Pastor Mills Blog

The Foundation Series – DOCTRINE - Lesson 6

There are three things that define the true Church:
1. Apostolic Doctrine
2. Pentecostal Experience
3. Christian Lifestyle

This is the last lesson on this particular Doctrine Series. I hope you've enjoyed reading the lessons, but more importantly I hope it has reinforced what you already knew or opened your eyes to the revelation of the Might God IN Christ!

We'll close out this series by breaking down three familiar roles of God:

“Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”

In this final lesson of our series on Apostolic Doctrine, we are going to explore the relationships and distinctions among the three terms of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We’ll look at whether these terms identify three different persons or personalities in the Godhead, or whether they indicate three different roles, modes, functions, or offices through which the one God operates and reveals Himself.


“Father”

The term “God the Father” is biblical and refers to God Himself. (Galatians 1:1-4/ KJV) says, “Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:

3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:”

God is our Father; He is NOT merely Father of the Son, but the Father of all creation. He is also our Father by reason of the new birth according to (Romans 8:14-16/ KJV) where it says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”

The title Father indicates a relationship between God and man, particularly between God and His Son and between God and regenerated man.

The Bible plainly states that there is only one Father in (Ephesians 4:4-6/ KJV) where it says, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” It also clearly teaches that Jesus is the one Father in scriptures like:

(Isaiah 9:6/ KJV) – “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

(John 10:30/KJV) – “I and my Father are one.”

The Spirit that dwelt in the Son of God was none other than the Father! It is also important to note that the NAME of the Father is Jesus, for this NAME fully reveals and expresses the Father. We see this revealed in (John 5:43/KJV) where it says, “I (Jesus speaking) am come in my Father's name.” So according to scripture, the Son inherited the Father’s name, therefore, we understand why Jesus said that He manifested and declared the Father’s name in (John 17).

Let’s take a look at (John 17: 3, 6, 8, 10-12, 14, 20-23, 25-26/ KJV). Jesus is praying to the Father and he says, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

6 I (Jesus) have manifested thy name (the Father’s name) unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26 And I (Jesus) have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

In what name did the Son come? What name did He obtain from His Father by inheritance? What name did the Son manifest? The answer is obvious. The only name HE used was the name of JESUS, His Father’s name.


“Son”

Basically, the term “Son of God” refers to God as manifested in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind. The name of the Son is JESUS: “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS” (Matthew 1:21/ KJV). Since Father refers to deity alone, while “Son of God” refers to deity as incarnated in humanity, we do NOT believe that the Father is the Son. But we do believe that the Father is IN the Son. (John 14:8-10/ KJV) says,
“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? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”

Jesus claimed that the Father was IN Him, therefore, to see just Him was to see the Father. Since Jesus is the name of the Son of God, both as to His deity as Father and as to His humanity as Son, it is the NAME of both the Father and the Son!


“Holy Ghost”

The terms “Holy Ghost” and “Holy Spirit” are interchangeable, meaning identically the same thing. The “Holy Ghost/ Holy Spirit” is simply God. God is Holy (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:16) and God is also a Spirit (John 4:24), and there is only one Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:4). Therefore, the “Holy Ghost/ Holy Spirit” is another term for the one God.

We can compare of couple of Scriptures that will reveal that the Holy Ghost and God are the same:

(Acts 5:3-4/ KJV) says, “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”

(1 Corinthians 3:16/ KJV) says, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

So, if the Holy Ghost is simply God, why is there a need for this term? The reason is that it emphasizes a particular aspect of God. It emphasizes that He who is a holy, omnipresent, and invisible Spirit works among all men everywhere and can fill the hearts of men. When we speak of the Holy Ghost, we are reminding ourselves of God’s invisible work among men and of His ability to anoint, baptize, fill, and indwell human lives. The term speaks of God in activity!

It refers to God moving among mankind to regenerate man’s fallen nature and enable him to do the supernatural will of God in the world. The Holy Ghost is revealed and received through the name JESUS! He is NOT a separate person with a separate identity who comes in another name. Jesus said in (John 14:26/KJV), “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name…” So the Holy Ghost comes in the name of Jesus!


“Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”

It is clear that the terms Father, Son, and Holy Ghost cannot imply three separate persons, personalities, wills, or beings. They can only denote different aspects or roles of one Spirit-being—the one God. They describe God’s relationships to man, not persons in a Godhead! We use Father to emphasize God’s roles as Creator, Father of spirits, Father of the humanity of Jesus Christ, and Father of born again believers. We use Son to mean both the humanity of Jesus Christ and God as He manifested Himself in the flesh for the purpose of man’s salvation. We use Holy Ghost to emphasize God’s active power in the world and among men, particularly His work in regeneration.

