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(Continued from Testing Trinity Symbols) © COPYRIGHT NOW UNBANNED PUBLICATIONS On this page: Þ BINITARIANISM (DUALITY) IN ROMAN CATHOLICISM, PROTESTANTISM, AND ARMSTRONGINISM Þ A PROTESTANT COMBINATION OF THE TRINITY AND BINITARIANISM — IS JESUS A “SMALLER” GOD? Þ SCRIPTURAL PROOF THAT EVERYTHING TRINITARIANS TEACH IS FALSE
JESUS, THE GOD-MAN-ANGEL OF ADVENTISTS, JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES OR ARMSTRONG’S ‘LESSER’ GOD?Offshoots of Christianity such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh-Day Adventists make Jesus into an angelic creature of God, (the Archangel Michael,) a so-called ‘lower god,’ as explained by Herbert W. Armstrong from the Worldwide Church of God. Armstrong declared, “Jesus is [a subordinate god] to god the father.” However, in the context of the whole Bible, Jesus the Son of God is neither an ordinary human prophet nor an angel. Yet, many denominations state that the Man Jesus was created not begotten as a human being, and confuse Old Testament verses where the Angel of the Lord is mentioned, with New Testament verses that relate to God’s spirit servants, the angels. Others blasphemously allege that Jesus is Lucifer, the ‘morning star,’ but Jesus is God, not a star, (Heb. 1:1-14.) Both fallen and holy angels are identified as “stars” in the Bible, (Job 38:7; Rev. 8:10-11.) This is why Isa. 14:12 identifies the fallen Lucifer as “son of the morning” or the “morning star;” the false light-bringer. Sadly, even born again believers call Jesus “the bright and morning star in their hearts,” while only God the Holy Spirit indwells true believers, not angels or “stars.” They get this from uncontextual verses such as Rev. 2:28 and 2 Pt. 1:19. However, those two verses, which suggest that Jesus is the “bright morning star,” cannot be part of the truth of God’s Word, because ‘stars’ are Jesus’ created angels. What’s more, Jesus is not the “elder, spirit brother of Satan” either, as Mormonism believes. Jesus is God and Satan is a mere creature of Jesus, who chose to “corrupt his own wisdom” and became the “fallen morning star,” (Ezk. 28:16-17.) Heb. 1:1-14 proves that Jesus is the Creator God of all the angels and the whole universe. During Old Testament times, “God spoke to [His Old Covenant, physical nation] through His [human] prophets, but in the [New Testament Covenant,] God has spoken to us by His Son, [Who did not simply ‘speak’ God’s Word, but always was, and will be the Word of God Himself,] Whom He appointed... lawful Owner of all things… Being [in the complete form of a Man,] the Brightness of His glory and the express Image of God’s Person; upholding all things by the Word of His power…” (Heb 1:1-3.) Þ “To which of the angels did God ever say: You are my [incarnated, begotten not created] Son? Let all the angels of God worship Him. [The archangels Michael and Gabriel also worship Him!] Heb. 1:8, But to the Son He says: Your throne, O God, is forever… and the sceptre of Your kingdom is of absolute righteousness… (Verse 9,) Therefore, [Jesus] God, [when you were water baptized as a mere man, (Mt. 3:16-17,) as an example to Your disciples,] Your God anointed You [as a complete man] with the oil of exultant joy above and beyond Your [angelic] companions. (Verse 10,) You, Lord [Jesus,] laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the works of Your hands. [Your creation] will perish, but You remain permanently… You remain forever the same, and [as You were resurrected in an ever living, glorified body,] Your years will never end...” (Heb. 1:1-14; Phil. 2:6-11; Col. 2:9.) The Bible teaches Jesus Is, Was, and always Will Be God the Creator Himself, (Heb. 1:1-14.) 