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R-4. WHICH CHURCH DENOMINATION Is TRUE?
So HOW did all the different church DENOMINATIONS get started. Was it men who decided to follow men? Or did God desire us to be divided? I think that it is pretty obvious that God does NOT want us to be divided. Please read 1 Corinthians 1:10.
1 Corinthians 1:10.
“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you ALL speak the SAME THING, and that there be NO DIVISIONS among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
The meaning of the word “beseech” means to ask with urgency. It means to ask fervently for someone to do something. It means to IMPLORE, beg, and even to ADJURE. I read where Satan said to Jesus, I ADJURE you by God to not torment us before the time. I did not know what adjure meant so I look up the Greek word and one of its meanings was to COMMAND. So Paul is not merely suggesting that it would be a good idea if we all taught the same gospel of Jesus Christ.
So why are we not taking heed to the teachings of Jesus that he taught to the Apostle Paul to teach to us to NOT be DIVIDED? We ALL use the SAME Bible. So WHY do we all believe DIFFERENTLY?
Well, it is partly because Satan is the DECEIVER and he has deceived Christians to believe and teach different things. So I believe that the CORE reason why there are so many Christian church denominations is due to HOW each church denomination INTERPRETS the Scriptures. For you see, each church denomination started with a LEADER who had a different OPINION or INTERPRETATION of what the Scriptures teach. And men began to follow MEN.
The divisions in the church actually began in the days of the first Apostles of Jesus. Let us continue to read 1 Corinthians but this time let us read 1 Corinthians 1:10-15 from the Bible in Basic English (BBE)
1 Corinthians 1:10-15 from the Bible in Basic English.
“Now I make a request to you, my brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you will ALL say the SAME THING, and that there may be NO DIVISIONS among you, so that you may be in COMPLETE AGREEMENT, in the same mind, and in the SAME OPINION.
11. Because it has come to my knowledge, through those of the house of Chloe, that there are DIVISIONS among you, my brothers.
12. That is, that some of you say, I am of Paul; some say, I am of Apollos; some say, I am of Cephas; and some say, I am Christ's.
13. Is there a DIVISION in Christ? (In other words, are we not all a part of the SAME body of Jesus Christ, his church?) was Paul nailed to the cross for you? or were you given baptism in the name of Paul?
14. I give praise to God that not one of you had baptism from me, but Crispus and Gaius;
15. So that no one may be able to say that you had a baptism in my name.”
Then the Apostle Paul goes on to teach us in Ephesians that Jesus gave gifts to his Church so that we would come into the UNITY of faith. And one of those gifts is TEACHERS.
Please read Ephesians 4:11-16.
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and TEACHERS;
12. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13. Till we ALL come in the UNITY of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14. That we henceforth are NO MORE children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; (Now, I fully realize that in most cases the leaders of the many different church denomination are NOT deliberately deceiving their followers. There may be some who are FLEECING the flock so to speak. But I believe that most false teaching is due to the leaders NOT truly seeking God to know the TRUTH, the WHOLE truth, and NOTHING but the TRUTH. What I mean by this is that they already sincerely believe that what their church denomination seminary school has taught them is the truth. So they have the attitude of why should I read and study God’s word for myself to SEE if what I learned in seminary school is the truth or not? Please understand that I am not laying all the blame on the pastors. I personally feel that the church denominational seminary SCHOOLS are to be blamed. But even more so, the blame should be placed upon the denominational MINDSET. And what I mean by this is that Satan has deceived Christians to ONLY believe what their particular church DENOMINATION teaches. We will talk about this some more, further on in the study. Right now, let us stay focus on God’s WILL to be UNITED in our faith in Jesus Christ to NOT be deceived by false teachings)
15. But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”
Verse 16 means that each and every true born-again Christians has a PART in the EDIFYING of the body of Jesus Christ, the church. But yet SOME pastors will throw you out of their church for even QUESTIONING what they teach when all you want is for them to EXPLAIN why they interpret the Scriptures DIFFERENTLY from what you understand certain verses of Scriptures to mean.
