The FIVEFOLD MINISTRY Gifts — Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher

When people hear the term ‘minister’ they naturally think of a pastor, a minister who oversees a local assembly, but pastoring is only one of the five ministerial gifts in the body of Christ. This can be observed in this passage:

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-13

While these five ministry gifts are distinguished, they have the same general purpose:

To equip or prepare people for works of ministry
To build up the body of Christ and the members thereof (not tear them down)
To facilitate a spirit of unity in the faith and knowledge of the Lord (as opposed to a spirit of rigid sectarianism)
To help believers grow spiritually, not stagnate and become lifeless legalists
To help believers attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (as opposed to a quarter measure or half measure)

Needless to say, every servant-leader — whether apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher — needs to make sure they’re fulfilling these purposes and not doing the opposite.

To accomplish their mission, all fivefold ministers naturally need to (1) know and walk with the LORD and (2) know God’s Word, not to mention be able to teach or preach it. Teaching is careful instruction whereas preaching is proclamation in an exhortative sense (you can read details here).

It goes without saying that (1) knowing God and (2) knowing God’s Word are both mandatory for servant-leaders in the body of Christ for obvious reasons (Luke 13:24-27, Matthew 7:15-23 & 1 Corinthians 4:6). Speaking of servant-leaders…

**Fivefold Ministers Are to Be Servant-Leaders, Not Domineering Authoritarians**

Believers with one or more of the fivefold ministry gifts are called to be servant-leaders in the body of Christ. They’re leaders, no doubt, but their style of leadership is servant-oriented rather than authoritarian. The Lord made this clear:

Jesus called them [the disciples] together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — ²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:25-28

The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Matthew 23:11-12

They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” ³⁴But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

³⁵Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

Mark 9:33-35

The word ‘minister’ literally means “servant” and so fivefold ministers are to minister with a servant’s heart. This isn’t to say, of course, that ministers have to be perpetually sugary sweet as there’s a time and place for tough love, like when Paul openly corrected Peter for his legalism (Galatians 2:11-14) or when Jesus boldly cleared the temple of fools (Mark 11:15-18) or when Peter powerfully reprimanded a sorcerer in Samaria (Acts 8:9-24).

Fivefold Ministers Are to Build Believers Up, Not Tear Down

We saw above that fivefold ministers are “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:11-13). In other words, genuine ministers (and believers in general) are to overflow with life, not death. Why? Because we’re children of God and the LORD is the Fountain of Life (Psalm 36:9). This explains Christ’s prime directive: to give people life and life to the full, not death (John 10:10).

This isn’t to suggest, of course, that there’s no place for denouncing sins and encouraging repentance when ministering. Skilled ministers who are led of the Spirit will bring about a spirit of repentance through the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:1-4), but will also remove the burden of guilt, instill the Lord’s peace and motivate individuals onward. In other words, even though they denounce sin and spur repentance, their ministry is encouraging and inspiring. This is the minister’s job.

A good example of this can be seen in Jesus after his resurrection. Christ appeared to two of the disciples who were understandably discouraged because of his unjust crucifixion. The Messiah met up with them as they were walking along the road and they talked for a bit, but they were somehow prevented from recognizing him. After the Messiah departed, the two disciples reflected on the encounter: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32).

This is the effect Christ-like ministers should have on believers. You know you’re at a healthy assembly when you leave a service with your heart burning with inspiration and you see things in God’s Word you never saw before. By contrast, if you leave a fellowship feeling beat up, burdened and condemned it’s not a good sign. It indicates that the minister officiating that particular service has fallen prey to a form of legalism and has become spiritually toxic. This spirit of condo is at odds with the true ministerial spirit, which Paul summed up when he spoke of the authority ministers have for building believers up and not tearing them down (2 Corinthians 10:8 & 13:10).

You can read more about the arrogant spirit of condemnation & authoritarianism here.

So what distinguishes these five ministerial gifts — apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher? Let’s look at each one in general terms (a Scripture-based book could easily be written about each one):

Apostle

The word ‘apostle’ is apostolos (ah-POS-tol-os) in the original Greek, which means “one sent on a mission with a message.” Of course all disciples of Christ have this mission as the Lord instructed his disciples: “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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). But apostles like Paul and John had an anointing to go out and start assemblies, as well as oversee them. In order to start fellowships, an apostle obviously has to have the gift of pastoring.

