One God Report

In Romans 10:9 the Apostle Paul states that part of salvation depends on a person confessing with their mouth that “Jesus is Lord”, or the “Lord Jesus”.  This episode aims to show that, contrary to traditional Christianity’s belief, to claim that “Jesus is Lord” (or the “Lord Jesus”) is NOT a claim that “Jesus is God”.  Rather, when the Apostle Paul, like other writers of the New Testament, uses the title “Lord” for Jesus, he differentiates Jesus from God.  Another way to state this truth: in his epistles Paul uses the title God for God (the Father alone), and the title Lord for the human person, Jesus the Lord Messiah. For full text of this episode, see here https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/09/in-romans-109-apostle-paul-states-that.html #JesusisLord, #deityofchrist, #richardbauckham, #1Corinthians8:6, #Romans10:9, #Jesusinshema, #billschlegel, #onegodreport Time stamps: 00:01 Introduction: LORD or Lord? There are many people in the Bible who are Lord, but are not God.   03:12 The titles “God, Father, God the Father, God our Father” : All of God or just one member of God?   05:13 Does the Apostle Paul use the title “Lord” for Jesus to equate Jesus with God, or distinguishing Jesus from God. Paul never uses the title “Lord” for God.   07:31 An example from Peter, Acts 2_36, “God made Jesus Lord and Christ”   09:00 Romans 10_9 “Jesus is Lord”. Romans 15_6 “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus”   12:06 First Corinthians 8_6, “As for us there is one God, the Father…and one Lord, Jesus Christ”   21:24 More examples of “Lord” meaning that Jesus is the Lord Messiah, not the LORD God, 2 Cor. 1_3 and Ephesians 1_17   23:00 Other biblical authors who distinguish between God and the Lord Messiah Jesus: James 1_1, 2 Pet. 1_2, and Jude 1_25. The Gospel of John never refers to God as Lord, except in 3 places where the author directly quotes an Hebrew Scripture passage that contains the name YHVH.   26:42 Summary and Challenge.  Jesus is the Lord Messiah, not the LORD God.  

An examination of the Trinitarian claim that God is a compound unity, "three-in-one". For full written text of this podcast see here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/08/hear-o-gentiles-lord-your-god-lord-is.html That the God of the Bible, YHVH is one, is a difficulty for Trinitarianism. In about AD 530 the Christian Byzantine Emperor Justinian even banned the recitation of the Shema since he considered it to be a denial of the Trinity. But modern Trinitarianism takes a different approach, claiming that “one” can mean three because “one” can mean a compound unity. Three things together can make up one of something else.  A couple of biblical examples are put forward. For instance, in Genesis 1:5 evening and morning are one day. A husband and wife become one flesh (Gen. 2:24). The spies came back with one (echad) cluster of grapes" (Num. 13:23). Let’s take a closer look at the “compound unity”, “three-in-one” claim.

For text notes to this podcast, click here: ⁠https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/08/does-apostle-peter-call-jesus-christ.html⁠ In 2 Peter 1:1 did Peter claim that Jesus Christ was “our God? Two points:   1.  Even for deity of Christ believing Trinitarians, to claim that Peter is calling Jesus Christ “our God” is a big problem. Isn’t your God the Trinity? And, what about the Father? What about the “Spirit”? In a frantic effort to find some evidence that “Jesus is God”, aren’t you ignoring and dishonoring the One whom Jesus called the only true God, the Father (John 17:3). Aren’t you dishonoring the one of whom Paul said “as for us there is one God, the Father” (1 Cor. 8:6)?    The deity of Christ interpretation dishonors Peter and falsely testifies about Peter. And, any and all “deity of Christ” claims are a denigration of the Father, since they claim that the Father is not the one true God.   2.  It is clear from many other Scriptures that Peter knows exactly who God is, and who the Lord or Savior Jesus Christ is. Peter does not confuse the identity of God and Jesus. The fact that the deity of Christ claim appeals to some supposed point of Greek grammar for one two less clear verses, and ignores the testimony of the rest of Scripture is simply poor exegesis.   To Peter, the Lord and Savior Jesus is not God. To Peter, but the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has a God, who raised him from the dead. We can see what Peter means in 2 Peter 1:1, “in the righteousness of our God, and (the) Savior Jesus Christ” by reading Peter’s other descriptions of God and Jesus. Let’s start with the very next verse:   2 Peter 1:2, "May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." Who is “God” in this verse? Are we really to believe that Peter switched who was God from verse 1 to verse 2. I hate the deity of Christ identity confusion. I reject the deity of Christ identity confusion.   John 17:1-3, having eternal life involves knowing, having knowledge of two persons, two beings: 1. The Father, the only true God, and 2. Jesus the Messiah whom the Father sent.   Compare the “distributive” aspect of both 1 Pet. 1:1 and 1 Peter 1:2: “the knowledge of…” two persons (God, and Jesus our Lord). “the righteousness of…” two persons (our God, and the Savior Jesus Christ).   1 Peter 1:3. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” For Peter, God is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. God and the Lord Jesus are two different persons, two different beings.   Acts 2:22-24. "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know --   this Jesus... God raised him up…” For Peter, Jesus was a man whom God worked through, a man who was killed, whom God raised up. Two different persons, two different beings.   Acts 2:36   “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." For Peter, God MADE Jesus Lord and Christ. The ultimate testimony of Peter as to whom he considered Jesus to be is found in Peter’s declaration after Jesus asked him point-blank, “Who do you say that I am?” In Mark, Peter declared: “The Christ!”  The Christ is not God. In Luke, “The Christ of God!” The Christ of God is not God. In Matthew, “The Christ, the Son of the Living God”.  The Son of the Living God is not the Living God.   Peter in 1 Peter 1:1 is not contradicting himself. He is not confused about the identity of Jesus. It is deity of Christ interpreters who are confused about the identity of Jesus. Related web link: Troy Salinger Examines the Granville Sharp Rule:https://letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/2-peter-11-titus-213-and-the-granville-sharp-rule-a-new-approach/ #deityofchrist, #1Peter1:1, #nontrinitarian, #trinity, #billschlegel