A sister in the Lord wrote to me yesterday morning and asked me to simplify how to study the Bible for herself. She said that she was searching for the truth and that she had visited several different websites of different church denominations and she did not know what to believe. She did not know what church denomination that she could trust. And then she came across my website and saw how I encouraged my readers to read and study the Bible for THEMSELVES to SEE IF what they are being taught is the truth of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. Now, I already have several studies on HOW to study the Bible under the heading >>> HOW TO PRAY AND STUDY THE BIBLE!<<<. And I also have many pointers on how to study the Bible throughout many of my other studies in God’s word. So I could have simply told her to read those studies. But instead, I took the time to write back to her and explain HOW to study the Bible in the simplest way that I know how to SIMPLIFY how to study the Bible. And here is what I wrote to her. I have added the Scriptures and some more comments to this study that the Holy Spirit brought to remembrance while writing this study.
I give EXAMPLES of how I study the Bible throughout many of the studies that I have written. So as you read each study you will find different pointers on how to study the Bible.
But here is the MAIN rule for correctly interpreting the Bible. And that first rule is to NEVER take verses OUT of the CONTEXT. That means you are to always read the verses before and after the verse that you want to understand.
Write down what you THINK that a verse of Scripture means to you or what you heard someone else say that a verse of Scripture means to them. Do NOT make your final decision just yet. Be OPEN just in case you are wrong or what you have heard others say a verse means in wrong.
The second rule is to COMPARE Scripture with other verses of Scripture.
For example, in John 8:24-27 when the Jews asked Jesus the question, WHO are you? Jesus said I am the SAME that I told or said unto you in the beginning.
Now, there are three DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS of what John 8:24 means. And this is a SERIOUS verse because Jesus said if we do not believe that he is who he says that he is then we will DIE in our sin. So we had better get the answer to this verse CORRECT or we will not be believing in the TRUE Jesus. That is to say, we will not be believing who Jesus is, according to Jesus himself saying that he is.
I will write or type the three interpretations down.
INTERPRETATION #1.
Trinitarian Christians INTERPRET verse 24 to mean that Jesus is saying that he is Yahweh Himself, as in, Jesus is saying that he is God the Son, the second person of a Trinity Godhead.
INTERPRETATION #2.
Oneness Christians INTERPRET verse 24 to mean that Jesus is saying that he is Yahweh Himself, in that, Jesus is saying that Almighty God the Father became the Son. And thus, according to the Oneness doctrine, Jesus IS the Father and the Father IS the son and there was NO God the Son in eternity past. And thus, according to the Oneness doctrine, the BODY of the Son was created and God the Father himself dwelt in Jesus, even in the fetus of Jesus in the womb of Mary.
INTERPRETATION #3.
Biblical Unitarians INTERPRET verse 24 to mean that Jesus is saying that he is the Son of MAN who will be lifted up on the cross to become the MESSIAH and the eternal Son of the living God AFTER the cross.
So which INTERPRETATION is the CORRECT interpretation?
We know that they all cannot be correct because they all say something different.
So either ONE or perhaps NONE is correct.
HOW can we know for SURE?
First, read the entire context of John 8:24. Read the whole chapter if necessary. Sometimes you may need to read the whole chapter plus the chapter before and after that chapter that has a verse that you want to understand.
So what I did when I was questioning what John 8:24 TRULY means in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God was after I read the CONTEXT, I saw that Jesus TOLD the Jews WHO he was in the BEGINNING. I thought for a moment. WHAT beginning? And then I remembered the beginning of the MINISTRY of Jesus. So I went to the Gospel of Luke where the gospel of Luke records the FIRST time that Jesus talked to the Jews after he began his MINISTRY. Now, as you read Luke 4:16-24, you will see that Jesus told those Jews WHO he was. Keep the QUESTION in your mind that you want to know and understand. What did Jesus TRULY mean when he said, If you do not believe I am HE you shall DIE in your sins. WHO is Jesus HIMSELF saying that he IS? What did Jesus TRULY mean when he said I am he?