A good modern example of an apostle is this powerful minister in my area who started a very successful fellowship, which then sprouted satellite fellowships all over the area. He eventually stopped pastoring the main assembly and now has the position of “bishop” and oversees all of these assemblies (we’ll look at the term bishop in a little bit). This certainly sounds like operating in the gift of an apostle, doesn’t it?

Paul also said that a true apostle is marked by “signs, wonders and miracles” (2 Corinthians 12:12). But this might be hard to come by in these days of gross unbelief, although I’ve seen modern apostles minister in this capacity; they’re out there.

If there are “true apostles” there are also “false apostles” (2 Corinthians 11:13-14). I once met a joyless, stern believer who insisted on being addressed as “Apostle Harrad” at all times even though he wasn’t remotely an apostle in any biblical sense.

How much of the above has to be relevant for a believer to be considered a true apostle? They’d have to:

Have a drive for reaching people and starting new fellowships,
Oversee several assemblies (at least more than one),
Have an anointing with the laying on of hands.

Prophet

‘Prophet’ in the Greek is prophétés (prah-FAY-tus) which means “an interpreter or forth-teller of the divine will.” Please don’t confuse this wonderful gift with that of an occultist fortune teller.

The prophetic word is encouraging and is able to touch believers in that specific area where they need ministered. For example, Acts 15:32 says, “Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.” This is the purpose of the prophetic gift in the Church and reveals why it is so necessary — it encourages and strengthens believers. The original Greek word for ‘encourage’ in this passage means “to cause to move forward.” In other words, a prophetic word will inspire believers and provoke them to go forward and fulfill God’s call on their lives. This shows that prophets are more preachers than teachers. They see things in the spirit realm and proclaim God’s will that’s applicable to the situation or person, but they don’t go into scriptural details on doctrine, like a teacher would.

Have you ever been in the spiritual doldrums where you’re not necessarily walking in sin, but you just seem to lack that spiritual drive and passion for the Lord and your calling? The gift of prophecy has the ability to wake believers from such doldrums and spark them onward! It’s an awesome gift and a needed gift. As such, the office of the prophet should be valued and esteemed in the Church. Unfortunately, too many assemblies and sects are ignorant of it or, for various reasons, the gift lies dormant, which we’ll address later.

I’d like to offer a recent example of how a Spirit-anointed prophetic word can encourage the believer: I was discouraged about what was happening in the political realm recently after reading the Eeyore-like commentaries of a couple of ministers who, while certainly respectable and gifted as teachers, lack prophetic insight. Listening to them produced the vibe of “Woe are we as a nation; our sins have brought doom despite the millions upon millions of sincere, fruit-bearing saints in Christ and their many prayers.” I then exposed myself to four mighty men & women of God who flowed in the prophetic word. Unlike the other two downbeat ministers, these prophets inspired and encouraged. This isn’t to say, by the way, that there isn’t a time & place for a sobering prophetic correction from the Lord, like Christ did with the Laodicean assembly (Revelation 3:17).

While the word of prophecy is important and necessary in the Church this does not condone the abuse of this gift/office where people are made to feel like they’re in bondage to a prophetic word that may be off or even completely wrong. Nor does it condone the dictatorial antics of prophets who think their prophecies are the inerrant Word of God which must be blindly accepted and obeyed to the letter. The origin of this abusive error is this: confusing the New Testament prophet with the Old Testament prophet. These two types of biblical prophets are very different. The primary purpose of the Old Testament prophet was to lead and guide Israel through the Word of the LORD and, in fact, a lot of their words became Holy Scripture and are included in what we know today as the Old Testament. Jesus Christ was the last person to operate in the anointing of an Old Testament prophet (Hebrews 1:1-2) and, in fact, he was The Prophet that the Hebrews were waiting for almost 1500 years (Deuteronomy 18:15, John 6:14 & 7:40).

