There are 1,189 chapters, 31,173 verses and 807,361 words in our Bibles, depending on the translation; do you think maybe, just maybe God wants to be known?
The three in one concept of God seems to originate in Deuteronomy where it states, “Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord.” If you take the three words out of the middle of this sentence, what you have is, “God is one,” but it is not an accurate point. From the very beginning we see that God is three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but the three operate as one, in perfect harmony one with the other. However, it should be clear the Godhood is made up of three distinct and distinctly different beings.
In Genesis 1:26, we find the words, “Let us make man.” If God is one God there is no us, yet the Hebrew word for God is Elohim, which is a plural word, indicating more than one. If we move over to the New Testament, we find John 3:16, where we learn God sent His Son and on the mount of transfiguration we find Jesus up on a high mountain with three of His disciples and a voice out of heaven speaks. Moreover, on the day of Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit manifested Himself as a dove and flew down to light on Jesus’ head and a voice out of heaven spoke. God is definitely three, thus the word, god, is a noun, which describes the Godhood. The Godhood is made up of three unique and distinctly different almighty beings, which operate in unison with each other.
When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, it is clear Jesus did not want to do the will of His Father. Three times He asked if there was another way to accomplish their goal and three times He acquiesced to His Father’s plan but He was under great agony of heart. In another place it says, “For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross.” Jesus had a will and desires that were His own but He yielded His will and desires to His Father’s will. Jesus is a distinctly different person from His Father and different from the Holy Spirit. All three have distinctly different personalities. They are all unique in their own right.
Now, the point is that if you do not understand these dynamics, you will never understand how to obtain eternal salvation. The three parts of God are perhaps best expressed by the New Testament and then Philippians 2:6-12 perhaps best expresses the dynamics between the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son. Philippians 2:6 describes how Jesus, even though He existed as God, thought being God was not something to be held on to and He took off the attributes of God as a man might take off his coat and came to earth as a man. Jesus didn’t perform all those miracles and acts of healings because He was God; He performed them because of the Holy Spirit, who is also God.
Then, however, we learn something amazing. We learn that the Father was so impressed with the depth of Jesus’ humility; He took off the mantle of Godship He wore, the Holy Spirit did the same, to make Jesus Lord of all (v.9). God, (the Father) highly exalted Jesus and gave Him the name above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.
So the word, God, typically refers to the Father God, as in, “God so loved the world that He gave His Son.” The Father God was Lord of the old covenant and the kingdom of God was the Father’s kingdom. Today, however, Jesus wields the power and authority of Lord of all and is called the blessed only Potentate (1Tim.6:15) and the complete manifestation of the Godhood bodily (Col.2:9). When Philippians 2:10 states that every knee shall bow, that includes the knees of the Father God and the Holy Spirit God. These both serve the God of the new covenant, which is Jesus.
The Lord God Almighty of the new covenant age is Jesus and Jesus is the author of both righteousness and eternal salvation. Now, allow me to explain. Jesus is both Saviour and Lord. As Saviour He lived up to the demands of the law for righteousness then died as one guilty of transgressions against every commandment. He was made Lord of all at His resurrection and established a new covenant with this new authority and power. Eternal salvation is subsequent to being washed of your sins.
Galatians 4:4 states that Jesus was made under the law to redeem them that were under the law, that they might become sons of God. The becoming of sons is subsequent to being washed of your sins. Ephesians 2:8 states, “By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast,” but Hebrews 5:9 states “He gives eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” There are clearly two salvations spoken of here. One is temporal; the other is eternal.
Jesus stripped Himself of His Godhood and came to earth as a man and as a man, died under the authority of the old covenant as a fulfillment of the old covenant in order to provide righteousness to all who accept His payment of sin as a substitutionary work. However, Jesus went on to be made Lord and establish the kingdom of heaven, which superseded the kingdom of God, and provide eternal life to all who keep His commandments. This is the obedience of Hebrews 5:9. You will never gain the eternal salvation if you do not understand the difference between Jesus and His Father and the difference between the Saviour and the Lord.
It should be becoming clear it is not the old covenant commandments that need to be kept. The Father God is not the same as Jesus. The two are distinctly different and the Father is no longer the God who wields all power. It is Jesus who wields all power (Matt. 28:18) and it is His commandments that must be kept. In that Jesus had to keep His Father’s commandments in order to fulfill the old covenant, Jesus could not issue His own commandments until after His death. There are only three commandments issued by the one who wields all power in this present age; wait for a saturation of the Spirit of God, preach this gospel, the gospel of the new covenant, and disciple the converts.