It’s a good question. I don’t know if there is a black and white answer because there are different degrees and facets to the question. Many trinitarians that I know seem to not really know what they believe, and functionally or “practically” believe in in One God, the Father.   There are different levels and degrees of judgment. Like James said, teachers will be judged with greater strictness (James 3:1).  I am not confident that “everything is going to be alright” for someone who insists that God is a triune being, a Trinity, or that “Jesus is God”. Trinitarianism is messing with what Jesus called the greatest commandment: that Yehovah our God is one (Deu. 6:4, Mark 12:29-34).  Exodus 20:2-3    "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  3 "You shall have no other gods before me."  So the question is: who, or what (according to Trinitarianism), is the one God. Is the one God the Father alone, or is the one God a tri-personal being, a substance that has more than one person. And the New Testament says that the One God is the Father: John 17:1-3 “Father...this is eternal life, to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” 1 Corinthians 8:6, “As for us there is one God, the Father...” All “deity of Christ” interpretations of passages like John 1 and Philippians 2 attempt to do two things: 1. denigrate the Father by declaring that someone or something else other than the Father is the one true God, and 2.  rob the man Christ Jesus of who he is and what he did. Since Trinitarianism insists that Jesus is a god-person who only “took on” human flesh or human nature, that means there never was or is a real human person Jesus the Messiah from Nazareth. Otherwise, Jesus would be two persons: a god-person Jesus and a man-person Jesus from Nazareth. But traditional Christianity decided in AD 451, almost 1600 years ago, that Jesus is not two persons. He is only the god person. The man Jesus of Nazareth never did anything -never humbled himself, never obeyed God, never trusted God - because he never existed. “He was only a god-person all along.”  1 John 2:22-23 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Who is denying the Son? Someone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, or someone who denies that Jesus, a real human person, is the Christ. 1 John 2:22 does not say, “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is God”.  Far from it. The Son of God is never literally God in the Bible. The title Son of God is given to created beings, especially to Israel, and to Israel’s chief representative, the king of the line of David.   We do have a judge, the man, the human person, Jesus the Christ from Nazareth. The Apostle Paul stated that God “will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed and of this He has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31, 2 Tim. 2:5, Romans 5:15, 2 Cor. 5:10). Have we said in our hearts during our time in this age “a mere man can’t judge us, we will not have that man rule over us”? Ironically, perhaps some Trinitarians may be saved by what they’ve insisted they aren’t saved by, i.e., works (Matt. 16:27, 12:36-37; Romans 2:6-7, 2 Cor. 5:10, 1 Cor. 3:12-14, Gal. 6:7-9, James 2:20-26). I have a feeling that one of those works will be how people treated the children of God who believe that God is the Father, and that the man Jesus is the Messiah (1 John 5:1, John 8:42, Matt. 25:41-46).  People like me are not the final judge (Romans 2:16). We don’t have all the information. God has appointed the man Jesus Christ, and given him the authority to judge (Acts 17:31, John 5:22, 27).  “So each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).  

