Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

A memorial service for Lois Bargar will be held on January 16, 2011, commencing at 1:00 pm, at the Ramona Women’s Club. For further information, please contact Johanna Link (Johanna.Link@cox.net; 760-788-8033).

The member letter for December was sent out this week. In the letter, Norbert Link addresses the unchristian nature of Christmas and some of the reasons why true Christmas don’t participate in Christmas celebrations, but he also raises the question of how many times we might be engaging in other unchristian conduct, perhaps without realizing it.

A new StandingWatch program was posted on the Web, titled, “Trust in the USA Gone.” The release of secret diplomatic memos by Wikileaks caused incalculable damage for the USA. Notwithstanding some nice lip services from embarrassed politicians, the overall consensus in the European media is that the revelations are “a disaster for America,” “hugely damaging” and “a political meltdown for US foreign policy”; and that they “expose the superpower’s weaknesses” and “create a crisis for German-American relations” with “unpredictable consequences.” One German paper wrote that “America’s reserve of trust is empty” and those documents are “like a weapon of mass destruction on the last traces of trust.” Why is all of this happening? The answer, even though VERY clear, might surprise you.

Our new booklet, “Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians,” has entered the finalization stage.

A new AufPostenStehen program was posted on the Web, titled, “Kein Euro Crash” (“No Euro Crash”) 

A new German sermon was posted on the Web, titled, “Die Welt der Engel, Teil 2” (“The World of Angels, Part 2).”

The Best Candidate

by Shelly Bruno

Through the years, I’ve had friends and family members who I felt would be great additions to God’s family. A close friend who is extremely zealous for God, a coworker who has admirable Christian dedication, or the family member I simply want to share the truth with. I could reason and justify why they would make good candidates, because they seem to possess godly character. Their positive qualities appear so plain to see—so why doesn’t God see those characteristics?

Pray as I might for others to come to the Truth, the fact is that God calls whom He wants, according to His timeframe. And I’ve realized I must be thankful for this fact. I see only the outward person—which is not as reliable as the way God sees the inward person.

I wonder if other true Christians look at me as a good candidate for God’s family. Am I exhibiting the characteristics they would deem worthy? I need to make sure that I, too, am a good candidate for God’s family, by living up to His expectations for my calling.

I’ll continue praying for those I hope will be called today, but I can also take comfort in the fact that soon, every person will be given an opportunity to have the same precious gift that I have been given—an understanding of God’s truth.

How long were the Israelites in Egypt before beginning their journey to the promised land of Canaan? I have heard several numbers such as 210, 215, 400 and 430 years. What can be proven from the Bible?

To best answer this, we want to look first at a more general time frame, by reviewing both Old and New Testament Scriptures. In Galatians 3:16-17, we read, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to SEEDS,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘AND TO YOUR SEED,’ who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.”

Many believe that this should be reckoned from the first time that God expressed His intentions to Abram when he was 75 years old (compare Genesis 12:1-4). But there are two important points that we can glean from Paul in the Scripture above that will show that this may not be the case.

Firstly, he uses the name “Abraham” and not “Abram.” Abram was his name at the time God first talked to him in Genesis 12 as well as through the next 24 years of his life. This means that the first two covenants that God made with this man were during the time he was called Abram. In Genesis 15:18 we find the first covenant or agreement, and the second one is mentioned at the beginning of Genesis 17. Interestingly enough, in the first four verses of this chapter God makes the covenant with Abram and then in the very next verse He changes Abram’s name to Abraham (verse 5). Technically then, Galatians 3 is not citing one of the first two agreements with Abram, but rather referencing one of the subsequent covenants with Abraham.

(For further information on the covenants which God made with Abram or Abraham, please read our free booklet, “And Lawlessness Will Abound…”).

Secondly, the context of Galatians 3:16-17 was the covenant confirmed in “THE SEED”—Jesus Christ. This would therefore rule out the covenants God made with Abraham in Genesis 17, which included merely physical blessings for the SEEDS or descendants of Abraham, as well as the covenant of circumcision (Genesis 17:10; Acts 7:8). This is in no way related to what Paul was talking about. However, when we come to the final covenant in Genesis 22:18, we find something that was not previously promised, THE Seed. The verse reads, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Acts 3:25-26 refers to this statement specifically as a covenant: “You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.” It also clarifies that the Seed that would truly do all the blessing would be Christ.

