah was explaining the cost of being a disciple to a well-to-do scribe who claimed “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” In this particular case, following the Lord wherever he went meant traveling from town to town throughout Israel & points nearby, staying at the homes of hospitable people and such (Luke 10:3-7). Think of it in terms of modern musicians or entertainers who go on tour for months on end. It’s a challenging lifestyle, to say the least. How much more so if you’re constantly ministering to the spiritual & physical needs of people? How much more so if you have to often stay overnight in the abodes of people who are basically strangers?

Yet Christ & his disciples weren’t poor when they traveled in ministry. Part of their wages was the places they stayed and the food provided for them (Luke 10:7), but they also received constant donations, which were gathered in the ministry’s money box (or bag), aka their treasury (Luke 8:3 & John 13:29). So much money came in that Judas regularly stole from the treasury without being detected (John 12:6).

So, Christ was never ‘homeless’ in the sense of living on the street and begging for food. Rather, Jesus ministered to such people (e.g. Luke 18:35-42). So should we.

Lastly, sleeping on the ground or on a bench for a night or three doesn’t constitute homelessness. I’ve done both several times and I’ve never been homeless. This isn’t to say that there’s anything wrong with the Homeless Jesus statue because it drives home the point that the Lord has compassion on those suffering this condition and wants to help them & deliver them (Psalm 145:9 & Isaiah 25:7-8).

Related Topics:

Provision, Money and “Prosperity”

The Gist on Giving and “Tithing”

How to OBTAIN YOUR DESIRES

The Left’s Unbalanced View of Christ & Christianity

Understanding “the Right” and “the Left” from a Biblical Perspective

The Left’s UNBALANCED VIEW of Christ & Christianity

In this article we’re going to look at the view of Jesus Christ that Leftwingers tend to embrace, which they use to oppose & mock believers who don’t share their perspective, meaning those who are Independents or Conservatives and, especially, those they consider Rightwing, which – to the Far Left – basically means anyone who’s not a radical Liberal.

First, it’s important to understand that…

The Rightly-Divided Scriptures Are the Basis for Correction in Christianity

All Christians — whatever tag they choose to go by — have to meet at the blueprint for Christianity, which is the Bible and what it clearly & consistently teaches from a New Covenant perspective based on sound hermeneutics. This is the basis for doctrinal & moral correction, as observed here:

and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:15-17

Paul was writing to his protégé Timothy here. What did he say was going to make Timothy — and, by extension, any believer — wise? The Holy Scriptures! Verse 16 goes on to explain why this is so: Because “all Scripture is God-breathed,” which simply means that the writers whom the LORD chose to chronicle Scripture “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). As such, Scripture is “useful” for several things: “teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” It’s through the rightly divided instruction of Scripture and the corrections & training thereof that the believer is “thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

This explains a rule that Paul & Apollos had in their ministries that’s applicable to all believers, including us today: “Do not go beyond what is written” (1 Corinthians 4:6). What this means is that our perspective on any given relevant topic must be rooted in what the balanced Scriptures teach from a New Covenant perspective (with the understanding that we’re under the New Covenant, not the Old Covenant). How much more is this true if the topic is Jesus Christ, the heart of Christianity?

Responding to Leftwing Arguments

Let’s now look at how Leftwingers generally view Jesus Christ & Christianity and how they use this one-dimensional outlook to attack their opponents, which is any believer who’s not radical Liberal. The purpose of this article is to show you straight from the Scriptures that their perspective of Christ & Christianity is unbalanced at best and therefore at least partially erroneous. This will help you when you come across those from the Far Left who use these arguments to oppose & mock you.

Let’s start with…

‘Jesus was a humble servant of the abject poor’

It is true that Christ was a humble servant (Matthew 11:28-30 & 20:28), but this doesn’t discount that he was simultaneously the Mighty LORD. He was specifically called to serve the lost sheep of Israel but occasionally ministered to worthy Gentiles (Matthew 15:21-28). Of course he died for the whole world as a substitutionary sacrifice so that “whoever” believes may be reconciled to God and receive eternal life (John 3:16 & 3:36).

