I Was Blind ... but Now I See!

"Amazing grace how sweet the sound

That saved someone like me

I once was lost but now I’m found

Was blind but now I see."

You recognize this great old hymn, right? And to me, it’s still as relevant now as it was 40 years ago!

Anyone who has experienced the life-changing power of Jesus Christ through the gospel understands and relates to the message in this song. But many are spiritually blind. What makes deception so devilish is that those being deceived are not aware they are being deceived! Can it be that the the masses of people on our planet live in deception and walk in darkness? Deceived by religions, by governments, by traditions, by their own sin?

I don’t presume to have all the answers, but I know this - I was deceived! As a young man I thought Christianity was a fantasy. I preferred to think that aliens were responsible for life on this planet or that, perhaps it was created out of nothing as the result of a “big bang”. I thought that smoking marijuana would enhance my senses and enlarge my brain (wow, I still can’t believe that one! ...and I thought Christianity was a fantasy?). I preferred to believe in anything other than the truth, that a good God created us to know and love Him, and to offer us a dynamic and fulfilling life of faith in relationship with Him.

But for me, it really all came down to one thing - accountability! I just didn’t want to be accountable to God for my life and actions because I thought it would prevent me from enjoying everything life had to offer. I was deceived! When I realized that life wasn’t as great as I thought it would be, or should be, given that I could do anything I wanted without consequences (or so I thought), I began to think seriously about my lifestyle - my choices.

Not long after, through the testimony of a good friend, I bowed my heart before God, asking for forgiveness. And in that very moment something happened that cannot be adequately told - it's better experienced. It was like a film had been removed from my eyes, and suddenly I could see clearly. And not only that, but I felt that several pounds of weight had been removed from my shoulders! I felt peace and joy in my heart, and even the air I breathed seemed fresher. I'm not exaggerating!

This is the shortened story of my conversion experience and I will never forget that moment. It is forever etched in my psyche, and I have never been the same since that day in February of 1974. Praise God! But these days, that great old song has taken on a second meaning for me. Little did I know back then that one could come to know the one who IS truth - Jesus - and still be deceived. In fact, for many years I embraced  teachings I thought were truth - right out of the Bible. However, in the past few years, as I have sought God for answers and clarification on certain issues, I have discovered that much of what I was taught as a protestant, evangelical, pentecostal Christian, was simply more fiction than fact!

Without question, the biggest error I have encountered as a Christian is the doctrine of the Trinity! Admittedly, it’s a teaching I could never understand, nor can anyone else if they are honest. But that didn’t stop me from believing it, and embracing it. Isn’t that amazing? It is NOT explicitly proclaimed anywhere in the pages of the Bible, yet it is embraced by millions as the central truth of Christianity. Isn’t that the very definition of deception? Thousands of well-meaning, intelligent men and women have put forth their impassioned philosophical debates along with arguments from biblical narrative and biblical grammar, all in an attempt to support an idea that cannot be proved. They make up charts and graphs, reference anecdotal and fictional writings, as well as illustrations from science and nature. And they do this with great enthusiasm in an attempt to make a contradiction, somehow, believable. But in the real world, three is not one and one is not  three!

Every argument attempting to explain the Trinity can only end up one way - “you just have to take it by faith.” Well... I don’t have to take it… and neither do you! God never asks us to believe a logical contradiction. There are no examples of this anywhere in Scripture. Oh yes, to be sure, there are many things in the Bible we cannot explain; ie. how did God lengthen a day for Joshua, how was Philip translated from one location to another in an instant of time, how did God raise Jesus from the dead, and oh by the way, what is God's origin anyway - who created Him? (to name just a few) But the fact is, all these things are explicitly stated in the Bible as having actually happened, and so, even though we can’t explain them we DO take them by faith.

But this is NOT so with the Trinity! None of the fine arguments theologians use to make their case for the Trinity is ever made by any person in the Old or New Testament, ever! They didn’t have to defend a Triune God because that concept never entered their minds!! So why do we persist in this deception? Why is it so important?

...It’s religion.

Well, I could go on and on, but that’s not my purpose here. I simply want to make one point. Living the christian life does not require some higher knowledge that was not evident, or that was hidden at the time of conversion. I did not confess the Trinity in order to “get saved”, nor did you. I did, however, confess Jesus as lord, as the one who died as the sacrifice for my sins. I recognized that Jesus was the Son of God, sent so that I would not perish, but have everlasting life! I didn’t understand then the sense of being “sent”, I just believed that Jesus death somehow paid for my sin, and I was forgiven. There is no reason to twist and distort Scripture in a way that makes Jesus something he never claimed himself to be! He is the Son of God, not God the Son!

