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Gwen Shamblin is the Founder and President of The Weigh Down Workshop and the creator of the EXODUS Out of Egypt weight loss program and EXODUS from Strongholds seminars. She is a registered dietitian and has a Master’s Degree in Foods and Nutrition from the University of Tennessee. She has had extensive experience in the field of nutrition, both as a consulting registered dietitian for state health departments and as a full-time instructor of Foods and Nutrition at Memphis State University. She has been married for 21 years and has two children, Michael, 19 and Michelle, 17.
Gwen herself lost 20 pounds, then gained 50 pounds, 45 pounds and 38 pounds respectively with her three pregnancies; after each pregnancy, she lost the weight down to her current size (4-6), using the principles she teaches in the program. Gwen has a passion for helping people understand how God can change their hearts so that they can be delivered from the slavery of yielding to the world and its life-draining temptations.
She has prayerfully created all the videos, audios and books for EXODUS Out of Egypt and EXODUS from Strongholds seminars.
In the past six years, millions have been set free from overeating and a myriad of strongholds. The Weigh Down Workshop has been in over 60 different countries and over 60 denominations. It is so successful because people are responding to the truths of the seminar and quickly see results. They are discovering the secret to permanent weight loss through a moment-by-moment relationship with God. When you discover this you can’t help but tell others!
Diets don’t work. They don’t get to the root of the problem. In fact they only aggravate the problem. Diets are an effort to make the food behave instead of making ourselves behave. The problem is not the ingredients in the food, but the amount of food we eat. The diet and food industry has spent so much time and money taking the fat, sugar and calories out of food. The result is people are eating more volume of food in an effort to become satisfied. We’ve taken the fat out of cookies so we can eat more cookies. Changing the food but not changing our behavior and the amount of volume we eat will only leave us on a roller coaster of weight loss and weight gain. Many diet and food companies don’t want us to achieve our goal of permanent weight loss. They want to keep us dependent on them. The more the diets fail, the better off the diet industry becomes.
With God’s help, you can learn to stop in the middle of a meal and have no desire to eat the second half. This is a foreign concept for most people. This program helps you come to the understanding that man was created with two empty, needing-to-be-fed holes in our body. One is the stomach, and the other is the heart. The stomach is a literal hole in the body, which is to be fed with the proper amount of food. The heart represents our innermost emotional needs. To satisfy these needs, or desires of the heart, we often turn to food, overloading our stomach with more than it needs. We are trying to feed a hurting needy heart with food (or anything on this earth). There is nothing inherently wrong with food. God did not put chocolate, lasagna or blue cheese dressing on earth to torture us. But it is wrong to become a slave to food or to let it control you. To truly fill the needy heart, turn instead to God, who can satisfy you like no food can.
Don’t worry, you have exactly what you need to participate in this program. Each of us has a heart that worships and adores something. For example, some people enjoy money, but others worship it and will do anything to get it. Some people enjoy sports, while others worship and adore sports and their favorite players. In the same way, some people use food as fuel to run the body, while others dream about food and cannot get enough. This relationship with food can be transferred to a relationship or heart for God. When you learn to get your happy feeling from God, you will experience much more fulfillment than food could ever give.
Everyone gives his or her heart and passion over to something; therefore you can say that everyone is "religious". The Weigh Down Workshop helps people to see that they do not need to love or worship food more than God.
This program teaches you to follow the natural internal hunger control God created. You will learn to eat only when you are hungry--and then just enough to satisfy your body’s needs. You’ll know when to quit eating because the feeling of hunger will go away. When you do this, you will eat only 1/2 to 1/3 of what you used to eat. You can’t help but lose weight. You will not have to count calories, carbohydrates or fat grams—your stomach is your guide. The secret, however, is learning to transfer your deep desire for food onto God. Many of us try to feed our hurting, longing hearts with food. When we focus on the food and the feeling we get when we overeat, we fall in love with the food. It’s a sensual indulgence, an escape and a comfort. Only God can fill these deep needs. He is our financier, comforter, mechanic, lawyer, physician, counselor, friend, defender, trusted leader and father. Therefore the solution is:
This is the secret to losing weight.
This program will take you from the slavery of diets and overweight to the lifestyle of a thin eater. It’s like the journey the children of Israel took from the slavery of Egypt, through the desert of testing, and finally into the Promised Land. That’s why the program is called EXODUS Out of Egypt. God tested and humbled His children by their desert journey, teaching them obedience and dependence upon Him alone. He will do the same for you. You will experience many things and learn a great deal about yourself and God’s love for you. No matter what your age, your size, or your previous means of control, God can rescue you and guide you to a land of guilt-free milk and honey, where you will no longer feel tempted to eat when your stomach is not hungry.
What you’re asking is "Am I a complete failure". You may even be thinking, "I feel far from God, because He has not answered my prayers to take the weight off. Is God angry at me and sabotaging me?" You are not a failure. Overweight is not genetic. And God is not sabotaging you. He wants to use your slavery to diets and overweight to draw you closer to Him. You have been relying on your own willpower and man-made rules and regulations to beat this problem. Now it’s time for you to discover God’s plan for eating and to learn to lean on His strength. There is great hope.
God has made each of us wonderfully unique. Some people take the program only to lose five or ten pounds, while others need to lose 100 pounds or more. It doesn’t matter how much weight you have to lose; being obedient to the way God created the body to maintain itself will allow everyone to achieve their weight loss goals.
Countless participants have lost more than 100 pounds (see testimonials). The great thing is that this is a lifestyle change, a permanent method of eating. You will feel so much better when your body is getting just the amount of food it needs. And you will be enjoying the foods you love! You will not want to return to the old way of overindulging or overanalyzing food. As a result, the weight will continue to come off until your body reaches its ideal size.
The EXODUS Out of Egypt weight loss 12-week seminar is only $119 plus shipping/handling. It includes a 200-page workbook and a binder of 12, 2-sided 40-minute audio tapes.
2nd Family Members—can participate in the seminar, share the tapes and receive an extra workbook for only $48.00 plus shipping/handling.
Participate in the program a second time—pay only $55 (2nd Family Members $27.50) and receive a Continuing the Journey workbook and a binder with four additional audio tapes.
Every time after that through the program is $35 plus shipping/handling ($55 for Online)!
