ONENESS OBJECTION # 4 – JESUS PRAYING TO, AND SPEAKING OF THE FATHER If God and Jesus are not two different persons in the Godhead, why did Jesus talk about The Father? Why did He pray to The Father? This has to indicate the doctrine of The Trinity, right? This objection is raised because of portions of the gospels in which Jesus prays to The Father, and often speaks to his followers about The Father. Examples: John 17: 1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: John 14: 1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. Matthew 24: 36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PROBLEMS WITH THIS BELIEF? 1. The biggest problem with this belief being proof of The Trinity, ironically, IS the doctrine of The Trinity. Consider its fundamental teaching: One God, in three persons – CO-ETERNAL, CO-EQUAL, and CO-EXISTENT. In the Trinitarian dogma, they are referred to as God the Father, “God the Son” and “God the Holy Ghost”. Note: the 2nd and 3rd persons are in quotations because they are NOT biblical terms. 2. Traditional Trinitarian theology teaches that co-eternal God the Father sent an already existing, co-eternal God the Son down to earth to now become a begotten Son. 3. The Son can either be eternal, or begotten – but not both. Eternal means “no beginning and no ending”. Begotten, of course, has a beginning. God so loved the world that He gave His only eternal Son? No, His only begotten Son. (John 3: 16) Jesus was not sent as a man from outer-space, He was conceived by the Holy Ghost and begotten at Bethlehem. 4. If the Son was “co-equal” with The Father, He would NOT have to pray to Him. Co-equality does not need help from co-equality. 5. If the Son was “co-equal” with The Father, He WOULD have known everything that the Father knew. SO WHY DID JESUS NEED TO PRAY? WHY DID HE SPEAK TO US ABOUT THE FATHER AS THOUGH GOD WERE A DIFFERENT PERSON? The key to understanding the prayers or declarations of Jesus concerning The Father is found right here: 1 Timothy 2: 3 – 6 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. First of all, note that God is our Savior. We do not have two Saviors. Since we know that Jesus died to save us, we know that Jesus is God. (Compare Isaiah 43: 11 to Luke 2: 11) It was God’s will that ALL be saved, and come to the knowledge of the Truth. What truth? The Truth about God; about who He is, about what he is like, and about how we can spend eternity in His presence. The means in which God provided this was through the life and death of Jesus Christ. His life, because His mission while on earth was to teach us about both the mercy and the judgment of God, how to pray, how to exercise our faith, etc. His death, because through death He provided the “ransom” that was due for the penalty of our sins. The Son of God – the MAN CHRIST JESUS - became the mediator, the go-between, the bridge to link man back to God. Why did He pray? Because as the Son of God He was also fully human, being born of a woman. He felt the pains, the sorrows, and the weariness that humanity feels. He was dependent upon and in subjection to the Almighty Spirit of God (The Father). His prayers taught us how we also are to be dependent on our Heavenly Father. Though we may be spirit-filled, we always need our communion with the One who has filled us. Jesus also came to be an example to us in subjection, devotion, witnessing, endurance, etc. Why did He speak about God? Again, because He was the link between God and men, and He was born to show us the way to God. Also because Jesus was the means by which God chose to come down and speak to His creation. In the Old Testament, God spoke in various ways, including His audible voice and through the prophets. In the New Testament, He spoke through His Son: Hebrews 1: 1 - 3 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person…(NKJV) Conclusion: Jesus speaking of the Father, or praying to The Father, does NOT contradict the Oneness doctrine. Contrary to some misconceived ideas, Jesus was not praying or speaking to Himself. The key distinction is One God and one mediator – The Spirit of God and the physical body of Christ. The Son of God came to teach us about our Heavenly Father. He came to example an overcoming life. He came to die on a cross to pay the ransom owed for our sins. It is the greatest story ever told! Jesus was the Word (the logos, the plan of God) made flesh. (See John 1: 1 – 14). He was not “God the Son” made flesh – He was God manifest in flesh. (See 1 Timothy 3: 16) God was in Christ; The Spirit was in the body; The Father was in the Son - reconciling the world back to Himself. (See 2 Corinthians 5: 19; John 14: 10, 11) The Father came down to our level, on our terms, to draw us back to Himself. His “Son”, was none other than His body that was needed to shed blood for the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. (See Hebrews 10:4– 10) Galatians 4: 3 – 5 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. There has never been a son without the fusion of a father and mother. Mary did not exist before creation, and neither did “God the Son”. When the time was come, The Holy Spirit of God overshadowed Mary and she conceived the Son of God. The Son is not the 2nd person in the Godhead, the Son is the incarnation of God himself. Jesus said, “I and my Father are one” – John 10: 30. Some would argue that that is in unity, and not in essence. I would argue that either way points to the Oneness belief. The Spirit of God abided in the body of Jesus. This does not form two persons any more than our human spirit and our human body would make us two persons. The Word was made flesh, and lived among men. His final word was Jesus. Luke 1: 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. @Back on Track Bible Studies- Rick Flores (From Withstanding The Winds)
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 12:35:56 +0000
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