This discussion explores the Hebrew principle of agency, especially in relation to Jesus. It also examines the singular and plural uses of the Hebrew word "Elohim," clarifying that Elohim does not imply a Trinity when referring to God. Scriptures include, Genesis 1.26, John 10.30, Matthew 9.6, Mark 2.10, Exodus 23.20-21, Exodus 7.1, John 10.30-33, Psalm 82.6, Luke 2.52, 1 Timothy 2.5, Acts 17.31, John 17.3.
J. Dan Gill and Anthony Buzzard consider 10 more scriptures which are often pointed to by Trinitarians in an effort to "prove" the Doctrine of the Trinity.
Scriptures considered are, Titus 2.13, 2 Peter 1.1, Hebrews 1.8, John 20.28, John 1.18,
1 Timothy 3.16, 1 John 5.7, John 1.1, John 3.13, 1 John 5.20.
2) 2 Peter 1.1
In the very next verse Peter clearly shows that Jesus is distinct from the ONE GOD, the Father
2 Peter 1.2:
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord
As pointed out by Anthony Buzzard, 2 Thessalonians 1:12 has the very same sentence structure as 2 Peter 1:1; yet it is abundantly clear that most Trinitarian translation scholars simply do not believe Jesus is here being identified as "God."
3) Hebrews 1.8
Hebrews 1.8-9 is a quotation of Psalm 45.6-7. Psalm 45 is addressed to an Israelite king (most probably Solomon) at the king's marriage ceremony.
Just in case anyone would think that the usage of elohim in Psalm 45.6 means that this king is deity, the very next verse, verse 7, reads
You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
With the oil of gladness more than your companions.
This king has a God! Therefore, this king is not God Almighty! Similarly, although Moses is called elohim in Exodus 7.1 (compare 4.16), this does not make Moses, God Almighty, either!
This same principle applies to the judges in Psalm 82 (see verse 6). Jesus used this fact in John 10:34-36 to show that although to those to whom the word of God came could scripturally be called gods/elohim; Jesus however, was making the claim to be 'the Son of God'!
Therefore, if indeed Jesus is being referred to as elohim in Hebrews 1:8 just as the king is in Psalm 45:6; then in like manner, the very next verse, Hebrews 1:9, is identical to Psalm 45:7, therefore,
Jesus has a God!
Therefore, like the Israelite king, like Moses, Jesus is not God Almighty!
(I state if indeed Jesus is being referred to as elohim ...
because if the Hebrew/Greek of these verses are translated as a nominative, which is a legitimate and alternative way of translating these verses, then neither the Israelite king nor Jesus are called elohim.
For example, the NRSV footnote for Psalm 45:6 reads,
"Your throne is a throne of God" and the Hebrews 1:8 footnote reads, "God is your throne.")
4) John 20.28
Since there is solely one God, Thomas was referring to Jesus Christ's God when he said,
"my God."
In light of John 14:7-11, Thomas finally sees and recognises the One God, the Father, in Jesus.
So, Thomas acknowledges Jesus, when he said, "my Lord" and he acknowledges the God who resurrected Jesus, when he said, "my God".
What was it that Thomas finally believed in John 20:24-27? Answer: that God had raised Jesus from the dead! Hence, more blessed are believers who have not seen the resurrected Jesus however yet believe Jesus was indeed raised from the dead!
If we needed any further proof that Thomas was not calling Jesus, Almighty God, where is verse 28 located? Answer: In between verses 17 and 31. Which read:
John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “ Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.’ ”
Jesus has a God! Who is the God of his brethren!
The One God is the Father!
John 20:30-31 - John's Mission Statement:
And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
John recorded his gospel so that readers would believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God!
5) John 1.18
KJV
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
ASV
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
RSV
No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
6) 1 Timothy 3.16
RSV, ESV, CSB
He was manifested in the flesh, ...
NASB
He who was revealed in the flesh, ...
ASV
He who was manifested in the flesh, ...
NET
He was revealed in the flesh ...
7) 1 John 5.7
Now our bibles read for example:
ESV
7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.
NASB
7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
NET
7 For there are three that testify,the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are in agreement.
RSV
7 And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth. 8 There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.
8) John 1.1
Two Amazing Facts:
These two facts made the English text align with John's intent that all things came into being by God's word. He spoke the word and it was done!"