Offering three separate $200 prizes (total $600)!   $200.00 to anyone who can find a verse in the New Testament where “God” (Theos, ha Theos) means the Trinity.   $200.00 to anyone who can find a verse in the New Testament that mentions “God the Son”.   $200.00 to anyone who can find a verse in the New Testament that describes Jesus as “fully God and fully man”, or “truly God and truly man”.   Such verses should be easy to find. Many evangelical doctrinal statements start out by declaring that the Bible is the sole authority for belief and practice, and then immediately state that God is three persons in one God, that God the Son is one of those persons, and that Jesus is “fully God and fully man”.   The complaint, and prayer before YHVH is that he would raise up a remnant of 7000 Israelis that believe that He is the only true God, and that the man Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth is God's Messiah.   #trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #deityofjesus, #unitarian, #billschlegel

Episode 100 – offering a $100 prize to anyone who can find a verse in the New Testament where “God” (Theos, Ha Theos) means the Trinity!   Difference between a Triad vs. the Trinity   James White, The Forgotten Trinity, p. 23:  “Within one Being that is God, there exists eternally three coequal and coeternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”   Athanasian Creed:  “Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally… one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.”   “…we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,     neither blending their persons     nor dividing their essence.         For the person of the Father is a distinct person,         the person of the Son is another,         and that of the Holy Spirit still another.         But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,         their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.   Quote from Murray Harris book, Jesus as God, explaining that that “God” in the Bible never means the Trinity, never means the Trinitarian God, the Tri-person-one-being of mainstream Christianity. p. 47 footnote   Biblical references in this episode:   John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his unique (or only begotten)  Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.   Rom 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!"   Gal 4:6  And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"   1 Cor 8:6 “As for us, there is one God, the Father….and one Lord, Jesus Christ…”   Eph. 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,   1 Thess. 1:1, 9-10, 3:11, 13,   2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.   Hebrews 1:1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,  2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all…   To believe that the God of the Bible is a Trinity, one must believe these statements: “In the Bible, God is never the Trinity. But the God of the Bible is a Trinity.” “The God of the Bible is a Trinity, but in the Bible God is never a Trinity”   Trinitarians need to write a book “The Trinity as God” in which all 1315 references to God in the New Testament are examined to see which of those references mean the Trinity. It will be a very short book.   Who is God in the phrase “Son of God”? Who is God in the phrase “Spirit of God”?   Who is God Most High in the phrase “Son of God Most High God”? If the Father is God Most High, then neither the Trinity, nor Jesus, are God Most High.   The Trinity is a denigration of the Father, whom Jesus called the only True God and whom Paul says for us there is one God, the Father. If the Trinity is the one God, then the Father is not the one God.   The Father and the Trinity can’t both be the one God. One of them is an idol. #trinity, #JesusisGod, #murrayharris, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian, #billschlegel

This is part 3 of a three-part series with Dr. Dustin Smith, Pre-Millennial or A-Millennial   In this episode Dr. Smith describes the “Tale of Two Cities”. Like the original readers of the Book of Revelation, readers even now are challenged to associate with, indeed be part of, the godly New Jerusalem and not ungodly Babylon.   In a similar metaphor, readers of Revelation are encouraged associate with, indeed be part of the Bride of Christ, which is the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2, 10-11) and not with the Harlot, which is ungodly Babylon (Rev. 17:4-6).   Dr. Smith examines the 1000 years mentioned in Revelation 20. He understands the 1000 years to be symbolic of a significant time period that has a definite fixed end. Satan is bound for followers of God and Jesus, but at the same time rampant in the world outside. Similarly, in Jesus’ Parables of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13) good and evil co-existence for a period of time until the fixed day of separation and judgment.   Biblical Unitarian Podcast, Host Dr. Dustin Smith https://biblicalunitarianpodcast.podbean.com/   The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus https://www.amazon.com/Son-God-Three-Views-Identity-ebook/dp/B07FYTZFZK   #millenium,#premillennial, #amillennial, #1000 years, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian,#returnofchrist, #deityofchrist, #dustinsmith, #billschlegel, #Revelation, #kingofheaven