Now, almost every Church, every denomination, preaches obedience of the old covenant commandments, or Ten Commandments. By attempting to keep these commandments you are denying that Jesus already kept them for you and while you are declaring an allegiance to the Father, He has stripped Himself of His power and authority to give all power over to Jesus. It is only by keeping Jesus’ commandments that we can live for Jesus and Jesus quite plainly told us His commandments are not His Father’s commandments in John 15:10.
So while we are committing ourselves to the Father God by keeping His commandments, Jesus has established a new kingdom, the kingdom of heaven and offers a better salvation than the Father God ever offered. Jesus said, “There is but one way to heaven and that is through me.” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” What this means is that the following of the Father will not get you to heaven.
Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” This statement includes the name of God, Father God, and Holy Spirit. It also includes the name, Saviour. In order to gain salvation, one must first understand who Jesus is and who He is not. Then one must understand the difference between the Saviour and the Lord. As an example, all throughout the gospels Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father,” so the Jesus of the four gospels is not the Jesus who grants eternal life. It is not the Father who grants eternal life. If you do not understand the difference between Jesus the Saviour and Jesus the Lord you will never gain eternal life.
Philippians 2:6-12 may be the most important scriptures in the whole Bible as it pertains to eternal salvation. If you do not understand and appreciate the complete transformation that took place with Jesus between His death and resurrection, you will never gain eternal salvation. The name whereby we must be saved is not Saviour, but Lord. It is not the Saviour who offers eternal salvation; it is the Lord. Therefore, it is not the Jesus of the four gospels; it is not belief in His death that conveys eternal life, it is belief in the resurrected Lord.
The gift of salvation as revealed by Ephesians 2:8, given by God, the Father, is salvation from sin. It is what Jesus purchased through His life and death under the authority of the kingdom of God and the old covenant law. The old covenant law was the Father’s law. He offers this salvation from sin based on Jesus’ death. It was the Father God who sent Jesus to die. All it takes to receive this salvation is faith in the finished work of the cross. However, that is not the end of the story. Jesus went on to be raised from the dead, establish a new kingdom and covenant and offer an eternal salvation as expressed by Hebrews 5:9.
We declare our allegiance and citizenship through obedience. Those who attempt to keep the Ten Commandments are declaring their loyalty to an entity that is no longer in power by His own purpose. According to numerous scriptures, all power has been given to the resurrected Jesus, who is a separate and distinctly different person from the Father. The kingdom of God is bound to the earth; its covenant is earthly and the tabernacle of its service is earthbound.
In order for Jesus to distinguish Himself from His Father and provide a clear path to eternal salvation, Jesus’ commandments cannot resemble His Father’s commandments. Now, remember, it was the Father God who highly exalted Jesus, giving to Jesus the name that is above every other name. It is the Father who cleared a path for Jesus to set up His kingdom. Although the three individuals who together make up God are just that, individuals, they are one in purpose. Jesus is not a renegade player in the Godhood. He has the complete backing of His Father and the Holy Spirit.
Look, the first commandment the Lord Jesus Christ issued is a commandment to saturate yourself with the Spirit of God every day (Acts 1:4). Obedience to this commandment is made possible through a gift Jesus says is the Father’s gift to the Church, the baptism with the Spirit, Acts 1:5. There is no other commandment that resembles this commandment in all the scriptures and obedience causes a stream of words the speaker does not know or understand to stream out of their hearts. This phenomenon is only possible through faith in Jesus’ death. It is only because believers are clothed with Jesus’ righteousness that they can receive the baptism with the Spirit of God. The new covenant’s foundation is the completion of the old covenant.
The Father God is as involved in the new covenant as the Son was in the old covenant but the roles are now reversed. To declare your allegiance to the kingdom of heaven you must keep Jesus’ commandments. How would the Lord’s commandments be found prior to Jesus being made Lord? He had to be made Lord before He could issue the commandments which would govern the new covenant age. There was just a small window of opportunity for the Lord Jesus Christ to issue His commandments. There was only forty days between His resurrection and ascension, but through obedience of His first commandment, those who choose obedience are saturated with God every day. This is the Father’s gift, accomplished through the Holy Spirit, by Jesus.
The kingdom of heaven is Jesus’ kingdom. Those who keep its commandments are declaring a loyalty to the resurrected Lord. The kingdom of heaven is bound to heaven; its covenant is heavenly and the tabernacle of its service is in heaven. If you want to be a resident of heaven, it is the resurrected Lord Jesus who will get you there. There is salvation in no other; there is no other name under heaven whereby men must be saved.
