Oneness Christology or Modalism, also known as Modalistic
Monarchianism, is a false Christian theology upholding the oneness of God as
well as the divinity of Jesus. It contradicts the Scriptural doctrine of the
Holy Trinity, also known as Trinitarianism1, which I have explained in my other article on this blog found at this link. Modalism teaches that
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three different modes or manifestations of
God. In the Western
Church, this is called
Sabellianism, and in the Eastern Church it is Patripassianism, which are both
forms of theological modalism2. United Pentecostals hold to this
age-old heresy, denying the Trinity. But the following Scriptures prove
modalism false.
1. "Then
God (Elohim) said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness,"
(Gen 1:6). Here it uses the Hebrew word “Elohim” for “God”, which is the plural
(more than one) word for God. Elohim is like saying "Gods" because it
is not singular.
Since the plural word for God
(Elohim) is used in this verse and Elohim said, "Let Us (first person
plural)" make man in "Our" (first person plural) image, and in
"Our" (first person plural) likeness, why does Elohim refer to
Himself in the first person plural as Us and Our?
2. "I
have installed my king on Zion,
my holy mountain." I will proclaim the LORD's decree: He said to me,
"You are my son; today I have become your Father. (Psa 2:6-7)
Why does Yehova God need to
install His King on His holy mountain and declare the King to be His Son and
Himself as the King’s Father, if there is no distinction between them at
all? How could this be possible if they
are not distinct from one another?
3. For
to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have
become your Father"? Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be
my Son"? (Heb 1:5)
Why would the Son say to Himself,
“I will be His Father” if He is the Father?
4. “But
whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.”
(Mat 10:33)
If Jesus is the Father, how will
He disown anyone before His Father?
5. Going
a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My
Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will,
but as you will." (Mat 26:39)
If Jesus is the Father, then why
did He have to pray this way to the Father, asking for the Father’s will and
not His will, since it makes their wills distinct from each other?
6. Then
Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me.” (Mat 28:18)
How can the Father give all
authority to Jesus unless the Son is another One?
7. “About
three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema
sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’).” (Mat
27:46)
How could Jesus ask why God had
forsaken Him if they are exactly the same Person?
8. "But
about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the
Son, but only the Father.” (Mar 13:32)
How can only the Father know
something and not the Son unless they are two distinct Persons?
9. Then
I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do
your will, my God.'" (Heb 10:7)
If Jesus is the Father, why does
He present Himself before Himself and tell Himself that He has come to do His
own will, and call Himself “My God”?
10. “To Timothy
my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and
Christ Jesus our Lord.” (1Ti 1:2; cf., 2 Tim 1:2)
“In the presence of God and
of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his
appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:” (2Ti 4:1)
The Father and Son are both referenced
in these verses. Why do so, if the Father is the Son?
11. “For there
is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,”
(1Ti 2:5)
How can the man Jesus Christ be
the one mediator between God and man, if He is the Father? How does He act as a
mediator between man and Himself?
12. Read the
High Priestly Prayer of Jesus to the Father in John 17.
Why did Jesus pray to the Father
in John 17 and many other places if He is the Father, since He would be talking
to Himself?
13. “And I will
do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the
Son.” (Joh 14:13)
How can the Father be glorified in
the Son if there is no distinction between them?
14. "You
heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me,
you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than
I.’” (Joh 14:28)
If Jesus is the Father, then why
did He say, “the Father is greater than I”?
15. Jesus said,
"Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go
instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your
Father, to my God and your God.'" (Joh 20:17)
If Jesus is the Father, why did He
say He was ascending to the Father, and why did He call the Father “My God”?
16. Jesus
answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.
Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching
comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” (Joh 7:16-17)
Why did Jesus say that His
teaching was not His own, but that it came from someone else who is the Father,
if He were the Father? If He were the Father, wouldn’t His teaching be His own?
17. Jesus
answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for
I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I
come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on
no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I
stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the
testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for
myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." Then they
asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my
Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father
also." (Joh 8:14-19)
Why did Jesus refer to Himself and
the Father as two witnesses, if He is the Father?