1 Tim. 3:16, “God was revealed [shown or made visible] in the flesh…” God fully inhabited His Son’s completely human body, (Col. 2:9-10.) John 1:1-14, “[Before all time] was the Word, [Jesus,] and the Word was with God, and the Word was [and Is] God. He was present with God originally... (Verse 14,) And the Word became flesh [or fully human] and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, [He remained fully God at the same time.]” Therefore, Jesus’ holy angels bow, worship and obey only the Highest God; Creator of the whole universe. They will refuse the worship of humanity and of each other, (Heb. 1:6; Rev. 19:10; 22:8-9.) God Jesus Himself also fulfilled the entire Law for humanity. Hence, the fallen angels must also bow to Him. Even fallen angels will never bow to any other name but the Name of Jesus! Jesus “has a Name above all names, that at His Name, every knee should bow of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that [the resurrected Man] Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father [and He will return bodily on the clouds,]” (Philippians 2:9-11.) A PROTESTANT COMBINATION OF THE TRINITY AND BINITARIANISM — IS JESUS A “SMALLER” GOD?When I was a child, growing up in Calvinist South Africa, the Lord Jesus Christ was hardly ever mentioned except in conversation with children. [E.g., “Dear Jesus loves the little children…”] It was completely unacceptable for adults to discuss ‘politics and religion;’ or the atrocities of Calvinism’s apartheid regime and their Dutch and other Reformed dogmas. All church members were and are indoctrinated from pulpits. Consequently, without discussing or understanding the doctrine of the trinity, most Protestants separated the trinity into two different gods: Almighty Father and Mighty Father, God’s Son; based on Isa. 9:6. In Calvinism, the Holy Spirit was never mentioned except in ‘saving’ sacraments such as the baby ‘baptism,’ (which is also their ‘spiritual circumcision,’) and in unbiblical teenage confirmation. Hence, I perceived Jesus as a ‘smaller’ god for children, (Baby Jesus,) while ‘God’ was a ‘big, strong’ God for adults. In a Christian country such as South Africa was at the time, I never knew that Jesus Himself Is the God of the Bible, (Heb. 1:1-14;) Almighty God Himself, (Rev. 1:7-8; 4:8; Rev. 19:6; 15;) and the Holy Spirit is the God of the Bible Himself, until, during my thirties, by God’s grace, I eventually heard the Gospel of Christ in a Pentecostal church. Such was, and still is the suffocating embrace of the political/religious, trinity-confessing, Dutch Reformed and other church dogma in this country and throughout the world.
[Acknowledgement to the people who published these images] Above Left: Raw Binitarianism or the worship of two separate gods - the ‘great father’ holding his ‘dead, subordinate son,’ (which simultaneously still hangs on the Catholic cross,) while their holy spirit is absent from the trinity. Above Right: This image depicts the Catholic-Protestant trinity as the father and son, (two distinctly separate “divine persons” or gods,) with the insignificant holy spirit hovering over them.