The New Testament prophet is different. The gift of prophecy was not given to the body of Christ for the purpose of leading and guiding God’s people, as was the case in the Old Testament, because believers are born-again spiritually and have the Holy Spirit within them for this very purpose. As Jesus said, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come” (John16:13). Since it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to guide believers in the New Testament era, we don’t need the gift of prophecy for this function. So when a prophet prophesies over you and says you’re to do this or that or go here or there, don’t receive it unless the Spirit has already been leading you in this direction. In other words, prophecies in the New Testament are to confirm what the Holy Spirit has already been leading you to do. You could say it’s an external source to confirm or compliment the believer’s internal source of direction from God. This explains why Paul instructed believers to test prophecies and “hold on to the good,” which means to eat the meat and spit out the bones (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). Nowhere are we instructed to blindly accept a prophecy spoken over us. For important details see this article.

Evangelist

‘Evangelist’ in the Greek is euaggelistés (yoo-ang-ghel-is-TAYS), which means “a bringer of good news.” Like prophets, they’re preachers and not teachers. They proclaim by unction the truths of the gospel and the Word of God in general, but they’re not effective at detail-oriented teaching. Many hardcore missionaries would be examples of fivefold evangelists (by ‘hardcore’ I mean those believers who function as missionaries in a vocational sense as opposed to those who flirt with missionary work for relatively short periods of time). While euaggelistés only appears three times in the Greek scriptures, the verb form, euaggelizó (yoo-ang-ghel-ID-zoh), appears 54 times.

Evangelists can certainly minister to believers at revivals and what have you, but their drive & focus is reaching the lost with the life-changing Good News of the message of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

I knew a pastor who simultaneously had the gift of an evangelist, which was also the case with Timothy (2 Timothy 4:5). This particular pastor wasn’t good at teaching, although — as a pastor — he was gifted at overseeing an assembly and could preach. But I saw him at an evangelical service and he was exceptional at preaching the gospel and inspiring people to turn to the Lord in repentance and faith (Acts 20:21). This shows that fivefold ministers can have more than one of the fivefold gifts. A good example from Scripture is Paul, who was both a teacher and an apostle (2 Timothy 1:11).

Like apostles and prophets, evangelists in the New Testament were known to flow in the gifts of the Spirit, such as Philip (Acts 8:4-7, 8:26-40 & 21:8).

Pastor

The word ‘pastor’ comes from the Greek poimén (poy-MAYN) meaning “shepherd,” whether literally in reference to a shepherd of sheep (Luke 2:8) or figuratively in the sense of someone overseeing a flock of people. In the latter sense, Christ is the “Good Shepherd” of the Church (John 10:11,14,27) while fivefold ministers with the gift of pastoring are under-shepherds, as observed in this passage:

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: ²Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; ³not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

1 Peter 5:1-4

Peter is an elder and an apostle and he is addressing elders here, but specifically pastors, as shown in verse 2 (the word ‘shepherds’ in the original Greek is the verb form of poimén). In verse 4 he notes the Chief Shepherd, Christ, which shows that pastors are under-shepherds, accountable to the Lord.

Verses 2-3 convey Peter’s six instructions to pastors:

“Shepherd God’s flock that is under your care,” which is phrased in the KJV as “Feed the flock of God” (1 Peter 5:2) and this corresponds to what Christ instructed Peter (John 21:15-17). Making sure the believers under their care are spiritually fed is the number one duty of pastors, which includes exposing them to the ministry of other fivefold ministers now & then so that they’ll be “fully equipped for every good work” (Ephesians 4:12). Feeding believers the word of God is called “the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:1-4). Notice, by the way, that those believers under the pastor’s care are called “God’s flock.” In other words, believers in the worldwide Church are God’s sheep, not the pastor’s sheep. The pastor merely shepherds certain believers for the period of time they are under that pastor’s care, which isn’t determined by the pastor, but by the believer (hopefully led of the Holy Spirit).
“Watch over” those believers that are under your care, which means oversee. This means to supervise or manage the believers under the pastor’s care, but it doesn’t mean to tyrannically dominate them in an authoritarian sense. The passage says that pastors are to serve as “overseers” and not lord it over believers, which are “God’s flock.” In light of this, whatever else ‘oversee’ means, we can be sure that it does not mean to lord it over people (more on this momentarily).
Don’t pursue dishonest gain, which means don’t be greedy.
Be eager to serve rather than begrudgingly serve. If a fivefold minister cannot pastor people with gratefulness and enthusiasm he should do something else in God’s service.
Don’t “lord it over” those entrusted to you, which means don’t be a pompous authoritarian. Pastors who lord it over those in their assemblies try to control or subjugate them in the sense of being the ultimate authority (except that they aren’t the ultimate authority, God is). If you’re a pastor, please don’t do this; serve with a loving, humble servant’s heart. Anyone functioning in the office of pastor who cannot do this needs to find another way to serve the LORD.
Be examples to “the flock” in all you say and do. This shows that ministry isn’t just about “the ministry of the Word of God” (Acts 6:1-4), but also actually walking with the Lord and walking in newness of life. In short, it’s not just talking the talk, it’s walking the walk. Talk is cheap.