Let us read Luke 4:16-24.
“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon ME, because he has ANOINTED ME to preach the gospel to the poor; he has SENT ME to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21. And he BEGAN (Or the BEGINNING of Jesus revealing WHO he is) to say unto them, This day is THIS Scripture FULFILLED in your ears. (In other words, Jesus TOLD the Jews WHO he is in John 8:24-27 when they asked him WHO ARE you? Jesus ANSWERED their question by saying that he was the SAME person that he told them in the BEGINNING. And here at the BEGINNING of the ministry of Jesus, he TOLD them that he is the ONE that the Scriptures have PROPHESIED to come. I am HE the one who is the FULFILLMENT of the Scriptures)
22. And all bare him witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? (Jesus evidently perceived that some of the Jews doubted that he is the Messiah that was prophesied to come)
23. And he said unto them, You will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal yourself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in your country.
24. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No PROPHET is accepted in his own country.”
In this very first teaching at the BEGINNING of his ministry, Jesus taught the Jews that he was the one PROPHESIED to come. Luke 4:16-24 is right after the baptism of Jesus and him being tempted by Satan. Jesus went into the synagogue and read from the book of Isaiah a prophecy speaking of the coming Messiah. And Jesus TOLD the Jews that this Scripture was FULFILLED in their ears. So Jesus said in the very BEGINNING of his MINISTRY that I am HE, the FULFILLMENT of the one prophesied in the Scripture that was to come.
Now go BACK to the CONTEXT of verse 24 and read it AGAIN to verify if you understand the Scripture correctly. Let us read the BRIEF context of verse 24 by reading John 8:24-27.
John 8:24-27.
“I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.
25. Then said they unto him, WHO ARE YOU? And Jesus said unto them, EVEN the SAME that I said unto you FROM the BEGINNING. (Or I am the SAME that I have been telling you who I am from the very BEGINNING)
26. I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that SENT me is true, and I speak to the world those things which I have heard OF HIM.
27. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.”
Verse 27 is where the Oneness Christians get their interpretation of Jesus being the Father. Oneness Christians INTERPRET verse 24 as Jesus saying that he IS the FATHER. And if you do not believe that Jesus IS the Father, then according to the Oneness Christians, you shall die in your sin.
Verse 58 is the broader context and it is this verse of Scripture as to where the Trinitarian Christians get their interpretation that Jesus is saying that he is God the Son, the second person of a Trinity Godhead. And, according to Trinitarian Christians, if you do not believe that Jesus is Almighty God himself as God the Son, the second person of a Godhead Trinity God, then you shall die in your sins.
But Biblical Unitarian Christians keep reading MORE CONTEXT and they say that Jesus is saying that he is the Son of MAN because of the very next verse, verse 28. Let us read the next three verses of the brief CONTEXT that we just read.
Please read John 8:28-30.
“Then said Jesus unto them, When you have lifted up the Son of MAN, then shall you know that I am he and that I do NOTHING OF MYSELF; but as my Father has TAUGHT me, I speak these things.
29. And he that sent me is WITH me: the Father has not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
30. As he spake these words, many believed on him.”
Now, right off the bat so to speak, you can see that Jesus is saying that he is the Son of MAN with absolutely NO INTERPRETATION needed.
You can also see that Jesus is NOT saying that he IS the Father because Jesus is talking about the Father as being a DIFFERENT person from himself.
Jesus said that he does NOTHING OF himself and that the Father is WITH him. And we know that Almighty God the Father can do ANYTHING and that the Father does NOT need to have anyone WITH him. So we know that Jesus is NOT saying that he is Almighty God the Father because the Father is WITH the Son of MAN, Jesus.