Today, I sing “amazing grace” with a double meaning because I have not only been rescued from sin, but also rescued from an error that had kept my mind in the dark - a confusion in understanding God and Jesus, and how to pray. It was like being a victim of brainwashing; consistently told to see black when you are actually looking at white! Ah, but now I truly see! God alone is God and Jesus is the Son of God, our lord, born of a virgin, sent (commissioned) to proclaim the gospel about the kingdom of God and freely give his life to redeem us from the power of sin, which is death.

This view, I’m convinced, is what the Bible clearly declares as being taught to the first disciples by Jesus himself. And it is that message that was proclaimed by the same to the 1st century church! The conflation of Father, Son, and Spirit crept into the church after the death of the apostles through vain philosophies, as Paul himself consistently warned.

I urge you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to consider what I say here. Seriously question why you believe what you believe and ask Father God to help you see Scripture with “new eyes”. Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, and God will guide you and teach you by His Spirit, if you are willing to listen. Listen, and be amazed!.

Please feel free to share your thoughts by posting a comment.

Who Do You Worship?

John 4:21-26 (ESV) ²¹ Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. ²² You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵ The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” ²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

As I sit here in my sun room reading, studying, writing, my mind wanders back to August of 2008 when I was doing much the same thing but in a different location and under different circumstances. At that time, having been a "born again" Christian for most of my life - about 40 years - I began to seriously question my faith; ie., why I believed the things I was taught to believe. I didn't doubt the existence of God, or the historical Jesus, but many of the ideas that I had been indoctrinated with seemed contradictory. And, in real life, my personal experience as well as the experiences of those I observed around me failed to line up to the supposed truths that I heard and accepted for so many years. If the Bible is God's Word, why do so many people arrive at different conclusions about what it teaches? If Christians are the "body of Christ" and we are supposed to be of the same mind, why are there so many denominations - sometimes being separated by the slightest points? The television evangelists were preaching that God wants people to prosper, but we must give - usually to their ministries - in order for God to bless us. And in reality, the only ones benefiting financially from their preaching seems to be the preachers themselves! Is this the message that Jesus brought? Is this the Church that Jesus said He would build? All these things, and more, led me on a "quest for truth"

Thank God that it didn't take years to arrive at an answer! It was literally within moments of throwing my hands in the air and calling out to the Lord Jesus that I began to be enlightened. In my search, I was led to a website that God used to open my eyes, but that was just the beginning. I have since discovered numerous resources that have aided me in my quest. I have now discovered the reality of the beatitude which says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." - Matt 5:6 (ESV)


Steeped in Tradition
In the passage of Scripture above, Jesus confronts the "tradition" of a Samaritan woman with regard to the worship of God. She believed that God should be worshiped on "this mountain", referring to Mt Gerizim where her forefathers, the Samaritans, had worshiped for years, and where there was once a temple that rivaled that of Jerusalem. The Jews, of course, worshiped on Mt Zion, Jerusalem. But Jesus corrects both views by declaring that location was not of primary concern. Rather it was a matter of knowledge.

Jesus pointed out that they, the Samaritans, did not know what they worshiped. The Samaritans were an offshoot of Jewish ancestry but whose worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was tainted by the introduction of various pagan rites and beliefs which they had incorporated as a result of foreign captivity. This is why they were despised by the Jews; their worship of God was not according to Torah; it was not pure. Jesus then goes on to assert not only that Jews DO know what they worship, but the time is coming, and now is, that "true worshipers" will worship the Father in spirit and truth."

Is it possible that Christianity has become, like the Samaritans, a religion tainted with pagan ideas and practices, Greek philosophy, so that we no longer know what we worship?

According to Jesus, worship is all about "the Father." The word "worship" appears eight times in these six verses. While there are numerous lessons that can be learned about worship here, what strikes me most is the fact that of the eight times the word is used, four of them refer to the true object of worship which is "the Father". Notice especially in verse 23 that Jesus says:

1. True worshipers worship the Father
2. True worshipers worship Him (the Father) in spirit and in truth
3. The Father is seeking such (true worshipers) to worship Him

It is a powerful realization, when one takes the time to examine the texts of Scripture, that in no place and at no time does Jesus ever accept worship as God. Attempts to find any reference to the worship of a 2nd person of a trinity, or any member of a trinity for that matter, are futile! In no place does the Bible ever speak of God as three, three in one, or triune.