When the elders of the church of Ephesus met Paul in Miletus, he instructed them to “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds [pastors] of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). This shows that elders (presbuteros), overseers (episkopos) and pastors (poimén) are synonymous in the New Testament. In other words, they refer to the same office, although “elder” could refer to another fivefold minister; for instance, the apostle John was nicknamed “the elder” when he was mature in years (2 John 1:1 & 3 John 1:1). (A nickname is a nickname, not a title; for instance, one pastor I knew was called Butch, even though his name was Bob). Also, an overseer could refer to an apostle since apostles start out as pastors and eventually oversee several churches. Even prophets, evangelists and teachers are overseers of the inner circle of their ministries.

Ideally, those effective elders in the Church who preach and teach should be paid (1 Timothy 5:17). Although fivefold ministers might have to take up secular work to pay the bills, which is what Paul occasionally did with tentmaking (Acts 18:3-5).

As noted earlier, all fivefold ministers must know the Word of God and be able to teach or preach so that the body of Christ is fed & exhorted spiritually at services. Pastors also have to have a gift to oversee an assembly of believers (apostles too, obviously). I’ve been to some assemblies where the pastors are outstanding at teaching God’s Word, which means carefully explaining topics in an insightful, inspiring manner. However, I’ve been to other fellowships where the pastors aren’t good at teaching, although they can preach and, like all genuine pastors, are good at overseeing a group of believers.

Obviously pastors who are also exceptional at teaching God’s Word have the fivefold gift of a teacher. Pastors who aren’t gifted at teaching are obviously going to have to enlist the services of fivefold teachers at their assemblies in order to effectively feed God’s sheep in their midst. Speaking of teachers…

Teacher

‘Teacher’ in the Greek is didaskalos (di-DAS-kal-os), which simply means “instructor.” Fivefold teachers have the anointing to carefully explain the Holy Scriptures in an understandable, enlightening way. They make the Scriptures come alive for their hearers/readers and help them to see things in God’s Word they’ve never seen before. They give structure to knowledge and their potent insights often result in believers thinking, “I’ve never heard this, but it makes total sense. Where did the minister get this?!” This is the reaction people had to Christ when he taught (Mark 6:2). It is teaching from the Scriptures that feeds people spiritually (Matthew 4:4).

Fivefold teachers differ from pastors (and apostles) in that they don’t have the gift to oversee people. I’m a fivefold teacher. I have the gift to teach believers, but not oversee them. To be an effective pastor you have to want to watch over people. I have no such desire. I operate in the ministry of the word (Acts 6:1-4) and pray for my hearers/readers and then it’s in the Spirit’s hands, as well as the hands of their local pastor.

I should point out that there is such a thing as a body teacher in the Church (Romans 12:6-8). Such believers have a gift to teach in the body of Christ, but they lack the anointing of a fivefold teacher. These may be fivefold teachers in seedling form, although not necessarily. In other words, as they grow spiritually the LORD will eventually lead them into the fivefold ministry. That’s what happened with me.

