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NASB | James 2:19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | James 2:19 You believe that God is one; you do well [to believe that]. The demons also believe [that], and shudder and bristle [in awe-filled terror--they have seen His wrath]! [Deut 6:4; 11:13-21; Mark 12:29] |
Subject: Is God ONE or is God THREE? |
Bible Note: Greetings, fellow Tim. I cannot speak in defense of modalism, because I know very little about it. I have only lately been dubbed a "modalist", and I didn't agree to the charge; I said if the apostles were modalists, then I am one, too. (A little sarcasm was intended there... :) ) I probably have given some of these definitions before, but here they are again, anyway. Father: the invisible, infinite eternal Spirit; always refers to God as a spirit being; the term implies source and origination, and ultimately the source of power underlying all acts attributed to Deity; Son: the visible, finite body of God; here humanity and deity are combined in a perfect union--Son of Man, fully man, perfect man, very man; and Son of God, fully God, perfect God, very God; theologically, the Son is Christ--the anointed of Yah, the long anticipated Coming One; the Son possessed a dual nature, and sometimes He spoke and acted as a man, while at other times He spoke and acted as God; the Son is the incarnation of the Word (which is another term for God--the Logos, mind, logic, intelligence, plan, schema, purpose of God); the purpose of the Son is propitiation, redemption, reconciliation and intercession--to die on the cross as the Lamb of God and then to serve as our High Priest in Heaven itself; the Son is both the sacrifice and the savior, the gift and the giver; He is the passover and the deliverer, the sin offering and the scapegoat; He is the spiritual root and the natural offspring of David; I believe the term Son of God actually means the Body of God, or the personification of God; Holy Spirit: the aspect of the spirit of God as it is given to men to assist, aid, comfort, succour, and defend; after the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Son, the Holy Spirit (i.e., the spirit of the holy God) works with earthbound humanity in regeneration, and serves us as a guide; the Holy Spirit is indeed the Spirit of Christ, as we know that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself"; I believe in the absolute Deity of Jesus Christ, and I do not see three persons in the Godhead in the scripture. I don't agree with the Gnostic teaching you referred to, and I don't know enough about modalism to address it. I do not believe the "God" aspect of the Son died; the Son died in that the "body" died. But Jesus said previously, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." The humanity of the Son died, and the Diety part of the Son raised that body from the grave. Jesus said, "I am in the Father and the Father is in me." Speaking as a man, He existed in the sphere of humanity which is "in" God (the Father) who is omnipresent, i.e., His Spirit exists everywhere. The eternal, invisible Spirit of God (the Father) also was in the Son. If I have not been sufficiently clear, please advise. Thank you. Kind regards, Tim D. Cormier Tennessee Preacher |