The volunteer coordinator of each program also gets his or her materials and attends the seminars free of charge.
Click here for information on cost of the new Strongholds curriculum.
The seminar is best experienced in the love and support of a group. People who attend the seminar see quicker results and are able to receive encouragement from others who are losing weight. If you are unable to attend a seminar, The Weigh Down Diet book or the follow up Rise Above books by Gwen Shamblin (Doubleday) are available at your local bookstore or you may purchase them online. The basic weight loss program is outlined in the book; however, the EXODUS Out of Egypt video lessons, audio tapes and workbooks are only available by attending a Weigh Down Workshop group.
If your schedule does not coincide with seminars meeting in the area, you may want to consider The Weigh Down at Home program. If you want information on this individual study set complete with videos, audios, workbook, and encouraging booklets, click here. If you would like to purchase The Weigh Down at Home program, click here.
Yes, As you learn to eat only when hungry and stop when full, you will be eating less food. Less food overall means less fat and calorie intake, meaning weight loss, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, regulated blood sugar levels, etc.
Yes! People who struggle with anorexia or bulimia are dealing with many of the same issues as people who are battling with being overweight. Both are reacting to an over-emphasis on food and eating. It is very reassuring to discover that, just like being overweight, anorexia and bulimia are not permanent conditions, but simply the result of not trusting the body to find its best size in the way God created it. The anorexic/bulimic can trust that God did not desire for us to be obese. Trust God and His flawless design. The anorexic can learn to be obedient to physical hunger, nourishing the body when it calls for food. The same is true with the bulimic as it applies to bingeing and purging. Both can learn to give up that control to God, the Creator!
If you would like to check out Set Free from Eating Disorders, click here.
Dear Seeker:
Thank you so much for looking into the missions and goals and purposes that are found at the heart of this ministry. We welcome you to know exactly what we believe and live for. You may have asked for a Statement of Faith or our Mission Statement, and hopefully any of your questions will be answered in this letter. If not, we also provide a toll-free number (1-800-844-5208) that you can use to call and ask any of our counselors for more information. We also provide an introductory video and brochures—as well as what I hope you know to ask for, and that is the fruit of the ministry. Jesus told us,
Matt. 7:15-20)"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." (
MISSION STATEMENT
God is the Great King and Lord of the Universe, and many of His subjects have half-hearted or divided loyalties, and yet our God deserves whole-hearted, loving, loyal, willing to die for the King subjects. Our mission is to call God’s people back to full devotion and to examine themselves to make sure that they are not self-employed inside His Kingdom. Jesus asked for us to pray that God’s Kingdom would come and that God’s will would be done. When your will and God’s will are at odds, we are teaching that God is the Lord and we should answer as Christ did: "Not my will but Thine be done." Every time we de-throne God and crown ourselves (in other words, do what we want to do in spite of what God’s will is or what His Spirit is leading us to do), God loses more Kingdom territory and Satan’s kingdom gets another employee.
This ministry is driven by the fact that over the centuries, sin has continued to increase inside the church – a church that was intended to be a pure virgin or a holy priesthood (2 Cor. 11:2-4, 1 Peter 2:5). When Paul wrote his letter to the church in Corinth, he was able to instruct the church to expel the immoral brother. They were instructed "not to associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater, or a slanderer, a drunkard, or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat" (1 Cor. 5:11). At the time this was written, the city of Corinth had 650,000 people in it, and hundreds of church members that did not need to be expelled. I wept the first time I realized how far the church has gotten away from what Jesus founded. Jesus told the parable of the one lost sheep amidst 100 sheep that were safely in the fold, and it goes on to say, "I tell you that in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Luke 15:7). Paul warned for churches to be serious about getting sin out of the church because "a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast…" (1 Cor. 5:6-7).
The purpose of this ministry and those involved is to help warn the sheep and the shepherds of God’s coming wrath. "For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them" (Eph. 5:5-7). This ministry is trying to re-establish the plumb-line of Jesus Christ, the cross, and holiness as a true foundation for a relationship with God, for as Hebrews 12:14 says, "…without holiness, no one will see the Lord." We are teaching people to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength and showing them how to lay down rebellion toward God. The Good News of Jesus Christ is that He has come to set us free from sin—not free to sin—and we are so excited because the fruit from this ministry and teaching has been massive. God’s people are ready for repentance, and the captives are grateful to be released from the darkness of the prisons of sin (Isa. 61:1). We are all thankful to be working for a ministry which receives daily phone calls and letters from people who have regretted being their own god or kicking God off the throne of their hearts and through the blood of Jesus Christ have humbly returned to our King as a servant, our Father as a child, our Bridegroom as a bride, and our Great CEO as an employee—in every case, happily under authority, gratefully following the commands of God, for as our Lord said, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my commands" (John 14:23).
In summary, our mission is to establish and fight for more Kingdom territory in the hearts of men for our Great King, so that His will will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
SALVATION THROUGH THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST
As far as a statement of faith, it is hard to express how much we love and adore God the Father, Jesus the Son, and God’s Holy Spirit. This ministry is daily looking for ways to get our will out of the way and to live totally for what our great CEO and King wants. Jesus Himself "did not consider equality with God something to be grasped" (Phil. 2:6), and 1 John 2:5-6 says, "This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." We teach and believe that "this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands" (2 John 1:6). This is not a faith of just acknowledgment of the existence of God, because even the demons believe that – and shudder; but rather, the faith that God requires, which is the faith of Abraham, who would put a knife up to his only son (whom he had waited years for) if God asked him to do so (James 2:16-24). We believe that this Lordship relationship is made possible by the sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus Christ. We teach that we should not take advantage of this grace. (Titus 2:11, Jude 1:4, Rom 6:15, Heb. 10:26, etc).
Jesus taught us that it is not those who just hear His words who are saved, but it is those who do the will of God who will be saved. "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. …everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand…and it fell with a great crash" (Matt 7:21, 26-27). "But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent stuck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete" (Luke 6:49).