In the birth account of Jesus, the kings (magi) desired to worship him (Jesus), but their purpose was to worship the newly born "King of the Jews"; ie. Messiah, or Christ - not God. (Matt 2:2) Further, in Rev 5:11-14 the elders said "with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain (a direct reference to Jesus) to receive...honor, and glory, and blessing." But then in verse 13, the same is said of "Him that sits upon the throne (a direct reference to God Almighty) AND unto the Lamb..." However, with regard to the word worship, the elders "fell down and worshiped Him that lives forever and ever." (Rev 4:9-10; 10:6; 15:7 - where this phrase clearly refers to God, not Jesus)

Worship God
Worship is translated from the the Greek proskuneo meaning, literally, to bow down, or prostrate oneself; to do obeisance in respect of the honor, dignity, power and/or authority of the one receiving worship. In Rev 19:10 and Rev 22:8-9 the angel refused worship from John and clearly instructed him to "worship God". Again, in Matt 4:10 Jesus' temptation to worship Satan was answered with "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." What is of particular interest is the fact that the word proskuneo is always applied to the worship of God Almighty, the Father, but can also be used of others. For example, in 1Chron 29:20, the Greek version (the Septuagint) employs the word proskuneo when it says that all the people "bowed... to the LORD and to the king". It is also used of the antichrist - the beast (Rev 13:8; 13:12). There are many other examples which I will leave to the reader to discover for him/herself, but it is imperative to understand that the word proskuneo itself does not designate the worship only of God.

Critical for understanding is the fact that the Bible everywhere admonishes us to worship God alone. The fact that "worship" can be used of others demonstrates that we must understand who and why we worship! In our text, the woman tries to side step the issue by stating that when Messiah comes he would reveal everything, to which Jesus replied, "I am he". The point here is that Jesus admits to being the Christ, the anointed one of God. While Jesus is worthy of praise and adoration for his character, works, and status as both Lord and Christ, he never accepts, nor encourages the worship of Himself as God. Rather, He always points to the Father as the One men should worship. In fact, he refers to himself in John 14:6 as "the way" to the Father. This means he is not the destination, but the door. Further, in Col 1:15 he is the image of the invisible God. The word image in that verse is eikon in Greek. An icon is a representation. Those familiar with computers know that an icon is a picture, or symbol, that represents a file or program on your computer. When you click on that image it opens the file or program you want, but the icon is not itself the file or program, it is the way.


It has become clear to me that the Church today has unwittingly substituted the worship of God for the worship of Jesus. We have made Jesus, who is the icon, the image of God, the object and final destination of our worship, instead of the "way" which God provided to Himself. I make no judgments here regarding the practice of idolatry, I only wish to point out that this substitution is so subtle that most people don't realize they are doing it. Yet, it is a very slippery slope, and a dangerous error for which I personally have repented. Jesus declares without equivocation that "true worshipers will worship the Father..."!

Massive Deception
A "true" worshiper is one who worships in truth! Those who worship the Father "must worship Him in spirit and in truth." The question is, how is it possible to worship the Father 'in truth' when we fail to follow Jesus own teaching about who God is? In John 5:44 and John 17:3 Jesus describes the Father as "the only true God"; ie., the only one who is truly, or in reality, God. Throughout the gospels he declares himself as the one who speaks God's message, the words God gives him to speak, and does only what God tells him to do (references are too numerous to mention). And even after his resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God, Jesus refers to the Father as "my God" (Jn 20:17; Rev 1:6; 3:2; 3:12). Further, the apostle Paul makes reference not just to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but "the God" and Father (Eph 1:3; 2Cor 1:3; 11:31), as also does Peter (1Pet 1:3) Does it not seem odd that God would have a God?


What strange blindness holds such power over believers that we cannot see the plain and simple truth of Scripture, but instead cling to, and in some cases vehemently argue for, an unintelligible creed which changes the person-hood of God into a substance made of three persons? I cannot comprehend all the dynamics included in this massive deception, but I know this, in the words of that great hymn, "I once was blind, but now I see".


So the question dear reader is this: Who do you worship? Are you willing to examine this issue with a clear mind and without bias, or will you simply continue to accept tradition without examination? As I complete this article it is Palm Sunday and therefore appropriate to reference John 12:13. When the crowds hailed Jesus, shouting "Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord", were they worshiping him as God, or as Messiah - king of Israel? Friends, Jesus is our king and as such, he is worthy of our praise and adoration. Without his life, his teaching, his death, resurrection and ascension, we would be lost in our sin and alienated to God, without hope of eternal life. But the Bible is clear, everything about Jesus points us to God, and to the fact that it was God who gave us Jesus' life and teaching; God who raised him from the dead and exalted him as Lord, to sit at His right hand.

