Intro
The Journey
Tongues
Oneness
The Trinity
Sources
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Excerpts from Bible college class notes
Advanced Unfolding Revelation of God
Fall 1981
Instructor: Mike Sabourin
[9/21 - first day of class]
The importance of the subject -
The doctrine of oneness, a knowledge of the nature of God is important because:
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- it affects all doctrines—the nature of God is all-important—if you are confused about the nature of God, you will be confused about salvation & other doctrines.
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[the trinity is the cornerstone of the world Babylon—it was the first major doctrine of the developing Catholic Church
| Isaiah 52:1
God is calling the church to awake out of sleep—the church has not yet fulfilled the great commission.
the beautiful garments = the nature of Christ
v. 2 the church is pictured in bondage—it is to arise from bondage and sit down on the throne—our position of authority.
v. 3 - the church sold to the world to gain favour but didn't gain favour, instead lost power w/God—traditions of men took the church captive.
v. 4 - the church in bondage to the rudiments of the world.
v. 5 - make them to howl rather the rulers are howling, a more correct translation—the rulers are animalistic. God's name is being blasphemed because his nature is being wrongly portrayed.
v. 6 - Therefore my people shall know my name
the truth of the unfolding Rev. is the truth of God's name & nature
results:
v. 7 - the bringing of good tidings
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the gospel & the name—baptizing people involves knowing the name we baptize with.
baptism means more than just a ritual: it means immersion into the name of Jesus, into the nature of God. We must not only save people, but also make disciples of them—we need to teach men after they are saved and teach them properly—baptized into the Father (speaks of God's authority and power), the Son (speaking of our likeness unto the pattern Son in self-sacrifice and in using our delegated authority), and the Holy Spirit (the Comforter—meeting people's needs) |
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it is necessary that we know the name and teach others the meaning of the name.] |
-the understanding of the nature of God will be a basis for unity in the church—oneness is a central issue in bringing people into the bride of Christ.
- knowledge of oneness will bring men out of the confusion of Babylon—it breaks the last tie w/the old system.
Isaiah 52:11 - the church is to come out of Babylon, out of false religion, the harlot church.
- it helps people prepare to be the bride of Christ—you can't marry three persons (the trinity).
- it brings a better understanding of salvation.
God cannot die—God is immortal—what could the death of God mean anyway? death means the separation of soul and spirit from the body, but God has no body. The man Jesus Christ died on the cross.
[9/22]
- God accepts the sacrifice of a perfect man for the sins of the world—God esteems that perfect man—God longs to see us in the likeness of Christ and in a relationship w/him of unbroken fellowship—in trinitarian theology all this is largely missed because the Son of God is God (solely)—this is why he was sinless—miss the significance of God's pattern son.
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- refutation of pre-existent Christ opens up the word of God as to his whole plan & refutes the Calvinistic idea of pre-destination - God foreknew Christ therefore he can be talked of in the OT.
- opens up the book of Revelation -- about Christ, his role in the plan of God.
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- affects our ideas on the leading of God—if trinitarian doctrine is a mystery, that puts you into a sort of mystical realm which opens you up to demonic influences if not watched carefully.
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- a safety against cult teaching - an unsound understanding of the nature of God opens one up to mistaken teaching; also - once people see the Trinity is not Biblical, it leaves them open to even worse teaching - e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses who do this very thing.
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Genesis 1:26, 27
| Widely used as an argument for plurality of persons in the Godhead.
"us" - who are the persons involved? 2 divine persons?
not an easy passage, requires deep study. |
[After teaching against trinitarian interpretations of the verse, and discussing other possible interpretations, two class days later (on Sept. 29th) Mike turned to the final interpretation.]
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6) God is speaking anticipatively and prophetically of himself and his son, the man Christ Jesus—not speaking merely of the initial creation (v. 27 takes care of this) but of the whole plan of God.
| In Eden God alone created man.
the anticipation is in v. 26—covers the whole plan of God—the original intention for man stated as God creates man.
- by the fall, man partially lost the image of God.
- also lost fellowship w/God & ceased to be made in the likeness of God |
the making had to await a later time, the coming of the Messiah, and the work of the Holy Spirit, the power of God working in us. |
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