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Is God a 'Binity'?

Posted November 21, 2009


Hi M____,

If you haven't already done so, you need to read Is God A Trinity on iswasandwillbe.com in the Essential Reading Section in the upper left corner of the home page. That article covers this subject in depth. Mr. Thiel doesn't even mention or deal with one of the most definitive verses in all of scripture on the subject of the Godhead. That verse is 1Co 8:6, and it isn't so much as mentioned in this entire article. What's more, he isn't interested in hearing about his own doctrinal errors.

If you feel that somehow God has given you a special prophetic message or insight, please contact the LCG minister in your area to discuss that--do NOT CONTACT ME. (The emphasis is Mr. Thiels)

I understand where he is coming from, having been in the WCG for over 19 years. It is literally like being in the military. Everyone from a lowly member to and exalted "evangelist" or "apostle" is made extremely aware of his rank in the church. You simply never step out of line and you must go through the proper proscribed channels. If Christ had been in the WCG or the LCG the woman with the "issue of blood" would never have been able to "touch the hem of His garment, much less have been permitted to speak with Christ. Such unscriptural ranking of officers of the church insulates the leadership from the membership, and the leaders are thereby never challenged in their false doctrines.

When I came out in 1973, the WCG was doctrinally what the Living Church of God is now. The Tkaches were the legal owners of the church name 'Worldwide Church of God', but doctrinally they had left the people of that church. The people of that church did not leave them until the Tkaches reverted to complete and total trinitarian orthodoxy.

But all of the so-called "churches of God" are all, for the most part, still weekly sabbath keeping, "feast of the Jews" keeping, incorporations of men, and not a part of the spiritual living body of Christ which is no longer under the law of Moses and certainly needs no papers of incorporation. Can you just imagine Christ going to the state to seek papers of incorporation and a tax free status??? No such entity recognizes "the voice of the True Shepherd" who alone is the head of His own unincorporated body.

Joh 10:2  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Joh 10:3  To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
Joh 10:4  When he hath put forth all his own, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

"They know His voice," means that those who know Christ, know His doctrines. Christ, for example, never once passed an offering plate. He never once spoke of keeping a weekly sabbath, keeping holy days, a trinity or a binity or the fall of man or an immortal soul or eternal hell fire or a planet called heaven.

There is indeed a corporate body of Christ inasmuch as His elect are all part of His body, but His elect are not part of any legal corporation of men. Christ's body is a spiritual, not a legally incorporated body.

But let's go back to 1Co 8:6.

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and [besides this "ONE GOD the Father" there is also] one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

This was not a slip of the tongue. The supremacy of the Father as the "one [ultimate] God above all" was a New Testament doctrine, and Paul repeats this Truth.

Eph 4:6  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Paul is not denying that Christ is a God. Paul had read Psalms 82. He knew what Christ had said about that Psalm, and he had just acknowledged that "there are gods many..."

Psa 82:6  I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

1Co 8:5  For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)

What Paul is saying here is that Christ came out from God, not that Christ is the one supreme God or part of some unscriptural binity or trinity. There can be only ONE sovereign in the universe.

This is all typified by Joseph's oneness relationship to the Pharaoh, in the book of Genesis, where we read:

Gen 41:40  Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:42  And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

God has "taken the ring off His hand" and put it on Christ's hand, signifying their oneness. But Christ, like Joseph, will never mistake this gift from His Father for His being the one sovereign God, or as Christ being a part of a specious "eternal binity." Like Joseph, when the time comes to do so, Christ will always acknowledge that He is "subject to Him that did put all things under him,"  and not the "one God of whom are all things." All things are "of Christ" only in the same sense that all things in Egypt were of Joseph. It is clear that Joseph was supreme and "almighty," only under Pharaoh.

Gen 41:40  Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

Gen 41:44  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

So scripturally speaking, being "one with God" and being "god" in no way makes Christ the "one God of whom are all things." It simply makes Christ our "one Lord by whom are all things," and of whom His own Father has said, "Ye are Gods."