Compare Psalm 3.6,9
6: By the word of YAHWEH the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
9: For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
Obviously, throughout scripture, especially, the Hebrew Bible, God's word is an it not a him!
The apostle John, therefore, did not differ. The context of the prologue of the gospel of John is about God's word, which in the fullness of time, expressed itself bodily in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God.
Here are some examples of the above Two Amazing Facts:
WILLIAM TYNDALE - 1526
WILLIAM TYNDALE BIBLE, 1534
1:1 In the beginnynge was the worde and the worde was with God: and the worde was God.
1:2 The same was in the beginnynge with God.
1:3 All thinges were made by it and with out it was made nothinge that was made.
1:4 In it was lyfe and the lyfe was ye lyght of men
MATTHEW'S BIBLE, 1537
1:1 In the begynnynge was the worde, and the word was with God, & the worde was God.
1:2 The same was in the begynnynge wyth God.
1:3 All thynges were made by it and without it was made nothynge that was made.
1:4 In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men,
THE GREAT BIBLE, 1539
1:1 In the begynnynge was the worde, and the worde was wyth God: and God was the worde.
1:2 The same was in the begynnyng wyth God.
1:3 All thinges were made by it, & wythout it, was made nothynge that was made.
1:4 In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men,
Then capitalizing of ‘word’ began with the Geneva Bible yet the correct pronoun it remained!
GENEVA BIBLE, 1560/1599
1:1 In the beginning was that Word, and that Word was with God, and that Word was God.
1:2 This same was in the beginning with God.
1:3 All things were made by it, and without it was made nothing that was made.
1:4 In it was life, and that life was the light of men.
BISHOPS' BIBLE, 1568
1:1 In the begynnyng was the worde, & the worde was with God: and that worde was God.
1:2 The same was in the begynnyng with God.
1:3 All thynges were made by it: and without it, was made nothyng that was made.
1:4 In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men,
"In the begynnynge was the worde, and the word was with God, and the worde was God. The same was in the begynnynge wyth God. All thynges were made by it and without it was made nothynge that was made. In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men, and the lyght shyneth in the darknes, but the darknes comprehended it not" (Matthews’ Bible, The Byble, that is to saye, all the holy Scripture: in whych are contayned the olde and new Testamente, truly and purely translated into English, and nowe lately with greate industry and diligence recognised. London: John Daye and William Seres, 1537).
"In the begynnyng was the worde, and the word was with God, and God was the worde. The same was in the begynnyng with God. All thynges were made by it, and wythoute it was made nothynge that was made. In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men, and the lyght shyneth in darkenes, and the darkenes comprehended it not" (Richard Taverner, The Epistles and Gospelles with a brief Postyl upon the same. London: Richard Bankes, 1540).
"In the beginning was the word, and the worde was with God, and that worde was God. The same was in the begynnyng with God. Althinges were made by it, and without it was made nothing that was made. In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkeness, and the darknes comprehended it not" (William Whittingham, The Newe Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Conferred Diligently with the Greke, and Best Approved Translation, Geneva: Conrad Badius, 1557).
“In the beginning was that Word, and that Word was with God, and that Word was God. This same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by it, and without it was made nothing that was made. In it was life, and that life was the light of men. And that light shineth in the darknes, and the darknesse comprehended it not” (Lawrence Tomson, The New Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Translated out of Greeke by Theod. Beza, London: Robert Barker, 1607).
SOURCE where further examples can be viewed.
9) John 3.13
The context is Deuteronomy 30:11-14,
11 For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
Please read the following article, John 3:13 and 6:62
10) 1 John 5.20
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Using blue for the only true God, the Father (John 17.3) and red for Jesus His Son (10.36):
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
In John 17.3, Jesus the Christ tells us that eternal life is to know God the Father, the only True God (see also 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).
At 1 John 5:20, John is telling us the same thing - that the Son has come so that we might know the True God.
When John uses the word "This" he is referring to the True God and Eternal Life that Jesus makes known to us. The only True God is the Father as Jesus declared at John 17:3 and Eternal Life is to know the Father.
The "This" refers back to what Jesus has given us understanding and knowledge of:
That the Father, the only True God.