Let’s consider the timeline. Jesus strips himself of His Godhood to come to earth as a man in order to live as a man and keep the commandments of God as a man in order to redeem mankind from sin. Ask yourself this question, “Can this man, as pure and perfect as He is, give eternal life to all mankind?” The obvious answer is, “No, only God can grant eternal life.” Therefore, it has to be the resurrected Jesus, the one who has the complete Godhood thrust upon Him that grants eternal life. Therefore it is not faith in Jesus’ death that produces eternal life; it is faith on the resurrected Lord.
Now, to be a disciple of the Saviour is to believe Jesus took all your sins, past and future, and live your life as though you are free from sin. However, to be a disciple of the Lord is to keep the Lord’s commandments. To take up your cross and follow Jesus is to sacrifice your life for your Lord and keep His commandments. To be a disciple of the Lord is to follow the Lord’s teachings. If you are following the teachings of the Saviour, you are not following the Lord; the Saviour perfectly represented the Father and it is not by the name of the Father we must be saved. Do you see the importance of identifying which Jesus you are submitting to? The Jesus on the cross is a completely different Jesus from the one who was raised from the dead. John leaned against the Saviour’s breast to ask Him a question at the last supper, but fell down as dead at the sight of the Lord on the isle of Patmos. One stripped Himself of all power; the other is clothed with all power.
Ok, so if the believer in Jesus’ death is cleansed from all sin, redeemed from the law, to quote the popular song, “What sin is John talking about” in 1John 1:9? If the old covenant commandments no longer apply to Christians; how can Christians sin against God? By combining the three into one, creating a concept unconceivable by man, the organized Church has forever hidden the path to salvation from man. Let me remind you, according to Colossians 2:9, Jesus is the complete manifestation of the Godhood bodily. Paul calls Him the blessed only Potentate (1Tim.6:15) and to Jude He is the only wise God (Jude25). This is all because the Father God and the Holy Spirit stripped themselves of their Godhood to highly exalt Jesus (Phil.2:9) giving Him a name that is above every other name.
Hear O Church, the Lord thy God is one Lord, but only because the Father and Holy Spirit have given all they had to Jesus so that He may rule completely. So when the Lord Jesus Christ issues a commandment, to think you are not responsible for keeping it is ludicrous. It is a small matter to understand the blood of Jesus was not left where it fell. It was gathered back up by the resurrected Lord but not sprinkled over the furniture of the old covenant tabernacle to provide forgiveness against disobedience of old covenant laws; it was sprinkled over the new covenant tabernacle, to provide forgiveness against disobedience of new covenant laws.
You see, if you accept Jesus’ death under penalty of sin but fail to recognize the commandments of Jesus, you are still under the authority of the old covenant. Jesus died under the authority of the old covenant law. Look at Galatians 4:4 again: “At the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law that we might become sons of God.” Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love.” It was the Father God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son but Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him. That’s two separate and distinctly different motivations.
The Father God loved the whole world so deeply He gave His only begotten son to deliver it from sin but Jesus endured the indecencies of manhood and the suffering and death of the cross because He saw an opportunity to establish a new covenant with those delivered of sin. Jesus saw a world ruled by sons of God, with the same power and authority He enjoyed as the Son of God. That power and authority comes from Christians saturating themselves with Jesus through the baptism with the Spirit daily. The only way to be in Jesus is to keep Jesus’ commandments. If you do not keep Jesus’ commandments daily, you are not in Jesus and still under the authority of the old covenant. There is forgiveness through His blood for disobedience.
This is why the book of 1John was written. The Church had already begun to disobey Jesus’ commandments; it had already begun to view redemption from sin as eternal salvation. In 1John 3:4, John writes, “Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law for sin is the transgression of the law. And you know that He was manifested to take away all sins and in Him is no sin. Whosoever abides in Him sins not. Whosoever sins has not seen Him, neither known Him.” John is talking about the Lord Jesus, not the Saviour Jesus.
The Lord Jesus has authority to issue law and “Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law for sin is the transgression of the law.” Jesus, the Saviour “was manifested to take away all sins,” but the only way to be “in Him” is to keep the Lord’s commandments (Jn.15:10). Whoever keeps His commandments “abides in Him sins not.” “Whosoever sins has not seen Him, neither known Him,” as resurrected Lord. That the resurrected Lord has authority to command those washed of their sin through faith in His death is common sense but by teaching the three in one concept of God, most Christians fail to see the degree to which Jesus was exalted at His resurrection. Most Christians fail to see Jesus as the blessed only Potentate, the only wise God, the manifestation of the complete Godhood bodily and therefore believe they can fall back on the mercies and grace of the Father. Jesus is less forgiving.
