How shall we honour the Son?

John 5:22-23 NKJV
22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Some people point out from John chapter 5 that we are to honour the Son as God, just as we honour the Father as God. The emphasis is placed on one single word: "JUST".

Is that so?

No. No where in the New Testament are we taught to honour the Son as God, not even in John 5:23. That would be tantamount to idolatry. Instead we are to honour the Son as the One Anointed by God (Messiah, Christos) just as we honour the Father as our one and only true God.

Let us remember, from Philippians 2:9-11, that when we bow our knees, and when we confess with our tongues "Yeshua the Messiah is Master (Iesous Christos is Lord)", it is TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.

Let us also remember the reason why the Son of God is worthy of such great honour. It is because God has exalted him and has given him a name above all other names. (Phil 2:9).

Indeed, in the very same chapter of the verse quoted above, in John 5:26,27 it is written:
"26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. "

No, we shall not honour the Son as God. Instead let us honour him as Son of Man, to the glory of God who exalted him and gave authority to execute judge.

Let us honour the Son, because he is Son of Man.

Let us stop hiding in the back room

Many Christians dwell in some dark corners of little back rooms instead of coming out into the large spacious and well-lit living room to enjoy the refreshing view.

Those dark and narrow back rooms comprise a sprinkling of scattered, isolated bible verses usually having more than one way of translating or interpretation. These back room bible verses are typically arguable and many translators are uncertain over how they should be rendered in the English translations.

Today I would like to comment on three of these popular "back room" verses which are often quoted by Trinitarian Christians in defence of their belief in the doctrine of the Triniy. At the end of my commentary, I shall contrast such verses with the occurence of an abundance of verses from all over the New Testament verses that explicitly and undeniably tell us of our One and Only True God. I liken the abundant occurence of such verses to our well-lit and refreshing living room.

[All quotations in this post are taken from the Good News Translation, formerly know as Today's English Version.]

Back Room verses quoted by Trinitarian Christians:

(1)
Hebrews 1:8 (Quotation of Psalm 45:6,7)
Your kingdom, O God, will last forever and ever . . .

The footnote of my Bible states that this verse can also be translated as,
"God is your kingdom forever . . ."

It tells us that bible translators are divided over how Hebrews 1:8 should be exactly translated. Is this prophetic Messianic verse addressing the Messiah as "O God" or is it instead saying, "Messiah, God is your kingdom . . ."? We can answer this question if we read on to verse 9:

Hebrews 1:9

You love what is right and hate what is wrong.
That is why God, your God, has chosen you
    and has given you the joy of an honor far greater
    than he gave to your companions.

It is succinctly clear from verse 9 above that God is the God of the Messiah. "Your God has chosen you", this prophetic verse says. If so, then the alternative, "footnote" version of  Hebrews 1:8 would be more consistent with the context of Hebrews chapter1 and therefore a better choice.

(2)
Titus 2:13
" . . .  as we wait for the blessed day we hope for, when the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ will appear."

Like Hebrews 1:8, this verse can also be translated in another way, i.e.

" . . . when the glory of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ will appear."

Again, when we look at this second way of translating Titus 2:13, we realize that it is actually very consistent with the rest of the New Testament, with statements made by both our Master the Messiah as well as by his apostles.

That is, we have One God, and One mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

(3)
1 John 5:20
". . . We live in union with the true God - in union with his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and this is eternal life"

Please note the significance of the phrase, "the true God" and contrast it with "His Son". It is clear that our True God has given us His Son. Our God is the true God. And the True God is our God. We are to be one with our God and one with the Son of God in our new life. The meaning of 1 John 5:20 comes alive to us when we recall the very words of the Son of God in his prayer in John 17:11 and 17:21,

John 17:11
Holy Father! Keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me,[a] so that they may be one just as you and I are one.

John 17:21
 I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me.

THIS, then is what 1 John 5:20 really means when it says "When we are in Him who is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ". The GNT/TEV renders it more succinctly by, "We live in union with the true God - in union with his Son Jesus Christ."

So who then is the true God? It is Him who is true. It is not the Son, who is Christos, the Messiah, the One Anointed by the True God.


Leaving the above verses with their alternative translations and non-explicit interpretation  in their little back rooms, let us move out to the spacious, bright and refreshingly airy living room:

Living Room verses, often ignored by Trinitarian Christians:

Anyone who goes through the New Testament, even with a casual reading, cannot help but notice an abundance of passages and verses, from Matthew all the way to Revelations, that tell of our One True God.

Every single reference to God in the New Testament refers to the Father in Heaven, often addressed as God our Father, or the Father, or God the Father, and very often simply as "God". In other words, every single reference to the Father refers to God, and nobody else.