18. So Jesus
said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I
am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has
taught me.” (Joh 8:28)
If Jesus were the Father, how
could He do nothing on His own, but only do what the Father has taught Him?
That would be the same as saying, I the Son can do nothing on my own but only
what I the Father have taught myself. However, doesn’t the fact that Jesus said
He could do nothing on His own mean that He relies on One other than Himself,
namely the Father? And in saying this, didn’t Jesus teach us that the Father is
someone other than Himself?
19. Jesus said
to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here
from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.” (Joh 8:42)
Why does Jesus refer to God who
sent Him as someone other than Himself, if He is the Father?
20. “For I did
not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I
have spoken.” (Joh 12:49)
Since Jesus did not speak on His
own, but said only what the Father commanded Him to say, why did He refer to
the Father as someone other than Himself that was commanding Him what to say,
if He is actually the Father?
21. “Don't you
believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say
to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father,
living in me, who is doing his work.” (Joh 14:10)
Why did Jesus refer to the
Father’s authority as one other than His own if He is the Father?
22. “Anyone who
does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my
own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (Joh 14:24)
Why did Jesus say that the words
He taught did not to belong to Him, but someone other than Himself, who is the
Father, if He were the Father? If He were the Father, wouldn’t the words He
spoke be His own?
23. But
Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said,
"I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
(Act 7:55-56)
If Jesus is the Father and the
Father is Jesus, then how was Stephen able to see Jesus the Son of Man standing
at the right hand of God?
24. “The Son
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” (Col 1:15)
“For God was pleased to have all
his fullness dwell in him,” (Col
1:19)
Since God, who is invisible to us here on earth, was pleased to have all of His fullness dwell in the Son, who is the image of the invisible God, why would Scripture refer to God and the Son separately if Jesus is both the Father and the Son?
25. “I am going
to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have
been clothed with power from on high." (Luk 24:49)
Jesus referred to Himself in the first person singular as "I", and to "My Father" in the third person, and then to the gift of the Holy Spirit in the third person as "what My Father promised." Why do so, if Jesus is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost?
26. “After the
Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the
right hand of God.” (Mar 16:19)
If Jesus is the Father, why did He
sit down at the right hand of God the Father in heaven?
27. “The Son
is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining
all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he
sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Heb 1:3, cf. Heb 8:1)
If the Son is the Father, then why
does it say that He is the radiance of God’s glory, and why again does it say
He sat down at the Father’s right hand?
28. In Romans
8:11, it says, "God raised Jesus from the dead,"
How did God the Father raise Jesus,
if Jesus is the Father?
29. “Then the
end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has
destroyed all dominion, authority and power.” (1Co 15:24)
How will Jesus the Son hand the
Kingdom over to the Father, if Jesus is the Father? How will He hand the
Kingdom over to Himself?
30. “For he
‘has put everything under his feet.’ Now when it says that ‘everything’ has
been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put
everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be
made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in
all.” (1Co 15:27-28)
In 1 Cor 15:27 it says that when
God puts everything under the feet of Jesus Christ, that does not include God
Himself. God is not putting Himself under Jesus' feet. That is very clear. In 1
Cor 15:28, it says that the Son will be made subject to the Father.
Why would Scripture say that God
is not under the feet of Jesus and that Jesus will be subject to the Father, if
Jesus is the Father, unless they are eternally two distinct divine Persons,
with the Father always being the greater than the Son?
31. “The
revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show his servants
what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant
John,” (Rev 1:1)
Why did God the Father have to
give the revelation to Jesus Christ, if Jesus is the Father?
32. “John, To
the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and
from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of
the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,”
(Rev 1:4-5)
Why does it refer to Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit separately and distinctly if Jesus is all three?
33. “and has
made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him
be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” (Rev 1:6)
Why does it refer to God as “His
God and Father”, if He Himself is the Father?
34. “To the one
who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the
nations— that one 'will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to
pieces like pottery'—just as I have received authority from my Father.”
(Rev 2:26-27)
If Jesus is the Father, why did He
need to receive authority from the Father?
35. “Wake up!
Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds
unfinished in the sight of my God.” (Rev 3:2)
In this passage, the resurrected
and ascended, glorified Christ is speaking. Why the need for Him to call the
Father “My God” if He is the Father”
36. “The one
who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out
the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name
before my Father and his angels.” (Rev 3:5)
Again, how could Jesus acknowledge
anyone before His Father and His Father’s angels in heaven, if He is the
Father?
37. “The one
who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never
again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and
the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down
out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.”
(Rev 3:12)
Why did Jesus always refer to the
Father as “My God”, even after he was glorified in heaven, if He is the Father?
38. “To the one
who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I
was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (Rev 3:21)
Why would Jesus say He sat down
with His Father on His throne, if He is the Father? Can one sit down beside
oneself or with oneself?
39. "The
Lamb came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One sitting on the
throne." (Rev 5:7)
How does Jesus take the scroll
from the hand of the One (the Father) sitting on the throne, if Jesus is the
Father? Surely He does not take it from His own hand and hand it to Himself.
40. “And they
sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open
its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for
God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (Rev 5:9)
Why does the Lamb purchase men for
God if He is the Father?
41. “Then I
heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea,
and all that is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’" (Rev 5:13)
Why do they specify that their
praise is given to both Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, if the
Lamb is the Father and the Father is the Lamb?
42. “Then the
kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and
everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the
mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide
us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand
it?’" (Rev 6:15-17)
Why do these people seek to hide
themselves from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath
of the Lamb, if the Lamb is the Father?
Why do they refer to “their wrath”
(plural) if the Lamb is the Father?
43. “For the
Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; 'he will lead them
to springs of living water.' 'And God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes.'" (Rev 7:17)
Why refer to the Lamb and God
separately here if the Lamb is the Father?
44. The seventh
angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his
Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." (Rev 11:15)
Why would they say it has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, if our Lord and
His Christ were not two distinct Divine Persons?
45. Then I
heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the
power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the
accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and
night, has been hurled down.” (Rev 12:10)
Why would it refer to both the
kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ if there was no distinction
between them?
46. “Then the
dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of
her offspring—those who keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about
Jesus.” (Rev 12:17)
Why does it speak separately and
distinctly about keeping God’s commands and holding fast their testimony of
Jesus, if Jesus is the Father?
Two more verses:
47. “Then the
angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing
from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev 22:1)
Why does it say the river of the
water of life is flowing from the throne of God and from the Lamb,
if the Lamb is the Father and the Father is the Lamb?
48. “No longer
will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in
the city, and his servants will serve him.” (Rev 22:3)
Why does it say the throne of God and
of the Lamb will be in the city, if the Lamb is the Father and the Father is
the Lamb?
Closing Words
Three modes of God do not talk to each other and sit beside
each other. One mode does not refer to another as His God or as someone other
than Himself. One mode does not command another mode to do something or give
another mode authority. Modalism does not agree with Scripture and is a false
teaching.
The Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God,
according to Scripture. But the Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit; the
Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is not the Father
or the Son. They are not three gods. They are three in One, a triune Godhead,
God in three Persons, the blessed Trinity.
1Wikipedia, Modalistic Monarchianism
2Wikipedia, Sabellianism
Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan 2011, all rights reserved, used by permission. The "Trinity Doctrine" graphic may be subject to copyright, used per Fair Use Act for commentary and educational purposes only.
Author's note: Also see the following related posts:
The Holy Trinity
The Person of the Holy Spirit
Baptized with the Spirit
Holy Fire Baptism
Is Jesus God?
The Name of Jesus
You may access more of my articles on the Main Directory of this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master. Now I'd like to ask a very important question.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
In these days of the Great Deception, when people prefer a reassuring lie rather than the inconvenient truth, this is a collection of articles I have written about the truth found in God's Word, the need for biblical teaching, and sound doctrine. It includes articles that refute false doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the prosperity movement, the eternal security doctrine, Islam, agnosticism, antinomianism, relativism, atheism, humanism, ecumenism, the New Age movement, the Jehovah's Witness, the Mormons, also known as the Latter Day Saints (LDS), as well as the oneness doctrine of Unitarians. This collection of articles also exposes certain other cults and movements based outside the USA. It even exposes the popular, international Hillsong church, as well as certain novels that are popular among Christians.
