{"id":2312,"date":"2022-06-17T19:12:46","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T19:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acfar.org\/?p=2312"},"modified":"2022-06-28T23:50:55","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T23:50:55","slug":"warning-oneness-pentecostalism-jesus-only-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acfar.org\/index.php\/2022\/06\/17\/warning-oneness-pentecostalism-jesus-only-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning: “Oneness Pentecostalism” (Jesus Only)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PDF Version<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WARNING: “ONENESS PENTECOSTALISM”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(THE “JESUS ONLY” CULT)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Real Christians have always believed that there is only one true God. <\/strong>Numerous Bible verses teach this. For example, in Isaiah 43:10 God declares, \u201cBefore Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me.\u201d But merely believing in only one God doesn\u2019t guarantee that someone is a genuine Christian. (Even the demons believe that there is only one God, and they shudder!\u2013James 2:19)

For centuries the biblical doctrine of the Trinity has rightly been considered a central and essential teaching of the historic Christian faith,<\/strong> affirmed by all true Christians everywhere. Here is a simple summary of what Scripture teaches about this important doctrine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God eternally exists as three distinct,<\/strong>
co-equal, and co-eternal Persons:<\/strong>
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But today there is a group of churches that twists and changes what the Bible says about the \u201coneness\u201d of God. <\/strong>Even though they call <\/em>themselves Pentecostals, \u201cOneness Pentecostals\u201d are dangerously different in what they teach. Their main belief\u2013a very ancient heresy called \u201cmodalism\u201d\u2013says the biblical doctrine of the Trinity is false. Instead, they misread the Bible to claim that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all just one person: Jesus. \u201cOneness\u201d churches trace this belief back to a third-century heretic named Sabellius, and some of their followers claim the doctrine was \u201crediscovered\u201d by revelation at a Pentecostal camp meeting near Los Angeles in 1913.

\u201cOneness\u201d churches use many different names around the world. <\/strong>They include the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI); World Christian Ministries Association; and United Apostolic Church of Uganda (UACU). Many simply know them as \u201cJesus Only\u201d or \u201cApostolic\u201d churches. <\/strong>Some \u201cOneness\u201d preachers\u2013like singers Phillips, Craig, & Dean\u2013are celebrities among unsuspecting Christians.

\u201cOneness\u201d groups aggressively work to deceive and convert Christians who believe in the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. <\/strong>Their missionaries boast about re-baptizing Trinitarian pastors and their congregations! So Christians need to be warned about two main teachings that \u201cOneness\u201d missionaries use to trap evangelical believers into false worship: modalism<\/em><\/strong> and requiring baptism in Jesus\u2019 name<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MODALISM<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Modalism falsely claims that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all just one person.<\/strong> Each of them is simply a \u201cmode\u201d in which God operates. Modalists say this is like a man who plays different roles in life as a father, a husband, and a teacher. This doesn\u2019t mean that the father and husband and teacher are three different people\u2013they\u2019re different \u201cmodes\u201d (or titles) used by the same man. Likewise, modalism says that God is only one person but operates in three modes: the Father in creation, the Son in redemption and the Spirit in regeneration. According to them, \u201cJesus\u201d is the name of all three persons! We only call Jesus \u201cthe Son\u201d to refer to Him after He was born here on earth.

But this isn\u2019t what the Bible teaches. <\/strong>Though we can\u2019t understand it fully, Scripture reveals that within the nature of the one true God there are three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Yet the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. For instance, Galatians 4:4 and John 3:16 describe God the Son (Jesus) as living alongside <\/em>God the Father before He was born on earth. In John 8:17\u201318, Jesus appeals to the Old Testament law stating that \u201cthe testimony of two witnesses is true.\u201d Then He explains that \u201cI am one who testi\u00ef\u00ac\u0081es for Myself; My other witness is the Father, who sent Me.\u201d If Jesus is the both Father and the Son, then there would only be one witness, and Jesus\u2019 testimony would be invalid (see also John 5:31\u201332).

In John 14:16\u201317, Jesus tells the disciples that He will ask the Father to give them another Helper (or Comforter): the Holy Spirit.<\/strong> Is Jesus asking Himself?<\/em> Is the Father sending Himself? <\/em>Indeed, this is completely different from someone who is simultaneously a father, husband, and teacher. It would make no sense for the husband to say, \u201cI will ask the father [that\u2019s me<\/em>], and he will send the teacher [that\u2019s me, too<\/em>].\u201d Though the relationship among the persons of the Trinity is hard for us to grasp, passages like John 14:16\u201317 can only make sense if the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons within the one being of God. (Also consider Matthew 3:16\u201317, which describes Jesus being baptized, the Father speaking from heaven, and the Spirit descending. All three of them are right there at the same time, yet each one of them is clearly distinct from the others.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOneness\u201d followers will often quote Colossians 2:9, which says that \u201cin Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.\u201d This verse tells us that Jesus is fully God. But \u201cOneness\u201d followers misapply the passage to argue there can\u2019t be a distinct divine person other than Jesus. Why is this logic false? For example: Just because you (the reader) are fully human, this doesn\u2019t mean that no one else is human! You can be fully \u201chuman\u201d in your nature while others are equally human. In just the same way, Jesus is fully God at the same time that the Father and Spirit are also<\/em> fully God.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REQUIRING BAPTISM IN JESUS\u2019 NAME<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOneness\u201d cultists don\u2019t baptize \u201cin the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit\u201d<\/strong> (Matthew 28:19). They claim that the words \u201cFather, Son, and Holy Spirit\u201d aren\u2019t names, but titles<\/em>. They reason that for us to obey Matthew 28:19 we must find out what the name (singular) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is. As we explain above, \u201cOneness\u201d followers falsely teach that \u201cJesus\u201d is the name of all three titles. They claim this is why Peter preached, \u201cRepent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins\u201d (Acts 2:38). They will also tell you that Jesus\u2019 words in Matthew 28:19 were never used by anyone in the Book of Acts, and instead the disciples always baptized \u201cin the name of Jesus\u201d (see Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5). They insist that true and correct baptism must always<\/em> be done by speaking the words \u201cin the name of Jesus.\u201d