While the phrase, "God the Father" or "God our Father" is found all over the New Testament, you can never find one single mention of "God the Son" or "God the Spirit:" anywhere in any book or chapter.

Most distinctly is the repeated use by the apostles of the expression, "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" or "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ", telling us that our Master the Messiah has a God, his God and our God.
For a list of examples, too long to include in this post, please view the following:

(a) Thanksgiving, Prayer and Praise in the Epistles

(b) Reasons why you should not believe in the Trinity

(c) Implicit allusions vs Explicit assertions

(d) How can you deny the deity of Yeshua

Dear Christian brothers and sisters, there is no trinity in this brightly lit and well ventilated living room of the New Testament. It is as clear as daylight. The fictitious concept of God-the-Father, God-the-Son and God-the-Holy Spirit, a 3-in-1 trinitarian God-head is nowhere to be found in this large and spacious living.

I urge all who are still dwell in dark corners of their crammed little back rooms, holding on tightly to their questionable interpretations of arguable translations of isolated bible verses, trying to prove the existence of a Trinity, to come out for some fresh air and a clear view of the truth of the One True God.

Let's go to the living room.

Whose testimony is greater?

1 John 5:9-12
9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.


A Trinitarian friend had made the following remark on the above passage:

"The verse is not to convince that we do away with the Father. It is a message from the Father Himself that we focus on the Son . . ."

(His remark was followed by a string of other verses typically used to support the doctrine of the Trinity.)

My reply:

Yes, the words in 1 John 5:9-12 does bring our focus about "His" Son, rather than "the" Son as you have put it.

Keeping the pronoun "His" in mind, and I shall come back to it at the end of this explanation, let us ask a few simple, direct and explicit questions :

Q1. Whose testimony is greater than human testimony?
Answer: God's testimony. Please note that it is the testimony of our God, not just a "person" within a tri-une "God-head", but instead it is OUR one and only true God who makes His testimony.

Q2. Of whom does God testify?
Answer: God testifies of His Son. Yes, God testifies about His Only Begotten Son, not just "The Father testifies about the Son", but instead it is our God, our only true God, who testifies about His Son.
When Peter was asked by God's Son, "Who do you think I am?", he replied with absolute certainty, "You are the Anointed One (Messiah, Christos), the SON OF THE LIVING GOD". (Matt.16:16)

Dear brother, this is THE GOD who has testified. He is the only true God. And He has testified about His Son, our Master, the Messiah. Do you believe that your GOD has testified? If not, beware lest you be found a liar, as you have not believed the testimony of GOD.

Q3. Finally, what is God's testimony about?
Answer: The testimony says, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." Please note carefully, our GOD has given us eternal life. Once again, at risk of being superfluous, I'd like to quote John 17:3 which you have read several times from my previous comments:

John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

This is what 1 John 5:9-12 is trying to tell us.

In closing, I'd like to invite you to ponder over the pronoun "His".

Who is this person? Is he just part of a 3-in-1 substance called the "God-head"? Or is he actually our only true God? It is crucial that we get this right, otherwise we may be found to be among the liars mentioned in 1 John 5:10.

Who is this Son? Whose Son are we talking about?

1 John 5: 11, 12

And this is the testimony, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Yes, we must affirm that eternal life is found in His Son. The pronoun "His" is of utmost importance here. "His" means "God's". In other words, while we find eternal life in "God's Son" , we acknowledge that God is the Father and the Father is God. 

No where in the New Testament do we read that God is the Son or that the Son is God!

Furthermore, the eternal life we find in God's Son, (or Son of God) is made possible by God Himself, whom the Apostles call the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For example,

* the Son of God did not come on his own authority. It was God who sent him (John 7:28,29),

* the Son of God did nothing on his own authority. He said only what God had instructed him to say (John 8:27,28),

* the Son of God did not exalt himself. It was God who exalted him to the highest place, and gave him the highest name (Phil. 2:9)

* the Son of God did not make himself Lord (Master). It was God who made him Master, so that every tongue will confess and every knee will bow at his God-given name, saying, "Yeshua (Iesous) is Lord" 

(Phil 2:10)

* and every tongue confesses that Jesus is Lord not to glorify the Son of God, but instead, "to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:11)

* the Son of God did not raise himself from death. It was God who raised him from the dead. 

(Acts 10:39-41, Acts 13:29, Romans 4: 24 - 25)

Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us uphold our belief in the Son of God, whom God has sent, whom God has authorized to speak, whom God has raised from the dead and to whom God has given the highest name. 

Let us confess "Yeshua (Iesous) is our Master (Lord)" to the Glory of God the Father! 