While Christ often ministered to poor people when he was on Earth, his service wasn’t limited to poor people. For instance, Matthew was a wealthy tax-collector before the Lord called him and he became one of the Messiah’s twelve disciples.

Jesus never ludicrously taught that simply being financially poor made someone intrinsically noble nor that being wealthy made the person inherently evil. After all, several godly men in the Bible were materially prosperous, like Job, Abraham, David and Solomon. I’ve personally met several poor people who were guilty of the love of money, which is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). I’ve also met many prosperous people who were godly and generous with their wealth.

Really, the only people whom Christ could reach and change were those who were “poor in spirit,” meaning those humble souls who knew they were spiritually bankrupt and desperately needed God’s grace (Matthew 5:3).

Let me close this section with a couple relevant observations about money & prosperity: When Paul instructed the young pastor Timothy on rich people in his assembly he didn’t tell Timothy to rebuke them for being wealthy, he simply exhorted Timothy to tell them not to be arrogant, but to put their hope in God rather than their riches, and “to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share” (1 Timothy 6:17-18). Why did Timothy have to tell them not to be arrogant? Because the attainment of material wealth tends to feed the fleshly ego and tempts people to look down on those with less. This is a form of greed, which Christ blatantly condemned (Luke 12:15); so is putting on airs to impress others. Needless to say, if you’re wealthy don’t let it go to your head. Instead, develop the spirit of a giver as giving is the antidote to greed (Romans 12:8). Yet don’t become arrogant of your giving and look down on those you presume don’t give as much and condemn them as not truly saved or what have you.

Also keep in mind that it’s not money that’s the root of all kinds of evil, but rather the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10). It’s fine to have money; it’s just not fine for money to have you.

For important insights on money and “prosperity” go here.

‘Jesus was homeless’

Christ was a carpenter up until the age of 30; his erstwhile neighbors in Nazareth recognized him by his prior occupation (Mark 6:3 & Matthew 13:55). The Greek word for ‘carpenter’ is tektón (TEK-tohn), which refers to a craftsman, carpenter or artisan. Tektón is where we get the words tectonic and architect. In 1st Century Israel a tektón was a general craftsman who worked with wood, stone or metal in building projects, small or large. In other words, Christ did more than make tables & chairs.

After entering fulltime ministry and serving as a traveling minister, there’s indication that Christ had a home in Capernaum (Mark 2:1 &). In John 1:38-43 we observe John & Andrew visiting Jesus’ abode with Andrew wasting no time encouraging his bother Peter to come over as well. Mark 1:29 shows that Peter lived in Capernaum. Did Christ own this home or rent it? How long did he have it? The Bible doesn’t say.

It’s true that Christ said “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20 & Luke 9:58), but ‘Context is King’: Who was the Lord talking to, what statement was he was responding to and what exactly did he mean by his answer? The Messiah was explaining the cost of being a disciple to a well-to-do scribe who claimed “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” In this particular case, following the Lord wherever he went meant traveling from town to town throughout Israel & points nearby, staying at the homes of hospitable people and such (Luke 10:3-7). Think of it in terms of modern musicians or entertainers who go on tour for months on end. It’s a challenging lifestyle, to say the least. How much more so if you’re constantly ministering to the spiritual & physical needs of people?

So Christ was never ‘homeless’ in the sense of living on the street and begging for food. Rather, Jesus ministered to such people (e.g. Luke 18:35-42).

‘Conservatives have turned Jesus into a symbol for gun rights’

Many followers of Christ believe in the right to bear arms for protection from thugs. In the USA this human right is the Second Amendment of the Constitution, which is thusly stated: “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” However, I don’t know of any believers who’ve made the Messiah into a “symbol for gun rights.”

