Manifest By The Light

Now let us observe the Holy Trinity revealed in the New Testament...

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. – Matthew 3:16-17

Jesus = God, the Son

saw

Spirit of God = God, the Spirit

and heard

a voice saying “my” = God, the Father

All Deity, three persons, not one person.

Let us not forget this passage…

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: - Matthew 28:18-19

It does not say here that the “name” is Jesus. 

If you are to understand a “name” here it will be that of the LORD.

However, what the word “name” here is communicating, by the context of the words of God's Son Jesus, is the power of “authority”.  We are to baptize the people of the nations and to teach them in the power or authority of the entire triune Godhead. God the Father gave the authority to His Son. Therefore, we baptize in the authority given to the Son as He tells us to do so. It cannot be correctly concluded from these verses that Jesus is His own Father nor that He is the entirety of the Godhead.

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. – Luke 1:35

Highest = God, the Father

Son of God = God, the Son (Jesus)

Holy Ghost = God, the Holy Spirit

One God, yet Three Divine Persons

For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.  - John 3:34

God = God, the Father

he, him = God, the Son

Spirit = God, the Holy Spirit

One God, yet Three Divine Persons

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. – John 14:26

Father = God, the Father

my, I = God, the Son

Comforter, Holy Ghost = God, the Holy Spirit

One God, yet Three Divine Persons

The Comforter was sent in the name, meaning sent in the authority, of Jesus. Jesus was not saying that this Comforter was Him, as Jesus Himself said...

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; - John 14:16-17a

Father, he = God, the Father

I = God, the Son

another Comforter, he, Spirit of truth = God, the Holy Spirit

One God, yet Three Divine Persons

This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.  Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.  - Acts 2:32-33

God, Father = God, the Father

Jesus, he = God, the Son

Holy Ghost = God, the Holy Spirit

One God, yet Three Divine Persons

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by hisSpirit that dwelleth in you.  - Romans 8:11

him, he, his = God, the Father

Jesus, Christ = God, the Son

Spirit = God, the Holy Spirit

One God, yet Three Divine Persons

Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by theHoly Ghost. – 1 Corinthians 12:3

God = God, the Father

Jesus, Lord = God, the Son

Holy Ghost = God, the Holy Spirit

“Lord” here shows that Jesus is master and that he is God, but not that he is Godhead.

One God, yet Three Divine Persons

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.  And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.  And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. – 1 Corinthians 12:4-6

God = God, the Father

Lord = God, the Son

Spirit = God, the Holy Spirit

One God, yet Three Divine Persons

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.  Amen. – 2 Corinthians 13:14

God = God, the Father

Lord Jesus Christ = God, the Son

Holy Ghost = God, the Holy Spirit

One God, yet Three Divine Persons

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. – Galatians 4:6

God = God, the Father

Son = God, the Son

Spirit = God, the Holy Spirit

One God, yet Three Divine Persons

Ephesians 4:5 below is a favorite quote among U.P.s which says "One Lord, one faith, one baptism". United Pentecostalists take these words completely out of context and meaning when saying that the "One Lord" is the Godhead.  Let us read it in its proper context…

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.  – Ephesians 4:4-6

One God and Father = God, the Father

One Lord = God, the Son

one Spirit = God, the Holy Spirit

One God, yet Three Divine Persons

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. – 1 Peter 1:2

God the Father = God, the Father

Jesus Christ = God, the Son

Spirit = God, the Holy Spirit

One God, yet Three Divine Persons

And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. – Revelation 4:8

The following Bible passages demonstrate that Jesus is God and that He is One with the Father as God.  These verses do not teach the absurdity taught by apostates that Jesus Christ is His own Father as the same person. One person can be both a father and a son but never is anyone his own father.