One pastor I know taught that fivefold teachers usually focus on one topic and teach it wherever they minister. This, of course, enables them to become experts at teaching that particular subject. This is not wholly accurate. Teachers are typically well-studied on myriad of topics — hundreds actually — and can effectively teach them all. However, a teacher may be led by the Spirit to focus on one particular topic and serve people accordingly. For instance, I know a fulltime minister who has about 75 gigs a year and he sticks to one basic topic with four sermons within that context, which means he’d have to be scheduled at the same assembly four times before even considering coming up with something different. Needless to say, if a minister sticks to one topic and four sermons within that topic, they’ll get good at it.

The Fivefold Ministry Offices

So there you have it, the five biblically-based servant-leadership positions in the Church — apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher.

In many camps, only the offices of the evangelist, pastor and teacher are active. The other two are pretty much dormant. They might have apostles in some partial form, albeit under a different name and usually minus signs and wonders (2 Corinthians 12:12). Meanwhile they omit the prophet office altogether. Some of these sects justify this due to their adherence to the erroneous doctrine of cessationism, the belief that the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) ceased by the end of the 1^st Century when the last of the original Church apostles passed away, including Paul. If there are no gifts of the Spirit then obviously the apostle cannot function in signs and wonders and the prophet cannot prophesy, which would make these gifts inoperable and irrelevant.

You can search in vain throughout all the above New Testament passages, but you’ll find no statement where the Spirit-led writers of the Scriptures say something like: “However, the positions of the apostle and prophet will only last a little while longer — till the end of this century — then they will cease, along with the nine gifts of the Spirit.” On the contrary, believers are encouraged to “eagerly desire” spiritual gifts, as shown in 1 Corinthians 12:1, 31, 14:1, 39, which would include the gift of personal tongues, otherwise known as glossolalia (gloss-ah-LAY-lee-ah). Paul emphasized eagerly desiring — pursuing — the “greater gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:31). What is the greater gift? Simply the specific gift that’s needed at the time!

Think about it, the religious doctrine of cessationism encourages believers to do the precise opposite of what the New Testament Scriptures actually instruct us to do. It encourages believers to eagerly deny spiritual gifts when God’s Word encourages us to eagerly desire them!

That said, while cessationism is a false doctrine, it’s not an issue of eternal salvation. If a believer or sect embraces this doctrine it doesn’t mean that they’re not a fellow believer, loved by the Lord. It just means their faith — their belief level based on the false doctrine of cessationism — won’t allow them to eat everything the gospel of Christ has to offer; in this case, spiritual gifts and the blessings thereof. (Romans 14:1-6). Those of us with fuller understanding are not to look down on those with the lesser because it would be arrogant. Similarly, the one with the lesser revelation must not condemn the one with the fuller. On the contrary, we are to “accept one another… just as Christ accepted [us], in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:7). You could insert any non-essential doctrine or issue into this scenario and it would apply.

What’s in a Name?

As suggested earlier, anyone who functions in one of these five ministry positions — apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher — could also be called an elder and, in some cases, an overseer. The Greek word for ‘overseer’ (episkopos) is also translated as ‘bishop’ in some English versions of the Bible, such as the KJV. A bishop in the Church is a fivefold minister who oversees a group of subordinate believers.

During my formative years as a young Christian, the assembly that I was involved with embraced these five biblical terms for the offices of servant-leaders. I think it’s best to stick to biblical terminology since the Holy Scriptures are our basis for doctrinal truth and practice (1 Corinthians 4:6 & 2 Timothy 3:16). However, if a camp/sect/assembly chooses to use a different term for a fivefold minister — whether the minister is called to be an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher — it would not change the fact that that minister functions within the position of one of these five offices. Are you following? In short, it’s nothing worth arguing about.

Fivefold Ministers, Great and Small

Fivefold ministers can be great or small and it doesn’t change the fact that they are indeed a fivefold minister, whether an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher. For instance, there are pastors in the body of Christ who shepherd a dozen believers and there are pastors who shepherd hundreds or thousands, but they’re both pastors.