Many people – including Leftwingers – believe that Jesus instructed Christians to be ‘doormats’ to criminal attacks. Is this true? Absolutely not. The Torah permitted Hebrew citizens to kill criminals if necessary (Exodus 22:2-3); and Christ pointed out the obvious right of protecting oneself from thugs (Matthew 24:43 & Luke 12:39). Those who work for the state as police officers, executioners or military have the authority to execute when applicable, which is what the “sword” represents in Romans 13:4 (naturally believers who work for the state possess this authority as well). But such personnel are usually not around when wicked criminals attack their innocent prey, which means citizens have to protect themselves & their loved ones in such cases.

This explains Christ’s instructions to the disciples just prior to leaving for Gethsemane and his subsequent arrest: “and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one” (Luke 22:35-38). This instruction was in contrast to previous occasions where the disciples ministered without such an item in their travels. Possessing swords obviously pertained to protection, not aggression, as the threat of criminal persecution of believers would increase after Christ’s crucifixion.

This is backed up later in the same chapter when the disciples asked, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” (verse 49). The point is that Jesus clearly authorized his disciples to carry instruments of protection, which was wise when they were out traveling & ministering from town-to-town. Keep in mind that they had a money box full of donations that would attract thieves (John 12:6). Why did they have swords after walking with Christ for over three years? Obviously because the Lord allowed it.

Of course Christ told Peter in Gethsemane after he rashly cut a soldier’s ear off, “Those who live by the sword will perish by the sword,” but his initial instruction was for Peter to “put the sword back in its place,” NOT throw it away (Matthew 26:52). Also, there’s a difference between living by the sword and utilizing it when necessary. For instance, when the returning Jews restored the walls of Jerusalem they posted armed guards for protection from deadly enemies (Nehemiah 4:7-9). Simply put, in a wicked world arms are sometimes necessary, such as any life-threatening situation (see this article for more details).

‘But Jesus said to “turn the cheek”?’

He did, but he was not referring to situations of criminal assault, as just covered. That is a separate subject and you can read about the differences of these two topics here. In Matthew’s account of Christ’s instruction about turning the cheek the Lord specified an enemy striking the right cheek (Matthew 5:39). Since most people are right-handed this indicates a backhanded slap to the face, which was an act of disrespect in that culture (see 1 Kings 22:24, Acts 23:2 & 2 Corinthians 11:20). So Jesus was addressing personal insults and not being physically assaulted, which is criminal. To turn the cheek simply means to initially ignore any act of disrespect and contempt. This is not just a New Testament principle; the Old Testament teaches it as well:

A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

Proverbs 12:16

You can read details about turning the cheek here.

‘Some Christians have turned Jesus into a symbol for “prosperity theology” when Christ taught that we should give everything we have to the poor’

Actually the Lord specifically said this to a rich man who had made his wealth an “idol” in his life. Let’s read the entire account:

¹⁷As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

²⁰“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

²¹Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²²At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

²³Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

²⁸Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

²⁹“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel ³⁰will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Mark 10:17-31

Christ zeroed-in on this man’s weakness, he had made wealth an idol in his life, which is revealed in the NKJV rendering of verse 24: “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!.” This explains the Lord’s radical instruction: To sell everything he had and give it to the poor. Unfortunately the man had made material riches his god and wasn’t willing to give it up, so he sadly walked away from the Lord.

In verses 29-30 the Messiah acknowledges that believers will be led to give up certain things in order to fulfill their God-given call – their specific assignment from the LORD (which could be any number of things) – but then Jesus promises them that they’ll receive back “a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields — along with persecutions — and in the age to come eternal life.” The phrase “a hundred times as much” is a figure of speech for a hefty figure. In other words, what they receive back from God for what they sacrificed will make the obedient sacrifice more than worth it. And notice that a couple of the items on the list relate to earthly wealth – homes and fields.

This shows that Christ didn’t teach that believers in general “should give everything we have to the poor,” as the Leftwing argument suggests. After all, why would the Lord bless you with a home and field “in this present age” if he didn’t want you to possess anything, and everything that you do possess must be given to the poor? Not to mention, if it’s inherently wrong to possess anything material then the Lord wouldn’t instruct giving to the poor in the first place because then the poor would possess something. Are you following? Moreover, if believers literally gave everything they possessed to the poor they’d end up walking around naked & homeless and wouldn’t have anything to give to those in need. Thus passages like Luke 12:33-34 have to be interpreted in a balanced manner, allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture. Rightly-dividing the Scriptures is vital to properly understanding them, as noted at the beginning of this article.

