Modalism
Otherwise
Known as the Oneness Movement
By Dr. Ken Matto
I and my Father
are one. (John 10:30)
There seems to
be a resurgence within Christianity that denies the Trinity.
Denominations such as the following:
Churches
Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God (AOHCG)-13,000
Assemblies of the Lord Jesus, Inc. (ALJI)-50,000
Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ World Wide, Inc. (Bible Way)-250,000
Church of Our Lord Jesus of the Apostolic Faith (COLJF)-30,000
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW)-1,000,000 reported
Pentecostal Church of Apostolic Faith (PCAF)-25,000
United Church of Jesus Christ (Apostolic) (UCJC-A)-100,000
United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI)-500,000 (1.5 million worldwide)
Other Designations
"Jesus Only" churches; "Apostolic Pentecostals"; The
"Oneness Movement"; The "Jesus Name" Movement
Publications
Pentecostal Herald (UPCI)
The Global Witness (UPCI)
The Bible Way News Voice (Bible Way)
The People's Mouthpiece (AOHCG)
The Contender for the Faith (COLJF)
Christian Outlook (PAW)
Educational Institutions
AOHCG: Berean Christian Bible College-Birmingham, Ala.
PAW: Aenon Bible School-Indianapolis, Ind.
UCJC: Institute of Biblical Studies-Baltimore, Md.
UPCI: Apostolic Bible Institute-St. Paul, Minn.
Apostolic Missionary Institute-Oshawa, Ont.
Christian Life College-Stockton, Calif.
Indiana Bible College-Seymour, Ind.
Texas Bible College-Houston, Texas
This Belief Bulletin presents basic Oneness Pentecostal
history and doctrines and provides a biblical analysis and response.
Then you have
famous charismatic charlatan T.D. Jakes who also believes in the Oneness
doctrine. I went to his website to
find his statement of faith and there was none which means he is hiding his
beliefs.
Modalism
basically is the belief that there is one God in three manifestations.
In the Old Testament he is God the Father, then he is Jesus in the flesh,
and now in this time he is the Holy Spirit.
As a Trinitarian, the Bible teaches one God in three persons: The Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit. When
someone cannot explain the trinity, they explain it away and Satan is right
there to give them help.
Modalism is the
resurgence of the false belief of Sabellianism.
It comes from a third century priest named Sabellius who taught in Rome
but may have been of Libyan heritage.
He taught that God was single and inseparable and therefore could not be
in three separate persons so he believed instead in three manifestations instead
of three separate persons. As
Christians we take the trinity on faith because it is a great mystery to us.
As finite beings, it is impossible for us to know everything that an
infinite God does or performs so we take these things on faith.
Now let us turn to the Bible and see if Oneness is a biblical doctrine or
if it is a heresy.
John 14:8-9
{8} Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and
it sufficeth us. {9} Jesus saith
unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then,
Shew us the Father? (John 14:8-9)
Philip was
one of the earliest disciples that Jesus walked with which means about 3½ years
and yet Philip did not understand that Jesus was the express image of the
Father. Philip saw all the miracles which Jesus did and no one could do those
miracles unless they are of God. If you have seen Jesus, then you have seen the
Father and this Philip did not understand so Jesus asks him why would you want
me to show you the Father? Jesus was sent by the Father to this world and both
of them worked in harmony during the entire ministry of Jesus and therefore if
one saw the ministry of Jesus, they were seeing the ministry of the Father.
Philip was showing that at this point that there was not yet full understanding.
Jesus was about to go to the cross and here Philip wanted some type of sign
concerning the Father. One thing
that Philip did not include was the fact that if he saw the Father in glory, he
would be consumed in a non-second because no flesh can stand before the glory of
God.
John 10:30
I and my Father are one.
To understand this verse we must go back to verse 28.
John 10:28
And I
give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand.