Then we see that MANY of the Jews BELIEVED in Jesus. They must have REMEMBERED Jesus telling them that Isaiah spoke of him as being the ANOINTED of God, to be God's Messiah.
Also, notice that they did NOT pick up stones to stone Jesus as they did in John 8:58,59.
So IF they truly BELIEVED on Jesus as being Almighty God HIMSELF in John 8:24 as Trinitarian Christians CLAIM, then WHY did they NOT pick up stones to stone Jesus for blaspheming right then and there? WHY did they WAIT until verses 58,59? PERHAPS it was because the Jews THOUGHT that Jesus was saying that he is GREATER than their father Abraham? For you see, The root of the Greek word that is TRANSLATED as BEFORE has the meaning of ABOVE as well. And just a few verses before verse 58 the Jews ask Jesus if he was GREATER than Abraham.
Please understand that the purpose of this study in God’s word is not to specifically teach you WHO Jesus TRULY is. But rather the main purpose is to teach my readers HOW to study the Bible for THEMSELVES so that THEY can decide what to believe for themselves by seeing what the Bible ITSELF teaches in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. So did you notice how I highlighted all the pronouns in different colors to match who the pronoun is referring back to? All the pronouns in orange refer to Almighty God the Father and all the pronouns in green refer to Jesus. That way you can easily see that Jesus is NOT the Father.
So even from this one passage of Scripture, almost all Christians can KNOW with absolute certainty that the doctrine of Oneness is FALSE teaching EXCEPT for the Oneness Christians who have the MINDSET that they alone already know the truth and every other Christian is wrong. And with that kind of a WRONG mindset, the Oneness Christians will ONLY listen to what their OWN church DENOMINATION teaches. And that is the way it is with ALL the different church DENOMINATIONS. They believe what their church denomination has taught them to believe and thus to them, every other church denomination is wrong.
Hopefully, you can see that the Oneness church denomination is WRONG when they dogmatically demand that Jesus is NOT a separate distinctly DIFFERENT person from the Father.
So then, IF you know and understand that Jesus IS a SEPARATE distinctly DIFFERENT person from the Father then you know that there only remain three possible groups of Christians who MAY be correct in their understanding as to WHO Jesus TRULY is according to what the Bible ITSELF teaches us in SIMPLICITY.
GROUP #1.
The Trinitarian Christians.
GROUP #2.
The Unitarian Christians believe that Jesus had his beginning in eternity past. Among this group of Christians are the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Christadelphians. There are more Unitarian church denominations that believe that Jesus did indeed have a BEGINNING but they believe that Jesus was brought forth into existence in eternity past.
GROUP #3.
The BIBLICAL Unitarian Christians believe that the beginning of Jesus was at his virgin birth to become the Son of MAN. Biblical Unitarians believe and teach that Jesus did not become God’s only begotten divine eternal Son until AFTER the cross.
Now the only way that I know of to find out WHICH church denomination is the TRUE church, in that, they teach the TRUE Jesus, is to read and study ALL the verses that are used by the Trinitarian Christians to support their doctrine of the Trinity. And at the same time, you must read and study all the verses used by Unitarian Christians to support why they believe that Jesus did indeed have a BEGINNING. AND you must also read all the verses that support the Biblical Unitarian belief that the beginning of Jesus was AT his virgin birth.
And when you closely examine all the verses that are used to teach the doctrine of the Trinity you will find many Trinitarian INTERPRETATIONS of what those verses mean to THEM that CONTRADICT what the Bible ITSELF actually teaches.
And when you closely examine all the verses that seem to teach that Jesus literally pre-existed you will find that they have been INCORRECTLY INTERPRETED and that they ALSO have OTHER meanings that have NO CONTRADICTIONS with any other verses of Scripture in the Bible.