‘Official’ Ministers and Independent Ministers

It should be pointed out that there are official and independent fivefold ministers in the body of Christ. Official ministers are those who function within the structure of a particular camp/sect/denomination. These ministers receive their credentials through schools in these groups and largely function within their camp. In most cases they only function within their camp. To one degree or another, their allegiance is to their sect and their human overseers thereof, but hopefully to God & the Holy Scriptures first and foremost.

Independent ministers, by contrast, function outside of sectarian tags even if they might get their human credentials through a particular group or via a school that serves Christians from several sects that operate under the banner of, say, Evangelicals. Of course, some genuine independent ministers don’t have proper public credentials at all, but neither did Christ or the original apostles; the latter simply walked with the Lord and were anointed of God.

Official ministers are generally reliable sources of Christian ministry, depending on how biblically-based their sect is, but they’re naturally prone to the flaws of their camp, whatever those might be. In cases where the Scriptures clearly don’t agree with a particular doctrine or practice of their sect, they’ll likely side with their group above the Scriptures since it’s convenient and that’s where they get their bread & butter, so to speak, not to mention their position/recognition. Few official ministers are willing to risk losing these things, although Martin Luther did so when he boldly posted the 95 theses on the Wittenberg Door and eventually split from the Catholic sect.

Another downside of ministers functioning solely within the framework of a particular sect is that they can become spiritually inbred with the corresponding rigid sectarianism. Their ministry — e.g. their sermons — are prone to cop a “same old, same old” vibe with little freshness. As a result, they can become uninspiring.

The strength of independent ministers is that they’re less interested in the official doctrines/practices of a particular sect and more interested in what the God-breathed Scriptures actually teach. They can shake things up for believers in a positive way. It goes without saying that receiving from independent ministers can be refreshing and invigorating. Actually, the Word of God and anointed ministers should always shake us up in a positive manner (I’m obviously not talking about abusive non-ministry tactics, like a wicked spirit of condemnation, which sucks the life out of believers). The potential weakness of such ministers is that their quirks and lack of strong governing structure can lead them astray into dubious doctrines/practices. However, any minister that simply sticks to the rightly-divided Word of God will avoid this pitfall.

You can read more about official ministers and independent ministers here.

The Fivefold Ministry Gifts Are God-Given Gifts or Positions/Offices, Not Titles

One last should be emphasized: The five ministry gifts are just that, gifts. They’re God-given talents which enable members of the Church to fulfill the leadership position/office in question, small or great. However, they are not personal titles since there is no indication in the Scriptures of any fivefold minister being referred to with such a title, like Apostle Jones or Pastor Jim.

For instance, Paul continually acknowledged his office of apostle (Romans 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:1, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1, 1 Timothy 1:1, etc.), but he was simply addressed as Paul or “brother Paul” (2 Peter 3:15). Meanwhile Peter was called Peter, John was called John and so on (Galatians 2:6-9). This is the example set for us in the blueprint of Holy Scripture and is in line with what the Lord instructed regarding titles (Matthew 23:7-11).

In short, the fivefold ministry gifts are not and never were meant to be titles in the Church for ministers. If Paul & the other great fivefold ministers in the New Testament are secure enough in their relationship with God and their calling to be addressed simply by name, so can ministers since that time, including today.

The reason I bring this topic up is because the “title syndrome” can get pretty eye-rolling and it smacks of the flesh since it’s obviously centered around ego. For instance, I was at a church dinner where the pastor corrected his own mother for not addressing him with the title of Pastor. Seriously?

That said, if a fivefold minister wants to insist on a title, particularly for those under them in the Lord, that’s their call. What’s it to me? However, they should not expect believers who know what the Scriptures plainly teach on this topic to do so.

If you desire more scriptural proof on the irrelevance of personal titles in the Church, see this article.

A longer version of this article is available in book form with loads of additional material!

You can purchase the print book here for only $7.38 (175 pages).
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Both links allow you to LOOK INSIDE the book.

Mentor & Protégé Dynamics

Should You “Obey” Your Pastor?

Ministerial Pitfalls and Abuses

Ministerial Abuse — The Diotrephes Spirit vs. the Davidic Spirit

Should Ministers Be Addressed with Titles?

Legalism — Understanding its Many Forms

Religion and Christianity — What’s the Difference?

Godliness and Religion—What’s the Difference?