GOD THE FATHER, JESUS CHRIST THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
As a ministry, we believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. However, the Bible does not use the word "trinity," and our feeling is that the word "trinity" implies equality in leadership, or shared Lordship. It is clear that the scriptures teach that Jesus is the Son of God and that God sends the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not send God anywhere. God is clearly the Head. Note this passage from 1 Corinthians 15:27-28: "For he ‘has put everything under his feet.’ Now when it says that ‘everything’ has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." Philippians 2:6 says that Jesus "did not consider equality with God something to be grasped." Therefore, we feel that we grieve Jesus when we do not watch our words and their meaning—especially a word not found in either the Old or New Testament, writings that span centuries of God’s inspired word. If God had wanted us to refer to Himself, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as the "trinity," He would not have left this word completely out of the Bible.
INSPIRATION OF THE WORD
We believe in the inspiration of the Word of God and we believe in the Old Testament and the New Testament as inspired words from God through His Holy Spirit. We believe, as it states in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, that "all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Copyright 2000 by Gwen Shamblin and The Weigh Down Workshop, Inc.
THE ESSENCE OF GOD
INTRODUCTION
THE JUDEO/CHRISTIAN VIEW OF GOD AND HIS SON
I believe that God is the Alpha and the Omega and the Beginning and the End (Revelation 1:17; 21:6; 22:13). God is everything to us. We know that He sent His only Son (John 3:16), that in Him He is well pleased (Matthew 3:17), and God has given Him all authority as Messiah, Lord, Master, Father of the First Born and that He has created all things through Him (Colossians 1:16). Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God that was sacrificed for our sins and through His blood we are reconciled back to God. Through His blood we can now enter the presence of God that is, since the curtain has torn through the sacrifice of Christ we can enter the Most Holy of Holies (Hebrews 10:19). Because God has told us to follow Christ and love Him, we obey God and we love and obey Christ as our Master, Great Shepherd, Messiah, Lord and the Son of God. We pick up our cross and follow Christ in suffering and shame and in sacrifice for this is the will of the Father.
THE NICENE CREED (325 A.D.)
Three hundred years past the death of Christ, a council met in Nicea, and they started developing a totally new concept that was both foreign to the Jews and the early Christians.
This man-made creed, now known as “the trinity”, has been summarized as follows:
“Are there more Gods than one? There is but one only, the living and true God. How many persons are there in the Godhead? There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.” (Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, 1963).
WHEN THE DEBATE STARTED
Prior to the release of the “god-head” trinity statements, there were no books written on the essence of God, nor were there any controversies, for everyone knew that God was God and that a Messiah would come. There was no discussion of three heads, three “persons” or three anything. God had never been referred to as a person or a “triune being.” There was no need for debate given that this concept never crossed anyone’s mind until 325 A.D. Since then, there have been volumes written to try to explain this new creed. Why would it take volumes? The reason is because it is inexplicable in light of the Word of God.
There was a big difference between the two approaches for persuasion: one side used/uses the loving words of Jesus, the Prophets, and the Apostles for promoting the truth, while the other side used/uses slander, sarcasm, labeling, fear of isolation and, in the past, torture and burning at the stake (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, John Foxe, 1583). Reason and fear are very different. Since we originally released the Essence of God statement, several preachers have called, come by the office, or written to say that they agree with my statement. Some admitted to having remained quiet because of the unyielding and forceful criticism and labeling that they would have to endure. Never did Christ force His view by fear - but the enemy would try to get Him to change His views by threatening death and carrying it out. There has been many a Christian killed by the hand of professed Christians for disagreeing that God and Jesus are “one person” and disagreeing that God’s Spirit is a third person. People were, and still are, dis-fellowshipped and labeled for believing that Jesus is the Son of God. This practice was adopted by mainstream Protestant churches, and even today one is still labeled a “cult” if you do not believe that there are three co-equal partners in one godhead – a description that is not found in the confines of Genesis to Revelation. Understanding the essence of God is deemed “a mystery” by Trinitarians because, again, there are so many contradictions in the Word of God to what they are trying to teach. However, the most hypocritical practice of all is that a man-made mystery and creed (created in 325 A.D. and not included in the Word of God) is the “critical doctrine” for deciding who is “in” or “out” of Christianity. “Heresy” should originate from creating a new doctrine not found in the Word of God!
This several page document could easily have turned into a 500-page book because of all the evidence supporting that God is the Father and that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, under the authority of God, but I felt led to condense this text. Therefore, this text will not include arguments from other well-respected writers or theologians (and there are many) who agree that the trinity is a man-made doctrine that defies all scripture. This document will depend only on the words and concepts brought forward by Jesus, the Apostles, and the Prophets of God who spoke on God’s behalf. Those words are all we need. The other great men who have bravely stood their ground over the centuries will be blessed.
God told us to seek wisdom and dig for it like one mines silver or precious stones. Those who are willing to look beyond the man-made creeds and traditions are true seekers. Seeking the truth will set you free. A subject that has been so hotly debated over the centuries needs more than a cursory look and this basic subject, like all foundational subjects, should not be left up to debates between a few theologians. Many people have grown up just accepting this man-made creed called “the trinity” without ever knowing what it meant. Part of this indoctrination includes a teaching that “no one can really understand this mystery.” The person then reasons that, “since no one can understand, why bother?” This is exactly what Satan wants you to do in your seeking process. He wants you to just “accept” everything without really testing it against the Word of God. There is a war going on for each of our souls and the first weapon you need to put on is the belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14).
As you dig for this wisdom, we encourage you to keep the Bible handy to reference all scripture given. We strongly encourage the use of the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. The world’s top theologians, linguists, and scholars of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek spent many thousands of hours researching and discussing the meaning of the original manuscripts and texts, producing perhaps the most thorough and reviewed translation of God’s Holy Word to date.
HOW DID THE JEWS AND JESUS VIEW GOD?
We will have to give account for our words when the Day of Judgment comes (Matthew 12:36). The writer of the book of Revelation (most likely the Apostle John) says, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city…” (Revelation 22:18). We all know that we are mere men and that we cannot change what God wants taught.
There are many words, but especially concepts, that are added in this new doctrine: “trinity”, “god-head”, calling God, Jesus and the Spirit of God “persons”. All of these things should raise a red flag. A new word that defines a concept that has already been presented is fine, such as the word “Bible”. The word “Bible” is Latin for “The Book”, which is referencing “The Scriptures”. References to “ the scriptures” are found all over the Word of God. We are talking about a new concept that was introduced 325-400 years past Christ and again, the concept is not found in the Bible. Surely a “triune God” would have been referred to by our Lord Jesus, by the Apostles or by one of the main writers of the New Testament, such as the Apostle Paul. Neither the concept, nor term “god-head”, nor the concept or term “trinity” is found in the sacred scriptures. How can this be denied or ignored? Again, do a word search: there is no reference in the Bible to the word or the concept of “trinity,” for it was never on the lips of our Savior, of any Apostles, nor of any prophets. The Jews strictly reject the concept of this creed and never in history have they ever supported such a teaching throughout all of the centuries. That should speak volumes. The religion of Islam is a religion formed from the teachings of Old and New Testament and represents millions of people who strictly reject all the implied concepts of the trinity. Moses, who God spoke to face to face, never ever implied the concepts of the “trinity” nor “god-head”. The point, in and of itself, is not what I use to argue its invalidity. These man-made teachings have been hotly debated since its inception because they do create a whole new religion that is not found in the Old or the New Testaments. The words “Christian” and “Trinitarian” do not go together. In other words, the teaching of the trinity was formed hundreds of years after the time of Christ; yet the Old Testament and the New Testament are thousands of years old and are divinely inspired. What happened in 325-415 A.D., that all of the sudden a new (and confusing) revelation of God was added to the Judeo/Christian thought?
Jesus was with God in the beginning. Surely He would have let His Apostles in on the fact that, “by the way, I really am God the Father and sorry about the confusion of calling my self the Son of God all the time”! But no, He insisted on the fact that He was not the Father but rather the Son. John Chapter 10 tells the classic story of where the preachers of the day were going to stone Jesus for they thought He was claiming to be God, and yet Christ denied it and made it clear that He was only saying that He was the Son of God. (You have got to stop here and read that story: John 10:22-42.) Christianity came from the Jews and for centuries they knew that no one could see YHWH face to face and still live. The Jews were afraid to say God’s name much less see Him face to face. The Jews were well aware of the distinction between YHWH and the coming Messiah who would be an earthly Savior. It was and should be impossible to think that God made Himself into a baby and then let men kill Him on a cross!
At the time this new concept was introduced, there wasn’t a strong scriptural argument for this new teaching, but rather a powerful authoritarian leadership in the 3rd and 4th century that burned dissenters at the stake. Arguments for the creed would remain weak but with the use of strong fear tactics, the teaching was reinforced and surpassed the centuries old Judeo/Christian foundational teachings of “Hear O’ Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4), and that God would give power and authority to His Son because His Son lived to please Him and was tempted by Satan but refused to misuse this power and try to take over God’s position. (Read about the temptations of power offered to Jesus in Luke Chapter 4.) This several thousand year old Judeo/Christian teaching was replaced with a “god-head with multiple personalities and forms”; a god-head that would even talk to Himself on the cross, in the garden and during baptism. Because of an oppressive religious system that was unlike any system that had ever hit the planet, people were tortured into reciting and accepting the new man-made doctrine. The introduction that God had two or three heads was most definitely frightening to the early church, for the Jews and early Christians knew from all scripture that Jesus was the Son of God and God Almighty and Jesus were two separate beings. No such godhead concept had been introduced in scripture. God as the Father is referenced many, many times and Jesus being referred to as the Son of the Father, multiple times. This new concept, that Jesus was really just the Father incarnate, was shocking and that was why it was and is hotly debated. Not one passage says that God and Jesus are a “god-head”, nor a “trinity”, nor that God incarnated Himself in the form of a human and came to earth and talked to Himself. One voice from heaven stated, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased" (Luke 3:22) at the same time that Jesus was most definitely on earth being baptized. To think that this is a two-headed “person” who talks to Himself and is pleased with Himself is too horrifying to conceive, for it completely goes against the entire Word of God. Only a demon could have birthed this concept and could have tortured people to keep them out of the Word of God and in the Dark Ages. Demons burn dissenters at the stake – not God. This creed mutated the true church into a new and twisted religion. Can you imagine the horror of knowing that you and your loved ones would be burned at the stake if you did not accept this new three-headed monstrous view of God? Imagine being tempted to quote this creed in a weekly ritual because dissenters would be caught and weeded out, leaving behind a confused and weakened crowd of only those too afraid to die for truth. This tradition is still in place today.
Monotheism was fundamental to the Jews as well as to Christians. In fact, all of Jerusalem and the Church would be founded on the fact that we have to forsake the world and other passions and idols and serve only one God. Chapters 28 and 29 of Deuteronomy (the Book of the Law, the Torah, or the commands of God) lay out clearly that if the children of God remain monotheistic then they will prosper, and if they become polytheistic they will suffer. “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. “ (Exodus 20:4) God would go on to describe Himself as a Jealous God and that indeed His name was “Jealous” (Exodus 34:14).
God sending a Son or a Savior (Messiah) was not polytheism. His was a very high but subordinate position. Just as John the Baptist spent his entire life pointing to Jesus and making Him known, Jesus spent every waking breath and action pointing to the Father with statements such as: “ ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good-except God alone.’ “ (Mark 10:18); “ ‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.’ “ (John 4:34); “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36); “…the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” (John 14:31) Jesus never thought that He was the Father; if He did – Christ would have been free to let the Apostles know that “new” secret. Satan surely never treated Jesus as God the Father. How absurd to think that God Himself tested Himself against Satan. The scripture reads as follows: “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’“ (Luke 4:5-8) (See also Deuteronomy 6:13). Do you really want to rewrite the Bible to say that God sent Himself to earth to be tempted by Satan to worship Satan and the prize would be the kingdoms of the earth? God already owns the earth and gave the earth to Satan – only Jesus could be tempted with power. Satan wasn’t asking the Creator of the Universe to worship Him! Satan asked the Son of God to worship Him. Satan wants power and He is behind the push to make you think that “Jesus is equal in power to YHWH” because He wants to dilute God’s power.
The only plausible explanation for mankind to come up with such a creed that made Jesus and God a “triune God” was the fear of being associated with polytheism - which was a concern due to the widespread influence of the Greeks at the time of Christ (Acts 17:16-23). In the midst of polytheism, the Israelites had always proclaimed truthfully that there was but one God. Once Jesus (the Son of God) entered the picture, someone erroneously thought that this might appear “polytheistic”. In other words, they feared that Christianity would not be distinctive, but would look like a “multiple God” religion. This was such an unnecessary concern because many rulers have had sons. No one, however, has ever thought that a king/prince, father/son, or ruler/son line of authority means polytheism. You assume they are one or united in purpose else the Father would have fired him long ago. Everyone has a soul and a spirit – this does not make them two people. Well, in spite of the clear Word of God that Jesus was the only begotten Son - the Council of Nicea came up with the new concept that Jesus and God are the same being. This was a heretical, dangerous, and unnecessary stretch for Christianity. The above creed developed by man between 325 and 415 A.D. (300-400 years past Christ’s death) brought forth this new doctrine that God transformed Himself into multiple personalities, with no scriptures to back this up. How simple (from scriptures) it is to over come this polytheistic dilemma: just because God has a Son, it is still the same kingdom – it is not polytheism. King David had a son, Solomon, that would take over the throne but this is not a new kingdom. Many employers have sons who rise up to right hand management, but it is not two separate businesses. Again, this was an unnecessary doctrine created out of fear of association with the Greek culture of polytheism, especially in the light that no lives were more devoted to one God than the early Christians. The early Christians gave up everything for God and His only Son. The whole concept of Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem is wholehearted devotion to God’s Kingdom, through Jesus Christ His Son.
There are 2-3 scriptures that reference Jesus as “God” or Lord of man, and this in reference to His position over us. Jesus was given authority by God as our Savior, Lord, Master and God – but Jesus always referred to His Father as His God. “…My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) “…I am returning to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God.” (John 20:17) As you can see from these scriptures, Jesus never left us with a mystery. The false teachers of the third century did that. So, this is simple: any reference to Jesus, as God or Father is Christ’s relation and position to mankind. He is the father of the firstborn and He is our God (see Essence of God illustration). Jesus was the firstborn over all creation, was in heaven and then came to earth, and then went back to heaven to sit at the right hand side of God. Immanuel (God with us) lets us know Jesus’ position to mankind – He is our God and we must bow down. Simple; easy. No one should ever feel any pressure from the Scriptures to come up with a new concept to explain why Jesus is our Lord. He is the tried and true, tested all the way to death on a cross, Son of God who has lived out total loyalty to God the Father.
The point here is that it is easy to see the positional scriptures that refer to Jesus as God to mankind (but He still remains the Son of God) (1 Corinthians 15:27), but there is no way to explain away the hundreds of references of Jesus being the Son of God. Anyone can see this. So, why was there the push to make God into “water, steam, and ice” in 325 A.D.? It was because a few people could not understand this simple concept of relation. God made Jesus our Master, Lord—but this did not make Him morph into God. Jesus would not consider this. It takes effort to stay confused because this is so simple. My brother is my brother—but his children also call him “father”. Simple. Again read 1 Corinthians 15:27. You can rest assured that any confusing doctrine or anti-authority seeds are planted by Satan. Satan would love to take over God’s power, and if not, diminish His control by spreading the power out. But, Jesus would have none of that, as He was tested in the desert after fasting for 40 days for that very thing. Christ refused to take God’s power to rule, control or manipulate Him. After passing His test, Jesus was then allowed to start His ministry.
TWO SEPARATE BEINGS
In addition, one of the most major foundational teachings in the Word of God is that Jesus lived to do the will of the Father and that when Jesus and God did not have the same will (as in the Garden of Gethsemane), Jesus said, “May this cup be taken from me, yet not as I will but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39) This foundational teaching is a huge concept of submission that would be eradicated by the trinity doctrine, for in that doctrine, God would be talking to Himself, saying: “not my will but my will be done”! No! There are two separate wills and two separate minds to the point that Jesus admitted that only the Father would know the exact time and date of Judgment Day (Mark 13:32). How can a head keep something from itself? One of the major Salvation statements of Jesus was, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only True God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3) – not just one of them. The Jews never taught that the Messiah was simply the Father and they never taught that God transformed Himself into other beings. For several thousand centuries, the Jews taught that God was Supreme and that He would send a Son or Messiah. Many 20th century Christians have never thought differently because they did really not know what the “Trinitarian doctrine” teaches. It is now time to find out that “trinity” does not stand for a reference to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; but, rather, stands for a teaching that says God, in the form of Jesus, only existed 33 years here on earth. It is time to look closely at what being a “Trinitarian” implies to the world. I know that it is difficult to question long-standing traditions, but the tradition of the Word has been around much longer than this man-made tradition. Many people quote this creed weekly, many of which do not even comprehend what it is saying and how it goes against the Holy Scriptures.
EQUAL IN POWER
God does not give His position away, after testing Christ who is at His right hand. God does not deny Himself. If you claim to be a “Trinitarian”, then you support this “doctrine” which teaches that God and Jesus are one being--equal in power, substance and glory. Again, neither the concept or term of the word “god-head”, nor the concept or term of the word “trinity”, is found in the sacred scriptures. But, most of all, the concept of “equal in power” is a teaching straight from Hades. Jesus and God are one only in purpose: God rules. God made up the purpose and Jesus accepted it. We have been called to be one in purpose with Christ – that does not make us the same being. Jesus is the Son of God and He is Lord, Master and God of mankind. But, Jesus never took over the Father’s position, though tempted by Satan many times. Indeed, He is the Son sitting at God’s right hand while God is on the throne. Satan started early in the church to get rid of the precious authority line that would prove to be a strategic element to salvation by trying to make Jesus equal in power. Philippians Chapter 2, however, clearly lays out the truth which says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped…“ (Philippians 2:5,6). Scripture cannot be broken. Jesus did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped or comprehended. You know it from this passage. You know it more by His actions, which speak louder than words.
For centuries the scriptures talked of the coming Messiah who was referred to as “The Helper of Israel”. Saying that YHWH was also Jesus would always be the biggest question that outsiders would have for Catholicism for they could see no reference to this in the Word of God. Again, the Jews would preach for centuries that God would send a Messiah or Savior for the people of Israel. God would say (through the Prophet Isaiah): “Here is my servant, [not “here is myself”] whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. …So do not fear, for I am with you; [not, “I am with myself”]; do not be dismayed, for I am your God [how clear can this get?]. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you,…declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 42:1; 41:10,13) Clearly God was the God of Jesus, and God sent Jesus – not Himself - to earth. Jesus did not send God. 1 Corinthians 15:27 teaches: “For he ‘has put everything under his feet.’ Now when it says that ‘everything’ has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.” So, Jesus was the firstborn over creation (Colossians 1:15), so He was there before the creation of the earth. In relation to man, He is “I Am” [before Abraham, I Am], and in relation to us, He is God, Lord, Messiah (John 1:41), and Father of all the First Born. This does not in any way minimize His relationship to His Father, in whom He claimed, “my food is to do the will of him who sent me [my Father] and to finish His work” (John 4:34). Jesus lived to please the Father; He did not live to please Himself! Jesus did not even begin to imply that He created God, or that God lived to please Him, or that God was equal to Him in position or power. These teachings are heretical and will be judged by God Almighty because they lead the sheep away from the true Jesus.