It is His blood that was shed; His life that was given. He is the one who experienced the shame and torture of the beating, whipping and torture and was ridiculed and laughed at on the cross as He suffered and died through no fault of His own. He is the one who gave up His home in glory, humbled Himself, and came to earth as a human baby, born into the human condition. He is the one who laid aside His glory, His privilege, and suffered the separation of His Father. He was ostracized and shamed; His whole family was embarrassed of Him. He gave Himself to His Father’s will but was under great anguish of heart to do so, in so much that His sweat became great drops of blood. You can understand why Jesus’ feelings towards those who have washed themselves with His death might be different from His Father’s.
When you see the Jesus of the four gospels, what you are looking at is the Father. The compassion you see in Jesus is the Father’s compassion but it is not the Father who offers eternal life to mankind. It is the Father who so loved the world. It is the Father who is full of grace and mercy but Jesus tells of a time when He will judge men and He will separate them based on whether they kept the law or disobeyed it. Afterwards, some will come to Him protesting, “Have we not done many wonderful works in your name,” and He will answer and say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” These people clearly thought they knew Jesus and they did know the Saviour who represented the Father but they failed to recognize Jesus as the Almighty God. They saw Jesus as the Christ who stripped Himself of all authority and died on the cross. They saw Jesus as the lesser of the Godhood and viewed His commandments as only valid for the apostles and practiced lawlessness. They kept the Father’s commandments and obeyed the Father. The point is Jesus was given authority to create a new covenant and issue law to govern it. Jesus was made Lord. To enter the new covenant you must first respect its law. Disobedience can be forgiven but before you will repent, you will own the commandments.
This is the reason Ephesians 2:8 says, “You are saved by grace through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.” Righteousness is salvation from sin and man can do absolutely nothing to make himself righteous other than believe. However, eternal salvation is gained by obedience, Hebrews 5:9, which is why Ephesians 2:10 goes on to say, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Jesus is both Saviour and Lord and it requires two separate and distinctly different faiths to believe in Him.
In John 7:37, Jesus stood on the last day of the great feast and cried out, “If any man is thirsty let him come unto me and drink. He that believes on me, as the scriptures has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” John then adds this commentary, “This spoke He of the Spirit which was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.” While the Church universal denies the command of the Lord to wait for a baptism with the Spirit, the only way to have rivers of the Holy Spirit pouring out of your belly is to obey it and the only way to gain eternal life is to make the rivers of living water flow out of your belly.
Did you notice the Holy Spirit was not given at Jesus’ death? If the Holy Spirit were given at Jesus’ death, all Christians would have the Holy Spirit in their hearts but the Holy Spirit was not given at Jesus’ death; He was given at Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus was not glorified at His death; Jesus was glorified at His resurrection. Therefore, it is belief on the Lord, not belief in the Saviour that produces the rivers of Living Water. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is a new covenant promise and belief in Jesus’ death for sin will not produce this blessing. While the Church teaches that everyone who accepts Jesus as Saviour receives the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Bible teaches something different.
What the Bible teaches is that the believer in Jesus’ death receives righteousness. This righteousness makes it possible for these believers to stand in the presence of God without guilt or shame of sin. This ability to stand in the presence of God is then mistaken for the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit but there are no rivers of Living Water flowing out of the hearts of those who believe in Jesus’ death for sin. Therefore there is no indwelling presence of God. Again, the Holy Spirit was not given at Jesus’ death; the Holy Spirit was given at Jesus’ resurrection. Therefore, one must believe on the resurrection, believe on Jesus’ glorification in order to receive this indwelling presence of God. Then, it is a matter of obedience.
In Acts 1:4, Jesus commanded His disciples to wait for a baptism with the Spirit. If you are a disciple of the Lord, you will obey this commandment; if you are a disciple of the Saviour, you will not. The word, wait, demands a deliberate act. First time receivers must actively wait in an effort to submit themselves to the Lord. This is no easy task. Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, mankind has ruled over himself. To yield your heart to the rule of God is not an easy thing to do but once the choice has been made, the Holy Spirit will take up residence. Then it is a matter of allowing the Holy Spirit to take control of the tongue, again, no easy task. James tells us whoever controls the tongue controls the whole body.
The gift of tongues was deliberately made to be offensive to the human psyche. The baptism with the Spirit is a stumbling stone to Christians. The only way to obtain eternal salvation is to humble yourself and yield to the gift of tongues. In the act of speaking in tongues, the believer must do the speaking but the Holy Spirit makes the words. It is a joint venture. Notice Acts 2:4: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” They began to speak; the Spirit gave them utterance.
After the initial receiving of the baptism or saturation is perhaps a better word; in order to practice obedience, or a keeping of this commandment, the believer must wait for the gift of tongues to flow out of their mouth each day. Thus, each day they are saturated with Living Water; saturated with Jesus, and are thus made eternal by obedience, which is the truth of Hebrews 5:9: “He gives eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”