Lesson 6 Flashcards
Many passages of Scripture refer to the existence of Jesus before His human life began. Do these references teach that He existed apart from the Father?
A plurality of functions of the Spirit. On the one hand, God places His Spirit in our hearts to teach us to pray and to pray through us. The argument against this would lead us towards a non-biblical plurality of God.
Scriptures such as John 3:17 and 5:30 state that the Father sent the Son. Does this mean that Jesus, the Son of God, is a separate person from the Father? Explain
No. The Son was sent from God as a man, not as God: God formed a plan, put flesh on that plan, and then put that plan in operation. God gave the Son a special task. God manifested Himself in flesh in order to achieve a special goal
Why is it a mistake to found a belief in the Trinity on verses that distinguish between the Father and Son in power, greatness, and knowledge?
If a distinction exists between Father and Son as persons in the Godhead, then the Son is subordinate or inferior to the Father in deity. This would mean that the Son is not fully God, because by definition God is subject to no one.
Jesus mentions His oneness with the Father in John 17:21-22. Explain what He meant here. Is the Father one with Jesus in any other sense?
It means a union - one in mind, purpose, plan, and life - with Christ. The Father was one with Jesus in the sense of His identity.
Several New Testament passages tell us that Jesus sits on the “right hand of God.” How can we understand this expression? What does it signify specifically?
We must understand “right hand of God” in a figurative, symbolic, or poetic sense and not in a physical, bodily sense. This being so, what does the phrase signify? The right hand signifies strength, power, importance and preeminence.
Some contend that the greetings in the Epistles indicate separation of persons in the Godhead. Cite serious problems with this interpretation.
- No mention of the Holy Ghost in these greetings - could teach binitarianism.
- If “and” separates different persons, and other passages are interpreted this way, there are at least four persons in the Godhead (God, the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost)
Some contend that the greetings in the Epistles indicate separation of persons in the Godhead.
What is the better way to understand these passages?
By referring to the Father and Lord Jesus Christ, the writers were emphasising the two roles of God and the importance of accepting Him in both roles.
2 Corinthians 13:14 is often called the “Apostolic Benediction” and is interpreted as being a reference to a Trinity. How can we explain this verse in a way consistent with Oneness?
Basically, the verse conveys three aspects or attributes of God that we can know
Does Ephesians 3:19 indicate that Christians can be filled with the fullness of God in the same manner as the man Christ? If not, how is Christian different from the Christ?
The nature of God is not ours. We can let it shine through us and control us (by walking after the Spirit) but we can also quench it and let our own human natures dominate (by walking after the flesh). Jesus Christ has all the fullness of the Godhead bodily because He is God Himself incarnated. We can have the fullness of God in our lives only as we let Jesus Christ live in us.
Some Trinitarians believe that Philippians 2:6-8 describes two co-equal members of the Godhead, with God, the Son voluntarily emptying himself of many of His attributes as God in the incarnation. What is another interpretation, consistent with the Oneness view?
This verse refers only to the limitations Jesus imposed upon Himself relative to His life as a human. He did not die as God, but as a man. Although Jesus was God, He did not insist on retaining all His rights as God. Instead, He willingly stripped Himself of His right to glory and honour on earth by taking on the nature of man and dying. He did all of this so that He could provide salvation for us.
