R-6. MUST I BELIEVE in the DOCTRINE of the TRINITY? In other words, DO I HAVE TO BELIEVE in the DOCTRINE if the TRINITY in ORDER TO BE SAVED?
This question "Do I have to believe in the doctrine of the trinity in order to be saved ?" has been asked several times so I decided to writ a study to help those of you who are being subverted by good well meaning pastors and fellow brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ. First of all our salvation does not depend upon whether or not one believes or disbelieves in the doctrine of the trinity. In other words, you can be saved and BELIEVE in the doctrine of the trinity, OR you can be saved and NOT believe in the doctrine of the trinity, because the Bible clearly teaches us that we are saved because we believe that Jesus is the CHRIST the SON of the one true and only wise and living God and that Jesus died for our sins. Please read John 6:68,69, where the disciples of Jesus are speaking to Jesus.
"Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go ? You have the words of eternal life. 69. And WE BELIEVE and are SURE that you are that CHRIST, the SON of the living God."
The word "CHRIST" means the MESSIAH or the ANOINTED ONE of Almighty God that was prophesied to come into the world to be the savior of the people. So here in this verse we hear the words of the apostles and disciples of Jesus speaking to Jesus saying that they believe and are SURE that Jesus is that CHRIST, the SON of the living God. Please notice that the word of truth, the Holy Bible, does NOT say that the disciple of Jesus believed and were sure the Jesus was Almighty God himself, but rather that Jesus is the SON of the living God. You will not find anywhere in the Bible where we are either commanded or taught to believe that Jesus is God. However we are taught in the word of God to believe that Jesus is the SON of Almighty God. Here are some verses that clearly teach us that we are to believe the Jesus is the SON of God. Please read John 9:31-38 where Jesus is speaking to the blind man that he healed and asked him if he believed on the SON of God?
"Now we know that God hears not sinners: but if any man be a worshiper of God, and does his will, him he hears. 32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. 33 If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. 34 They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. 35. Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Do you believe on the SON of God? 36. He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? 37. And Jesus said unto him, You have both seen him, and it is he that talks with you. 38. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him."
So here in this passage of scripture we clearly see that Jesus himself asked this man if he believe on the SON of God and then Jesus clearly and plainly states that he is the SON of God. Again I want you to notice that Jesus did NOT say to this man, nor to us if we believe that Jesus is ALMIGHTY God himself, but rather that we are to believe that Jesus is the SON of Almighty God. Now some will try and argue that this man worshiped Jesus and that this proves beyond any shadow of a doubt the Jesus is the one true and only Almighty God, because only God is to be worshiped. However, the truth of the matter is that if the one true and only Almighty God, who alone is the Father decided that he would one day have a SON and then HIGHLY EXALT his SON to a place where every knee would bow down and WORSHIP him, then who are we to say that this is impossible, because only God can be worshiped. Can you not see my dear brothers and sisters in or Lord Jesus Christ that the ONE true and ONLY ALMIGHTY God, who alone is the FATHER has highly EXALTED his SON and gave him a name that is above every name so that every knee shall one day bow down to that name to the glory of Almighty God the Father? Please read Philippians 2:4-11, which clearly teaches us that Almighty God highly exalted his SON for the very reason of his Son's OBEDIENCE to lay down his life and be crucified on the cross.
"Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God (the King James version of this verse has mislead many to falsely believe that Jesus made himself EQUAL with Almighty God his God and Father, but the literal translation of this verse actual carries the meaning that it did not even enter the mind of Jesus to even consider at grasping at equality with God): 7. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9. WHEREFORE (or for this very REASON that his SON became OBEDIEDT even unto death on this cross) God also has HIGHLY EXALTED him, and GIVEN him a NAME which is above every name: 10. That (or so that) at the NAME of Jesus every knee should bow (or WORSHIP), of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Please notice that verse 11 plainly states that every tongue shall one day CONFESS that Jesus Christ is LORD and NOT that every tongue will one day confess that Jesus Christ is the one true and only ALMIGHTY God to the glory of Almighty God the Father. The truth of the matter is that the whole word of God clearly and plainly teaches us that we must believe is BOTH Almighty God, the Father, AND in his SON Jesus. Please read 2 John 1:1-1, which teaches us that we must believe that Jesus is come in the FLESH and that he is the CHRIST. Again the word "CHRIST" means MESSIAH or the ANOINTED ONE of Almighty God. So in other words, we must believe that Jesus is the ANOINTED ONE of Almighty God the Father sent into the world to be the savior or the MESSIAH of the people.
