Study – Grow – Know

False Teachers and Prophets, Part 7

October 19, 2020 at 10:15 AM 4 comments

In part six of this series, we highlighted the problem of the “name it, claim it” camp of people within Christendom. God will give us whatever we want, they say, as long as we ask in faith. If you happen to be at a church where this is taught, I suggest that you find another church quickly.

Today, I want to highlight another error that has come into and remains embedded within segments of the visible church. That error is Oneness Pentecostalism or Oneness Theology (since you don’t have to be a Pentecostal to embrace this). This is the belief that God is not three separate Persons in One Divinity, but God is simply one Person who at times poses as Jesus, at other times poses as God the Father and still at other times, as the Holy Spirit.

In other words, people who embrace this heretical view are essentially anti-Trinitarian. Most are aware that the Jehovah’s Witness cult embraces Oneness theology because they deny that God is three in one. To them the Trinity represents polytheism; the belief in more than one God.

“Oneness theology also maintains that baptism is a necessary part of salvation; that is, in order to be saved, one must be baptized and by immersion.  If you are not baptized, you cannot be saved.  However, not only must baptism be by immersion but also it must be administered with the formula “In Jesus’ name” rather than the formula “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” which is mentioned in Matthew 28:19. Finally, this baptism must be administered by a duly ordained minister of a church that maintains Oneness theology:  United Pentecostal, United Apostolic, etc.”

For the people who believe and embrace this error, the thief on the cross could not have been saved because even though Jesus told him he would be joining Him (Jesus), that day in paradise, the thief had absolutely no way of getting off the cross and being baptized through immersion.

Put another way, what we are basically talking about here is the heresy of Modalism. This heresy goes back into history to the second and third centuries with Praxeas and Sabellius respectively. Generally people who hold to Modalism accuse the rest of us of worshipping many “gods” because we worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

To reiterate, when Jesus lived on the earth, that was God in the flesh. When He ascended into heaven, that was God, the Father. When the Church was born in Acts 1 & 2, that was God as the Holy Spirit; all the same Person, simply posing with another identity. What is strange of course then is why Jesu would take any time at all to pray to God the Father. So Modalism doesn’t point to separate individuals of the same Godhead, but denotes different representations of existence for the same Person; who is always just one person as God.

One of the more well known proponents of Modalism is a man who is known throughout the world as a great preacher, who has sold millions of books and whose face is recognized wherever he goes. That person is T. D. Jakes. Jakes pastors a church that has over 17,000 people who attend. Interestingly enough when you read part of his statement of faith, unless you’re paying very close attention, you won’t really see the problem.

THREE DIMENSIONS OF ONE GOD…Triune in His manifestation, being both Father, Son and Holy Ghost AND that He is Sovereign and Absolute in His authority. We believe in the Father who is God Himself, Creator of the universe. (Gen. 1:1; John 1:1). [1]

The above statement came from T D Jakes’ Potter’s House Statement of Faith from 1998. This was changed later to read the following way.

There is one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three manifestations: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [2]

If you glance over that quickly without paying a great deal of attention, you might not see anything wrong with it. Notice though in both cases, the word “manifestations” is used, along with the phrase “three dimensions” in the earlier version of that statement.

Both “dimensions” and “manifestations” are problematic because they suppresses the truth by making it seem as though there are three separate and distinct Persons in the Trinity. However, a close examination reveals that the statement says that God manifests or “shows Himself” as either the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit at different times. This is also the meaning behind the use of the phrase “three dimensions.”

Isn’t it amazing how error, once it makes its way into Christendom, even though it is thoroughly rebuked and debunked by Christian leaders and even church councils in history, continues to gain new followers? It doesn’t seem to matter what the error is either. There are always new people from a new generation willing to embrace those errors in spite of how often those errors are clearly denounced and do not line up with the truth of Scripture.

This is exactly why idolatry and other problems continued to exist within the Israel that left Egypt. With each new generation, they often looked back and gravitated toward the same errors that their fathers participated in. The same holds true for these errors today that began even while the apostles lived! Each new generation finds gullible people who are willing to take them up and carry them again, teaching them to people from that generation.

If you take a look at the pastoral staff page of the Potter’s House, you’ll note that there are plenty of pastors associated with that church and not all are at that particular location, but likely have been sent to start churches in other areas. But the 13 leaders all very likely agree with T. D. Jakes and his Oneness theology or they would probably not be employed there.

Thirteen people who teach and have charge over members of those congregations, with their heretical belief of Modalism. Ultimately, Modalism denounces the truth of God because it negates the character of God as revealed in Scripture. It denies the reality that is taught in Scripture, that God is three in One, all equal and existing in three separate Persons. You can read our own belief statement regarding the Trinity on “Our Beliefs” page.

By the way, I won’t even talk about the fact that there are numerous women at Jakes’ church who are in pastoral roles. We’ll probably deal specifically with that in an upcoming article, although so much has been written on that subject by so many, it’s doubtful that any Christian today is not aware of that.

So we see that in general, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and United Pentecostal Church and apparently, Megachurch pastor Steve Furtick [3] all embrace the heretical Oneness theology. Of course, since Furtick has been known to spend time with Jakes even inviting him to preach at his church, it would not be unusual for Furtick to begin to adopt some of Jakes’ theology. Furtick is also part of the false prosperity “name it, claim it” gospel crowd.

So what can authentic Christians do? Well clearly, we need to know what the Bible teaches. We need to study to show that we are approved workmen who need not be ashamed when we stand before God at the BEMA Seat of Judgment. We also need to warn other Christians when we see them dabbling with or embracing areas of theology that are known to be heretical. This of course, should be done with much love and humility not arrogantly or in their face.

The other thing that is essential is to pray for people we personally know that may be under the heresy spell. All too often, people are unwilling to see another side of the coin if it means admitting that they are holding to error. It’s hard for people to willingly acknowledge that what they believe could well be error because of pride. Who wants to admit that they may believe something that is anti-biblical? It’s embarrassing so most refuse to recognize or admit it. People don’t like being wrong.

We’ll be back next time with another error that has found favor within certain circles of Christendom!

[1] http://jesusiscreator.org/?p=247

[2] Ibid

[3] https://reformationcharlotte.org/2020/03/04/steven-furtick-denies-orthodox-view-of-trinity-embraces-modalism-heresy/

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