So then, the GOAL of interpreting the Scripture is to find an interpretation that does NOT CONTRADICT any other verse of Scripture in the entire Bible. So if what you THINK is the correct interpretation and that INTERPRETATION contradicts any other verse of Scripture then you KNOW that it is NOT the CORRECT interpretation.
You ALSO need to use your common sense when interpreting the Scriptures. For example, we already saw that it makes NO SENSE to say that Jesus IS the Father when there are so many verses that CLEARLY teach us in SIMPLICITY that Jesus is NOT the Father.
Now, I personally believe that Jesus CAME OUT from Almighty God the Father just like Jesus himself said that he did in John 16:27,28.
John 16:27-29.
“For the Father HIMSELF loves you, because you have loved ME, and have believed that I CAME OUT FROM God.
28. I CAME FORTH FROM the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world and go to the Father.
29. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speak you PLAINLY, and speak no proverb.”
To ME, it is evident that Jesus told his disciples of his Virgin birth and how he was CONCEIVED in the womb of his earthly mother, Mary, by the word of God. And now they understood that the word of PROPHECY CAME OUT FROM God and that word of PROPHECY became FLESH. And his disciples said to Jesus, NOW you are speaking PLAINLY that you came FORTH into existence by the spoken word of PROPHECY that CAME OUT of the mouth of God. For you see, IF the disciples of Jesus understood the words of Jesus to mean that Jesus was the second person of a Godhead Trinity God who came out from God the Father then they would have taught us PLAINLY. But that is NOT what the disciples teach us in the account of the virgin birth of Jesus.
Now whether or not the disciples knew of the Virgin birth of Jesus at this point in time, they most certainly knew of the Virgin birth of Jesus BEFORE they WROTE the New Testament. And some parts of the Gospel of John are more like John’s COMMENTARY as opposed to the exact chronological order of events.
For example, when I read John 1:14, I INTERPRET the disciples seeing the GLORY of the ONLY begotten Son AFTER the cross and NOT at his Virgin Birth. For one thing, we are never told that ANY of the Apostles even KNEW Jesus BEFORE he CALLED them on the shores of the Sea of Galilee to FOLLOW him.
Let us read John 1:14.
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
First notice that the King James Version places this phrase (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) in parenthesis. Now that tells us that this is a commentary speaking of the glory that they beheld AFTER the cross and NOT at the Virgin birth of Jesus when the word was made FLESH and dwelt among them. For you see, Jesus did not actually dwell among THEM until Jesus was about to turn age 30.
Also, we can CLEARLY see that the Son of MAN, Jesus was GLORIFIED by the Father AFTER the cross. Please read John 17:5 which is right before Jesus was about to be CRUCIFIED on the cross.
John 17:5.
“And now, O Father, glorify you me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world was.”
Now, IF SO BE, that Jesus was glorified AT his Virgin birth, then WHY was Jesus asking the Father to GLORIFY him right before his crucifixion? So to ME, it is NOT LOGICAL to INTERPRET John 1:18 to mean that the disciples of Jesus beheld the GLORY of Jesus AT his Virgin birth because Jesus was not yet glorified by God until AFTER the cross.
While we are on John 17:5 which Trinitarian Christians use as one of their main proof text to dogmatically demand that this verse proves that Jesus LITERALLY pre-existed in eternity past as God the Son, the second person of the Godhead Trinity, let us closely examine this verse.
First of all, according to the Trinitarian INTERPRETATION of John 17:5, this verse would PROVE that the Oneness doctrine is again FALSE teaching. For you see, according to the Trinitarian interpretation, this verse says that Jesus was WITH the Father. And according to the Biblical Unitarian INTERPRETATION of John 17:5, this verse again PROVES that the Oneness Doctrine is in error. For you see, God did indeed SHARE his GLORY with ANOTHER, the Son of MAN Jesus. Almighty God GLORIFIED a HUMAN BEING with his OWN glory. In other words, the TRUE meaning of Isaiah 42:9 is that God will not share his glory with anyone ELSE BUT his chosen servant. Read the whole CONTEXT and then COMPARE Scripture with Scripture to see if God did indeed share His glory with anyone else. We KNOW that God gave his glory to the Son of MAN, Jesus. And if we read the CONTEXT of John 17:5, we will see that Jesus prayed to the Father to give us the SAME glory that God gave to him.