This brings us back to Galatians 3:16-17 where Paul has reiterated the fact that the Seed is Christ. Therefore, when he writes “the covenant that was confirmed before by God IN CHRIST,” it seems obvious that it can only refer to the FINAL Abrahamic covenant of Genesis 22. This then gives us a starting point for the 430 years.

The 430 years in Galatians 3 are an allusion to Exodus 12:40-41 which states, “Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”

The problem that some often have with this passage is that they assume this is stating that the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years. What it is actually saying is that the Israelites, the off-spring of Abraham, who had lived in Egypt, sojourned 430 years; they temporarily dwelt in several areas, and only one of them was Egypt.

According to the Jamieson, Fausset and Brown commentary, the Septuagint renders it thus: “The sojourning of the children and of their fathers, which they sojourned in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt.” This naturally makes it clearer that the 430 years include time leading up to the beginning of the residency of the Israelites in Egypt. This can be further substantiated by the fact that the time between the commencement of the covenant until Jacob (who became Israel) and his family moved into Egypt was spent in many different places in the land of Canaan:

Immediately after the final covenant of Genesis 22, Abraham returned to Beersheba (Genesis 22:19); 37 years after the birth of Isaac, Sarah died and was buried in the land of Canaan (Genesis 23:1-2); Abraham was buried in Machpelah (Genesis 25:9) with Sarah (Genesis 49:31), and shortly thereafter Isaac moved to Beer Lahai Roi (Genesis 25:11), which, according to John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, was near the wilderness of Beersheba and Paran. In fact, we read in Genesis 26:1-6 that Isaac was specifically told not to go down to Egypt, but rather remain in Gerar. After a conflict with the locals, Isaac returned to Beersheba (Genesis 26:23). Years later, Jacob fled from Esau and went to Haran (Genesis 28:13), which was in Syria, the opposite direction of Egypt (Hosea 12:12).

After his time there, Jacob and his family (the Israelites) returned to his homeland of Canaan (Genesis 31:13, 18; 33:18). After the incident with his daughter Dinah, God directed Jacob to Bethel, still in the land of Canaan (Genesis 35:1). After moving around in that immediate area (Genesis 35:16, 21), Jacob later caught up with his father at Mamre or Kirjath Arba, where Sarah had died (Genesis 35:27). We read in Genesis 37:1 that at the time when Joseph was being sold into slavery, Jacob was still in the land of Canaan. This is also the area from where Joseph’s ten brothers came, when a famine affected them, forcing them to seek food in Egypt and eventually move there.

How do we understand Genesis 15:13 which quotes God as saying to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.”

Most commentaries agree that the time span of 400 years does NOT refer to the sojourning of Israel IN EGYPT.

Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible states:

“Four hundred years are to elapse before the seed of Abram shall actually proceed to take possession of the land. This interval can only commence when the seed is born; that is, at the birth of Isaac [that is, it cannot begin prior to that; but does not have to necessarily begin at that time, see our comments below] … During this interval they are to be, ‘first, strangers in a land not theirs’…; and then for the remaining… years in Egypt: at first, servants, with considerable privilege and position; and at last, afflicted serfs, under a hard and cruel bondage.”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible adds:

“…this term ‘four hundred years’ is not to be joined either with the word ‘afflict’ or ‘serve’; for their hard servitude and severe affliction did not last [that] long…; but with the phrase, ‘a stranger in a land not theirs’; and the rest is to be included in a parenthesis thus, and ‘thy seed shall be a stranger in the land not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years’; so long they should be strangers and sojourners, as they were partly in the land of Canaan, and partly in the land of Egypt, neither of which were in their own land, however not in possession; within which space of time they would be in a state of subjection and servitude, and be greatly afflicted and oppressed, as they were particularly by the Egyptians before their deliverance from them…”

We have seen, then, that it is very well documented that before the Israelites moved to Egypt, they had sojourned in and around the land of Canaan. The other significant fact in Exodus 12 is that the 430 years ended on the same day that the Exodus began. By examining these preceding two sets of Scriptures in Galatians 3 and Exodus 12, it appears that the 430 years refer to the time span between the execution of the final covenant with Abraham (in Genesis 22) and the moment when the Israelites left the enslavement of Egypt.