WOMEN of the Bible / WOMEN in Ministry

What if You KNOW a Confrontation Will Turn UGLY?

When people offend you, confrontation & correction is a biblical solution to the problem (Matthew 18:15-17), but there are seven common sense guidelines for rebuke, especially if you want the correction to be successful.

Yet what if the individual that needs confronted is known for being difficult (with you, if no one else) and so approaching him/her with a correction will likely create more issues than resolve? Put another way, this person tends to bring out the worst in you and so a reprimand on your part will probably result in a nasty mêlée. If you sense this then don’t do it, unless of course the Spirit specifically leads you to do so. It wouldn’t be worth it. Only a masochist would willfully enter into such a draining, unpleasant confrontation.

If the person goes to your assembly you can procure the aid of spiritually mature elders and then confront him/her, which will help keep the situation from becoming nasty. If the offender doesn’t go to your fellowship you can recruit the assistance of spiritual friends or kin. If neither of these is a viable option, then just intercede in the hope that the transgressor will change, but otherwise keep your distance. If it’s a person you’re forced to brush shoulders with due to work, family or neighborhood then limit your contact as far as is possible.

Someone might understandably contend: ‘But the Lord said we must confront the individual in Matthew 18:15-17.’ Actually Christ’s instructions apply specifically to handling offending Christians from one’s own assembly, which naturally means his guidelines must be revised in cases where the transgressor is hooked up with another fellowship or is unchurched. The Messiah’s words are more general instructions than unbendable rules that must be observed to the letter in each potential case.

For support, consider Paul’s instructions to the believers in Rome:

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Romans 16:17-18 (ESV)

Paul instructs believers to look out for those who tend to cause conflict and concludes by simply saying “avoid them.” He doesn’t say anything about confronting & correcting these troublesome souls; he merely says to keep away from them. Were these contentious individuals believers or heathen? Paul was obviously denoting people functioning within the fellowship of Roman Christians who were at least professing believers. Whether they were genuine followers of Christ or not, Paul stresses in verse 18 that they weren’t actually serving the Lord but rather their own appetites. He then reveals what marks such divisive people: They have a reputation for being smooth talkers who deceive naïve folks, that is, people who are incapable of discerning their carnal character.

What exactly is deceitful “smooth talk”? To be frank, it’s bullcrap or another word that shares the initials of Bernie Sanders. These types have a knack for telling stories and exaggeration. Put another way, they have the ability to dazzle listeners with their bullcrap; not everyone, of course, just those who are gullible and lack the ability to identify their bullcrap for what it is. These are fabricators, braggarts and flatterers who naturally create discord and division wherever they roam since it’s their very nature. Guard yourself from such ‘believers’ and steer clear of them. Don’t approach and reprimand them because they’ll despise you for it and turn the situation against you (Proverbs 9:7-9); they’ll try to tear you to pieces like the (hidden) vicious predators they are (Psalm 57:4; Psalm 3:7; Proverbs 30:14). They want to lure you into the realm of the flesh, which is the plane from which they operate. They want to bring out the worst in you. Don’t take the bait. Keep away from them; intercede for them and shield the naïve sheep in your midst from their smooth-talking devices.

I had an in-law years ago who was so offensive and argumentative that I had to stop taking his calls. I’d delete his messages without even listening. Why? Because speaking to him, or even giving ear to a voicemail, was like consuming poison; it would throw my day off course — destroying my concentration and draining my energy. I found out a Christian relative refused to take his calls as well. Neither of us did this hastily; it took ten years of merciful forbearance and prayer. But life is too valuable to squander on arrogant, disrespectful troublemakers and liars, even if they profess to be Christians (Titus 1:16). Don’t give ear to such a proven contentious person unless you learn from a respected source that s/he is willing to speak with a smidgen of meekness and respect. If so, give it a try.