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.  - Isaiah 9:6

Jesus Christ is the "everlasting Father" which means that He is the "father of eternity" or "source of eternity". No matter whoever or whatever else you may say Jesus Christ is the father of, you couldn't say, in any reasonable rationale, that He is the father of Himself. Though Jesus is God incarnate, He did not beget Himself.  Jesus is the only-begotten of God the Father.

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.  - 1 Timothy 3:16

Nowhere does the Bible teach that God the Father was manifest in the flesh. The Bible does teach that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (1 John 4:2,3 & 2 John 1:7). Jesus Christ Himself is Deity together with His Father and the Holy Spirit.  The three are one.

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.  - Colossians 2:9

Has God been seen or hasn't He?...

No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.  - John 1:18

If Jesus were the entire Godhead and that the Father is the Son, as these cultists claim, then God has been seen and a contridiction is evident in UPC theology. However, the fact is that no one has seen the Divine Person of God the Father but the Divine Person of God the Son has been seen. We understand, therefore, that John 1:18 is referring to only God the Father and not the entirety of the Godhead.

Jesus is not a part of God.  Nor is He another god.  The Father is fully God, the Son is fully God, the Holy Spirit is fully God.  Together they are one God, not three gods.

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.  I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.  - Isaiah 43:10-11

But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour; To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.  - Titus 1:3-4

God the Father is mentioned as Savior.  Jesus Christ, who is God the Son, is mentioned as Savior.  There are not two saviors.  The two divine persons mentioned are together as One God and being together divinely as One Savior.

Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.  - 1 John 2:23

Since Jesus Christ is Deity, then to deny Him would be to deny His Father also as they two together are One God.

Learn to be discerning and see through the disguises of the counterfeits.

It is not the general practice for these so-called Apostolics to make as if all churches, excluding their own, are apostate.  Howbeit, this is the obvious conclusion to draw from what they have clung to as doctrine.  Slowly, they do come around to eventually mention it when they believe others are ready for it.  Other cults present true Christian churches as if false ones more readily. 

The tactic of a United Pentecostalist’s pretentious acceptance of other Christians has been an effective method of recruitment for them.  A number of Christians have been deceived to think that they are but another Christian denomination, which they are not.

Should you wish to investigate the United Pentecostal/Apostolic Church doctrine, we've provided these links to a their websites so that you may find out for yourself about their false teachings...

http://www.upci.org/doctrine/apostles.asp 

http://www.apostolic.net/biblicalstudies/onetrinreasondiffer.htm

Pentecostal churches of evangelical faith, which profess the Holy Trinity, have all denounced these peculiar doctrines of the United Pentecostal church as false.  The denomination of the United Pentecostal church is declared to be a cult.  Sadly, this denouncement by Pentecostal denominations has not stopped the Jesus-onlyists from creeping into Pentecostal churches to spread their doctrine, gain for themselves position of authority as elders or deacons, then finally recruit others to leave and go to the cult U.P. church.  This problem has spread to churches besides Pentecostal ones also.

United Pentecostal young adults, in order to expand their pool of choices for dates beyond their isolated church group, may look for undiscerning young people of the opposite sex from a non U.P. church.  A frequent choice of theirs is to seek among members of evangelical Pentecostal churches. Although this activity is not openly condoned by U.P. churches, it does not prevent them from being willing to having more young people brought to their churches and swayed to their religion.  Beware of young United Pentecostalists conducting their flirty fishing.

The many reports of wives abused by their UPC husbands appears to be only the tip of the iceberg, revealing a widespread practice. UPC's cultic religious pride and exaggerated sence of authority, which has resulted in abuse within many families, is not uncommon as other fanatical cults also have secretly harbored the same. Cults generally do not consider themselves obligated to discuss such matters outside their own religious institutions.

If you are Trinitarian you might ask, “How do I stop these people from spreading their apostasy in my church? You do this by showing their doctrine as false, revealing true Biblical teaching from the Bible, and exposing United Pentecostalism as a cult just like any other which denies essential doctrines of Christendom.