Unfortunately, Trinitarians twist this point and state that the nearest aforementioned person is always the most likely antecedent to the word "This". (An antecedent is a noun or noun phrase to which the word "this" is referring to.)
However, in the case of the epistles of John, this cannot necessarily be the case. The following two examples demonstrate this:
A)
1 John 2:22:
Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
2 John 1:7
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
Is anyone going to suggest that since Jesus is the nearest aforementioned person in these verses, therefore he is the antecedent to the word "This" in these two verses?
I think not! Context is king. Obviously, in both examples, the antecedent is the denier who denies either that Jesus is the Christ or that Jesus came in the flesh i.e. that Jesus was a bonafide, genuine human being.
In like manner, the "This" in 1 John 5:20 is not referring to Jesus Christ. It is rather referring to the only true God, the Father.
Scriptures considered include, Mark 12.29, John 17.3, 1 Timothy 2.5, Matthew 17.5, Romans 5.17-19, Romans 8.17, Luke 1.35, Luke 2.11 & 26, Psalm 110.1.
Salvation
... I begin by discussing “Salvation” (= How to live
forever and never die!).
There is no subject which comes near to matching that topic
in importance. How do we ensure that all of us are contributing to blessing ourselves
and the public with that supremely important information? First, by being certain
that we ourselves have the right foundation in truth, and secondly by enduring in the
face of all opposition, to the end. Not that Christianity is easy! “You will be hated
by all people,” Jesus said, “but the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22).
Often in theology and Bible it is what people don’t say, which proves to be
dangerous and misleading! The following verses are shockingly absent from the
mass of preaching and so-called Bible teaching currently being offered to the public:
... You must insist on hearing the very words and teachings of the Bible. Only when you hear the precise words or teachings of Jesus can you be sure you are hearing the real, authentic Jesus, and not a counterfeit version of him!
Of course it is essential always to understand first that the Bible is a Jewish book and that as Jesus said “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22).
Satan is a master counterfeiter, and he is determined to lie to you, and he labors at it! He is the great false teacher, and his methods are subtle. Satan works hard at getting you fooled. Satan according to Luke 8:12 is fully aware of the supreme importance of believing the Gospel about the Kingdom, and so Satan does his utmost to keep people away from that Gospel of the Kingdom!
The Bible often makes this point about not being taken in by counterfeit words. Listen to what Jesus said in Mark 8:38: “For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation [society], the Son of man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Notice the “me and my words,” not just “me.” Jesus, that is to say, the only real Jesus, and not a fake, counterfeit Jesus, is identifiable by his words, not just the name “Jesus.” No wonder then that Paul in 1 Timothy 6:3 and John in 2 John 7-9 said this: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring the teaching of Jesus,” watch out! The warning should be heeded by us all.
The key to good understanding is the fact that the one true Bible Gospel is called “this Gospel of the Kingdom” (Matthew 24:14) — the one we should all know about! But do we?
In our time you very frequently hear it said, massively online: “Won’t you accept Jesus?” or “Receive Jesus, and be forgiven.” “Won’t you come to him?” “Won’t you ask him into your heart?” It sounds impressive! But you are not hearing the actual words of Jesus!
So, then, how did the only real, genuine Jesus offer salvation? Go to Mark 1:1,
14, 15: It reads, “The beginning [a very good place to start!] of the Gospel”...
Jesus
then said, “Repent and believe the Gospel about the Kingdom.”
These are Jesus’
commands! Two commands: repent and believe. They must be obeyed for salvation
(Hebrews 5:9).
But are these the words you hear offered by many preachers of so-called “salvation”? If not, be warned and be alarmed. The chances of your being deceived and ultimately disappointed are huge! Jesus warned: “Many will come in my name, saying ‘I am the Messiah’ and deceive many.” This was the first thing Jesus said in the famous Olivet Discourse about end-time events (Matthew 24:4; Mark 13:5; Luke 21:8).
How can that be? The trick is played when you are not offered the actual words of Jesus or of Scripture! The name “Jesus” sounds fine, but without his words the way is wide open for you to be taken in or tricked and deceived. You could be being taken in by a partial, washed out Gospel.
Popular religion, often even backed by famous names (for example, C S Lewis who astonishingly said “the Gospel is not in the Gospels”) invites you to “give your heart to Jesus” and thus “go to heaven when you die,” but the words of the Bible offer no such thing.