This also shows that Christ didn’t teach giving and… receiving nothing back; rather he taught the principle of giving and receiving, as shown here:

³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Luke 6:37-38

Verse 38 reveals the Law of Reciprocity: Give and it will be given to you. In verse 37 Jesus relates this principle to not judging and not condemning, as well as forgiving when applicable, but it can relate to anything you give, including possessions and money.

Consider, for a moment, the body gift of “giving” (Romans 12:6-8). This is an anointing for certain members of the body of Christ to give above and beyond the average believer. People who have the gift of giving also have the gift of making because you can’t regularly give if you don’t have and you can’t have unless you first make. So believers with the gift of giving have a sort of “Midas touch” – they tend to acquire wealth easily, which enables them to give more generously than others.

With the understanding of the above, Christ did teach that believers will need to give up everything they have in order to be an effective disciple of God, as detailed here:

²⁵Large crowds were now traveling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them, ²⁶“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.

²⁸Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, ³⁰saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’

³¹Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³²And if he is unable, he will send a delegation while the other king is still far off, to ask for terms of peace.

³³In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.

Luke 14:25-33

Not all believers are disciples, but all believers are called to be disciples (John 8:31-32). And one requirement of being a disciple is that the believer must “give up everything.” This means giving up anything that you might place higher than God, including a relationship, like your father, mother, spouse, children or friend. Bear in mind that when Jesus said “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple” he was using hyperbole, which is exaggeration for effect. We know this is exaggeration because elsewhere he emphatically instructed believers to love others (John 15:17 & Matthew 5:44). He was basically saying that a disciple’s love for the LORD should be so great that love for others would seem like hate by comparison. Let’s say the Spirit leads you to go to a certain assembly or maybe to Bible college and your father, spouse or friends ridicule you and discourage you. Who do you love more, the Lord or these people? If you love God more you show it by following the Spirit’s instruction and disregarding what these people say.

So “giving up everything” means not having any idols in your life; that is, anything put above the LORD and what God has called you to do.

As far as “prosperity theology” goes, dubious ministers who essentially make Christianity out to be a get-rich-quick scheme or use the gospel as a means to get rich (1 Timothy 6:9) are as rare as the dodo bird. Christ plainly warned about the corruption of greed (Luke 12:15), but he also promised God’s provision (John 16:24) and life to the full (John 10:10) because God is a fountain of life, not a fountain of poverty (Psalm 36:9).

For balanced biblical details on provision, money and “prosperity” see this article.

‘Christians have turned Jesus into a symbol of anti-science’

This statement is so general it’s a worthless point. It begs the question: What topic specifically and is the ‘science’ in question reliable or dubious? For instance, climate alarmists have a long history of false predictions supposedly based on ‘science.’ The current ‘Climate Change’ hysteria is a Leftwing agenda and politically motivated. As such, the scientists they use to support their position are basically ‘yes men’ and ‘yes women’ because their jobs and financing depend on agreeing with the false narrative and backing it up with supposed evidence. See these videos for insights: My Gift To Climate Alarmists, Are We Doomed? and Climate Scam No Longer Needed.

We must understand that the Bible is a theological work and not a scientific one. It shares some info that’s applicable to the sciences in a general sense, but often requires further study on part of the one seeking knowledge. For instance, the Bible is not an astronomy book, but it does support the basic idea that the Earth is an orb-like body suspended in the empty space of the Universe, which disproves the idea of a flat Earth (Isaiah 40:22 & Job 26:7). The Scriptures teach that the Universe constantly “pours forth speech” and “displays knowledge” to “all the Earth” (Psalm 19:1-4); Paul backed this up by the Spirit in different words (Romans 1:19-20). So the LORD knew we’d acquire important details through our astronomical observations and studies.