"The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; 2. For the truth's sake, which dwells in us, and shall be with us for ever. 3. Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, AND from the LORD Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4. I rejoiced greatly that I found of your children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. 5. And now I beseech you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto you, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. 6. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. 7. 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. 8. Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. 9. Whosoever transgresses, and abides NOT in the doctrine of Christ, has NOT God (in other words, the Jews sincerely believed that they had the true faith in the one true and only Almighty God, but in truth they did NOT believe that Jesus was ANONTED by Almighty God to be the Messiah or the savior that was prophesied to come. So therefore the very reason that they did NOT believe that Jesus was the SON of Almighty God and ANOINTED by Almighty God to be the savior of the people caused them to NOT to have the one true and only Almighty God). He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has BOTH the Father and the SON. 10. If there come ANY unto you, and bring NOT THIS DOCTRINE, receive him NOT into your house, neither bid him God speed: 11. For he that bids him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."
The word "DOCTRINE" simply means TEACHING. So in other words, if one does NOT believe that Jesus was ANOINTED by the Holy Spirit of Almighty God the Father, then that person doe NOT truly have the TRUE faith in Almighty God the Father that the word of God clearly teaches us to have. You see, the Jews are still God's chosen people. However, God desires and has declared in his word that salvation shall come ONLY through the NAME of Jesus. So until the Jews, the Muslims, and the rest of mankind BELIEVES in the heart and CONFESSES with their mouth the Jesus is the SON of Almighty God who died for their sins, then they shall remain dead in their sins, because they believe NOT that Jesus is the SON of Almighty God and the CHRIST. Please read John 8:24-32, which some have INCORECTLY interpreted to mean that Jesus was saying that he himself in the great I AM, the one true and ONLY ALMIGHTY God.
"I said therefore unto you, that you shall die in your sins: for (or BECAUSE) IF you believe NOT that I am he, you shall die in your sins. 25. Then said they unto him, Who are you? And Jesus said unto them, Even the SAME that I said unto you from the beginning. 26. I have many things to say and to judge of you: but HE that sent me is TRUE; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of HIM. 27. They understood not that he spake to them of the FATHER. 28. Then said Jesus unto them, When you have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am he, (speaking of that Jesus is ANOINTED by Almighty God the Father with the Holy Spirit of God to do the WORKS that he did to the glory of Almighty God the Father) AND that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father has taught me, I speak these things. 29. And HE that sent me is WITH me (in other words, Almighty God the Father was WITH his SON Jesus in the ANOINTING of the Holy Spirit): the Father has not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. 30. As he spoke these words, many believed on him. 31. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, IF you CONTINUE in my word, THEN are you my disciples indeed; 32. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Now as I said a moment ago, some have INCORRECTLY interpreted these words of Jesus as Jesus proclaiming that he himself is the great I AM, as in, Jesus was saying that he himself is the ONE TRUE and ONLY ALMIGHTY God, because Jesus said if you do NOT believe that "I AM HE", then you shall die in your sins. This is why some well meaning Christians subvert the faith of others by FALSELY teaching that Jesus is fully God in the FLESH, in that Jesus is FULLY ALMIGHTY God in the flesh and fully man at the same time, because Jesus said these words that if you do not believe that "I AM HE", then you shall die in your sins. In other words, some FALSELY teach that if you do NOT believe in the DOCTRINE of the trinity, then you shall die in your sins, because they have INCORRECTLY interpreted these words of Jesus saying, it you do not believe that "I AM HE", then you shall die in your sins. So then, what did Jesus mean when he said "IF you do not believe that I AM HE, you shall die in our sins"? Well in in the very next verse we read in John 8:25 where the Jews asked Jesus the question, WHO ARE YOU? and Jesus told us that he is the SAME that he told them from the very beginning.
25. Then said they unto him, Who are you? And Jesus said unto them, Even the SAME that I said unto you from the beginning.
So then, what did Jesus tell us WHO he was from the BEGINNING? Please read Luke 4:14-21, where Jesus has just been ANOINTED by Almighty God the Father with his Holy Spirit and POWER as we are also taught in Acts chapter 10 which we will read in a moment.
"And Jesus returned in the POWER of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. 15. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. 16. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias (Isaiah). And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18. The SPIRIT of the Lord is upon me, because HE (speaking of Almighty God the Father) has ANOINTED me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture FULFILLED in your ears."