Joseph is the Old Testament physical shadow of this New Testament spiritual reality:

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and [besides the "one God of whom are all things" there is also] one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

He is also the physical shadow of this New Testament reality for us "in Christ."

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Let's see how Christ considered Himself to be "one with His Father." Let's see if He thought in terms of being an eternal binity? Here is how He considered Himself as one with His Father:

Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one.

In what sense are "I and My Father... one?" Here are Christ's own words to give us a clear understanding of what He meant when He said those words:

Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
How does this apply to those who are in Christ?
Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

That is the sense in which Christ is God. It is the same sense in which we too, are in the Father. We are certainly not part of a specious, false, binity godhead. But we are part of  our head Christ, just in the same way that He is part of His head, God. Remember, this was written years after Christ's resurrection"

1Co 11:3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

There is another paper in the Essential Reading section, which I would urge you to read. It is a very in depth paper on this same subject. It is entitled The Head Of Christ Is God.

Sandi and I are one, as Christ and His Father are one, and Christ and His Father are one, according to Christ, "as we are one." That is as He and His Father are one. So how exactly "may we be one as Christ and His Father are one?"

Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Here is how that is accomplished:
1Co 6:17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

Mr. Thiel's article had far more quotes from the reasonings of men about what constitutes being God, than it had about what the scriptures say constitutes being god. Mr. Thiel said "Unitarians deny the Christ is God." Well, I would never want to be confused with the well-known, super, ultra liberal, Unitarian Church, but nevertheless, inasmuch as the word 'unitarian' means simply a belief in one supreme God the Father, this is one unitarian who believes no such thing, and Christ was also a unitarian who taught no such doctrine. Christ's equality with God was in the same sense that Joseph was equal with the Pharaoh:

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Christ never denied that He was God, and yet he never assumed that He was "equal with God" in the sense of having been always existent. Christ was "equal with God" and was "the Almighty... except in the throne." Here is what Christ said constitutes being God. Here is the sense in which Christ considered Himself to be "equal with God."

Joh 10:32  Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
Joh 10:33  The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

It is clear from Joh 15:18, and here in John 10 that when Christ uses the phrase "equal with God," what He means by that is that He acknowledges, even at peril of His life, that He is indeed "the son of God." Notice Joh 5:18 again at this point:

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Is that not also true of each of us? Remember "Out of thine own mouth I will judge you..." Now look again at how Christ frames His claim to being "equal with God." Once again it has only to do with saying "I am the Son of God."

Joh 10:34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Joh 10:35  If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 10:36  Say ye of him, whom the Father [the "one God of whom are all things {including the} one Lord by whom are all things"] hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

Now is Christ's point here that He is part of a so-called 'eternal binity,' or is it not obvious that His defense for claiming to be the Son of God equates Him with that verse in Psalms which says of all who are in Christ that "Ye are gods?" It is obvious to any objective person, with no false church doctrines to defend, that Christ is identifying Himself with His fellow created "sons of God," and He is saying that just as the scriptures reveal that all in Christ "are gods,"  in that same way and to that same extent, He too, is "the Son of God."

Being created first as a spirit, and being used by His Creator as the channel of His creation in no way denies that Christ was just what He calls Himself, "the beginning of the creation of God." God tells us that He is also "the Father of spirits. Even though the spirit world also was brought into being through Christ.

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

Just as Christ was the beginning of the creation of God, so Adam was the beginning of Christ's creation, and "the invisible things of God, even His eternal power and godhead," are to be understood in that way.

Luk 3:38  Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
Who was that 'God' who spoke Adam into being?
Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [Greek, 'the Word was toward God.']
Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Here is the CLV:
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the word, and the word was toward God, and God was the word. "
Joh 1:2 This was in the beginning toward God.