Romans 4: 24 - 25

It will be reckoned to us who believe in Him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

How Trinitarians learned trinity.

Everyone who believes in the doctrine of the Trinity, who insists that the Messiah Yeshua (Iesous Christos) is part of a triune God, who vehemently condemns others and ridicule others for not believing the Trinity, yes, virtually every Trinitarian Christian was led into believing this dangerous pagan doctrine by some Trinitarian who in turn were taught by other similar Trinitarian.

Likewise, from the first day I turned to God almighty, I was taught by several dear Christian friends that God is 3-in-1, a triune God. Thus began my journey as a trinitarian believer, a journey which started in the year 1977, lasting right through most of 2009, reinforced by many preachers and Christian books along the way.

For more than three decades, I did not question this doctrine, but instead assumed it must be divine truth. I was also taught to question any individual, church or organisation that did not subscribe to this strange doctrine (which did not seem strange at all to me at that time), regarding them all as heretical cults.

I even went so far as to complain to my pastor about an elderly church member who had told me that he didn't believe in the trinity, leading to this gentleman leaving the church and never coming back.

In fact, the doctrine of the trinity became a basis of my interpretation and understanding of the New Testament. In other words, I did not learn Trinity using the New Testament. Instead, I learned New Testament using the Trinity!

By the grace of God our Father in Heaven, one day in October 2009, I came across a book entitled, "Biblical Monotheism" that pointed out how the New Testament apostles and believer believed in the Only True God, just like the Jews have for thousands of years. I woke up to the fact that our Messiah is a Jew. His disciples and apostles were Jews. The early believers were Jews. Yes, in fact, all their holy scriptures are Jewish scriptures!

For the last two and a half years, I have searched the New Testament over and over again, without the predisposition of Trinitarian thinking indoctrinated into me by my early Christian friends. I am convinced, beyond a shadow of doubt, that there is no Trinity in the New Testament.

Until today, I have not come across any trinitarian Christian who believes in the trinity because of his or her own reading of the New Testament. Instead, and my I reiterate, virtually every one of them was led into this belief by some other trinitarian.

My dear Christian brothers and sisters who believe in the Trinity, I urge you to read the New Testament all over again for yourselves.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Master Yeshua the Anointed One (Kurio Iesous Christos).


Ephesians 1:3 NKJV
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,


Acts 5:29-31
We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

A devotion on the Prayer for the Colossians

A few days ago, I posted The Prayer for the Colossians, from Col 1: 3 - 20.
Today, I'd like to point out from this passage that Paul and Timothy prayed for the Colossian brethren in the following way:

(1) they gave thanks to the God and Father of the Master Yeshua Messiah (Iesous Christos), always praying for the Colossian brethren. (v3)

(2) they did not cease to pray for them, asking God:
(2a)- that they may be filled
- - - with the full knowledge of God's will
- - - in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, (v9)

(2b) that they may walk worthily of the Master
- fully pleasing,
- in every good work being fruitful,
- and increasing to the knowledge of God,
- in all might being made mighty
- - - according to the power of His glory,
- - - to all endurance and long-suffering with joy. (v10,11)

(2c) that they may give thanks to God, the Father,
- who made them qualified
- - - for the participation of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
- who rescued them out of the authority of the darkness,
- who translated them into the reign of the Son of His love, (v12,13)

(3) In this prayer, Paul and Timothy also affirmed that:
- the Son is the IMAGE of the invisible God, the firstborn of God in all creation. (v15)
- the first-born out of the dead, (v18)
- it pleased God, the Father, that all fullness should dwell in the Son (v19)
- and it pleased the Father to reconcile all things
- - - whether in heaven and on earth
- - - to Himself,
- - - through His Son, through the blood of his cross (v20)

Dear Christian brothers and sisters, let us likewise affirm and give thanks to God, our Father:
- that our Father is the God and Father of our Master Yeshua Messiah (Iesou Christo)
- that our Father has made us qualified to share in the inheritance of saints,
- that our Father has rescued us out of the authority of darkness,
- that our Father has translated us into the reign of His beloved Son, Yeshua, and
- that our Father is pleased to reconcile all things to Himself through His Son.

Indeed, only our Father in Heaven has done all these things.
Blessed be the Name of our Heavenly Father!
He is the Only True God.

Do you really know him?

Today is the 6th day of the 1st month in the biblical calendar. While sitting in the church hall this morning, I was led to read chapters 7 and 8 of the Gospel according to John and my attention was drawn to the following passages:

John 7: 25-29, cf John 8: 14, 16, 18, 26-28.