SCRIPTURAL PROOF THAT EVERYTHING TRINITARIANS TEACH IS FALSE► Binitarians and Trinitarians use Stephen’s dying words in a literal sense to validate the separation between the ‘divine persons’ or gods of their trinity. “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man [the so-called lesser “Mighty God,” Isa. 9:6,] standing at the right hand of [“Almighty] God!” (Acts 7:56.) 1. Note that the trinity’s ‘holy spirit’ is absent in this depiction. Doesn’t their trinity dogma state that their three ‘divine persons’ are ‘one god?’ So, their interpretation of Stephen’s vision is actually Binitarianism, which includes only two of their three gods or ‘divine persons.’ 2. In fact, in the context of Scriptural Truth, Stephen’s dying vision is a metaphor of the risen, ascended Jesus as the Eternal High Priest and Mediator between God and man, Who minister from heaven. This is not a literal division between separate gods or a manifestation of “two separate divine persons,” (Jn. 14:6.) The full atonement of the Man Jesus Christ and His intercession for believers as the Mediator between God and man, cannot be explained clearer than this. It is God depicting Himself as Mediator through His resurrected Son, the eternal High Priest, Who now stands there, interceding on behalf of Stephen the martyr, who would have been with Him soon through his death! Paul explained in Colossians 2:9, “In [Jesus] dwells [or remains] all the fullness of the Godhead [of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] bodily.” Jesus said, “If you have seen Me [in human form,] you have seen the Father [in Spirit form in heaven.] I am in the Father and the Father in Me… The Father Who does the works dwells in Me… I and My Father are One,” (Jn. 14:8-11; 10:30.) 3. Contrary to this “Mighty Son/Almighty Father” lie, the risen and ascended Jesus Himself declared in Revelation 1:8-9, “I Am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, Who Is, and Who Was, and Who Is to Come, the Almighty [God!]” In Revelation 15:3-4, the redeemed in heaven call the risen, gloried, ascended Jesus, “Lord God Almighty!” The angel in Rev. 16:5-7 also called Him “Lord God Almighty!” Jesus the Creator God Himself “was manifested in the flesh.” So, even while He was still in complete human form, He was also, being God Himself, in the perfect ‘likeness’ or ‘express image’ of Almighty God, (Heb 1:1-14.)
► “My Father is Greater than I,” (Jn. 14:28.) What does it mean? The perception that Jesus is a ‘smaller,’ ‘less important,’ and ‘weaker’ god, even a creature of God such as an archangel, is not new. In some form or another, Catholicism and Protestantism, churches such as Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God, The Latter Day Saints, Mormonism, The Jehovah’s Witness Society, and traditional Seventh Day Adventists all interpreted Jesus words, “My Father is greater than I,” as explained in the Binitarianism images in the discussion above. 1. The inventors of this false dogma changed the meaning of Jn. 14:28 by cutting this verse away from it’s concurring verses and especially from Jn. 10:29-30, where Jesus stated, (“...My Father is greater than I [and everyone else. Yet,] My Father and I are One.”) Jesus did not suggest that He is not Almighty God Himself, (read Rev. 1:7-8; 4:8; 19:6, 15,) or that He is not as great as the Father, but rather, that He, (God Himself, Heb. 1:1-14,) was in the form of a mere man during His time on earth. It was Jesus the human being speaking here. Physically or in His fully human state Jesus was, as all other humans, in a position that is ‘lower’ than that of the supernatural angels and especially of God, Who is The Eternal Spirit, (Heb. 2:9; Col. 2:9; Jn. 4:21-24.) As a mere man, Jesus never sinned and could, therefore, become the full, flawless sacrifice in our place on Golgotha, (Jn. 3:16 1:29, KJV.) 2. That is why Phil. 2:5-8 states, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, being in the Form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant, and coming in the likeness of men, [or in a physical body just like all other men.]” The Spirit Filled Bible 1991 comments, [beware newer Bible translations,] “‘Form of God’ references His Divine Essence; an unchangeable quality. ‘Coming in the likeness of men’ refers to His existence on earth. Jesus willingly relinquished His [position as] God when He came to earth [as a complete human being,] while still [fully] retaining His Deity.” 3. “And being found in appearance as a [mere] man, Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of... the death of the cross… so that in the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