In Luke 8 Jesus deals decisively with the “once saved, always saved” issue. In Luke 8:13, Jesus says: “Some people believe for a while, and then fall away.” The popular offer of “get saved now” says nothing about the need to endure to the end in order to be saved. No wonder that in Luke 8:8 Jesus customarily and regularly, habitually raised his voice to give maximum emphasis to the parable of the sower. But are you being told that “salvation is now closer to us than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11)? You also do not often hear what Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2:10: “Only those who have a passion for truth will be saved.”
Popular counterfeit Christianities also say nothing biblical about the ultimate destiny and purpose of being saved, which is to rule the whole world with Jesus when he comes back to the earth (1 Cor. 6:2). The idea stems from Jeremiah 27:5. “God made the whole world and wants to give you the world!” Jesus echoed that stupendous truth when he said, comfortingly, “Don’t be afraid, little flock: the Father is delighted to give you the Kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
Jesus’ Words
Only the precise words of Jesus and the prophets will guarantee against being deceived. I want to make sure that this point is clear to you all. Salvation is a question of what you are being saved for, not just what you are saved from. We know that we need to be saved from our sins, but saved for what? We know that Jesus died in our place, but what is the ultimate point of all this? Does “going shopping” mean that you just go and stand outside the shops? Does “going to college” mean that you just sign up, but never graduate?
What if ... you are rightly being told that God is one Person, not three. But then, what if you are being told that it does not matter if you believe in a so-called preexisting Jesus? (i.e. not a genuinely human Jesus). The Bible says that a non-fully human Jesus is a false Jesus! Actually antichrist (2 John 7-9).
So also in Nehemiah 8:12 where it is the words which are the decisive element in salvation. We read there: “They understood the words which had been made known to them.”
Compare Acts 8:12, the key, foundation text of the Abrahamic Faith. It was only when the audience “believed Philip as he preached the Gospel about the Kingdom of God and the things concerning Jesus the Messiah,” that they were ready to be baptized. ... Of course, water baptism is an indispensable requirement for all would-be believers. ...
Then also see Luke 8:12, which tells us that the crucial basis of the Gospel of salvation is the Gospel of the Kingdom. Satan knows how dangerous and threatening that Gospel of the coming Kingdom is, to Satan’s whole fake counter campaign. We must therefore work within that Gospel-Kingdom plan and oppose the devil at every point — exposing the dangerous falsity of amillennialism and also other false versions of the Great Commission (Matthew 28).
Kingdom and Millennium
The millennium of the Bible is not remotely to do with individual salvation now. It is all about “those who had been beheaded” and thus being literally resurrected in the future, and ruling the world with Jesus in the future Kingdom on earth for a thousand years. Amillennialism (the idea that the millennium is on now!) is a threat to the glorious future Kingdom of God to arrive when Jesus returns! Yes, Amillennialism is a threat to the Gospel of the Kingdom. Amillennialism is a threat to the future literal resurrection of the dead to immortality. Amillennialism implies that the devil has already been bound! The Bible says in fact that the devil is currently the god of this present evil age [2 Cor. 4:4], and that the devil is currently deceiving the whole world (1 John 5:19, Rev 12:9, 1 Pet .5:8). Amillennialism is theological fake news. (Tell your Christadelphian friends that “Devil” here in (Rev. 12:9), and in Rev. 20:2, without the definite article, is a proper name for a person, certainly not human nature!)
The Great Commission in Matthew 28 says that we, as followers of Jesus, must preach and proclaim everything that Jesus taught, the whole Gospel, and not just part of it. Jesus is not the true Jesus, unless we reattach Jesus to all his words! “Teach them everything I taught you,” Jesus said. (Matthew 28.20) “He who is ashamed of me and my words, I will be ashamed of him when I come back.” (Mark 8:38) This is fair warning because Jesus evidently thought that his version of the one true faith, his offer of salvation, would be refused, and in fact rejected by scores of unsuspecting people, and those people Jesus said would be the majority, who sincerely thought they were saved when they were not. Jesus offered this amazing warning: “When the Son of man comes back, will he even find the faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Jesus was above all a realist and a speaker of truth!