Christ tells us that He is "the beginning of the creation of God." How is it possible for Christ to be "the beginning of the creation of God," if God was not before the beginning?

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

It is deceitful to speak of being before the beginning, if there was actually an earlier beginning. Such human mental machinations always bring God down to our level, and still fail to establish what is the beginning. It is only those who speculate "above what is written" who would dare to suggest that the creator of the universe had a manlike beginning. That is the same kind of human reasoning found here in Mr. Theil's paper which is trying to establish a Biblical grounds for an unscriptural doctrine of a binity.

1Co 4:6  And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and [to] Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think [of men] above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

The scriptures clearly state that the God head is to be understood "by the things that are made."

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

"They are without excuse" means you, me and Mr. Thiel. It was years after His resurrection that these verses were written describing how "the things that are made" explain Christ's relationship to His Father.

1Co 11:3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

That is right, "the things that are made" which give us no excuse for misunderstanding Christ's relationship to His Father, is the relationship which God made of a husband and a wife. Biblically speaking it is not the three forms of water, or the three parts of an egg. It is the marriage relationship as it is revealed here in 1Co 11, which is "the things that are made," and which reveal Christ's relationship to His Creator. Paul explains in this same chapter that just as all men come through the God-ordained channel of a woman, it is still true that the woman came out of the man, in the same way Christ came out from His Father and was then used by His Father as the channel for the creation of all the rest of mankind and all the rest of creation. That is what the "one God of whom are all things" wanted. That is what "pleased Him", just as all men come "through Christ" and "through a woman." We all, as well as the entire creation, came into being through Christ, but it all is "of God" the Father.

1Co 11:11  Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
1Co 11:12  For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.

That may not be scientifically demonstrable, but then neither is the virgin birth. Will we believe God or will we believe the false doctrines of men who are simply unwilling to consider "the sum of God's Word to determine what is and what is not the Truth?

Psa 119:160  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever.
Here is this same truth repeated in Colossians one.
Col 1:15  Who [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

No "image" is the actual thing of which it is the image. We are being "conformed to the image of His dear son," and in that sense we are "equal with Him," but we are no more equal with Christ, in the final analysis, than Christ is equal with His Father, to whom he will in the end " be subject unto Him who did put all things under Him."

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

In order to "have preeminence in all things" Christ had to first be created, and then empty Himself of his divinity, in order to also be the first born from among the dead and have that preeminence also. But why must Christ be preeminent in all things? It is for this one reason, and this one reason says nothing about a binity.

Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

"It pleases the Father that in Christ all fulness dwells" and that Christ be "preeminent in all things." It does not please the Father that Christ be half of an unscriptural binity. When the scriptures say "He is before all things, "it is manifest that He is excepted who did put all things under Him," and when the aions are consumed and have run their course and have completed their purpose and "the last enemy is destroyed" and "God is all in all", even then it will be made abundantly clear that there is no such thing as a binity, because the Son Himself will "be subject unto Him that did put all things under Him."

1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death.
1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him [the "one God of whom are all things"] that put all things under him, that God [the Father] may be all in all.

It is very instructive that even after His resurrection, it is still said that Christ's God is His Father, and "He shall deliver up the kingdom to God." Never anywhere is Christ ever said to be the Father's God.

2Co 11:31  The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ:

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

I have had conversations with binitarians, and they are as blind as any other daughter of Babylon. They simply have not been given eyes to see:

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

When they are forced to explain this verse it is just like pointing to 1Co 15:22 and asking a person who believes in eternal hell to explain that verse.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

In other words, they simply cannot see the words "one God the Father of whom are all things." They actually ignore those words and emphasize the "and one Lord" as if that was part of "one God" without the 'and,' which separates the one from the other. The woman is of the man, but that does not make her the man. The man is still first, and the woman is still "created for the man, and not the man for the woman."

I hope this helps you in some way. Again read the papers Is God a Trinity? and The Head of Christ Is God.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike