Sunday, March 13, 2016

Matthew 28:18 - Was This God the Son Speaking?

One makes the claim that when Jesus spoke at times it was GOD speaking and at times the Flesh speaking, evidently applying the alleged "dual natures" philosophy. Jesus' words spoken in Matthew 28:18 is given as evidence of this, since Jesus stated that all power in heaven and earth had been given to him. The question is raised to how this could be, and the answer is supplied that this Was God (incarnated in Jesus) who was speaking.
Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. – (Matthew 28:18)

I will first note that some translations put “power” here instead of “authority”; the correct rendering, however, is “authority”.

It should be evident that "all authority" that is given to Jesus has been given to him from someone else. Other scriptures show that that Jesus receives this authority from the "one God" that Paul wrote about, He who is the source of all. (1 Corinthians 8:6; Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Psalm 2:6-8; 45:7; 110:1,2;Isaiah 9:6,7; 11:2; 42:1; 61:1-3; Jeremiah 23:5; Ezekiel 34:23,24; 37:24; Daniel 7:13,14; Micah 5:4; Matthew 12:28; 28:18; Luke 1:32; 4:14,18; 5:17; John 3:34; 5:19,27,30; 10:18,36-38; Acts 2:22,36; 3:13-26; 10:38;Romans 1:1-4; 1 Corinthians 15:27; 2 Corinthians 13:4; Colossians 1:15,16; 2:10; Ephesians 1:3,17-23; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:2,4,6,9; 1 Peter 3:22.) Rather than offering any evidence that it was the alleged "God Jesus" who spoke these words, the truth is that what Jesus stated shows that he was NOT speaking as the Most High, since the Most High, being the source of all power and authority (1 Corinthians 8:6), has no need to be given any authority from someone else.

What Jesus stated as recorded in Matthew 28:18 is in harmony with 1 Corinthians 8:6, as well as Ephesians 1:3, 17-23, where we find that the God and Father of Jesus subjected the all to Jesus, but as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:27, it is evident that He who subjected the all to Jesus is excepted.

Since the Bible is fully at harmony with itself without imagining, adding, and reading the assumption of "dual natures" of Jesus into the scriptures, I have no scriptural reason to add the assumption to any scripture.

See my study related to the “all power” that the only true God has given to Jesus.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

John 1:1 - The Hebraic Usage Applied to the Word

Probably the first scripture trinitarians point to in an effort to support their triune God dogma is John 1:1. Actually, there is nothing at all about a triune God presented in that verse, so whatever is thought concerning a triune God has be imagined beyond what is written, then added to, and read into what is stated.

Paul lets us know that there is only one who is the source of all, and thus that there is only one who is "God" (with a capital "G" -- the Supreme Being  -- 1 Corinthians 8:6). Peter lets us know that it is the one Supreme Being who made Jesus to be both Lord and Christ (anointed one). The prophetic words of Messiah in Isaiah 61:1 lets us know that it is Jehovah who anointed and sent Jesus. Jesus lets us know that Jehovah who sent him is his God and Father, the only true God (Supreme Being). In effect, Jesus denies that he is God -- the Supreme Being -- by his words in John 17:1,3.

John 1:1 is only scripture that I can definitely agree that the Greek or Hebrew word for "god/God" in the Bible is applied to Jesus. There may be a very few other scriptures, but all others I cannot be sure of. At any rate, it should be apparent that in John 1:1, or any other scripture where "God/god" is thought to apply to Jesus, it is not being used in the sense of the Supreme Being, but rather in the sense of might, strength, power (the basic Hebrew meaning of the Hebrew word for "God/god". In effect, the Biblical Hebraic usage of the word for "God/god" do not exactly match the English usage of "God/god".

The King James Version (KJV) shows Biblical Heraic usage for the word "god" by rendering the Hebrew word for "God/god" in different ways: The Hebrew word for God/god is rendered as "mighty" in the following verses: Genesis 23:6; Exodus 9:28; Psalms 50:1; 82:1; 89:6; Ezekiel 31:11. The KJV renders the Hebrew word God/god as "power" in the following verses: Genesis 31:29; Proverbs 3:27; Micah 2:1. The KJV renders the Hebrew word for God/god as "might" in Deuteronomy 28:32. The KJV renders it as "strong" in Ezekiel 32:21. This is only a sampling of the Hebraic usage as shown in the Bible; nevertheless, it demonstrates that the Hebrew meaning for God/god can be used of men, without meaning that they are the Supreme Being or that they are false gods. As meaning the Supreme Being, it only applies to the God and Father of Jesus, since only the God of Jesus is the source of all might. (1 Corinthians 8:6) Therefore, what is presented above shows that the Hebrew word for God/god does not exactly correspond to the English usage of the word God/god, else the KJV could have rendered Genesis 31:29 as "It is in the god of my hand."  As it is, however, English, and most other Romantic languages, do not make use of the word "god" in this manner.

Consequently, due the common modern concept of God/god, whenever it is applied to others than the Supreme Being or of false gods, it would be best to render it as the KJV as presented earlier (and all other translations I have examined in many of the scriptures) with some form of might, power, etc. Jesus words recorded in John 10:34-36 shows that the meaning is being brought over into the Greek word often transliterated as THEOS, for Jesus was not saying the sons of the Most High are the Supreme Being, nor was he saying that they are false gods.

Applying the Hebraic usage in John 1:1 would give us the English, "the Word was mighty", not the Word was God (as meaning, "Supreme Being"). This would correspond with the way the King James Version the Hebrew word for "God/god" in Psalm 82:1 ("mighty").The ONLY reason for not doing so with THEOS as applied to the Logos in John 1:1 is due to man's preconceived notion that Jesus is the Suprenme Being, and the further assumption that Jesus is one of three persons of the Supreme Being. This being so, any usage of John 1:1 as an alleged proof of a triune God (which concept is no where ever once presented in the entire Bible) is circular, that is, because we believe that Jesus is the Supreme Being, we believe that THEOS applied to the Logos in John 1:1 means that he is the Supreme Being, thus because of what we believe, John 1:1 is proof that Jesus is the Supreme Being.

Again, 1 Corinthians 8:6 shows that there is only one person who is the source of all, which certainly includes the source of all might, power, strength.

See also some of my studies related to John 1:1:
http://jesus-rlbible.com/?page_id=4871

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Luke 1:35 and the Trinity

Luke 1:35 - The angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one which is born from you will be called the Son of God. -- World English
This scripture is sometimes presented by trinitarians as a proof-text that is alleged to speak of the trinity. The angel is identified as the "angel of Jehovah"* in Luke 1:11 and as Gabriel in Luke 1:19. Gabriel in verse 35 is speaking to Mary.
--------
*In the Old Testament, we never find the expression "angel of the Lord", but it is actually, "angel of Jehovah (or, as some prefer, angel of Yahweh). It should be obvious that in the extant NT manuscripts that in this expression the Holy Name has been changed to a form of the Greek word for "Lord". See also my studies related to "Angel of Jehovah"


Most often, trinitarians simply cite the verse, without comment, and evidently, based on their presumption that the trinity is the default reasoning, imagine that the scripture is speaking of their trinity. According to Walter Martin, the trinity appears in Luke 1:35. (Kingdom of the Cults, 2003 edition, page 83) One claims that one of the things Gabriel accomplished was "to assure Mary that God is Triune"; however, since no idea at all is presented in Luke 1:35 that "God is triune", that idea has to be thought beyond what is stated, and then affixed to, and read into, what is actually stated.

Evidently what the trinitarian is imagining and assuming in this verse is that "the Most High" ("the Highest" in some translations) is not the triune God, but rather is referring to only one person of the triune God, and similarly respecting the "Holy Spirit" and "the Son of God". The "Most High" is definitely speaking of only one person, and that one person is identified in Luke 1:32 as being Jehovah God of Isaiah 9:7. Luke 1:32 thus differentiates Jehovah God from the Son to whom Jehovah gives the throne of David. Jesus is never referred to anywhere in the Bible as being the "Most High".

Additionally, in Luke 1:35 itself, we find that the word "God" -- in the expression, "Son of God" -- is referring to only one person, not three persons. Jehovah God is not in Luke 1:35 or anywhere else in the Bible  revealed to be more than one person. Despite what trinitarians may conceive and read into the scriptures, we have no scriptural reason to think that the word "God" in Luke 1:6, Luke 1:8, Luke 1:16, Luke 1:19, Luke 1:26, Luke 1:30, Luke 1:32, Luke 1:37, Luke 1:47, Luke 1:64, Luke 1:68, Luke 1:78 is speaking of more than one person as "God'; all these verses are speaking of the same one person as being "God", and no where in Luke 1 or anywhere else in the Bible is the only Most High ever presented as being more than one person. Jesus himself identified the "the only true God" as being Jehovah, the one whom he referred to as his father. -- Isaiah 61:1; John 17:1,3.

While God surely made use of his holy spirit in the conception of Mary, and thus Mary gave birth to His Son, this does not mean that we need read the triune God dogma into what is stated.



Monday, December 28, 2015

John 10:38; 14:10,11 - The Father in His Son

This has been moved to:
https://jesusnotyhwh.blogspot.com/2022/03/john10-38.html

God willing, we will be moving all posts in this site and hope to eventually remove this site altogether.

John 1:1 Regarding “Was” and Eternity (moved to Jesus and His God)

This study has been moved to: http://jesusnotyhwh.blogspot.com/2016/12/white.html