Or consider the human brain. The Bible tells us a lot about the human mind, but it doesn’t give us details about the physical brain or brain surgery. We naturally obtain knowledge of the latter through specific studies.

Here are a few biblical tidbits that relate to science:

What scientists call The Big Bang Theory – the idea that the Universe began suddenly and inflated over the next 13.8 billion years to the cosmos we know today – is explained in the Bible simply as God speaking the Universe into existence (Hebrews 11:3 & Psalm 33:6).
Speaking of the great age of the Universe, believers who embrace the young-Earth theory – the idea that the Earth is about 6000 years old – agree that the Earth looks billions of years old, but suggest that God created the Earth & Universe with the appearance of age since, in the same creation account (Genesis 1-2), the LORD created Adam as an adult male. While Adam looked to be about 30 years-old he was actually freshly created and thus merely had the appearance of 30-years of age. The same argument could be applied to the Universe & Earth. Keep in mind that God is the Almighty and can do anything, including create the Universe & Earth in moments by merely speaking it into existence by faith. For details see this article.
Secular science theorizes that dinosaurs existed 245-66 million years ago and therefore are much older than human beings, who they say have only been around for 200,000 years, and thus the two never existed at the same time. If this is so, why does practically every culture on Earth have legends about slaying the dragon, aka dinosaurs? In other words, there’s an alternative biblical take on dinosaurs, which you can read about here.

We have to get away from this modern-day notion that scientists are infallible gods. Just because they say something is so doesn’t necessarily mean it is. Christ said to be “wise as serpents” not gullible as idiots (Matthew 10:16). For one thing, they’re not God. For another, scientists disagree all the time based on the data they acknowledge and their agenda. Thirdly, scientists are perfectly capable of presenting data in a skewed way to back up their case for decidedly selfish reasons, like apprehending funding or keeping their job. Being a scientist doesn’t make a person immune to being a liar. As for those scientists who say there is no God, however smart they might be, the Bible calls them fools (Psalm 53:1 & Psalm 10:4).

By the way, I’m not telling you what to believe on any of these issues. They’re peripheral issues not crucial to salvation. As it is said, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” Honestly seek out the subject in question and draw your own conclusion without concern for being ‘hip.’

‘Conservatives have turned Jesus into a symbol for limited government (that neglects the destitute) and fierce nationalism’

I don’t know of any believers who’ve turned Christ into a “symbol for limited government and fierce nationalism.” It’s just that Christianity is all about true freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17, Galatians 5:1 & John 8:36) and so spiritually mature believers veer away from political parties that favor “Big Government” and all the negative things that go with it – high taxes, wasteful programs, useless bureaucrats, overregulation, tyrannical overreach, etc. “Big Government” naturally tends to make a god out of the state and therefore is anti-God and anti-Christian in its policies. As such, Christians understandably favor small government. It’s not rocket science.

Government welfare is good for people who genuinely need it, like disabled people (mentally or physically), as well as those who’ve fallen on bad times and need a helping hand up. Beyond this, it shouldn’t be misused by becoming a way of life, which creates an arrogant entitlement attitude as well as stifles ambition. Need, after all, is a great motivator.

Meanwhile, studies have shown that Christians are the most generous givers, obviously because of their new spiritual nature (Titus 3:5) and myriad biblical instructions on generosity and giving to the poor (e.g. Luke 6:38 2, Corinthians 8:7 & 9:6-8).

As for Christians supposedly making Jesus a “symbol of fierce nationalism,” the Bible encourages believers to have a fierce nationalism toward the “holy nation” of which they belong, which is the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33 & 1 Peter 2:9).

Regarding the earthly nation the believer happens to reside in and the governing authorities thereof, Christ said “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:15-22) and the epistles support submitting to the governing authorities and paying taxes (Romans 13:1-7 & 1 Peter 2:13-14).