► Still, Catholics and Protestants say “Jesus is not the father but is deity. Jesus cannot be the father because He has a [separate] physical body, not a spirit-body as the father. That’s why He said, ‘Feel and handle Me… a spirit does not have flesh and bones…’” If anything, this ridiculous statement declares that their father and son are different gods. 1. Scripture most clearly states that Jesus Is the Everlasting Father, (Isa. 9:6.) So, if Jesus is the Father, and the father is “a separate father,” how many fathers does their trinity have? To ‘solve’ this dilemma, trinitarians manufactured the brainwashing paradox that Jesus is a “lesser father” — who is “not the father.” However, all the Scriptures that refer to Jesus’ prayers and references to Himself as The Son in relation to His Father in heaven, are from the perspective of the human being Jesus while He was still on earth. He was so perfectly human while living on earth, Jesus also had to learn to talk, walk — and obey the Father, just as every other human being, (Heb. 5:8.) Although He was fully God all the time, in His full humanity, He sweat blood in Gethsemane, cried at the tomb of Lazarus, etcetera. God became a complete human being while remaining the omnipresent or ever-present God at the same time. Jesus’ entire physical life and all His actions were to redeem, save, and bless all those who chose to become His born again disciples — and of course, to be The Faultless Example to His temple of believers, whom He would constantly indwell since Pentecost “until the end of the world, (Mt. 28:18-20; 1 Jn. 2:20.) Rom. 8:9-11 states, “...The Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you… the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you..” So, Jesus is also the Holy Spirit. No arguments about that. 2. Scriptural and historical fact is that Jesus was risen from the grave and ascended on high in a real, tangible, but glorified body, (Col. 2:9.) Consequently, after His death and resurrection, Jesus said that a spirit does not have flesh and bones like He has. After His resurrection, His glorified body is absolutely foreign to the frail physical, earth-bound, human body, which He inhabited before His death and resurrection, (1 Cor. 15:35-55.) In Jesus’ resurrected, glorified but tangible human body, for the first time in all of history, a human being could “appear [and physically disappear] in the midst of His disciples while the doors were shut,” as only a spirit could have done! This was because Jesus, through His atonement on the cross, completely bridged the great rift between fallen humanity and God. In Eden, Adam and Eve, being undying, physical beings, were in complete sinless union with God. But through disobedience, undying humanity fell into a state of sin, separation, and death without God. 3. Jesus, through His bodily resurrection, eternally fused the spiritual and temporal worlds together by blending physical and spiritual matter in His glorified, ever-living, human body! (Col. 2:9; Jn. 20:26-29!) This is the kind of glorified body into which truly born again believers will also be changed if they are still alive, or when they are resurrected from the grave when Jesus returns from heaven with the shout of an archangel – not “as” an archangel, but as Who He really Is: Almighty God Himself! - (1 Cor. 15:35-55; 1 Ths. 4:9-18; Rev. 1:7-8; 4:8.)
► Trinitarians teach that “Father God is the ‘Heavenly Father’ but Jesus the Son is the ‘Everlasting Father’ (Isa. 9:6.) This is allegedly so because “Jesus cannot be the Father as they are two separate ‘divine persons’” - or two separate gods. (Again: I am not pushing the false Jesus-Only dogma; only Scriptural truth.) This trinitarian dilemma is sensibly solved through God’s contextual, Biblical truth. 1. The trinity dogma was also designed by messing with Scripture and believers’ minds. They manufactured this silly argument as described above by butchering and re-assembling the truth about the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and His Word. For instance, if it were true that “the Son is NOT the Father” and “the Father is NOT the Son,” how can Jesus be “Everlasting Father” — as the trinity cannot have two fathers? This dogma is not just false, it is totally illogic. 2. It is clear that Father and Son can never be separated into different “divine persons” or gods. Father and Son Is One God, as Jesus declared in Jn. 10:29-30. Jesus, the completely human man, was “God in the flesh” before His resurrection from the dead and was, just as any other normal human being, on the level of a mere man before Almighty God, while He was simultaneously Almighty God Himself, as He did not leave His Divinity in heaven, (Rev. 1:7-8; 4:8.) How is this possible? God is everywhere in His universe at the same time. Although earth-bound throughout His whole earthly life; while hanging on the cross, and until His resurrection from the dead, Jesus was completely human and also completely the omnipresent God at the same time; all the time.