Remember that many of these people do not realize that they are in a cult.  If they have been with a U.P. church for any length of time they will, however, realize the isolation the have been led into.  For some reason, they frequently believe that their doctrinal difference between them and others makes them God's special people above all others in spite of God's revealed word.  Many analogies, based in human reasoning, have been forged by them in an attempt to sustain their mutual belief in an unbiblical and absurd formula of the nature of God.

Giveaways that someone may be a Jesus-onlyist may be from their speech.  If they say,

“I don’t believe in a Trinity, per se.”

Ask them what “per se” means.  Be pointed with questions about the nature of God as Trinity.  If they don’t really believe in the Trinity, then realize that they are not really true Christians per se either.

“There is a need for a greater emphasis on baptism in the church”.

Sounds good, but ask them why they believe this.  Do they believe that water baptism is a salvation requirement and that it must be done in the name of “Jesus” only and not spoken also in the name of the Father and Holy Spirit? If so, you just found a wolf among the sheep.

“Well, my church believes in holiness.  I don’t see this taught in other churches.”

Ask them what they believe holiness is.  If they speak of a bunch of legalistic rules rather than a conformance to a real Christ-like lifestyle, then you’ve discovered a counterfeit.

Watch out also for other speech implying as if saved people must speak in tongues.  As the Apostle Paul asks in Scripture to expect a "no" for an answer...  "Do all speak with tongues?" (1 Corinthians 12:30).  Also, cautiously look out for those worried about believers’ salvation if they have not yet been water baptized.  These cultists believe that God damns the unbaptized.

Beware! For the bolder of the Apostolics are not ashamed to publicly denounce every other church group besides their own as corporately “The False Church”.  The less bold declare this privately as they don’t want to offend people by their unholy religious exclusiveness.

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, - Jude 4b

Often these cultists will not openly declare their doctrines which they know Trinitarians don't believe. They do this in order to gain acceptance long enough in order to sneak in to gain recruits for their cult.

Some of these cultists may acclaim that they do believe in the Trinity. But the trinity they believe in is not God in Three Persons but as one in three modes or manifestations. If asked about the word "persons" they might say they merely don't like using the word about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit when in reality they don't believe God is in Three Persons at all. They may use well practiced speech such as this to deceive even those careful about doctrine.

Even when an educated Trinitarian asks pointed questions about doctrine they might use carefully formed phrased answers in order to feign being like-minded in faith with others. If you ask them if they believe in God in Three Persons, they might answer, "We believe that God is Father, Son and Holy Ghost.", which, although is a true statement of itself, really doesn't answer the question but sidesteps it. Do they believe the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are God in Three Persons or are one person? By their lack of acclaiming the Lord, they deny him.

For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. - 2 John 7

Salvation is a free gift received by all who place their complete and undivided trusting faith solely in God's true and only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  As His Father was in heaven, Jesus came in person to the earth to pay the full penalty for our sins with His own precious blood so that we might believe in Him and receive the forgiveness of all of our sins.  Neither tongue-speaking nor water baptism under any formula are salvation requirements.

If you have been guilty of denying the true nature of God, then repent by placing your faith in Him as the Triune God.  This is how He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures, in nature and through the ages.  Renounce Him no more and stop clinging to the false and peculiar doctrine of this one United Pentecostal church which exalts itself over all other churches by teaching their own formula of God, twisting the message of who He truly is.

In conclusion, let no man accuse any of us for not being in the love of God to profess which has been said in this article.  For it is the love of God which constrains us to speak the truth about who He is in love.  It is those who distort who God has revealed Himself as that deny the love of God.  If we are esteemed by you to be in error for what has been said here, then you need to ask yourself what it is that you esteem as the truth.

Be encouraged to hold in value God's true Holy nature.  Declare God's disapproval of those who lie about Him, His Holy Spirit and His Son Jesus.  God's only-begotten Son Jesus Christ is the truth.  Love God supreme!