The only exception to this rule is if government oversteps its bounds by intruding upon the realm of God and universal morality. In such cases believers are required to obey the LORD rather than the governing authorities. Examples in the Scriptures include the Hebrew midwives who refused to obey the Pharaoh’s command to kill male infants (Exodus 1:15-21), the three Hebrews’ refusal to obey king Nebuchadnezzar’s command to worship a 90’ gold idol (Daniel 3), Daniel’s refusal to obey king Darius’ wicked edict (Daniel 6), and Peter & John’s disregard of the command to not preach the gospel (Acts 4:18-20). While disobeying governing authorities is generally wrong it’s unavoidable in cases where human law supersedes God’s Word. How do we reconcile this with the fact that God established (aka allowed) the existing authorities? Simple: Although God’s authority stands behind the governing authorities, right or wrong, it also stands over them; hence, Christians who belong to this higher authority are permitted to supersede the human authorities if there’s no other recourse.

As for being patriotic toward one’s country, the Bible instructs believers to “honor the emperor,” not to mention honoring those we owe, which includes respect and honor for one’s country (1 Peter 2:17 & Romans 13:7).

‘Jesus never said “If poor people don’t want to be poor they should just get a job like everyone else” ’

We’ve already covered how the New Testament encourages generosity and giving to those in need. However, there’s a rule for believers: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). This is an example of tough love. Healthy, able-bodied Christians are encouraged to be productive – doing something useful, working with their talents (1 Thessalonians 4:11 & Ephesians 4:28). The Bible repeatedly rebukes the folly of laziness; here are several passages for verification.

These last two Leftwing arguments go hand-in-hand, but I’m splitting them up to address them effectively:

‘The Bible says we should welcome the foreigner, heal the sick, respect others’

The implication here, of course, is that America under President Trump (at the time of this writing in 2020) doesn’t do these things.

As far as welcoming foreigners goes, America welcomes foreigners every day, but understandably requires passports and visas. The nation also welcomes new citizens from other countries through a reasonable vetting process and legal pathway, which you can read about here. Without borders there is no nation; moreover, citizenship is a privilege, not a right to the nearly 8 billion souls on Earth.

Speaking of which, the USA is very compassionate in receiving and caring for refugees and those seeking sanctuary. However, entering the country illegally is a crime. While it’s understood that people who do this want a better life, there’s a legal route to entering and becoming a citizen. To brazenly ignore this is disrespectful, unacceptable and criminal. The Bible encourages us to obey the righteous laws of the land, as covered earlier (Romans 13:1-7 & 1 Peter 2:13-17).

As for healing the sick, the Bible shows that the ultimate source for health & healing is the LORD and offers wisdom on how to live a healthy life and receive healing. In America there’s already a law that emergency wards cannot turn away those in need and healthcare is already available to the needy to a generous degree. But since when did “the government” become a Nanny who’s obligated to & responsible for absolutely every health issue of every soul within its borders, including fools who live self-destructively? Since when did “universal healthcare” become this idol as the all-and-end-all of society? Gee, what did American settlers do back in the day without “universal healthcare”?

As far as respecting others goes, I presume this is a criticism of President Trump or Conservatives in general being curt with the looniness and corruption of Liberals, like Trump amusingly mocking Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas.” She has no one to blame but herself since she used trace amounts of AmerIndian DNA to claim minority status and boost her career at Harvard and in politics when, actually, she’s 1/1024 Cherokee, less than the average American. Showing proper respect to people should always be a priority, but sometimes open rebuke is in order (Proverbs 27:5), which is an expression of tough love.

‘The Bible says we should not lie, not commit adultery and not steal, so why do Christians support Donald Trump in America?’

Every person reading this has either lied in a carnal sense, committed adultery — in mind, if not deed — or taken something they didn’t own, even it was just a candy bar or pencil. In other words, all of us have sinned one way or another and many of us have done worse things. The question is, have we repented of these things and are we currently walking in a state of grace? This applies to President Trump and every politician in America or other countries, great and small.