In other words, Jesus taught us from the very beginning of his ministry that he was the CHOSEN ONE of Almighty God the Father to be the ANOINTED MESSIAH to be be the savior sent by Almighty God to save the people form their sins. Therefore IF you do NOT believe that Jesus is the CHRIST, the MESSIAH, the ANOINTED ONE of Almighty God to be the savior, then you shall die in your sins. Can you not see, my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ that we are NOT commanded to believe that Jesus is the one true and only ALMIGHTY God in order to be saved, but rather we are clearly and plainly taught to believe that Jesus is the SON of the one true and only Almighty God whom the Father has CHOSEN to be the means by which to save WHOSOEVER of mankind that BELIEVES on the name of his SON Jesus, the ONLY NAME given among men whereby we MUST be saved. Please read the study "JESUS THE CHRIST" for a deeper understanding of the importance of the DOCTRINE of CHRIST that we are commanded to believe, but for now let us get back to what the Bible actually teaches us that we must believe and do in order to be SAVED. Again no where in the word of truth will you find that we are either commanded nor taught to believe that Jesus IS ALMIGHTY GOD in order to be saved. In fact no where in the Bible are we taught that Jesus IS THE ONE TRUE and ONLY ALMIGHTY God. In other words, it is only the MISINTERPRETATION of some passages of scripture that have lead some to FALSELY believe and teach that Jesus is fully ALMIGHTY God in the flesh while being fully man at the same time. For a deeper understanding that Jesus is NOT the one true and only ALMIGHTY God please read the study "IS JESUS ALMIGHTY GOD?" along with the other related studies that I list in the study "WHO IS JESUS?". The truth of the matter is that God spoke forth his Word by his angel Gabriel to the virgin Mary and when Mary agreed to let it be so as the angel had spoken the Word that the WORD then was MANIFESTED or became the SEED that would grow in the womb of Mary and be BROUGHT FORTH as a HUMAN man child that would be called the SON of the highest. The truth of the matter is that when Jesus said that he was from ABOVE is that he was speaking of his miraculous virgin birth and that he was born by the Word of Almighty God. In other words, the human Jesus was indeed CREATED or BROUGHT FORTH and did in fact have a BEGINNING. Now it is true that the Word was with Almighty God in the beginning, and the what God was the Word was also. But is is equally true that the Word BECAME a human creation that never existed before Jesus was brought forth in the flesh. In other words, the human Jesus did NOT always eternally exist with Almighty God. John 1:1 does NOT say that in the beginning was JESUS and the JESUS was with God and JESUS was God, but rather the word of truth plainly says that the WORD was with God and that the WORD was with God and the WORD was God, which literally means that God's Word AGREES fully with what God wills to be brought into existence. Can you not see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, that no rational thinking Christian would ever believe and teach that a TREE that was brought forth into creation by the spoken WORD of God IS ALMIGHTY God. You see the CONTEXT of John 1:1 teaches us that the Word BECAME flesh just like the Word BECAME a TREE when Almighty God spoke forth his Word to become a tree. So yes God manifested himself, or more precisely God manifested his Word to BECOME flesh, a human being just like you and me. Philippians 2:4-11 clearly and plainly teaches us that whatever FORM that he, speaking of Jesus or more precisely referring to the Word, had in the beginning that this Word then STRIPPED himself and laid aside his divine nature and BECAME and human being that was TEMPTED in ALL points like we are tempted. The Bible clearly teaches us that Almighty God CANNOT be TEMPTED, so therefore it is impossible for Jesus to be fully ALMIGHTY God in the FLESH and some falsely teach. The TRUTH of the matter is that Jesus was indeed a human being just like you and me who was ANOINTED with the Holy Spirit and power of Almighty God the Father. Now i you would please read Acts 10:38 in it context. Acts 10:34-48
"Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a TRUTH I perceive that God is NO respecter of persons: 35. But in every nation he that fears him, and works righteousness, is ACCEPTED with him. 36. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) 37. That word, I say, you know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; 38. How God ANOINTED Jesus of Nazareth WITH the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good , and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for or BECAUSE God was with him (through the ANOINTING of the Holy Spirit of Almighty God the Father that DWELLED IN his Son Jesus, the SAME Holy Spirit that now DWELLS in US and true born again Spirit filled believers in Jesus Christ). 39. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: 40. Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; 41. Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. 42. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ORDAINED of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. 43. To him (speaking of Jesus the SON of Almighty God) give all the prophets witness (in other words, all the prophets testify that Jesus is HE or the one that was CHOSEN by Almighty God to be the CHRIST, God's ANOINTED MESSIAH), that through his name whosoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins. 44. While Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. (and HOW did they know that the Gentiles received the baptism of the infilling of the Holy Spirit?) 46. For (or because) they HEARD them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47. Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have RECEIVED the Holy Ghost as well as we? 48. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days."
So again, no where in the Bible are we taught or commanded to believe that Jesus IS THE ONE TRUE AND ONLY ALMIGHTY God in order to be saved. The TRUTH of the matter is that we are clearly and plainly taught in the Bible to believe that Jesus is the SON of Almighty God. The word of truth teaches us to believe that Jesus is the CHRIST. In other words, we must believe that Jesus is HE that was chosen and ordained of Almighty God to be the savior of mankind to all who BELIEVE on the name of Jesus. Please read the studies related to the subject "HOW CAN I BE SAVED?" to get a deeper understanding of HOW to be saved AND how to obtain eternal life in the world to come. Thanks for reading. May God bless you richly as you continue in his word to know the truth. Your brother in our Lord Jesus, the CHRIST! Mark. RETURN TO HOMEPAGE AT
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