In this context, we need to discuss the ages, as they are recorded in the Bible, since they formulate a significant length of time. We know that the age of Jacob, when he and his family entered Egypt, was 130 (Genesis 47:9). Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born. How old was Isaac at the time of Genesis 22 when Abraham was about to offer him as a sacrifice and God subsequently made a final covenant with Abraham?

The Bible does not give enough information to pin down Isaac’s exact age with any reasonable accuracy. What we do know is that the event occurred between the time that Isaac was weaned and when his mother died. At that time, Isaac was approximately 37 years old (compare Genesis 21:8; 23:2). However, many scholars do not agree on the age of weaning (stating that it occurred somewhere between the ages of 2 and 5, and even then they are just making an “educated” guess). There are other factors that may or may not come into play in narrowing down Isaac’s age at the time when Abraham was willing to sacrifice him, but we will leave it as a broad spectrum to ensure that we are within the parameters as outlined in the Bible.

In all likelihood Jacob was not exactly to the day 130 years old when he arrived in Egypt, nor is it likely that Jacob and Esau were born to Isaac on his 60th birthday. This fact can be readily confirmed, when reviewing other biblical genealogies, where the month is omitted – much in the same way that adults speak today when telling their age. This being the case and depending on their rules of rounding ages in ancient times, the final number we are looking for could be off by several years, depending on whether we add together the actual or rounded ages.

From this information we can calculate the duration of how long the Israelites dwelt in Egypt. We need to subtract from 430 years (the length of time from the final covenant with Abraham until Israel LEFT Egypt) the length of time from the final covenant until ENTERING Egypt. The formulas (since we are using a range for Isaac’s age of 3 to 37 years) are:

430-(60-3)-130=243

430-(60-37)-130=277

By adding and subtracting up to 3 years to each end of the solution (to compensate for any extra months not included in the ages of Isaac and Jacob), it would appear that the Israelites were in Egypt for somewhere between 240 to 280 years. While men such as Dr. Bullinger, in his Companion Bible, and Bishop Usher’s dating set the time span at 215 years for the children of Israel being in Egypt, other researchers do offer different conclusions; however, most chronologies seem to conclude that both the 400 years of Genesis 15:13 (also, Acts 7:6) and the 430 years of Exodus 12:40 (also, Galatians 3:17) refer to the more general period, encompassing time on both sides of the Israelites’ sojourn in Egypt.

Rome’s Revivals

On December 11, 2010, Norbert Link will give the sermon, titled, “Rome’s Revivals.”

The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

A new member letter was written and will be sent out early next week.

Our new booklet, “Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians,” has entered the final review cycle.

A new StandingWatch program was posted on the Web, titled, “Will the Euro Survive?” Some predict that the euro-zone will disintegrate and that the euro is finished. But what would be the practical consequences, if the euro-zone countries were to abandon the euro and replace it with national currencies? Why do some feel that such a scenario is “massively unlikely” and “unrealistic”? Why do they conclude that the euro will remain one of the “world’s most important currencies”?

Norbert Link’s recent video-recorded sermon, “The New Covenant,” was posted on the Web.

A new German sermon was posted on the Web, titled, “Die Welt der Engel, Teil 1” (“The world of Angels, Part 1”).

Joy in the Small Things

by Cali Harris
 
Lately I’ve been thinking about how to live more joyfully. In one of his sonnets, William Shakespeare wrote, “Joy delights in joy.” When I read it, I had to think about it carefully. What does that line of poetry really mean?

To me, it means that joy self-perpetuates. It has its own internal momentum, so that when I share joy with someone else, the joy spreads. It has a rippling, reverberating effect.
 
As I think about how to live more joyfully, I’ve realized it’s not only the grand plans or gestures that make life more joyful. Instead, I’m beginning to see how the smallest of gestures can have the most joyful impact. I’m focusing on smiling—and really meaning it—when I say “thank you” to a shop clerk or restaurant server. I’m slowing down while driving and waving people to go ahead of me. I’ve been sending more postcards and greeting cards with notes of “Thanks!” or “Hello!” or “Thinking of you!”. And because so much of my work is related to technology and the web, I’m taking time to send quick text messages or emails to friends, family and clients.
 