Please read John 17:5, 20-22.
“And now, O Father, glorify you me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world was...
...20. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they ALSO may be ONE in us: that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22 And the glory which you gave me I have given them; that they may be ONE, EVEN AS WE are ONE:”
Now Trinitarian Christians INTERPRET John 17:5 saying that Jesus HAD glory in eternity past and then he surrendered that glory to take on human flesh to become a human being. BUT Trinitarians add that when God the Son incarnated himself to become a man he REMAINED the fully Almighty God at the SAME time having TWO natures, one divine nature, and one human nature.
And Biblical Unitarians INTERPRET this verse in John 17:5 to mean that Almighty God PROMISED the Son of MAN, Jesus, that if he endured the cross, that God would highly exalt him and give him ETERNAL LIFE to be having in himself even as the Father has always had immortality in himself. So to ME, the GLORY being spoken of here in these verses is the DIVINE NATURE of IMMORTALITY.
Biblical Unitarians use the other MEANINGS of the Greek words in John 17:5 that are translated as HAD and WAS in the King James Version of the Bible. Here is what E-Sword says that these two Greek words mean and then we will read this verse in John 17:5 again using those different meanings of these Greek words.
G1511
εἶναι
einai
i'-nahee
Present infinitive from G1510; to exist: - am, are, come, is, X lust after, X please well, there is, to be, was.
So instead of the before the world WAS, I myself believe that Jesus INTENDED his words to mean before the world TO BE speaking of the world yet to come.
G2192
ἔχω
echō
ekh'-o
A primary verb (including an alternate form σχέω scheō skheh'-o used in certain tenses only); to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remote; such as possession, ability, contiguity, relation or condition): - be (able, X hold, possessed with), accompany, + begin to amend, can (+ -not), X conceive, count, diseased, do, + eat, + enjoy, + fear, following, have, hold, keep, + lack, + go to law, lie, + must needs, + of necessity, + need, next, + recover, + reign, + rest, return, X sick, take for, + tremble, + uncircumcised, use
And instead of using the meaning HAD with you, I believe that Jesus INTENDED his words to mean the glory you HOLD with you.
Now let us read this verse with these other meanings of these two Greek words.
John 17:5 in my own paraphrased version using the different meanings of the Greek words translated in the King James Version as HAD and WAS which I believe should have been, HOLD and TO BE.
“And now, O Father, glorify you me with your own self with the glory which you HOLD with you before (Or in front of) the world TO BE.”
In other words, to ME, Jesus is saying to his God and Father that before the world that is yet come for God glorify him with the glory that God PROMISED His Messiah in the Scriptures that God promised His Messiah. In other words, God promised His Messiah in His word of PROPHECY that He would satisfy Jesus with long-life that God was holding in reserve for him, according to Psalm 91:16, Psalm 21:4, Psalm 89:29, and many other prophecies. For you see, God has also PROMISED to give us ETERNAL LIFE as well right BEFORE the world TO BE at the COMING of Jesus. God is HOLDING in reserve our eternal life in heaven.
Please read 1 Peter 1:3,4.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, RESERVED in heaven FOR YOU,”
God set a JOY before Jesus to ENDURE the cross.
Please read Hebrews 12:2,3.
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who FOR the JOY that was SET before (Or placed in front of) him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Jesus sweat drops of BLOOD while he was RESISTING the temptation to obey his OWN WILL over his God and Father’s WILL. But Jesus eventually said after sweating drops of blood, NOT MY will but YOUR WILL be done. And to ME, Jesus remembered the JOY that God set before him to ENDURE the cross. We are not specifically told WHAT the JOY was but the JOYS set before us is the PROMISE of inheriting ETERNAL LIFE at the coming of Jesus to rule and reign WITH Jesus during the world to come for 1000 years.