GOD GAVE HIS SON, NOT HIMSELF/ JESUS GAVE HIS LIFE
Jesus spent His life declaring that He was the Son of God. Some say this is too clear of a concept to be divine. How impertinent to muddy up something that God wanted to make clear! He gave us children on earth so that we could even understand the concept of giving up a child, which, by the way, is harder to do than giving up your own life. There is no greater pain than losing a child. Many have had to experience this, including me. I cried for no less than 8 months, and I still become teary-eyed when I think of this loss. To believe that God incarnated Himself and gave up Himself completely misses the ultimate love. Obviously, right next to this is giving up your own life for others.
HOW THE TRINITY BECAME ENTRENCHED
The trinity doctrine wrongly teaches that God incarnated Himself and came down as Jesus and then ascended back to the throne, and all that you will see when you get to Heaven is God the Father or a Spirit. We know that this teaching is heretical and defies the Bible’s clear teaching that God is the Father, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of God and that the “Spirit of Christ” is the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9; 1 Cor. 2:10,11). When Stephen was martyred, the “heavens opened and he saw Jesus sitting at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55; Christ seated at right hand side of God also in Luke 22:69; Ephesians 1:20 and Colossians 3:1). People who disagree with parts of the trinity statement need to stand up and confess that they do not uphold the traditional trinity doctrine; they should boldly admit that they believe differently. After all, you are not to fear man, but God alone. It is well documented that early critics of the trinity statements were burned at the stake for disagreeing and also so they could serve as an example to the quieter dissenters. The creed of the trinity was recited in worship each week, and it was easy to recognize the protester who would not open his mouth to recite the creed. All were banished or severely tortured or burned at the stake.
All people who supported the true Biblical view of God died off or became “chicken”, leaving behind a zombie-like and compliant congregate that would not question the essence of God for the next 1500 years…with the exception of a few. I have found that most who profess to be a “Trinitarian” cannot actually explain what they believe, meaning that they do not really know what they believe or what their leadership teaches. Presently, some denominations teach that Jesus and God are the same “person,” while others say “separate beings” who are still one – never making that clear. You cannot have it both ways. So as not to divide the congregation, most leaders become diplomats and say that it is thereby a “mystery” and “no human will ever really know the truth.” This unexplainable doctrine now allows multiple beliefs under one roof -- as long as they claim to be a “Trinitarian” since it has become a centrally accepted creed by mainstream Christianity. Therefore, most members have blindly accepted this “trinity teaching,” and it became very widespread and has been offered to members without question for over 1,500 years. Yes, at one time, people were burned at the stake for holding strong to the teachings that were actually in the Bible, but today you are free to believe what you want and state it…and perhaps you will undergo only verbal criticism (from man, not God) for thinking on your own. But the people who have not sought God out on this entire issue will undergo criticism from God – not man!
If the scripture is our ultimate authority, we can reason together. But if you hold what your minister or preacher or pastor says as higher than God’s Word, then man is your source and numbers of men are your confirmation -- and this will not hold up on Judgment Day. The Word of God easily dispels the trinity teaching, and it is frightening that such a teaching has been swallowed by this generation without question when Bibles are so readily available. God will be much more forgiving of those back in the 3rd and 4th centuries who were illiterate or without the translated Word of God at all.
WHY DID GOD TALK TO HIMSELF?
What heresy it would be to teach that when Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened and a voice came from the heavens while Jesus was still on the earth and it said, “This is myself, with myself I am well pleased,” instead of the actual scriptural version of “This is my Son…with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 17:5)!
How can this well-educated generation support that when Jesus was in the Garden, He said, “Not my will, but my will be done,” instead of the scriptural “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42)? Do you really believe that when Jesus was on the cross, He must have meant, “Myself, myself, why have I forsaken myself?” instead of what is actually in Mark 15:34: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” You cannot possibly have enough arguments to convince the world that God is not the Father and that Jesus is not the Son of God using the scriptures.
Trinitarians cannot seem to answer questions such as, “Are you saying that God transforms Himself into different beings?” and “Why does He talk to Himself, such as saying He was pleased with Himself at Jesus’ baptism?” and “Why would anyone want to begin to teach that Jesus is not the Son of God but actually God the Father?” It makes no sense at all.
In the early 1600s, Galileo taught that the Earth and the other planetary bodies rotated around the sun, contradicting centuries of teachings that everything revolved around the Earth. As a result for teaching what they felt was heresy, Galileo was ultimately denounced, tried, and condemned by the Catholic Church. Found guilty because of what he taught, he was forced to live the rest of his life under house arrest – not for any heretical theological views, but because he defied the current beliefs by teaching that the Earth revolved around the sun. Almost 400 years later, in the fall of 1992, Pope John Paul II gave an address in which he admitted that errors had been made by the Catholic Church’s theological advisors in the case of Galileo. However, he still did not admit that the church was wrong to convict Galileo on a charge of heresy due to his correct belief that the Earth rotates around the sun. The generations since Galileo’s time have all paid for the wrongful conviction and treatment of this scientist, because one has to wonder how far science could have progressed if they had been free to follow his truthful discoveries.
THE FINAL ARGUMENT
After reading this document, many will say that they have never believed that Jesus and God are the same being, but they are still a “Trinitarian.” These people cannot have it both ways! The title of “Trinitarian” means you believe that God has 3 facets (God in three persons) but is ultimately one being, and so you cannot also believe that He, Christ, and the Spirit are 3 separate beings. This person who tries to claim it both ways is afraid of man and needs to take a stand against this wrong creed.