Here’s another relevant text on the topic:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (ESV)

Paul gave these instructions to his acolyte, Timothy. He exhorted him to “avoid” these fleshly types who had an “appearance of godliness” but no actual spiritual effectiveness (verse 5). This revealed that these were people who claimed to know the LORD but plainly lacked the power of a new life. Instead of fruit of the spirit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, humility and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) — they reveal steady signs of hatred, selfishness, greed, boasting, arrogance, manipulation, ungratefulness, depravity, gossip/slander, recklessness and smugness. As with the passage from Romans above, the apostle doesn’t even tell his protégé to confront & correct such individuals; rather he directs him to simply keep away from them.

If the offenders you are dealing with share these carnal traits, rebuking them is pointless because they lack the spiritual character to receive correction, the primary fruit being love. It’s just not possible to correct bigheaded, rude, impulsive individuals without being pulled into a big nasty fight. It will likely drag you into the realm of the flesh and draw out the worst in you. These hardened types loathe spirituality and correction, regardless of whether or not they’re confessing Christians and attend a certain assembly. “Avoid such people.”

**Discern Proper Timing When a Confrontation/Correction Is Necessary**

Timing is another thing to consider when the possibility of an ugly confrontation surfaces. The Messiah’s handling of the Pharisees is a good illustration. The Pharisees & other legalists in the Holy Land were unjustly antagonistic toward Christ and were so hateful they literally schemed to slay him. They also transgressed against the LORD with their gross legalism and shady “leadership” in Israel. Keep in mind that Yeshua was Immanuel — “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23) — so these corrupt religionists were sinning against the Son just as well as the Father. Obviously the Lord would have to eventually confront them if they failed to respond to intercession and the preaching of truth, even though he knew it wouldn’t be pleasant. However, we observe Jesus leaving Judea for Galilee in the early days of his ministry in order to dodge a premature altercation with the Pharisees, who were troubled by his swelling number of disciples (John 4:1-3). They were obviously green with envy. Whilst Christ knew he would probably have to confront & correct these fake religious leaders, it was yet too early to do so; thus he evaded a clash altogether by going back to Galilee. The Messiah later reprimanded them to their faces, of course, and it was anything but pleasant (Luke 11:37-54; Matthew 23:13-33).

This discloses the Messiah’s fight strategy regarding the possibility of open rebuke: He first tackled the situation in a moderate, lenient manner — dodging an ugly clash in preference to prayer & conveying the Word. He only upped the ante when the gentler method failed to produce results. When Christ dealt with spiritual individuals, like John “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” he rarely if ever had to take the tough love approach because spiritual people have the prudence to respond to the softer approach.

Paul adhered to this basic plan of action as well. He established the assembly at Corinth and set the doctrinal groundwork with much paternal love, compassion, kindness and intercession. But several years later he found out that the congregants were acting like spiritual infants and so he rebuked them (1 Corinthians 3:1-3); he was even ready to pull out the metaphorical whip (1 Corinthians 4:21). If they reacted wisely to the harder approach, meaning they meekly ’fessed up, Paul would of course return to his softer, favored style of ministry.

Let’s bring this home: If the prayerful, soft love manner isn’t effective, God may direct you or me to confront individuals in the Christian community, including ‘leaders’ corrupted by pomposity and religiosity, but we have to discern appropriate timing. Like Christ, we have to be guided by the Spirit and go with our spiritual instincts, even though this won’t change the likelihood that the altercation will be unpleasant.

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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)

The FIVEFOLD MINISTRY Gifts — Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher

Fivefold Ministers Are to Be Servant-Leaders, Not Domineering Authoritarians

Fivefold Ministers Are to Build Believers Up, Not Tear Down

Apostle

Prophet

Evangelist

Pastor

Teacher

The Fivefold Ministry Offices

What’s in a Name?

Fivefold Ministers, Great and Small

‘Official’ Ministers and Independent Ministers

The Fivefold Ministry Gifts Are God-Given Gifts or Positions/Offices, Not Titles

A longer version of this article is available in book form with loads of additional material!

What if You KNOW a Confrontation Will Turn UGLY?

Discern Proper Timing When a Confrontation/Correction Is Necessary

This article was taken from chapter 3 of…

Related Topics:

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?

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**Fivefold Ministers Are to Be Servant-Leaders, Not Domineering Authoritarians**

**Discern Proper Timing When a Confrontation/Correction Is Necessary**

**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?**