Although they may seem insignificant, it’s these actions that bring joy not only to those around me—but help me live more joyfully, too. And this, I believe, is how “joy delights in joy.”

What does Christ mean when He refers to the many who are “called” and to the few who are “chosen” as recorded in Matthew 22:14?

Verse 14 summarizes the Parable of the Wedding Feast spoken by Jesus Christ in which He teaches about the Kingdom of God and about the accountability that people have when God offers them salvation—that is, eternal life (compare Matthew 24:1-14).

Contrary to what many teach and who say that parables were used by Christ to make His teaching more clear, just the opposite is true. The Bible addresses this:

“All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world’” (Matthew 13:34-35).

In a previous account, His disciples directly asked Jesus why He taught the people with parables. The answer is revealing:

“He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: “Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it’” (Matthew 13:11-17).

Jesus asked His disciples, “‘…Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’” (Matthew 16:13). They responded with various answers, and Jesus then asked His disciples, “‘…But who do you say that I am?’” (verse 15).

Peter’s response was this: “‘…You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’” (verse 16).

Jesus then makes this profoundly important statement—showing that understanding of this kind came through God’s revelation:

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven’” (verse 17).

We should also note what Jesus further instructed these disciples concerning His own identity and the revelation that was given to them at that time (that would change once Jesus Christ had died and then was resurrected by God the Father):

“Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ” (verse 20).

As the record of the New Testament shows, Jesus had specifically chosen twelve disciples—along with others—to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God (compare Luke 6:12-16; 9:1-6). Through the teaching and the many miraculous things done by both Jesus and His disciples, many people both heard and saw; yet, it was only the few who continued with Jesus:

“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’” (John 6:66-69).

Others had the opportunity to follow Christ, but they, like the many, rejected it. Such an example of a person “called” is found in Matthew 19:16-22:

“Now behold, one came and said to Him, ‘Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?’ So He said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said to Him, ‘Which ones?’ Jesus said, ‘”You shall not murder,” “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “Honor your father and your mother,” and, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”’ The young man said to Him, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23), Jesus speaks of those who hear “the word of the kingdom” (verse 19). He then explains this parable to His disciples showing how some hear and don’t understand; some readily understand but fade away when trials arise; some understand but then choose what this world offers; some (the few) hear, understand and—like Christ—bear “fruit” (compare Galatians 5:22-23).

As the Parable of the Sower reveals, being “called” is a first step in gaining entrance into the Kingdom of God. We should understand that God alone does this. Being a Christian has its beginning point with God’s calling—something that Jesus Christ emphatically taught:

“‘No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day’” (John 6:44); “And He said, ‘Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father’” (John 6:65).

However, as we explain in our booklet, “Are You Predestined to Be Saved?,” in the box, “Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen,” on pages 52-54, the first three types of people in the Parable of the Sower were not really “called” to salvation:

“In the parable with the sower, in Matthew 13:18–23, four types of people are mentioned who all hear the Word of God. But only one person accepts the Word and produces fruit (verse 23), while the other three give up and fall away. Does this mean that all of them were truly called by God to salvation? And—that God was caught by surprise when the first three fell away, although He had predestined them to be called in this day and age? Hardly! God very well knew that only the fourth person would respond and continue in His calling, as God knows the hearts and minds of people. Only the fourth person was predestined to be called and chosen in this life.”

Paul teaches, “that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12). Again, Paul reminds us, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).

Being called into knowledge of the Truth of God is not the only thing that must occur—we must then bear the fruit of righteousness in order to be among those who are the “chosen!” In this process, as we continue in our calling to follow Jesus Christ, we have this assurance—as written by Paul:

“[B]eing confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

We find this additional confirmation:

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30).

As an example of this promise being fulfilled, let us consider the apostles of Jesus Christ—note what Jesus taught them:

“‘You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you’” (John 15:16); Also, “‘If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you’” (John 15:19).