► Trinitarians say, “Jesus was speaking about ‘being in agreement” with the Father when Philip asked Him to show them the Father, as “Jesus and the Father are two distinctly different ‘divine persons,’ [or gods,] (Jn. 14:7-11.) 1. By substituting “show us the Father” with “being in agreement with the Father,” trinitarians corrupted the passage in Jn. 14:7-11. Nothing in this passage can refer to “three different, distinct, ‘divine persons” or gods! Moreover, there is nothing about ‘agreement’ in the request “show us the Father.” In Jesus’ own words, this entire passage is about “seeing the Father” in Jesus His incarnated Son, and understanding that God is One, Inseparable God. 2. Jesus declared, “Have I, [the Father,] been with you so long [as God in the form of a man,] and yet you have not known Me? He who has seen Me, [Jesus the human being,] has seen the Father [in heaven.] So, how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Is the One, Omnipresent God.] Do you not believe that, [being inseparable,] I Am IN the Father and the Father IN Me?... The Father Who dwells IN [My human body Col. 2:9] does the works. Believe Me that I Am in the Father and the Father in Me…” (Jn. 14:7-11.) 3. Undeniably and unalterably in Scriptural context, (and not according to Jesus-Only dogma,) Jesus said, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you know Him and have seen Him… [past tense. They saw the Father since they became followers of the Man Christ Jesus.]” Paraphrased, Jesus said, ‘I Am God Myself in the body of a mere man, and you have known and seen the Heavenly Father in physical form by looking at Me, for I, God’s Son or “God in the flesh,” was and always will be the “express image of the [inseparable, omnipresent] Father,” (Jn. 1:1-14.) Thus, in Me “dwells [present tense] the fullness of the Godhead bodily!” (Col. 2:9.) So, I Am the physical embodiment of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.’
► What about 1 Jn. 5:6-11, the [so-called] ‘proof’ that the “separate divine persons” of father, son, and holy spirit are merely in “agreement” with one another? In this passage, trinitarians changed God’s truth by shifting the focus from “God’s testimony” to their artificial “agreement,” which allegedly unifies the three ‘divine persons’ of the trinity. Þ 1 Jn. 5:6-11 is not about ‘agreement’ but about a two-fold “testimony:” one in heaven and the other one on earth. Þ Through this deception, trinitarians practiced pure witchcraft to make believers “disobey the truth,” (Gal.3:1.) Of course, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the One Inseparable God, is totally single-minded, but this is not the ‘agreement’ that the trinity dogma teaches. Jam. 1:17 explains, “Every good and perfect gift comes down from... the Father of Lights, [the One God,] with Whom there is no variation or shadow of turning, [or doubt in any of His testimonies.]” 1. The context of this passage is first about a ‘court case’ concerning the eternal destiny of humanity in heaven, (Jn. 3:16-18.) This is about God Himself “bearing witness” according to His decision about The Way in which personally believing humanity must be saved and go to heaven, (Jn. 14:6.) (I discuss the witness on earth (v. 8,) down below.) A) In 1 Jn. 5:6, regarding the human-Divine Jesus, John first explained the hope of eternal salvation through personal faith in Him. He wrote, “This is He Who came by water, [water baptism and His Word, 1 Pt. 1:23,] and blood, [His full atonement on Golgotha.] And it is the Spirit Who bears witness, because the Spirit [or God Himself] is Truth,” (Jn. 4:21-24.) Footnote, Spirit Filled Bible 1991, [beware new translations,] “John presents the basis of such belief, especially in answer to the heretics who say that the Spirit only came upon Jesus at His water baptism but left Him at His crucifixion. John insists that Jesus possessed the indwelling Holy Sprit during His entire earthy life, since [as a human] He was born by the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit testifies concerning Jesus at every point of His life.” B) Hence, 1 Jn. 5:7 proclaims, “There are three that bear witness in heaven [why believers may go to heaven:] the Father, the Word, [the Son] and the Holy Spirit, [Jn. 1:1-14; Mt. 28:18-20,] and the [witness] of [the Inseparable One God] is [of] one [accord — or utterly reliable.]” God’s