Jesus KNEW that the Scriptures spoke of HIM as being the Christ, the SON OF the living God. There is not one single PROPHECY of God sending down a literal pre-existing God the Son from heaven. But there ARE prophecies of God sending down His spoken word that CAME OUT FROM His own MOUTH, and I believe that Jesus KNEW about Isaiah 55:11 when he spoke to his disciples in John 17:27,28 that he CAME OUT FROM God.
Please read Isaiah 55:8-12.
“For my THOUGHTS are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. (God’s THOUGHTS were to provide his OWN LAMB. And that Lamb was SLAIN in the MIND and PLAN of God before the foundation of the world. God IMAGINED every detail of his yet future Son in his MIND and PLAN of salvation before God ever SPOKE a single word of PROPHECY OUT FROM his MOUTH)
9. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10. For AS the rain COMES DOWN, and the snow (COMES DOWN) from heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11. SO SHALL MY WORD BE that goes FORTH OUT FROM my MOUTH: it (God's spoken word of PROPHECY that CAME OUT FROM God’s MOUTH) shall not return unto me void, but it (God's spoken word of PROPHECY that CAME OUT FROM God’s MOUTH) shall accomplish that which I please, and it (God's spoken word of PROPHECY that CAME OUT FROM God’s MOUTH) shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (God's spoken word of PROPHECY that CAME OUT FROM God’s MOUTH)
12. For YOU (Speaking of the FULFILLED word of PROPHECY of God’s LAMB) shall go out with JOY, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth BEFORE YOU into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
But before that JOY and SINGING of praises and thanksgiving the Son of MAN, Jesus, ALSO knew that the Scriptures spoke of his SUFFERING and being lifted up on the cross to die for the sins of the world. Jesus KNEW that the Scriptures SPOKE of HIM and that is why Jesus said that he CAME OUT FROM God in John 16:27. Jesus knew that Isaiah 55: 8-12 spoke of HIM. And then Jesus knew that he must be about his Father's business even at the age of twelve years old. Jesus knew that the Father was sending him out into the world but he got a little ahead of God. But after Jesus was baptized he knew that God's Holy Spirit was LEADING him to now go out into the world to preach the coming of God's kingdom. And that is why Jesus said he came FORTH FROM the Father in John 16:29. Jesus knew and understood that the PROPHECY said that a CHILD would be born of a woman. And THEN a Son would be given BEFORE the JOY actual GIVING of his NAME to be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Now, again, this study is to show my readers that there are indeed OTHER INTERPRETATIONS of the Scriptures than how the Oneness Christians and the Triniatian Christians INTERPRET the Scriptures.
I myself am closer to being a Biblical Unitarian Christian than any other group of Christians out there. But I do not like to take any church denominational name upon myself even though I know that Biblical Unitarians do NOT consider themselves to be a church DENOMINATION.
And UNLIKE Trinitarian Christians, Oneness Christians, and even some Unitarian Christians like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Biblical Unitarian Christians, as far as I am aware, do NOT dogmatically demand that they ALONE have the truth. And thus all other Christians are DEAD in the sins because they do not believe the same things as Biblical Unitarians believe and teach. NO! That is NOT the attitude of Biblical Unitarian Christians.
Biblical Unitarians desire that we ALL speak the same things BUT they do not DOGMATICALLY DEMAND that if you do NOT agree with them then you are not a true Christian like other church denominations do.
The sad thing is that some Trinitarian Christians, Oneness Christians, and Unitarian Christians, like the Jehovah’s Witness, have never even HEARD what Biblical Unitarian Christians believe and teach. And that is because of the DENOMINATIONAL MINDSET of living in FEAR of even HEARING what other Christians believe with an OPEN mind. A DENOMINATIONAL mind is a CLOSED mind that believes ONLY what their OWN church denomination teaches.