Judas failed in his calling as an apostle and was replaced by Matthias to become among those specially chosen to rule over the twelve Tribes of Israel once Jesus Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth (compare Matthew 19:28; Revelation 21:14).

Paul fulfilled his calling, and he knew he was chosen to receive eternal life in God’s Kingdom:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

While the many heard Jesus preach and saw His works, most are the ones who fulfilled His parable found in Matthew 22—invited guests, but they refused to actually fully participate in God’s calling. For a thorough explanation of this parable, please read the entire above-mentioned box in our free booklet, “Are You Predestined to Be Saved?”

This parable has much broader application than just the many who rejected or the few who followed Jesus during His ministry. The Work of God and Jesus Christ, as Head of the Body, the Church (compare Ephesians 1:22-23), has continued—and so it does in our time and will into the future of this age!

The opportunity that God is now presenting is a calling to be among the firstfruits of salvation—called “a better resurrection” in Hebrews 11:35 (compare John 5:24).

When Jesus returns to the earth to powerfully remove the rule of Satan and his many demonic followers, He will establish the government of God—God’s glorious and everlasting Kingdom! When He does this, He will not be alone; there will be a precious few with Him:

“‘These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are CALLED, CHOSEN, and FAITHFUL’” (Revelation 17:14).

Lead Writer: Dave Harris

Truth

On December 4, 2010, Robb Harris will give the sermon, titled, “Truth.”

The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

You teach that both the Father and the Son are God. What about the Holy Spirit? Isn't the Holy Spirit also God — the Third Person within the Trinity?

The short answer is, no — the Holy Spirit is neither God nor a Person. Rather, the Holy Spirit is God’s POWER emanating from God the Father AND from God the Son.

The Trinitarian concept of Greek Orthodox Christianity is that God is one Person who manifests Himself in three “modes of being” — the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They basically teach that God is only one BEING — but that He can represent himself in three different ways — as a person can be functioning in his capacity as a bank executive, as a father and as a husband. However, as we have seen in previous Q&As, (Who Was Jesus When On Earth?, What Was Jesus Before His Birth as a Man?, Is Jesus God? and How Can There Be Two Gods?) this concept is biblically incorrect. God is not just one Being, but God is a Family, consisting of TWO Beings — the Father and the Son. God is not schizophrenic, nor is He suffering from a bipolar personality, speaking to Himself in His “capacity” as Father to His “capacity” as Son, and vice versa.

The Trinitarian concept of Roman Catholic Christianity, which has been almost universally adopted by Protestant churches, is that God is “one Person in three Persons.” This is an utterly confusing and illogical idea, which makes no sense at all. How can one person consist of three persons? God is not one Being, but a FAMILY, consisting of TWO persons–not three–and the Holy Spirit is NOT a Person.

Also, the Roman Catholic church teaches that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all equal in authority. This is biblically incorrect, as we saw in the previous, above-quoted Q&As (and we will again address this point herein). The Father is the HIGHEST in the Godhead.

We discuss the erroneous Trinitarian concepts of the Roman Catholic church and most Protestant churches in our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”. We show that even Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians admit that the Trinity is nowhere taught in the Bible:

“The Swiss Protestant theologian Karl Barth… wrote in, ‘Doctrine of the Word of God,’ p. 437: ‘The Bible lacks the express declaration that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are of equal essence and therefore in an equal sense God Himself. And the other express declaration is also lacking that God is God thus and only thus, i.e., as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These two express declarations which go beyond the witness of the Bible are the twofold content of the church doctrine of the Trinity.’…

“Dr. William Newton Clarke, who wrote a book entitled, ‘An Outline of Christian Theology’… states… on page 167, when discussing the first few verses of the first chapter of the book of John: ‘There is no Trinity in [John’s prologue]; but there is a distinction in the Godhead, a duality in God… ground for the divineness of the Spirit is nowhere shown. Thought in the New Testament is never directed to that end’…

“German theologian Karl Rahner… [said] in a book called, ‘The Trinity,’ on page 22: ‘…in reality the Scriptures do not explicitly present a doctrine of the “imminent” Trinity (even John’s prologue is no such doctrine).’