The people of Jerusalem are puzzled. They know that this man Yeshua of Nazareth is a wanted man. The religious leaders want to get him executed for his alleged heresies and blasphemies. Yet, they see this man Yeshua preaching boldly in public every day. How come he is not arrested yet? Is he really the Messiah whom they are looking forward to? Is he the promised one, prophesied in the scriptures many years ago?

"No, he can't be", they remarked.

For the ancient scripture tells them that no one will know where the Messiah comes from. This man Yeshua can't be that promised Messiah because they know where he comes from. They all know he comes from Nazareth, of the household of Yosef and Miriam.

The Master Yeshua replies them,

"Do you really know me? Do you know where I come from?"

Yeshua goes on to elaborate:
- that he didn't come on his own authority,
- that God has sent him, and God is faithful,
- that the people of Jerusalem do not know God, but he, Yeshua, knows Him
- that he has come from God and
- that, he reiterated, God has sent him. (John 7:28-29)

Compare the Master's words above with further statements he made in the next chapter (all quotations from the GNT):

John 8:14
I know where I came from and where I am going. You do not know.

John 8:16
the Father who sent me is with me.

John 8:18
I am not alone - the Father who sent me also testifies on my behalf.

John 8:26
the One who sent me is truthful and I tell the world only what I have heard from Him.

Of most significance are his words in John 8:27 - 28, where he tells his audience that,

- they do not understand that he was talking about the Father,
- that when he is "lifted up" (euphemism for being crucified), they will know who  he is,
- that they will know he does nothing on his own authority,
- that he says only what God has instructed him to say.

Summary:
The people of Jerusalem did not know two significant facts about Yeshua of Nazareth:

- they did not know where he came from,
- they did not know who he was talking about.

Christian brothers and sisters, Do we really know our Master? Do we know where he came from?

Let us ponder over the accounts of Yeshua Messiah (Iesous Christos) and remind ourselves, that our Master the Anointed One came from God, and that he talked about God.

Let us fix our hope on God.

1 Peter 1:21 GNT
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from death and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.

The Prayer for the Colossians

From Colossians 1: 3-20
We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
- always praying for you,
- having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus,
- and of the love that [is] to all the saints,

- because of the hope
- - that is laid up for you in the heavens,
- - which ye heard of before
- - in the word of the truth of the good news,

- which is present to you,
- as also in all the world,
- and is bearing fruit, as also in you,
- from the day in which ye heard,
- and knew the grace of God in truth;

- as ye also learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant,
- who is for you a faithful ministrant of the Christ,
- who also did declare to us your love in the Spirit.

Because of this, we also, from the day in which we heard,
- do not cease praying for you,
- and asking that ye may be filled
- - - with the full knowledge of His will
- - - in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

- to your walking worthily of the Lord to all pleasing,
- in every good work being fruitful,
- and increasing to the knowledge of God,
- in all might being made mighty
- - - according to the power of His glory,
- - - to all endurance and long-suffering with joy.

Giving thanks to the Father
- who did make us meet for the participation of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
- who did rescue us out of the authority of the darkness,
- and did translate [us] into the reign of the Son of His love,

- in whom we have the redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of the sins,
- who is the image of the invisible God, first-born of all creation,

- because in him were the all things created,
- those in the heavens,
- and those upon the earth,
- those visible,
- and those invisible,
- whether thrones, whether lordships,
- whether principalities, whether authorities;
- all things through him, and for him, have been created,

- and himself is before all, and the all things in him have consisted.
- And himself is the head of the body -- the assembly --
- who is a beginning,
- a first-born out of the dead,
- that he might become in all [things] -- himself -- first,

- because in him
- - it did please all the fulness to tabernacle,
- and through him
- - to reconcile the all things to himself
- - having made peace through the blood of his cross
- - through him, whether the things upon the earth, whether the things in the heavens.

A Prayer for Enlightenment

The Apostle's Prayer - a prayer for enlightenment,
adapted from Ephesians 1:17-23 (RBV, NIV)

O God of our Master Yeshua Your Anointed One,
Grant us the spirit of wisdom and revelation
    in the knowledge of You, God,
That the eyes of our understanding be enlightened,
That we may know
    what is the hope of Your calling,
    what are the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in the saints and
    what is the exceeding greatness of Your power
                     toward us who believe,
According to the working of your mighty power
    which You worked in Your Anointed One,
    when You raised him from the dead and
                    seated him at Your right hand
                               in the heavenly places,
Far above all principality
    and power
    and might
    and dominion
    and every name that is named,
           not only in this age
           but also in the age to come.
And You put all things under his feet,
And You gave him to be head over all things
        to the Assembly,
        which is his body,
        the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Amen. Amen.

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My thoughts on the Prayer for the Ephesians:

1. That we may know God — our Father (May2010)

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