What this debate boils down to is this: either you support the Trinitarian creed or you do not. You cannot be a “Trinitarian” and think that you are not supporting God in two or three persons. It is a creed. You can’t sing on Sunday morning, “God in three persons, blessed trinity” if you are not supporting the “three-is-one concept.”’ If you believe that God and Jesus are the same being by way of the trinity creed, then you have to believe that THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE made Himself into a baby, then let man kill Him on a cross, and then made Him rise again after 3 days!
Man cannot and did not kill the Alpha and the Omega on a cross. The God of the Universe did not die on the cross -- Jesus Christ died on the cross. Stop letting the blind lead the blind. Repent now from believing that God and Jesus are the same being. This is an abomination. What has happened to the New Testament teachings? Why have we let over 17 centuries go by without putting a stop to this madness? This very discrepancy has been one of the biggest arguments against Christianity from atheism and other religions. God cannot bless such false teachings.
The Bible is far too clear on what “heresy” is. A heretic is someone who does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. First John 2:22-23 says, “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” A person who believes in the trinity believes that the Father and the Son are one person, denying the “Father” and denying the “Son.” So who is it that we will see when we get to heaven – the Father or the Son? Certainly not both, if you hold to the Trinitarian belief. You have denied that they can exist as two separate beings.
If you see my point at all, please know that there is no need to continue to support this unstable doctrine from centuries ago, since people are not burned at the stake anymore. You might find verbal persecution, but you should leap for joy and rejoice when you are persecuted for the sake of the Word and for Jesus Christ! There is only one thing to fear, and that is God.
I fully believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I do not believe that He will change into the Father, but He will remain the Son and be seated at the Father's right-hand side when we get to heaven (Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1). Luke 22:69-71 says, “But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” They all asked, ‘Are you then the Son of God?’ He replied, ‘You are right in saying I am.’ Then they said, ‘Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.’”
IS THE IMAGE OF GOD IMPORTANT?
Does the image of God really matter? The scripture tells us what His image is like, and this passage from Acts lets us know that how we portray Him really does matter to Him! “‘For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, `We are his offspring.' Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:28-30).
Paul says clearly that if we are made in His image -- “we are God’s offspring”--then we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone. Likewise, the Bible taken in context does not support the teaching or concept of the Nicene Creed, the trinity teaching that God is just a mystery. God spoke “face to face” to Moses in the book of Numbers; God walked in the garden in Eden in the book of Genesis. Many times the Bible refers to God sitting on the throne with Jesus at His right side. If we are told that we are created in His image, then why argue whether or not the image has a face, walks, talks, sits, etc?
I am grieved at the stubbornness of mankind, which rejects the Bible in favor of a man-made creed from 325 A.D. Paul said that we should not think of God “as an image made of God’s design.” The trinity has its own “god-head”, mysterious ghostly spirit image that it has taught and is not backed up by the scriptural teachings on the essence of God. As Paul said, there was a time when God overlooked such ignorance; however, now He commands all men everywhere to repent.
Look again at the following passage from Acts 17:26-30:
“From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. `For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, `We are his offspring.' "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”
It is clear from this passage that we “should think” about the right image of God. It is clear from this passage that we have the right image of God, since we are His offspring. That is the image to associate God with…not stone or silver or gold or simply “spirit.” As I just stated, the image we have of God in the Bible is one who sits, talks, walks, etc. All of these are pictures that God has used to build the image that He wants us to have while on earth. God’s image and the image of His Son do matter, and more importantly, the understanding of God’s position, Jesus’s position, and our position in creation matters greatly. God is the Father. Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father, and He now sits at the Father’s right hand side. We are mankind, with Christ as our Savior and the Head of the Church.
This subject is very important because when Jesus was praying to the Father, His goal was to make His own position and God's position known. “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”(John 17:3). As the centuries went by, anyone who disagreed with the man-made doctrine of the Nicene Creed was deemed a “heretic,” far from the definition of a heretic in the Bible. Again, First John 2 would say that anyone who did not acknowledge that Jesus Christ was the Son of God was a heretic or the anti-Christ. My prayers are with you so that you can see God's Word in the light that He wants Himself and His Son revealed.
EXPLAINING MYSTERIES
People who have questioned trinity teachings in the past and present have sometimes been accused of being “cult leaders” by people whose faulty reasoning are that “cult leaders are people who explain mysteries that our finite minds cannot understand.” This is outlandish and unreasonable and a great persecution to anyone! Explaining or revealing mysteries by the help of God is not the definition of a cult leader—otherwise, Daniel or Solomon or the Apostle Paul would be accused of leading cults because they explained mysteries of God and Jesus Christ! Daniel 2:47 states, “The king said to Daniel, ‘Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.’”
Think about this: if these “cult experts” use their definition to say that my understanding of God, Son, and Spirit is wrong, then they themselves must claim to understand enough to know that I am wrong, so therefore -- by their own definition -- they are the cult leader! If these accusers do not understand a mystery, they need to say so. I believe that anyone can understand the Word of God on this subject matter. From what we have seen in the e-mails and calls that have come to our office since we began sharing this truth about the Father and the Son, it seems that the trinity tradition is what is actually creating the mysteries and misunderstandings about God and Jesus Christ.
Presently, the mainstream church does not burn dissenters alive, but they certainly do try to burn their reputations at the stake through lies, gossip, and slander. They have no foundational scriptures to back up their argument, so they merely attack the person at the other end of the argument. Early in the lives of those brought up in the counterfeit church, the children are taught ritual and creed…and most importantly they are taught that if anyone veers from this broadly accepted man-made creed, then that person is believing a lie or dabbling in heresy. Rather, what should be taught is the 66 books of the Bible, and that if anyone adds to or takes away from God’s Word, that person will be condemned (Revelation 22:18,19). That should bring a deep-seated fear upon someone, whether they debate away the accuracy of the details to undermine your confidence in THE HOLY WORD or they drip seeds of doubt on the inspiration of the Word by offering their own misgivings.
As has been said before, 99% of the theologians today have stated they do not believe in the inspiration of THE WORD OF GOD, but they will debate strongly a man-made creed written in 325 A.D.! This should throw up red flags all over the place. The counterfeit church has done a thorough job on its victims for they fear the one holding to the Word and questioning man-made ideas. Again, Paul warns us in Colossians 2:8; “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition…” Why would anyone be threatened by examining a human tradition, even one that is generally accepted? I would be more concerned with someone who questioned the inspiration of the Holy Scripture, and there are many such leaders today who actually fall into that category. Not long ago, I had an opportunity to walk through the visitor side of Notre Dame in Paris during mass, and not once was the Bible opened by priest or member. In fact, from what I could see, not one member had a Bible in his hand. This reversal of sacredness (man-made creeds vs. the Word) is the foundation for the Counterfeit Church (see the New Jerusalem document on the Remnant Fellowship website; www.remnantfellowship.org), and this reversal is most necessary if you are going to bring the victims to their complete demise. There were incense sensors and the Eucharist at the mass, but out of thousands in attendance, there was no confession of sin, no repentance, and no fear of not opening God’s Word. I couldn’t believe it! The Word of God is my life and light for the right path! I cannot go one day without searching the Word and then searching my heart to see if what I am doing and saying is lining up with the Cornerstone and the Capstone of Jesus Christ. We cannot afford in our few short years to just “guess” at what God wants from us. The true church will turn you from your sin and you will feel a fear of ever going against the will of the Father, and you will be surrounded by the Word of God and by people who want the Word of God more than their daily bread (Job 23:12).
IN CONCLUSION
Through the early prophets, God had clearly told the world of the coming of His Son. All of the Apostles had witnessed Jesus praying to the Father and talking to the Father, and in fact, Jesus’s final words were, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34), not “Myself, myself, why have I forsaken myself?” Once again, let me state that God was not killed by man and He did not forsake Himself! As absurd as this teaching was, Satan belly-laughed at the heavens, because he showed that through force and fear, he could bring confusion by turning God into Jesus and Jesus into God; the image of God would be worse than the images of silver and stone; it would be a three-headed transformer that was a mystery to all.
Again, I point out that not even Jesus knew the hour and the day of the end times, and in Mark 12:32, He stated, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32). Therefore, it had to be a very separate Father and a Son. All of this is ridiculous to me to even talk about, for it is so clear that God is God and Jesus is His Son. In John Chapter 8, Jesus' own authority was questioned, and He said, “In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.” (John 8:17,18) Jesus Himself is once again telling us that there are two separate witnesses here. With so many references listed, why does a man-made teaching want to make the Father and His only Son one being with the same power? The only way that they are one is in purpose. My children and I have the same purpose but no one calls me “Michael”, nor does anyone attempt to call Michael or Michelle Elizabeth “the Mother.” One of the clearest arguments is in John 10:31-35 where the Pharisees were about to stone Jesus because they believed that He was claiming exactly what the trinity teaches -- claiming to be God Himself! Read what Jesus says here:
“Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?’ ‘We are not stoning you for any of these,’ replied the Jews, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your Law, `I have said you are gods'? If he called them ‘gods’, to whom the word of God came-and the Scripture cannot be broken-what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, `I am God's Son?’
So, what happened here? The preachers of the day were going to stone Jesus Christ for claiming that He was God the Father, and Jesus said, “I am God’s Son.” (“I am God’s Son – not the Father!!!”) Are you going to try to argue with the Bible and Jesus Himself who said that He was not the Father but was the Son of God? What man-made teaching is higher than the Sacred Word of God? Wake up from the matrix and escape this intoxication of madness taught by the Great Prostitute (Revelation 17 – reference to the counterfeit church). What is it that you keep stumbling on? Is it: “But how could so many be wrong?” Please know that more have believed that Jesus was the Son of God than believe the Trinitarian view. But, if you feel in the minority right now, please remember the flood, please remember the fall of Jerusalem, and please remember that Jesus started the church over with 120 believers (Acts 1:15) after a three-year ministry that affected thousands. Small is not wrong – it is opposite world. Small and narrow is the road that leads to life (Matthew 7:14). Look for the narrow road, the road less traveled, for the truth of God and for eternal salvation.
THE POSITION OF JESUS CHRIST
“Then the end will come, when he [Jesus] hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he [Jesus] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he [God] ‘has put everything under his feet.’ Now when it says that ‘everything’ has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28) God gave Jesus all authority over man, but God did not give Jesus authority over Himself. It has always been clear that God is not under Jesus’ feet.
God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one in purpose. Yet, where Jesus' will did not line up with the Father's, through sweat drops of blood, Jesus submitted and said: “…yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42) - indicating there are two separate beings, and indicating that the will of the Father reigned.
There is one God; and God the King has given His Son, Jesus Christ, all authority over heaven and earth. So, if our God says to worship and bow down to His Son as well as Himself, we had best do it! The passages to back up this truth - that God gave His Son all this authority - are too numerous to reference, but here are just a few: John 17:1-2; Revelation 2:26-27; Matthew 28:18. God has allowed kings and royalty here on earth, and there is no one who cannot understand that the king's son is royalty, no matter what age. Who in today's world does not understand the position of Prince William to Prince Charles? No one has ever argued that Prince William is NOT royalty, entitled to the full respect of his position from those in his kingdom. Just because God, through His inspired Word, called Jesus His Son, it does not negate Jesus' royalty, deity, position, power, and authority, and it does not make Him inferior. Everyone in Jerusalem bowed to both King David and his son, Solomon.
Jesus Christ is our God and Savior. See the Essence of God illustration. This is obvious. God is the Father, and Jesus respectfully calls YHWH his “God” over and over (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:35, John 20:17). Jesus has been given all authority over us, and so He has been made our God by God the Father. And what does Jesus command us to do? To obey God the Father and pray that His Kingdom come and that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus was given this position because He handled it correctly (Hebrews 5:7-10). The few references of Jesus as “God” to us do not force one to believe that Jesus is the Heavenly Father because, again, Jesus IS royalty, because ALL authority has been given to Him by the Father and every knee will bow to our God and Savior, Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1). Therefore, Jesus is my Lord, my Savior, and my God. Please do not throw out the many references that say, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). What authority Jesus uses has been given to Him. Jesus Himself taught us how to pray to the Father: “…your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Jesus lived to give it all back to the Father, and His food truly was to do the will of the Father and to finish His work (John 4:34). Jesus lived out a sacrificial life to show us how to seek God the Father and His wishes first, and then everything else would be added to you.
So, what is the problem? Why would someone want to destroy what Jesus lived for – making God Almighty the Lord of All and teaching us to make God Sovereign?
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