“… the New Catholic Encyclopedia supports Professor Rahner’s and Prof. Barth’s statements. In an article entitled, ‘Trinity,’… [it admits:] ‘The [Old Testament] clearly does not envisage God’s spirit as a person, neither in the strictly philosophical sense, nor in the Semitic sense. God’s spirit is simply God’s power… The majority of [New Testament] texts reveal God’s spirit as something, not someone; this is especially seen in the parallelism between the spirit and the power of God…'”

After explaining in our booklet that the Roman Catholic church adopted the concept of the Trinity from pagan Greek philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, we point out that none of the New Testament writers include the Holy Spirit, when passing on greetings from God. They ONLY refer in that context to the Father and the Son. This would have been quite an insult, if the Holy Spirit were also God.

We continue quoting from our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”:

“Another Biblical proof against the Trinity is that the Holy Spirit is nowhere identified as God. No one is recorded in Scripture as having prayed to the Holy Spirit.”

As we pointed out in the previous, above-quoted Q&As, we are generally to pray to the Father, as He is the Highest in the God-Family. But we do this in the name of Jesus Christ (John 15:16), who is our only Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5-6). In addition, there are a few recorded incidents when Christians prayed to Christ (compare Acts 7:59-60). But there is no record in the Bible that anyone ever prayed to the Holy Spirit.

Let us focus on another important proof that the Holy Spirit CANNOT be God or a person. We quote again from our booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”:

“Notice in Matthew 1:18: ‘Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.’

“God’s inspired Word tells us clearly that the Holy Spirit made Mary pregnant. Notice the words of an angel to Joseph, as recorded in Matthew 1:20: ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived… in her is of the Holy Spirit.’’

“Turn now to Luke 1:32 and 35, where we find more of the inspired words of the angel to Mary: ‘He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David… The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’ These Scriptures in Matthew and Luke tell us that, IF the Holy Spirit were a person and God, then Christ would have been the SON of the Holy Spirit, and NOT of the Father.

“However, John 1:14 says that it was the Father who begot Christ: ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth’… we see that GOD the FATHER begot Christ through the power of His Spirit. This proves that the Holy Spirit cannot be a person—otherwise, we would have a contradiction here, with Christ having two fathers—the ‘Father’ and the ‘Holy Spirit’—and with the ‘person’ and third member of the ‘Trinity,’ the Holy Spirit, being Christ’s ‘main’ Father.

“Remember, too, that the angel told Mary in the book of Luke that Christ would be called the Son of the Highest. If the Holy Spirit were a person, then the Holy Spirit by which Mary was impregnated would be the HIGHEST in the Godhead. This, of course, is absurd! No one who believes in the Trinity has EVER stated that the Holy Spirit is the highest! Quite to the contrary, they claim that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all EQUAL. That none is HIGHER than the other. “

Another proof that the Holy Spirit cannot be a person is the fact that the Holy Spirit, which dwells in converted Christians, is not only the Holy Spirit of the Father (compare John 14:16-17), but also of Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:6; Philippians 1;19). Quoting from our booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”:

“That the Spirit of the Father and of Christ dwells in us becomes very clear when reading Romans 8:9: ‘But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of GOD dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of CHRIST, he is not His.’ Here we read that the Spirit of God dwells in us, and when we do not have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, we are not even Christians…

“Notice Christ’s words in John 14:23: ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’ Both the Father and Jesus Christ live in us. John 14:16-18 confirms too that not only the Father, but also Jesus Christ live in us… through the Holy Spirit…”

Remember this: The Spirit of the Father and of the Son lives in us. If the Holy Spirit were a person, then two persons would live in us (the Holy Spirit of the Father and the Holy Spirit of the Son). In that case, the Godhead would not consist of only three persons, but of four — God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit of the Father, and God the Holy Spirit of the Son. But no one teaches, to our knowledge, that God consists of four persons.

In passing, it is true that the Bible speaks of “one” Spirit, as it speaks of the fact that the Father and Jesus Christ are “one.” We explain the concept of “oneness” in our booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”:

“When we read that there is one Spirit, then the reference is to the oneness or harmony between God the Father and Jesus Christ. It is exactly the same when Christ said, ‘I and the Father are one’ (John 10:30). Christ did not mean, the Father and He were ‘one’ being—but that they were ‘one’ in purpose and goal and mindset and character. When Christ spoke these words, He was clearly a separate person from God the Father. Christ said in John 17:11, that we all should be one, as the Father and Christ are one in spirit—not in the sense that we all would become one being, but rather, that we all be of the same spirit. God the Father and Christ are one in spirit, and so are we to become one in spirit.”