So, as God is actively seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and truth, are you, or will you be, one found by Him?
-----------

Please  react to this post by checking one of the boxes below
and/or posting a comment.

Three Undeniable Proofs

The Scriptures are literally full of texts which declare God as the Father, and the Only God. Nothing changed in the New Testament regarding the revealed nature of God, as Father and as Almighty. Nevertheless, the centuries old doctrine of the Holy Trinity has turned plain language and simple, direct, concepts into an unintelligible mystery. I have a solution to that problem... ditch the unbiblical doctrine and replace it with the clear teaching of Scripture! 

It's time for another reformation! 

There are many undeniable proofs throughout the Bible, but in this article I want to highlight only three  texts that reasonably prove Jesus is NOT God, sharing essence in a multiple Godhead, or equal with God in any way. They are John 17:3, Matt 16:16 , and Ephesians 1:17

 Undeniable Proof #1

John 17:3

"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." 

Any person can read this text and clearly see that Jesus delineates Himself from "the One True God". In order to hold to the doctrine of the Trinity, one must explain away Jesus' own words. Remember, it is Jesus who said this; the same Jesus all Christians claim to be Lord and Master!

In order to attain eternal life, one must know the only true God, and the one that God sent (commissioned). The "True God" is obviously a reference to "the Father" to whom Jesus prayed. The Father is the only true God! All verses following must be interpreted within the context of Jesus declaration about the identity of the true God. For example, look at the continuation of Jesus prayer in verse five.

 "And now, glorify Me together with Yourself, Father, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."

There are several ways to understand this verse. First, if we take it literally, Jesus pre-existed his earthly life and shared glory with God. He is now requesting to have that glory again and to return to his pre-existent state. This is apparently how trinitarians interpret what Jesus is saying here. But even if it is true, we must deal with his statement about the only true God. If the Father is the "true" God, then Jesus is not... there cannot be two "true" Gods! There is no co-equality here, as the doctrine of the trinity teaches. 

In addition, it may be argued that if Jesus gave up glory in order to become a man, then he couldn't have been God during that time. This plays into the theory of "kenosis" from Phil 2:7 where it says he "emptied" himself. But the problem with kenotic theory is that Jesus was always conscious of His Godhood, according to the trinity doctrine. Giving up glory he had, would be tantamount to giving up divinity.

Another problem with this understanding is that asking God to restore glory which He previously had, makes him totally cognizant of His Deity at this time, when he doesn't seem to remember that he is fully God at other times. This "sporadic" awareness of Deity does not seem to be consistent with a divine being... and certainly not consistent with humanity. At least, I've never had the experience of realizing that I'm actually God! What about you?

There is, of course, another way to interpret this verse while adhering to Jesus statement about the One True God, and staying in agreement with his complete humanity, as well as other Biblical texts. First, look at 2Tim 1:9... 

"who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began..." 

Paul says that we received grace according to His purpose in Christ BEFORE time began. Notice the past tense of the verbs. How could we be called before we existed in time? And further, no one suggests that we were around before time to receive His grace! It's obvious, and everyone acknowledges, that Paul refers to God's plan from before time. Also, in Eph 1:4 Paul makes a similar reference. How is it possible for us to have been chosen before the foundation of the world? Only in God's mind, His eternal plan!

Given these comparisons, and removing any bias towards a trinitarian theology, can we really prove that Jesus was Deity from John 17:5? Jesus was also in God's mind, His plan, before time, and that is precisely how we should understand John 1:1. The word - the plan - was with God in the beginning, but it did not become Jesus until He was born in Mary. 


What Jesus is asking here is for the Father to fulfill Scripture concerning the glory that was promised to the Messiah; Jesus' glory was in God's mind before time and He prays that it now be made manifest. I believe this to be an honest assessment of the text without twisting or stretching it in any way.


Finally, we should not miss the import of 1Pet 1:20-21. 

"He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God." 

I really don't think I have to say anything more, but in case you missed it, 

• to be "foreknown" is not the same as pre-existing!
• God "gave" him glory, He didn't return it.
• God's purpose in Jesus is that our "faith and hope are in God"  

Jesus himself is not the True God, but the one who was "sent" (commissioned) by the True God, to reveal the True God (17:3). Just read through the remainder of John 17 and see how Jesus spoke the words that God gave him (17:8,14); that God has given Jesus His Name (17:11,12); that we are not of the world just like Jesus is not of the world (17:14,16); that we are sent as he was sent (17:18); that we may be one even as Jesus and the Father are one, and that they (Jesus and the Father) may be in us even as Jesus is in the Father and the Father in Jesus (17:21-23). 