But we should note that these titles are NOT the only ones God has! Many other titles or names for God are very significant and appear throughout the Bible (refer back to Lesson 3). The oneness view does NOT deny Father, Son, or Holy Ghost, but it does refute the view that these terms designate persons in the Godhead. God has many titles, but He is one being. He is indivisible as to His existence, but His revelation of Himself to mankind has been expressed through many channels, including His revelation as the Father, in the Son, and as the Holy Ghost!

(Ephesians 3:14-17/ KJV) says, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom (Jesus Christ) the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love.”

In other words, this scripture identifies the Spirit in a Believer’s heart as the Father’s Spirit and also as Christ. The Father, Christ, and the Spirit all refer to the one INDIVISIBLE God!


“Matthew 28:19”

(Matthew 28:19/ KJV) says, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”

In this verse, Jesus commanded His disciples to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” However, this verse of Scripture does NOT teach that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three separate persons. Rather, it teaches the titles of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost identify ONE NAME and therefore one being. The verse plainly says “in the name,” NOT “in the names.”

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all describe the one God, so the phrase in (Matthew 28:19) simply describes the one NAME of the one God. The Old Testament promised that there would come a time when Jehovah would have one name and that this one name would be made known (Zechariah 14:9; Isaiah 52:6). We know that the one name of (Matthew 28:19) is Jesus, for Jesus is the name of the Father (John 5:43), the Son (Matthew 1:21), and the Holy Ghost (John 14:26). The New Testament church understood this to be so, for they baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5; 1 Corinthians 1:13). Matthew himself endorsed this interpretation by standing with Peter and the other apostles during the sermon in which Peter commanded the people to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:14-38).

So, the same Matthew who wrote (Matthew 28:19) was in the upper room according to (Acts 1:13), received the Holy Ghost in (Acts 2:1-4) and was standing with Peter in (Acts 2:14-38) when Peter preached the first Apostolic message including the Plan of Salvation which required: Repentance, water Baptism in the NAME of JESUS CHRIST, and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost!

(Acts 22:16/ KJV) says, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”

If that’s NOT enough, read (James 2:7/ KJV) where it says, “Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?” Now read it in the Amplified Bible: “Is it not they who slander and blaspheme that precious name by which you are distinguished and called [the name of Christ invoked in baptism]?” This verse of Scripture indicates the name Jesus was orally invoked at Baptism!

The Lord did NOT leave us without a baptismal formula; the church correctly carried out the instructions Jesus gave in (Matthew 28:19) when the apostles used the name of Jesus in water Baptism.

This interpretation of the one name in (Matthew 28:19) as Jesus finds further support in (verse 18) where it says, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” In other words, Jesus said, “I have all power, so baptize in my name!” It NEVER infers that Jesus has all power, so baptize in the names of three different persons. In the other accounts of the Great Commission found in (Mark 16:17 and Luke 24:47) they all refer to the name of Jesus!

(Matthew 28:19) does NOT teach three persons in one God, but rather it gives three titles of God, all of which properly apply to Jesus Christ. These titles sum up different roles of God or modes of His revelation; by its singular reference to “name,” it focuses upon the one name of God revealed in the New Testament. That name is JESUS!



“1 John 5:7”

(1 John 5:7/ KJV) says, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

This scripture reveals that God has recorded Himself in three modes of activity or has revealed Himself in three ways. He has at least three heavenly roles: Father, Word (not Son), and Holy Ghost. Furthermore, these three roles describe one God!


“IS God Limited to Three Manifestations”

While Father, Son, and Holy Ghost represent three important roles, titles, manifestations of God, God is NOT limited to these three, nor does the number three have a special significance with respect to God.

A popular explanation of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is that there is one God who has revealed Himself as Father in creation, Son in redemption, and Holy Ghost in regeneration! The recognition of these three manifestations does NOT imply that God is limited to three manifestations or that a threeness (Trinity) exists in the nature of God.

We cannot confine God to three or any other number of specific roles and titles. Neither can we divide Him because He is one! Even His titles and roles overlap. He may manifest Himself in many ways, but He is one and only one being.

When we use the name of Jesus, we encompass everything that God IS! Jesus is Father, Son, and Spirit. Jesus summarized all the compound names of Jehovah. Jesus is EVERYTHING that God is. Whatever roles and manifestations God has, they are all in Jesus (Colossians 2:9)!

God is NOT limited to these three manifestations; however, in the glorious revelation of the one God, the New Testament does not deviate from the strict monotheism of the Old Testament. Rather, the Bible presents Jesus as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.