Luke 1:32 announces that the “Lord God [YAHWEH God] will give Jesus the throne and Kingdom of his [ancestor] David,” “the coming Kingdom of God” of Mark 11:10! The Kingdom is the heart of the New Covenant. Jesus “covenanted” (as the Greek says in Luke 22:28) the Kingdom to us, so that we should sit on thrones governing the restored tribes in the land (Matt. 19:28). The Kingdom of God is thus all about the New Covenant.
The Kingdom is a word which must be defined from Daniel (especially 2:44 and 7:18, 22, 27). The Old Testament Scripture defines the Kingdom as a real empire which will replace the present kingdoms and empires of the present evil government system ... If the Kingdom is not defined accurately no one can “repent and believe the Gospel of the Kingdom,” and they are left disobeying Jesus in Mark 1:14-15.
Jesus invited all to train now for rulership positions in that future Kingdom (“Training for reigning and schooling for ruling”). “Don’t you know,” said Paul, 6 “that the saints are going to manage the world? And if the world is going to be under your jurisdiction...” (1 Cor. 6:2, Moffatt). All of this is found in Daniel 7, illustrating the great Truth that the New Covenant Scriptures are commentary on the Old Covenant Scriptures.
In churches today the audience is given a later, misleading, Greek
philosophically colored commentary on the Bible. ... “Dualism”, the idea that part of you goes on
living after death, is linked to the first fake news of the devil in Genesis. Believing the Gospel about the Kingdom is not remotely connected with going
to heaven when you die. And no one in the Bible “passes away at death.”
[Rather, in the Bible, people sleep the sleep of death i.e. the dead are asleep in death/gravedom awaiting resurrection.
Psalm 13:3; Ecclesiastes 9:5,10; Daniel 12:2]
I hope you will be telling everyone that “salvation” is in three tenses of the verb: We were saved when we first believed the Gospel of the Kingdom, obeying Jesus in Mark 1:15. We are currently being saved, and most importantly we will be saved when Jesus comes back.
Jesus’ Definition of God
The public in general does not hear these great Kingdom truths, and certainly the public is not hearing that God is “one single Lord God” (Mark 12:29) and not a Trinity. Jesus called the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4 the most important command of all. Nor is the Trinity as a definition of God ever mentioned in Scripture! ...
[Why are churches not telling the public] a word about what Jesus called “the greatest of all
the commandments”? The Shema. That is the place to start in any and all discussions
of who the one true God is! And who Jesus is. Mark 12:29 defines the only true God
as one single divine Person. The Greek reads, “the Lord our God is one Lord.”
(Ask any child of 2, how many lords is “one lord.”)
Mark brilliantly presents Jesus
as entirely orthodox and Jewish in his unitarian definition of God. Jesus agrees
entirely with a Jewish scribe, about who God is.
Then of course Mark goes on immediately to present Jesus as a highly skilled
teacher (Mark 12:35-37). To clarify what is meant by Jesus being lord, Jesus asks
his own question about Psalm 110:1: “The LORD said to my lord…[YAHWEH said to my lord]”
How can David
designate the Messiah as “lord,” Jesus asked. It is easy to show that the public are
not being allowed to know that the second lord in Psalm 110:1 is a Hebrew word
adoni, pronounced adonee, which in all of its 195 occurrences never once means
God! Do your friends know that God cannot speak to God? Tell them.
Do your
friends know that God cannot die? He is immortal. [1 Timothy 6:16, 1.17]
Jesus died! Therefore he, [that is, Jesus] cannot
be God.
What are we doing to play our part in teaching ourselves and others these great salvation-imparting truths? Truths without which no one can be saved, i.e. live forever and ever! We all want to live forever, but we need to be sure that we are obeying Jesus and his words, without which no salvation can happen! Be warned: the possibility exists that we might “neglect so great a salvation” which “had its beginning in the gospel-preaching of Jesus” (Hebrews 2:3).
Note finally a translation trick foisted on an unwary public, creating a non-fully human Jesus! You must judge whether a preexisting Jesus is a fake news Jesus or not! Nine translations have “going back” or “returning” to the Father in John: CJB, GWN, NAB, NET, NIV, NRV, NLT, CEB, NBO. Here is what Jesus actually said:
The above article was taken from here — Some editing has been done.
Accompanying video is here
