The message Jesus proclaims is clear: True saints are “IN” the Father and the Son and are therefore “ONE WITH” Them. This makes the saint part of the Godhead. We are told by Jesus that a married couple, though two in number, is “one flesh,” (Mat. 19:5). Similarly, God, Christ and the true believer, though three in number, are “one spirit.” Only a god can be part of the God family. TRUE SAINTS ARE GODS OF A LESSER STATUS.

Impossible? men will say. Isn’t such a statement blasphemous? Can a mortal man become a god? Before dismissing this belief as heresy, let us see what Jesus says about it. In John 10:34,35 He is talking to a group of Jews who were threatening to stone Him for saying that He, a man like themselves, and God were “one” (vs 29), thereby making Himself God (vs 33). Note that He did not refute their statement; He was in fact calling Himself a god in that the son has the same status as the father. God designed the end-time spiritual family to consist of Himself, Christ and Their saints. This configuration remains true to this day: “I am the Lord; I change not.” “In Him there is no shadow (hint) of turning.” “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.” “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” Because God, Christ and the saint are “in” and “one with” one another, the obedient saint can honestly say, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father and the Son.” That should take our breath away, if, that is, it is true. Let us look to the Source of all spiritual truth to determing if it is indeed true. To understand the Lord’s next statement we must remember that before coming to earth, Jesus of Nazareth was the God of the Old Testament. It was Jesus, then called “the Word,” Who, under instructions from God, created the universe (see John 1:1-4,14), spoke face to face with Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaiah and Jacob. etc.

In Psalm 82:6 He (the Word–Jesus) was speaking to the Israelites (81:4) about themselves. In 82:6 we find Him saying to them: “‘You are gods.'” Many generations later He, now Jesus of Nazareth, was speaking to their descendants, saying: “Is it not written in your Law (the Old Testament), I (Jesus) said, ‘You are gods?’ If He (Jesus referring to Himself as the God of the Old Testament) called them gods to whom the Word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, do I (a mortal man) blaspheme because I said that I am the Son of God?” By calling Himself the Son of God Jesus was calling Himself a God–equal to the Father but in a lower status and totally dependent on the Father for His words, thoughts, acts, etc.  He voiced this when He said, “The Son can do nothing by Himself, but only what He sees the Father do. I of Myself can do nothing” (Jn. 5:19,30). “The doctrine (Words) that I speak are not mine, but (rather) His that sent Me” (Jn. 7:16). As a man like all other men, Jesus was totally dependent on His Father in EVERY ASPECT OF HIS LIFE, EVEN LIFE ITSELF.

Notice that the God of the Old Testament, the creator of mankind, called those whom He created “gods.” As is always a case with God, further study reveals that they would be gods only if they obeyed His Words. True saints today occupy the same status that Jesus occupied while on earth. He was a disciple of His Father in heaven. Saints are disciples of Jesus. Earth-bound saints are totally dependent on Jesus for all things pertaining to this life. As long as they remain dependent on and obedient to Father and Son they will remain “IN” and “ONE WITH” Them. Obedience to and dependence on Them makes the three parts–God, Christ and the saint–a single unit, with the saint occupying a lower, subservient status. Note that the Words the modern saint is required to believe and obey are the same Words spoken and recorded by the prophets and the apostles anciently. God, through His Holy Spirit, spoke those eternal Words. These are Words that, if believed and obeyed, produce eternal life. Eternal life is in the Godhead, which is where the saint lives spiritually.

By now you should be forming the mental picture being painted by the Godhead. It features God the Father, God the Son and god the saint. I realize that this Biblical reality seems unreal, even impossible, perhaps heretical. Only those in whom the Holy Spirit resides can grasp the Truth of Jesus’s Words found in John’s gospel and elsewhere. They reveal to a member of God’s Very Elect exactly who and what he is. In order to spend eternity with God and Son one must believe Their Words and become part of Their family. Sadly, few will choose to do so, which is what Jesus said in Matthew 7:13,14. Most salvation seekers have been lured into one of Satan’s church systems by his ear-scratching false prophets who tell them what they want to hear. Let us reject Satan’s easy, costless way which will send us into the Lake of Fire where we will be burned to ash. Let us count the cost of embracing God’s narrow, difficult way, pay that cost and spend eternity with Him and His Son in paradise. L.J.