How Wrong Can You Be

I have been having a stimulating discussion with a neighbor recently. He has a slightly unorthodox view of exactly who or what Jesus is. By calling his view unorthodox, I place myself firmly in the orthodox or historical position of the church over the centuries. It is his sincere belief that orthodoxy left the truth behind at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. The main purpose of that gathering was to discuss the teachings of a priest from Alexandria named Arius. He had begun to teach that Jesus was a created being subordinate to the Father and neither co-equal nor co-eternal with Him. This became known as the Arian heresy after the Council declared the teaching to be unbiblical.

Before you fall asleep or discount this as an irrelevant historical dispute, let me assure you that it is extremely important today. Arian thought rears its ugly head across all denominational lines occasionally, but especially in the American West where Mormonism thrives. Mormons teach that Jesus is a product of the Heavenly Father’s conjugal relations with one of his many wives. They imagine that Lucifer is his brother, created in a similar fashion. This is pure Arianism, and it should be treated as the heresy it is.

Another movement that leans heavily into Arianism is the Jehovah’s Witnesses. JW’s, as they are commonly called, teach that Jesus is “a god,” subordinate to Jehovah god, hence their name. They believe that Jesus is actually the archangel, Michael, who is obviously a created being. This thinking places them clearly in the Arian camp. Like the Mormons, they reject the idea of God as a trinity with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all being equally God and equally eternal uncreated beings. They believe they are returning to the first century beliefs of the original church. They are, if you count Arius.

There is another more subtle movement abroad today to which my neighbor has become attached. These people believe that the Bible, especially the Old Testament, teaches a strict monotheism which precludes the possibility of a co-equal Son of God. They also dismiss the idea that the Holy Spirit is a third member of the godhead by suggesting that His mention in the New Testament refers to the spirit of God or the spirit of Christ. They also devalue the position of Jesus as “Son of God” by making that mean something different from “god the son.” They insist that there can be only one god, and he cannot exist in multiple forms of separate but equal divinity. To them, the concept of the trinity is anathema, and those who believe in it are not eligible for God’s saving grace.

This is where my heart stopped. This means millions of sincere believers who have accepted the concept of a three-fold godhead throughout church history would be destined for Hell for their “misunderstanding” of God’s nature. STOP! Has anyone who seriously studies the Bible ever come to a full understanding of who God is? This is the God who said, “My ways are not your ways; my thoughts are not your thoughts.” This is the God who challenged Job with a series of questions beginning with, “Where were you when I created the world?” This is the God who said, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.”

Paul says, “We have the mind of Christ,” referring to born again, spirit-led Christians. But he also says, “Now we see through a mirror indirectly, but then face to face.” I believe Paul’s “then” refers to the time when we will be present with the Lord and, “know completely, just as [we] have also been completely known.” Until “then,” none of us will know God in His fulness. But we can know a great deal about Him if we study His Word carefully. The differences in our understanding of who God is, like mine with my neighbor, stem from our different interpretations of the Scripture.

While there is only one true meaning of any particular Scripture, that truth must be extracted using proper means of interpretation. Even then, it is possible for two sincere Bible students to come to different conclusions. In matters not essential to salvation, brothers can agree to disagree. However, some things are not debatable: Jesus’ existence as God’s chosen Messiah whom the prophets foretold; His divine yet human nature, which He attained by His virgin birth; His physical death and subsequent resurrection to His former glory which confirmed the efficacy of His substitutionary sacrifice. I believe these are essential truths without which no salvation is possible.

The question that plagues me is whether it is possible to be mistaken in our understanding of these essentials and still achieve saving faith. If so, how deep a misunderstanding is too deep. How wrong can we be? I fear some may find themselves in the position of the Jewish rabbis at the time of Jesus appearance in Israel. According to Michael S. Heiser, they had a binary understanding of their “one” true God. He was indeed one, yet He appeared to His people throughout their history in several forms. There was God; then there were the epiphanies of God to men. Heiser identifies four: El/Elohim; Yahweh or Jehovah; The Angel of Yahweh; and simply, The Name.

When Jesus came to the Jews proclaiming Himself to be the Son of God and referring to God as “His” Father, they became incensed. He did not fit their binary concept. They correctly took his claims to mean that He had a unique relationship with God, ultimately making Himself out to be God. To them, this was blasphemous, and they ultimately had Him executed for His presumption. From our vantage point alongside the risen Christ, we can see their fatal error. My question is whether modern expositors of Scripture who devalue Christ’s unique position fall into the same category as the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day.

I have been mildly tormented by this question ever since I did the research for my book on Mormonism. I concluded then that a person could not be saved if fully immersed in Mormon theology because it is thoroughly Arian – heretical. The discussions I have been having with my neighbor have dredged up the question again. My conclusion is this:

1.) I must believe that Jesus is fully God as that made it possible for Him to be a sinless sacrifice

2.) I must believe that Jesus was fully human because only a human sacrifice could atone for human sin

3.) I must believe that Jesus rose bodily from the grave and ascended to His Father’s side as proof that His sacrifice was accepted.

I believe this is the gospel Paul delivered. I believe if you can’t say those three things, your understanding of the gospel is wrong. You can be wrong about many things in the Bible, but if you are wrong about those three, you may get an unwelcome surprise on judgment day.

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