There
are also three major teachings in this verse. The first teaching is that those
who Jesus knows as His sheep will be given eternal life. Eternal life for the
believer begins at the moment one becomes saved. This why physical death is only
a portal into Heaven. Physical death of a believer in no way ends the believer’s
life, it begins the life of no pain and suffering for eternity. Then Jesus
states that they will never perish. There are so many Christians who want to
make Jesus a liar by stating that they can lose their salvation. Maybe they can
lose the salvation they have created, like works, but they can never lose the
salvation the Lord gives by grace. Then the third teaching is that no one will
ever have the ability or strength to take a true believer from the sheepfold of
Christ. This is because the true believer has eternal security in Christ.
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with
Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3) Who are
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in
the last time. (1 Peter 1:5)
The
true believer is dead and hidden in Christ plus we are kept by the power of God.
Who or what can transcend the power of God?
John
10:29
My Father,
which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to
pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Jesus
focuses in on the third teaching of verse 28 and now makes a connection between
the keeping power of God and the believer.
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:5) We saw this in the last verse it
basically teaches how God protects and guards the believer to preserve them unto
the day of their home going or the last day rapture. Jesus then adds the comfort
that the power of God and God Himself is greater than any enemy that can come
against the believer. Ye are of God,
little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you,
than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
Satan is beyond his power if He thinks that he is able to remove a
believer from the power and keeping of God. Since God the Father is greater than
all these enemies of the Christian, then what does the Christian have to worry
about? This verse is at the heart of eternal security since God is greater than
all the enemies of the Christian, then how could anyone believe that they can
lose their salvation? It is an untenable belief which has caused so many to go
into works bondage believing they can regain their salvation by doing works. A
horrible belief system.
John
10:30
I and my
Father are one.
Jesus had
previously stated that the sheep were safe in His hands and in the previous
verse He states that they are safe in the Father’s hands. Now Jesus is equating
Himself with the Father and is claiming the same power and ability to keep the
sheep safe from any enemy who would try and pluck them out of the hands of
either. This verse also teaches the unity of the Father and the Son. They are
one in power, one in unity, one in purpose, one in salvation, one in nature, one
in essence, while they are two separate persons. The Jews had asked Jesus to
tell them plainly whether He was the Christ or not. He still does not answer
directly but He gives them a major indicator that if He and His Father are one
and His Father is God, then they really have their answer in this citation.
These two verses are two so-called proof texts for the
Oneness believers. Unless you look
at the context of the verses you will not come to truth.
Isolating verses will never bring you to truth on a subject which
requires more study. Now let us look
at John 10:30 closely.
I and my Father are one.
(John 10:30) Notice it
says, “I and my Father...” When the
word “and” is used it is speaking of two separate persons.
For example, look at a married couple, Abraham and Sarah, two separate
people but considered one flesh.
They are separated by the word “and.”
One more example, David and Jonathan, two separate people separated by an
“and.” Let us attend to some verses
which show that the Godhead is more than one person.
{16} And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up
straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
{17} And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:16-17)
Notice in these two verses the plain revealing of the
trinity. The Lord Jesus was being
baptized and after he came out of the water, he saw the spirit of God descending
upon him and the voice of the Father in Heaven confirming that Jesus was his
Son. Those two verses are
irrefutable truth of the existence of the trinity.
If a doctrine is taught, it must harmonize throughout the entire Bible or
else it is an erroneous belief and must be rejected and restudied.
Other Verses
which refute the Oneness Doctrine
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed
them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
(Matthew 17:5)
And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a
voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
(Mark 9:7)
{34} While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and
overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.
{35} And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved
Son: hear him. (Luke 9:34-35)
Here are three separate descriptions of Christ on the
Mount of Transfiguration and each one records the Father in Heaven speaking to
the three disciples confirming that Jesus was his beloved Son.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
(John 6:37)
Notice in John 6:37 that the Father is the one who gives
the believer to his Son Jesus. Again
revealing two separate people.
And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath
appointed unto me; (Luke 22:29)
The Father appointed a kingdom for Jesus showing again
two separate people.