witness is about providing an unshakable testimony to the sure salvation of believing disciple/followers of Jesus. A witness is compelled to testify the truth so that the judge can rule. The Judge in heaven is also the Most High Witness presiding over this case; the One Who knows it all, and can “bear [unwavering] witness” to the case of why believers may go to heaven. The omnipresent God has seen it all from heaven and lived it all on earth as a man. He is God, yet He knows perfectly what it is like to be completely human. And knowing what His perfect Law commands, He also knows what requirements humans must meet to reach heaven: pure, unwavering faith in, and faithful discipleship of Jesus, (Mt. 5:17; Jn. 1:1-14; 1 Jn. 2:4.) [Verse 8 is discussed down below as the witness on earth.] C) 1 Jn. 5:9 clearly names the Witness in heaven, “...The witness of God [singular] is greater [than the witnesses of men,] for this is the [undisputed] witness of God, [singular,] which He has testified of His [incarnated] Son. [Verse 10,] He who believes in the [incarnate] Son of God, has [present tense] the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son [Who fully atoned for the bondage, lostness, and cursedness of all sincerely believing humanity, Jn. 3:16-21.] D) Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is also the Single-minded Judge Who also “bears witness” to either testify for, or against humanity from His throne in heaven. God the righteous Judge is the Highest, Most Trustworthy Witness seated in heaven. He is the Only Perfect One Who can bear perfect witness because He has an all-good, never changing, most high and holy Character, (Jam. 1:17.) E) 1 Jn. 5:11-12, “This is God’s [eternal, unshakable] testimony in heaven: God has given us eternal life, and this life is [only to be found] in His Son. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son does not have life.” The Single-Minded Judge in heaven never changes His mind about His Way of redemption, salvation, and blessing for believing humanity. By His own witness, the blood-atoning, New Covenant in Christ will stand for all eternity as the once off, only atonement in the place of all lost, cursed humanity. No one will enter into heaven except through Him, (Jn. 3:16-21.)
2. (1 Jn. 5:8,) “There are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree as one.” These ‘witnesses’ form the testimony or evidence of our lives in relation to Jesus’ atonement in our place. (1 Jn. 5:8 was omitted from many new Bible translations.) This is not about three gods “in agreement.” This is about three flawless, coinciding evidences in court that must testify to our lives here on earth. This is the second part of the testimony of what Jesus did for us as a man on earth. It stipulates exactly what His Blood Covenant will require of everyone who lived “on earth” and who seeks to enter into heaven at death or at Jesus’ return. A) The first Witness, “The Spirit,” testifies concerning the requirements to inherit salvation. This is the Spirit’s Personal testimony concerning every believer’s response to His leading in Scriptural obedience, (Rom. 8:9; 14.) B) The second Witness, “The Water,” testifies to obedience to Jesus’ True Word, of which His Scriptural water baptism, not a so-called ‘saving’ water baptism rite, is His most important symbol, (1 Pt. 1:23.) Jesus warned, “...He who rejects Me [by] rejecting My Word, has one which judges him – the Word that I have spoken…” (Jn. 12:48.) We only find Jesus and His Truth in the full context of Scripture. Everything we need to know about God, ourselves, how to be saved, redeemed, blessed, and how to serve and glorify Him, was stipulated in the Bible. So, “The Water” will either testify for, or against us concerning our willing obedience to Jesus’ New Covenant Truth to glorify Him, (1 Jn. 2:4; Jn. 14:15, 23; 13:34.) C) The third witness, “The Blood,” testifies of Jesus’ blood-atonement for believers according to His New Testament Covenant of Grace, (Jn. 3:16,) The “blood” will testify whether we relied on our own salvation through ‘good’ works and church membership, or whether we relied solely on His atonement in our place. All our ‘good works’ are merely to glorify Jesus, not to ‘earn’ anything from Him. Yet, to live a life that glorifies Him is not an option, (Jn. 14:15.)
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