On the spiritual level I am rejected by everyone I know because I take the Bible literally. One of the factors that separates me from others, including my family, concerns the so-called “trinity,” the supposed union of God, Christ and the Holy spirit into “one god in three persons.” The word “trinity” does not appear in the Scriptures. Nor is it referred to by any of the Bible’s authors.

Allow me to insert an aside into this series at this point. In the beginning The Word (Who became Jesus of Nazareth) was a God who was “with (another) God”–not Gods (Jn. 1:1-4,14). These TWO Gods were co-equal, as Philippians 2:6 tells us. In verses 6-8 the Apostle Paul notes that the Word “made Himself of no reputation” before coming to earth. The English expression: “made Himself of no reputation” in the Greek language means that He “emptied Himself” or “poured out of Himself” all that He was before coming to earth as a human being like all other human beings. The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that the Word emptied Himself of ALL of His godly powers and abilities before coming to earth. HE DELIBERATELY MADE HIMSELF LIKE ALL OTHER MEN. For a detailed study on this subject read Jesus of Nazareth: God, Man or God-man? on this website.

“You (Jews) have never heard God’s voice or seen His form.” “No man has seen God’s form”  (Jn. 5:37/ 1 Jn. 5:37). All of the people Jesus and John were referring to were Israelites–God’s chosen people. Not even they had seen God or heard His audible voice. The God who spoke face-to-face with Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, the prophets and the disciples was the Word Who became Jesus of Nazareth. As a man Jesus had the same access to God as all other men. This meant that He could hear God’s “voice” only as God spoke to Him through His Spirit. Two times Jesus and those around Him heard the audible voice of God the Father, once at His baptism and again at His transfiguration. In each case God was speaking through the Holy Spirit. Note: the Holy Spirit is referred to as “him” in some instances and “it” in other instances depending on who was doing the writing. God and Christ are always referred to in male terms: He, Him, His, etc. The Holy Spirit, not being a self-generating, self-sustaining, self-directing entity, is neuter, meaning that the words “him” and “it” apply equally. Nowhere is either God, Jesus or their Spirit, referred to as female.

Along with several other Scriptural passages trinitarians use as “proof” of their theology, such Biblical statements as “the Spirit said” and “the Spirit bade me,” etc. are routinely put forth to back up their contentions that the Holy Spirit is part of a triune Godhead. In the series titled The Trinity I prove Scripturally that when these expressions are used they refer to God speaking and His Spirit carrying His words to their intended recipient. The Holy Spirit has neither the power nor the authority to speak or act on its own. Recall that when Peter said to Jesus: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus told him that God had given him those words which Peter then voiced. Peter did not hear God’s audible voice. Rather, he heard God’s words as they were silently delivered to him by His Spirit. Peter then verbally spoke what he had heard the Spirit say to him. I liken this scenario to receiving a phone call from the other side of the world. What one hears is not the actual voice of the speaker. The “voice” one hears is an electrical “impulse” that carries the speaker’s words to their intended target. The same is true of voices heard via radio and television in which one does not hear the actual voice of the speaker, but rather an electrical representation of his/her voice. In the spiritual sense, the author (God) speaks words, an unseen power (His Spirit) carries his words to a receiver (the recipient). Without the invisible force to carry the speaker’s voice, his voice would travel only a few feet where it would be heard by everyone within normal sound range. Admittedly, this is a bit confusing. I have been asked why God does things the way He does them? My answer: Because He wants to. His ways are in many cases as confusing to me as they are to everyone else. But they are His ways, which, He reminds us, are beyond our understanding. It does not bother me that He does not do things the “normal” way.

I have heard the “voice” of God on many occasions, but never audibly. He speaks to me through His Spirit which arrives in the form of a thought, but much more powerful. On some occasions His “voice” is accompanied by a deep physical sensation in the left side of my chest. This happens when I question what I have “heard” because it is not what I expect to hear, or in some cases, what I want to hear. In certain circumstances when He tells me to do something that would place His power on display I ask Him to “tell me again.” He always answers my prayer because He knows that I want to be certain that it is not my wishful thinking I am “hearing.” I sometimes ask for a repeat when He has told me to do something supernatural like pronounce healing for someone, or tell them something that has happened to them that I have no way of knowing except by supernatural means. I ask for repeats because I want to be certain of whose “voice” I am hearing.

Satan is the great counterfeiter. Like God, he can “speak” to us. I tell you from personal experience that he can be very convincing. Adam and Eve would agree. The key to distinguishing between God’s voice and Satan’s voice is to know and believe God’s Word. GOD WILL NEVER DEVIATE FROM HIS WORD. Adam and Eve failed to distinguish between God’s voice and the Serpent’s voice. God had told them what they did not want to hear. Satan “corrected” Him by telling them what they wanted to hear. As is always the case, Satan’s accommodating, recipient-pleasing voice is much more appealing than God’s authoritarian Speaker-pleasing commands. God gives My-way-only commands; Satan offers any-way-you-want-it options. We must always test the “voice” we hear by comparing it to the Lord’s Word. A lord must be obeyed without fail–that is what makes a lord a lord. In order to be our Lord in the next life THE Lord must be our Lord in this life. We, like Abraham, must obey without question. This life is our proving ground. We can prove ourselves worthy of salvation ONLY by obeying God’s Word. Faith, even though accompanied by grace, will not save the soul (Jam. 2:10,14,17, 18,19,24,26). Work–the church’s “four letter word”–is necessary to “establish” our faith (Rom. 3:31). Faith is knowing that God’s Word is His Truth (Jn. 17:17). We establish our faith by obeying (working) God’s Truth/Word/Law  knowing that the end result will be eternal life. Failure to obey God is sin (1 Jn. 3:4). The outcome of sin is death (Rom. 3:23). Contrary to universal church opinion, the gift of God–salvation–is available only to those who obey His Word.  Merely believing it=dead faith. In the Biblical context, to do “works” means to obey God’s Law–Genesis to Revelation–which He summarized in the Ten Commandments. As both Paul and James tell us, faith without works (obedience to the Law) is dead faith. Dead faith produces a dead soul. L.J.