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and
I work. (John 5:17)
The word “hitherto” contains the Greek word “arti” which
means “now.” This means that both
the Father and the Son were working simultaneously showing two persons doing two
jobs.
If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also:
and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
(John 14:7)
Here Jesus states that from the time he made this
statement that the disciples will know the Father and will see him.
How can this be accomplished?
(Hebrews 1:3) Who being the
brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,
when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high; Jesus
was the direct image of God the Father and those who saw the miracles of Jesus,
such as the raising of Lazarus, was also seeing the glory of the Father through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Soon the disciples will know the Father even more
intimately by reason of the indwelling Holy Spirit which they will receive in 53
days. The relationship between the disciples and the Father will now become a
greater reality. There is one other way that we see the Father. When we look at
the creation after becoming born again, we look at it in a new light. We see how
beautiful the colors are like the blue skies against the green trees and we also
see the wisdom found in the creation. The way the animals are and the wisdom God
placed in them. There is the Grand Canyon, Old faithful Geyser which erupts
every 90 minutes, and many other wonders God has placed here. So we see the
Father in a new light after we become born again.
If you
notice in Hebrews 1:3, Jesus sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
If only the Holy Spirit is the third manifestation as the Modalists
believe, then who is Jesus sitting on the right hand of?
Here it is showing plainly that God the Father and God the Son are both
in Heaven at the same time. Go back
to John 14:7, the Modalists teach that the Holy Spirit is the final
manifestation of God and yet Jesus tells his disciples that from this point on,
they are going to know the Father and will see him.
But how can that be if the Holy Spirit is the third manifestation? The
Father would not be there so how would they know the Father if the Father is not
there in the future? Now they might
claim that he will be there in eternity but what about the past 2,000 years, how
could they know him if he was not in Heaven?
Genesis 1:26
And
God said, Let
us make man in
our image, after
our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
(Genesis 1:26)
Another
tremendous verse which puts the death knell to Modalism is Genesis 1:26.
Notice the wording in this verse.
“God said…” The Hebrew word
for God in this verse is “elohim” which implies plurality.
We can see this by the suffix “im” which means it is a plural word.
The word “elohim” means that three or more are in view.
“Elohiam” means two and is not used in the Hebrew Scriptures and “el”
means one. If Modalism was a true
teaching then the word “el” would be used denoting one person but because
“elohim” is used thousands of times in the Hebrew Scriptures, it refers to more
than one person which we call the Trinity.
Now look at the other two phrases in this verse, “in our image” and
“after our likeness.” Notice the
word “our” and how it is used. First
it is a possessive pronoun which man was going to be created in the image of God
and after the likeness of God. Now
we come to the word “our” and its usage.
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which
from the beginning of the world hath been hid in
God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
(Ephesians 3:9) In
Genesis 1:26 we have God the Father speaking to God the Son concerning the
creation of man. If God was a single
person and there existed no trinity, then who was he talking to?
It could not have been the angels because they are created beings and are
not creators of anything. Their
primary reason of existence is to serve the LORD.
Man was not created in the image and likeness of angels.
Was God the Father talking to himself?
Or was he talking to His Son because the trinity does exist? Ephesians
3:9 states that God created all things by Jesus Christ and man fits into all
things. Ephesians 3:9 confirms the
fact of the teaching of Genesis 1:26 that there is more than one person in the
Godhead. God the Father was speaking
with God the Son concerning the creation of man in the image and likeness of
God. This means right at the outset
of the Bible, the theory of Modalism has been destroyed.
Summary
The Bible
completely refutes the idea of the Oneness doctrine as you read in these few
verses that all the members of the trinity are plainly recorded so the
Christians will be led into all truth as the Holy Spirit will do.
The Old as well as the New Testament refutes the heresy of modalism and
is to be rejected because the Bible openly disproves it as we saw.
We expect cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses to reject the trinity but
when Christians do it, it causes much confusion especially for new and young
Christians. Reject what the Bible
rejects and truth will fill in the rest!