Dr. Dustin Smith is currently Professor of Theological Studies at Reformed University near Atlanta, Georgia. Among other writings, he is co-author of the book "The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus" and he is the host of the Biblical Unitarian Podcast.   The pre-millennial view of the return of Christ holds that the unrighteous are judged 1000 years after the righteous. In this episode, Part 2 of our discussion, Dr. Smith gives biblical evidence that the righteous and unrighteous will be judged at the same time – when Jesus returns and raises the dead – not separated by a period of 1000 years.   Scriptures referred to in this episode: Matthew 13:30, 39-43, the Kingdom of Heaven Parable of the Wheat and Tares and its Explanation Matthew 13:49-50, the Kingdom of Heaven Parable of the Dragnet Acts 17:40-41, “God has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man…” Matthew 25:31ff, The Parable of the Separation of the Sheep and Goats at the Return of Jesus Matthew 7:21-24, “Not all who say to me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom Matthew 12:41ff, “The men of Nineveh…and the Queen of the South shall rise up with this generation…” Revelation 11:15-18, “The kingdoms of the world have become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ”   Biblical Unitarian Podcast, Host Dr. Dustin Smith https://biblicalunitarianpodcast.podbean.com/   The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus https://www.amazon.com/Son-God-Three-Views-Identity-ebook/dp/B07FYTZFZK   #millenium, #premillennial, #amillennial, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian, #returnofchrist, #deityofchrist, #dustinsmith, #billschlegel

Dr. Dustin Smith is currently Professor of Theological Studies at Reformed University near Atlanta, Georgia. Among other writings, he is co-author of the book The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus" and he is the host of the Biblical Unitarian Podcast.   In this first of a series of three One God Report podcast episodes, Dr. Smith describes some differences between pre-millennialism and a-millennialism. Eventually we are leading up to the question: is the 1000 years in Revelation 20 to be understood as a literal 1000 years, or does the 1000 years symbolically represent something else? Dr. Smith makes these points in the current episode:   Both pre-millennial and a-millennial views see two levels, or two tiers, two time-periods to the kingdom of God.   For pre-millennialism the two tiers are: 1) after the physical return of Jesus, a literal 1000-year rule of Christ on earth, and then 2) the eternal kingdom which begins after the 1000 years.   For amillennialism: 1) the kingdom of God and of His Christ has already been inaugurated with the coming of Jesus and his ascension to heaven at the right hand of God. And 2) the eternal kingdom is consummated when Jesus physically returns to earth. The amillennialism that Dr. Smith describes believes that Jesus will physically rule over a kingdom on earth, just not for an intermediate 1000-year period. Rather, Jesus’s return is the transition to his to an eternal rule on earth.   In this podcast Dr. Smith begins to explain some problems with the pre-millennial view.   1) Pre-millennialism maintains that even after Jesus returns and raises the dead, some non-believers, that is, mortals, will enter the millennial kingdom. But biblically, there are considerable problems not only with mortals entering the kingdom of God, but with people continuing to die after the resurrection which accompanies the second coming of Christ (Matt 25:46; 1 Cor 15:23-26, 54-55; 2 Tim 1:10; Rev 21:4).   2) Pre-millennialism maintains that the resurrection of the just precedes by 1000 years the resurrection of the unjust, that is, the righteous are resurrected when Jesus returns, but the unrighteous 1000 years later. But in the Bible the resurrection of the just and the unjust always occurs at the same time, (e.g., Dan 12:2; Matt 12:41-42; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; Rev 11:15-18). Specifically, the resurrection of all the dead occurs at the return of Jesus (1 Thes. 4:13-17). Biblical Unitarian Podcast, Host Dr. Dustin Smith https://biblicalunitarianpodcast.podbean.com/   The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus https://www.amazon.com/Son-God-Three-Views-Identity-ebook/dp/B07FYTZFZK   #millenium, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian, #returnofchrist, #deityofchrist, #dustinsmith, #billschlegel

I interview six different people in Israel to answer these questions:   Who is God and how do you know? Who is the Messiah and what is his relationship to God? Is there are specific Scripture or two that explain your view of God or the Messiah?   The people interviewed include:   02:28 Yaakov (Yaaki), a more or less secular Israeli who became a public high school Bible teacher.   09:00 Elena, who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union.   12:24 Moses (Moshe), a Jewish believer in Jesus who parents were Holocaust survivors.   18:52 Shaaban, a Muslim Arab (not Israeli).   22:30 A group of religious Jewish men.   26:14 Jonathan, an American Israeli Jew who believes in One God (the Father) and the human Messiah Jesus.   Bill Schlegel YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@billschlegel1   Land and Bible blog: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/   #israel, #Jewishbelieversjesus, #deityofchrist, @trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #onegodreport, #billschlegel