There are big problems with this \u201cOneness\u201d requirement. <\/strong>First, \u201cJesus\u201d is not the name of God the Father. Jesus Himself would sometimes use the word \u201cwe\u201d when talking about His Father (see John 14:23), so \u201cJesus\u201d can\u2019t be the Father\u2019s personal name.

But is speaking the exact words \u201cin Jesus\u2019 name\u201d required for baptism? No<\/em>\u2013and here\u2019s why:<\/strong> The \u201cOneness\u201d argument only seems<\/em> to make sense in English translations of the Bible, because in the four separate accounts of baptism \u201cin Jesus\u2019 name,\u201d the original Greek language uses different words. \u201cOneness\u201d followers may say these differences don\u2019t matter, but they really do. Ask yourself: If God were requiring an exact formula to use, then why didn\u2019t He give us one? The formula would have to be exactly the same in every account\u2013but it isn\u2019t. Only Acts 8:16 and 19:5 are identical. But instead of saying \u201cin the name of Jesus Christ\u201d\u2013as in Peter\u2019s sermon\u2013they say \u201cin the name of the Lord Jesus.\u201d Acts 2:38 and 10:48 are almost identical in the Greek, but they use different prepositions. Hence, the wording in the four accounts have three different formulas<\/em>. God doesn\u2019t require Christians to use an identical formula all the time and everywhere.

So why do we find a difference between the accounts in Acts and the one in Matthew 28:19?<\/strong> The key is to correctly understand the meaning of the phrase \u201cin the name of Jesus.\u201d This phrase doesn\u2019t mean that there is something magical about Jesus\u2019 name that makes the baptism valid. Instead, \u201cin the name of\u201d is a common expression that means \u201cby the authority of\u2026.\u201d For instance, you may have heard someone say, \u201cHalt in the name of the law!\u201d This doesn\u2019t mean that the law has an actual name of some kind. Instead, this is calling on the authority <\/em>of the law to command someone to stop. In the same way, when Peter said \u201cIn the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!\u201d (Acts 3:6), he wasn\u2019t using a mandatory formula for healing lame people; Peter healed the man by Jesus\u2019 authority (see also 1 Samuel 17:45).

So when you read the verses in Acts about \u201cbaptism in Jesus\u2019 name,\u201d notice: None of them quotes anybody actually speaking the phrase \u201cIn the name of Jesus!\u201d aloud when they baptize.<\/strong> Instead, all these accounts merely tell us that people were baptized in the name of<\/em>\u2013that is, by the authority of<\/em>\u2013Jesus. No special words are spoken. And importantly, Matthew 28:19 doesn\u2019t give us a formula either. Instead, it commands us to baptize by the authority of <\/em>the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Throughout the centuries, Christians have used Matthew 28 when they baptize\u2013not because those words are required, but because they\u2019re honoring the authority<\/em> by which they\u2019re commanded to baptize. In short, it\u2019s not wrong to baptize using the words \u201cin the name of Jesus,\u201d but it is<\/em> wrong to exclude others from salvation by saying that this is the only true and correct way to baptize.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHAT MUST WE DO?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First, we mustn\u2019t be deceived into false worship. <\/strong>The Bible commands believers to \u201cworship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness\u201d (Psalm 29:2). God\u2019s call to worship is not a burden, but should be a delight to Christians! As we consider the wonders of God\u2019s nature, the riches of His majesty and the depth of His love, our response should be worship. But how are we to worship God? Jesus explains that \u201cthose who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth\u201d<\/strong> (John 4:24)\u2013i.e., according to how He reveals Himself in Scripture. The god preached by \u201cOneness\u201d Pentecostals is not the true God of the Bible, so we must reject it. How tragic for a Christian to be deceived by this cult, become an enemy of Christ and His people, and waste the rest of his or her life worshipping a false god!

Second, recognize that \u201cOneness\u201d Pentecostal missionaries divide the Body of Christ.<\/strong> They come to Christians as the \u201cwolves in sheep\u2019s clothing\u201d that Jesus warned us about (Matthew 7:15). They confuse Christians about God in order to lead them into their cult, and they boast of re-baptizing Trinitarian pastors and entire congregations\u2013as though they were trophies.

What attitude should we have as Christians when we meet such \u201cOneness\u201d followers?<\/strong> The Bible tells us to be ready to have an answer for them, and to offer it \u201cwith gentleness and respect\u201d (1 Peter 3:15). We should also \u201cnot be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will\u201d (2 Timothy 2:24\u201326). May God use your patience and prayers to help others break free from this deception!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more, watch our video responses to “Oneness” teaching at
www.tinyurl.com\/CFAR-Oneness-Part1<\/a>and www.tinyurl.com\/CFAR-Oneness-Part2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PDF Version WARNING: “ONENESS PENTECOSTALISM” (THE “JESUS ONLY” CULT) Real Christians have always believed that there is only one true God. Numerous Bible verses teach this. For example, in Isaiah 43:10 God declares, \u201cBefore Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me.\u201d But merely believing in only one God doesn\u2019t guarantee… <\/p>\n

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