We have to be careful not to become faultfinders, which is a sin (Jude 1:16). Those who engage in faultfinding arrogantly pretend to know the personal lives of those they criticize; and so they negatively judge them, their intentions and motivations.

We must understand that there is no such thing as a perfect politician, whether president, prime minister, king or queen. David was the greatest king of Israel, but he committed adultery and tried to cover it up thru murder (2 Samuel 11). He also fell prey to arrogance (1 Chronicles 21). Moreover, there’s no such thing as a perfect disciple of Christ, which you can read about here and here.

What we must focus on with politicians is their intent and their policies; in short, their actual output, not empty words. Christ emphasized this (Matthew 21:28-32). We distinguish the true from the false “by their fruit,” not mere words (Matthew 7:15-23).

Former president Obama, for instance, was a skilled and convincing speech-maker during his presidency (with the help of a teleprompter, of course), but his actual practices & policies were corrupt, incompetent or perverse. Some obvious examples include:

His “If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor” lie;
Operation Fast and Furious & Eric Holder’s inevitable resignation;
IRS abuses involving the targeting of Conservatives (Ask yourself: If there was no IRS corruption, as Obama claimed, why did Lois Lerner plead the fifth? Innocent people don’t plead the fifth);
The Benghazi fiasco;
The “spontaneous reaction to a video” lie;
Signing a bill that would allow babies to die on the table after a botched abortion;
The Bowe Bergdahl farce (Obama made an absurd deal with the Taliban for the release of deserter Bergdahl in exchange for the release of five Taliban-linked prisoners; this was after six noble soldiers died trying to find the deserter);
Outrageously lighting up the White House with the colors of the sexual perversion movement;
Giving an executive order to allow mentally ill men to legally use the women’s restroom;
V.A. corruption;
The $800 billion “stimulus” and the “shovel ready” jobs it didn’t create;
Failed green investments, like Solyndra, which cost taxpayers millions of dollars;
NSA domestic spying;
SpyGate.

Need I go on? Obama talked a good talk, but his actual fruit was another story. Brutal truth is always preferable to eloquent lies.

To more specifically answer the question of why many Christians support President Trump, Fountain of Life is a Christian service that specializes in teaching from the God-breathed Scriptures free from a sectarian bent. Hence, some may understandably criticize that this ministry shouldn’t comment on issues that concern American politics. However, our topic is Leftwingers’ unbalanced perspective of Christ & Christianity, which naturally ties into their political stance and opposition to Trump, Christians and Conservativism in general. As such, I have no choice but to address relevant politicos & political issues to some degree here. With this understanding, allow me to close this article by answering…

Why Do Christians Tend to Support Trump?

The Holy Scriptures never encourage us to trust people, but rather to TRUST GOD. People are flawed, even the best of us; they’ll always let you down, one way or another.

I advocate Trump because he SUPPORTS Judeo-Christian morality and wise common sense policies. His actions as president from 2017-2021 have borne this out. But I never claimed he was a perfect moral specimen, nor do other believers.

Let’s face it, in the USA there are only two viable presidential options for every such election. In other words, only one of these two people has a chance of being president (if you vote for a third party candidate you’re basically throwing away your vote and, worse, helping the Leftwing fascists gain power). So believers & those with common sense wisdom have a choice to pick (1) a candidate that presumably supports Judeo-Christian morality and wise, common sense policies or (2) the Democrat candidate that supports loony Liberal policies, like the absurd Green New Deal, allowing mentally ill men to legally use the women’s restroom, Big Government with perpetual useless bureaucrats, the corresponding high taxes, anti-small business measures, unbalanced trade agreements, overregulation, pro-sexual deviance policies, killing babies, pro-Marxist strategies (Socialism/Communism), etc., etc.

Since the Democrats are obviously Satan’s favorite political party in America — which they’ve repeatedly proven through their consistent bad “fruit” — and thus voting for a Democrat is the worst possible thing a wise person can do in the USA, there’s only one practical choice. That’s why my wife & I voted for Trump and supported his presidency, as well as most seasoned believers, not because he’s the most eminent example of Judeo-Christian morality. He’s a shrewd businessman turned politician at the age of 70 because he loves America, not a fivefold minister, like a pastor (Ephesians 4:11-13). He was elected to be the Commander-in-Chief of the USA, not the Pastor-in-Chief.