Undeniable Proof #2

Matt 16:16

 "Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 

This confession is found also in Mark and Luke (Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20), but here, in Matthew,s account, Jesus responds with a telling statement. He says: "Blessed are you...for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father..." (Matt 16:17). It is amazing to me how often I've heard people use this verse to make their claim that Jesus admitted to being God; yet, he makes no such claim for himself here, or anywhere else for that matter! He claims only that Simon's assessment of his identity is "revealed" by the Father and that he (Simon) is "blessed" for his spiritually attuned judgment. This means only that Peter recognized Jesus as God's Messiah for which Israel had long been waiting. Luke's use of the term "Christ of God" (Luke 9:20) qualifies Matthew's "Son of the living God". 

"Son of God" is a title of agency in the Bible, as well as the whole of the Greek-Roman world. Israel is called "the son of God", angels are called "sons of God", and even Christians are "sons". What we all have in common is that we "represent" God in some way. Angels were sent to relay God's messages and do His bidding, Israel is the nation God used to bring Messiah to the world, and Christians are the means by which the gospel is to be preached to the world. We are, in that sense, agents of God. Even the Roman Caesar's were called sons of God because they supposedly spoke on behalf of their gods. I don't mean to put Christ on the same level as angels, and certainly not equate him with a Roman emperor, but I'm simply making the point that the term "son of God" refers to agency.


Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is the True God's authorized Agent - His Vice Regent. He was given this title at birth, as announced by the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:35), as a direct result of the miraculous begetting by the power of God. To be "Son of God" in the Bible means you are not God! In the same way, being my father's son means that I am not my father.


There are many other things we could discuss here. For example, in the trinity doctrine the Father, Son, and Spirit share "essence" which supposedly reconciles the validity of three person's yet only one God. However, the idea of "essence" uniting more than one person into one being breaks down upon further scrutiny. My father and I share the same essence, and so do my brothers ;ie. we are all human. But we are not one human, we are still three separate persons - three separate beings.

The bottom line is this: Jesus did not correct, adjust, or try to tweak Peter's answer in any way. If Jesus was "God the Son", as the trinitarian doctrine has it, this would have been the perfect opportunity for Jesus to make it clear. Wouldn't it have been more honest, more forthright, to say "well Peter, you're partly right, but you have much to learn yet." What nails this truth down for me is that Jesus commends Peter, calls him "blessed", and acknowledges that God the Father "revealed" this to him! What was revealed? Not that Jesus was the 2nd person in a triune God, but that Jesus is the Christ of God; ie. Son of God.


Jesus is the Messiah, and I can find no indication anywhere in the Bible denoting that Israel expected the Messiah to be a God-Man. The Son of God is not the same as God the Son, which is a term nowhere found in Scripture. This is undeniable proof for me.

Undeniable Proof #3

Ephesians 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"

In trinitarian teaching, Jesus is called Lord because he is equated with the Lord God of the Old Testament. Since there is only one God who is called The LORD, and since there is only one Lord Jesus Christ, He must be God. But apparently Paul did not understand this reasoning because he calls the Father of glory, "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ". Notice that it is not just "Father" of our Lord Jesus, but THE GOD (ho theos in the Greek)! How is it that God can have a God? And this is not an isolated text. (Compare Eph 1:3). Even Jesus himself recognizes the Father as his God according to the following Scriptures:

"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?" (Matt 27:46)

And after his resurrection, having been immortalized with a glorious new body.

"Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" (John 20:17)

And again, many years after having ascended into heaven, he still holds to the same understanding. 

"Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God." (Rev 3:2)

'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name." (Rev 3:12)

Dear readers, I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, don't you? If it is, in fact, God's word, written by men who were moved by God to record His thoughts, then we must take it seriously - and I do. The plain, unavoidable, fact is that Jesus nowhere claims the designation "God" for himself, but everywhere - even after his resurrection and ascension into heaven - submits himself to, and acknowledges that he himself has a God. Certainly, if Paul believed, and taught his converts, that Jesus was the 2nd person of a trinity, he would have been more careful in how he worded his prayer. 

These are, in my mind, undeniable proofs that the trinity is not a sound Biblical doctrine. Instead, it is inspired by man, handed down, and accepted virtually without question by the majority, even in the face of clear texts such as we have presented in this article.

I encourage you to research these facts for yourself. There is great freedom and joy in discovering truth!