So please PRAY that God will bring down the WALLS of denominationalism so that the FEAR of TRULY listening to the OTHER side of any controversial subject will be removed and Christians will come together to find COMMON ground. And then OPENLY discuss WHY each denomination believes what they believe and ALSO LISTEN to the OTHER side so that ALL the errors of INTERPRETATION can clearly be seen. I know that I myself have made some ERRORS of interpretation in the past that I had to change to be in AGREEMENT with the WHOLE word of Almighty God. There is no shame in ADMITTING that we have made errors of INTERPRETATION. The SHAME comes when we are filled with PRIDE and we refuse to admit when we are in error.
Always remember that the GOAL of CORRECT interpretation of the Scriptures is to find the interpretation that does NOT CONTRADICT any other verse in the Bible. And on some subjects, it may APPEAR to others that you are CHANGING God’s word to FIT your own private interpretation. But YOU will know that is NOT what you are doing because you have so many CLEAR, PLAIN and SIMPLE verses that do not need ANY interpretation to KNOW what they mean in SIMPLICITY.
For example, we do NOT need to interpret verses that state as a fact the Jesus is the SON OF God. So WHY would any Christian even try to INTERPRET those verses to CLAIM that being the SON OF God means that Jesus IS ALMIGHTY God HIMSELF? Particularly when the Bible ITSELF teaches us that we MUST believe that Jesus is the SON OF God in order to receive eternal life in the world to come. And NOWHERE in the Bible does it specifically state that we MUST believe that Jesus IS ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF in order to receive eternal life in the world to come.
Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you read and STUDY the Bible for YOURSELF. If you desire to know more of WHY I no longer can believe in the doctrine of the Trinity then please read the studies under the heading >>>A LIST OF STUDIES ON THE TRINITY<<<. And if you desire to know more of WHY I can NEVER believe in the Oneness doctrine then please read the studies under the heading >>>IS THE DOCTRINE OF ONENESS BIBLICAL?<<<. And if you desire to know more of WHY the Bible ITSELF does NOT teach that Jesus LITERALLY pre-existed in eternity past then please read the studies under the heading >>>IS JESUS THE CREATOR?<<<.
Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
Once Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even atheists understand the REASON that Yahweh CREATED the Son of MAN, Jesus, was to have DOMINION over the work of Yahweh’s hands.
And after you understand that the REASON that Yahweh did that is to STILL His ENEMIES, Satan and the fallen angels.
Then you can understand that God made His human Son to become “a” Lord, “a” King, and “a” God, under and subject to his God and Father in order to JUDGE Satan and the fallen angels.
For a deeper understanding of this WAR that Lucifer and one third of the angels waged against the throne of Almighty God, please read the studies under the subject category called ** Q-0 Why Are We Here? Is God at WAR? **.
More studies are coming in this SHORTER Biblical Unitarian view of who Jesus is according to the WHOLE word of God.
If you have a PARTICULAR verse of Scripture that you would like to know the sound Biblical Unitarian meaning, then please email me at MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail.com and let me know.
For further and more in-depth studies on this subject of Jesus being created to STILL the enemies of Yahweh, please read the studies called D-25. A NEW LOOK at JOHN 1:1, In the BEGINNING!
And also read the study called D-28. The PRE-ADAMIC LUCIFERIAN FLOOD!
At the top of my homepage, there are subjects or categories which contain compiled lists of ** ALL Studies! ** I have written on that particular subject. So, if a link within a study is broken, then click on ** ALL Studies! ** to find the suggested study.
Or you can scroll down to the MORE dropdown menu list to find those studies as well.
Thanks again for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
And again, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading ** D-0 The BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of Jesus! **
And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading ** C-0 The TRUE FOUNDATION of the Church! **
This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century.
So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.
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Always be faithful to share, to preach, and to teach the whole gospel of Jesus Christ!
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