As far as morality goes, what’s the beef that Dems/Libs & their auxiliary media have with him? He’s been a happily married man to a beautiful, intelligent woman for many years and has an impressive family. I admit that I didn’t like it when he boasted during his first term, which was juvenile, but he’s learned his lesson since then. As for being gruff, this is fitting since America desperately needs someone with the spine to stand up to the LIEberal fascism that has been taking the nation over the cliff of gross folly & immorality, unlike pathetic RINOs, e.g. Mitt Romney. Boldness is a virtue and standing up to the grossly corrupt Leftwing mob is something to be commended, not condemned.

Jesus Christ, by the way, is the Mighty LORD, not a weak milksop; see for yourself here.

Understanding the Religion of LIEberalism

Q&A on HUMAN NATURE: Spirit, Mind & Flesh

(Pseudo) SCIENCE Is the “New God” and Dubious SCIENTISTS Are the “New Gods”

Can the POWER / ANOINTING of God Rest on an Object?

Relating to God FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES — Father, Friend, Helper, Creator, King, Almighty, Master, Savior, etc.

Is There Such a Thing as RIGHTEOUS HATRED or RIGHTEOUS ENMITY?

Hatred of Evil is Righteous

Righteous Hatred / Righteous Enmity / Righteous Hostility

Close

Related Topics:

What Is ONENESS Theology—aka “JESUS ONLY”—and Is It Biblical?

The Son Prayed to the Father

The Father and Son Conversing in the Old Testament

Addressing the Main Argument for Oneness Theology

‘Christ instructed his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). However whenever the apostles applied this directive they always baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (e.g. Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48 & 19:5).

Were these disciples disobedient or did they do exactly what Christ instructed?

Jesus commanded to baptize in the name (not names) of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Is Father, Son and Holy Ghost a name? Or are they titles?

If they are titles then when Jesus says to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, doesn’t this plainly mean that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost ALL have ONE name?

And what is this name?’

‘But why did the apostles baptize in the name of Jesus if the Messiah instructed us to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?’

In Oneness theology God is currently the Holy Spirit on Earth, which would mean that the Father is not in Heaven. If this is so, who are we praying to?

Other Arguments by Those Who Question the Tri-Unity of God

If all of this is clear in the Scriptures, why do some believers staunchly embrace Oneness theology?

Closing Word

Related Topics:

“BE MERCIFUL, Just as Your Father Is Merciful”

“If Someone TAKES YOUR CLOAK, Do Not Stop Him From Taking Your Tunic”

What Does GO THE EXTRA MILE Mean?

Was Jesus Christ HOMELESS?

The Left’s UNBALANCED VIEW of Christ & Christianity

The Rightly-Divided Scriptures Are the Basis for Correction in Christianity

Responding to Leftwing Arguments

‘Jesus was a humble servant of the abject poor’

‘Jesus was homeless’

‘Conservatives have turned Jesus into a symbol for gun rights’

‘But Jesus said to “turn the cheek”?’

‘Some Christians have turned Jesus into a symbol for “prosperity theology” when Christ taught that we should give everything we have to the poor’

‘Christians have turned Jesus into a symbol of anti-science’

‘Conservatives have turned Jesus into a symbol for limited government (that neglects the destitute) and fierce nationalism’

‘Jesus never said “If poor people don’t want to be poor they should just get a job like everyone else” ’

‘The Bible says we should welcome the foreigner, heal the sick, respect others’

‘The Bible says we should not lie, not commit adultery and not steal, so why do Christians support Donald Trump in America?’

Why Do Christians Tend to Support Trump?

Image credit: Picasa

Menu:

**In Oneness theology God is currently the Holy Spirit on Earth, which would mean that the Father is not in Heaven. If this is so, who are we praying to?**