When the Bible speaks of “one” Spirit, it cannot and does not mean that the Holy Spirit is one God being. Rather, the Holy Spirit is “one” in that it is God’s power, emanating from both God the Father and Jesus Christ, and the Father and Christ are “one” — totally unified.

Another biblical proof that the Holy Spirit CANNOT be a person can be found in John 7:37-39. It reads, in the Authorized Version: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirsts, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive; for the Holy Ghost [better: Spirit] was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

Note that the word “given” is in italics—this means, it is not in the original Greek; it was added by the translator. Other translators recognize this fact and render the passage in quite a different way. The New Revised Standard Version states: “…for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” The New American Bible says: “There was, of course, no Spirit yet…” The New Jerusalem Bible reads: “…for there was no Spirit as yet…” The Moffat translation says: “…as yet there was no Spirit…”

When we check this in the Interlinear translation from the Greek, we find the following phrase, “…for not yet was Spirit Holy, because Jesus not yet was glorified.”

German translations are all fairly consistent in their renderings. The revised Luther Bible, the Elberfelder Bible and the Menge Bible all state, “The Spirit was not yet there…” The Zuercher Bible even states, “…the Holy Spirit did not exist yet…” They point out in the Appendix: “Some have translated, ‘the Holy Spirit was not yet given,’ because they were offended by the literal original text.”

But how could this be?

We explain this, as follows, in our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”:

“.. only a glorified God being can give His Holy Spirit to others. When Christ spoke those words, the Holy Spirit of the Father was clearly there and dwelling in Him — but Christ was referring here to Himself. He said, ‘Let him who thirsts come to ME.’ And Christ was a man when He said that, and as a man, having given up His glory, He could not give the Holy Spirit, emanating from Him as a glorified God being, to others. Remember, it was the Holy Spirit of the FATHER (as distinguished from the Holy Spirit of Christ) that dwelled in Christ, and through which Christ did the marvelous works (cp. Acts 10:38-39).

“For Christ to bestow His Holy Spirit on others, He needed to be glorified first… As long as Christ was not glorified, He had no Holy Spirit of His own to bestow on others. That’s why the Holy Spirit of the glorified Christ was not there yet — ONLY the Holy Spirit of the Father was there.

“But then, after Christ’s resurrection and glorification, both the Father and the Son dwell in us through their Spirit — the Holy Spirit — which emanates or proceeds from both the Father and the Son.”

In our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?,” we are also discussing several passages which are sometimes used to “prove” the Trinitarian concept. But aside from the fact that Catholic and Protestant theologians admit that the Bible nowhere teaches this concept, we show in our booklet why those passages do not support such a teaching.

For instance, we discuss a spurious uninspired text, to be found in the first letter of John in some older Bible renditions. That passage was added by deceived copyists to “prove” the concept of the Trinity. We also debunk the erroneous and quite silly argument that the Holy Spirit must be a person, since it is referred to as “He” in the New King James Bible. This rendering is just a matter of an arbitrary choice by some modern English translators (The Authorized Version does refer to the Holy Spirit as “it,” not “He.”).

It is important that we understand that God is NOT a Trinity. This false concept does not only convey a totally wrong picture of God — it also hides the purpose of man’s existence. Most don’t understand and believe that it is man’s destiny to become God.

God is a Family — presently consisting of the Father and the Son. Through the power of His Holy Spirit, we can become a part of God’s Family. Rather than being a closed Trinity since and for all eternity, God is enlarging His Family by reproducing Himself in man. The concept of the Trinity that teaches that God is — and that He has always been — Father, Son and Holy Spirit, hides and obscures the fact that God is a GROWING Family.

In the beginning, there were two God beings, God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. But Christ is also referred to as the FIRSTBORN among MANY brethren. It is the potential of man to become members of the God-Family — sons and daughters of God the Father, and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.

We will discuss this awesome truth in a subsequent Q&A.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

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