Questions and Answers

Let us begin our consideration of questions which are raised against the faith that was once and for all delivered unto the Saints:

I. Is it absolutely necessary for us to believe in the Trinity to be classed as a Christian?

The doctrine of the Trinity is the bedrock of the Christian faith, in fact, you cannot even begin to understand the scripture apart from this truth being held too. Now that does not mean that you have to have full working knowledge of it to be saved; nor does it mean that you cannot be saved without believing in it. But what it does mean is this:  over time and by means of being taught and personal study one must come to this biblical treasure as being the only viable understanding of all of the scriptures and what have to teach. 

Now it is true that in the Old Testament, God uses a lot of singular pronouns to describe Himself. No trinitarian denies this reality; but the Unitarian denies and out right rejects the plural pronouns which God uses to describe the fact that there is more to God than meets the eyes. We are informed that there is a plurality within the Godhead. And the Unitarian has to do this in order that the false beliefs they hold to can be held onto. 

Let me give you two Old Testament text which cannot be interpreted in any other light:

“Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called!  I am he; I am the first, and I am the last. My hand laid the foundation of the earth,  and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them,  they stand forth together.  “Assemble, all of you, and listen!  Who among them has declared these things?  The Lord loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken and called him; I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way. Draw near to me, hear this:  from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,  from the time it came to be I have been there.”   And now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit. (Isaiah 48:12-16)

Now let us see just what we are dealing with: in the space of 2 verses God has become a schizophrenic person; if the Unitarian-oneness position is true. But, of course, such is an impossibility. For the only way for this statement to be true that in verse He speak in the singular pronoun  "I am he"; and yet in another he speaks in the plural "but now the Lord God has sent me"  is if both are either distinct persons or it is one person in the main who is both God but not God the Father at the same time. In other words, there is a plurality of persons in the Godhead. And the second speaks of being there from the beginning and yet being sent by another who like Him is God. 

How about Zechariah 12: 10 which speaks two divine person in this manner: "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn."  Is it not clear that in one clause he speaks of Himself; but in the next he speaks of Him. They are two different persons who are speaking. in the first it is the Son speaking of Himself  "me"; and in the other it is the Father speaking of the Son  "Him."

It is only due to preconceived and not yet established beliefs that will cause someone to treat such testimony with contempt; and dismiss it unfairly. No one who allows the scriptures to speak will come to any other position that the biblical one which Trinitarian. 

II. are the scriptures fully sufficient? Why are they to be held in such a high regard?

Yes. that is the short answer. But let us consider this a little more thoroughly. Scriptures are the God-breathed, God ordained standard of truth. There is nothing of an equal standing whether that is what the church fathers have written or what any church counsel has put forth; and even what some reformer has said. In fact, such things can only be granted as important if they are scripturally warranted. Scriptures cannot be subjugated any other authority because there is no other authority that is of divine origin; and therefore, of the same position. Let me substantiate this from scriptures themselves:

But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:  ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. (Matthew 22: 29-33)

Let us note carefully what is said in this paragraph. Christ is making it clear that on matters of both doctrine and practice that if you want to know if someone is tell you the truth on any given matter you are to turn where? The Church Fathers-- no. Although they can be very helpful; it is not to them we turn. The church councils-- no. To the Pope and the magistrates-- no. Definitely not they are just susceptible to err as we are. There is only one place which both inerrant and infallible which is to be turned too: the scriptures 

In fact, even the church Father who were faithful Christian of their time who neither Catholic nor reformed would agree with our position that scriptures had to be the sole judge in all things. Take for example Gregory of Nyssa who said:   

I mean that of affirming what we please; we make the Holy Scriptures the rule and the measure of every tenet; we necessarily fix our eyes upon that, and approve that alone which may be made to harmonize with the intention of those writings."

 A statement such as this makes it clear that only the God-breathed Word held the highest position of authority over the church. In John 5 we read:

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”  (John 5:39-47)

The scriptures we are told in this section are the sole place of knowing who Christ is; what he came to do; what we must believe in regard to God and man; what we are to therefore hold out as the final court of appeal in all matters. There is no higher nor great authority. There is nothing that can even compete; all human thought and opinion must be subjugated to it for their truthfulness. Indeed, even Cyril of Jerusalem said this:  

"For concerning the divine and sacred Mysteries of the Faith, we ought not to deliver even the most casual remark without the Holy Scriptures: nor be drawn aside by mere probabilities and the artifices of argument. Do not then believe me because I tell thee these things, unless thou receive from the Holy Scriptures the proof of what is set forth: for this salvation, which is of our faith, is not by ingenious reasonings, but by proof from the Holy Scriptures." 

 It is clear as day that the scriptures are the final authority; and scriptures alone is a truth proposition. 

III. Justification by Faith Alone is not biblical-- why do you hold to it as if it were?

The great Protestant doctrine which determine everything else in terms of whether one has understand the Faith once delivered unto the saint, that is to say, from the biblical evidence and not how tradition has taught it-- particularly the Catholic dogma which would have us understand that if one believes in this then:

If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will, let him be anathema.

Based on this reasoning then everyone from the first four centuries and from the last five century had been condemned; and those starlet who defied the catholic church from fifth century to the sixteenth century to hell for simply and fully believing what the scriptures have clearly taught. There is no doubting this point at all. Just to give one example: Marius Victorinus in His commentary on Galatians makes it clear that he understands faith alone in a more Protestant centric fashion even using the term "faith alone" several times (this was aptly demonstrated by Anthony Rogers in His last video: Let the Fathers Speak: Justification by Faith Alone (Marius Victorinus)) who lived in 304 (3rd to 4th centuries)

Coming back to the main point: if this statement can be shown to be error based on scriptures that 'faith alone' is the biblical truth; then this anathema by Tent is essential useless and needs to be dropped. Let us consider some passage:

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.(Galatians 2:15-17)

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2: 8-10)

These two texts make it clear that Justification faith is something God does by Himself without any input from Mankind-- that is to say,  whether it is nomaic work (works of the law) or necessary works (works which flow from salvation). To get around these clear testimonies that Man who is a sinner before God justifies Him in Christ, He does it independent of man's acts of any kind. And even Faith is a gift of God which God grants to Him. Now speaking on Gal. 2:16 which is mention above, Victorinus states:  "For faith itself alone grants justification and sanctification. Thus any flesh whatsoever—Jews or those from the Gentiles—is justified on the basis of faith, not works or observance of the Jewish Law."  

But what about James 2:24? It says that faith alone does not save a person. It sure does. But it is not speaking of how one is saved at all; but rather how one demonstrates their faith is true. And that is why we read these words in vs 18:"But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."  I am going to say with conviction that if your interpretation runs directly into this verse and does not deal with it sufficient but is refuted by it.  The point being put  before us is this:  if the faith you claim does not produce evidence for its validity; then it is false. Or to put anther way:   true faith will be vindicated by works which flow from but never are to be seen meritorious. 

IV. How can you believe that Jesus is the only way to be saved?

The bible is clearly the true Word of the Triune God; of that there can be no doubt. Even though it does not need to be said; but I will just to make the point: when many other religions and even cults have to appeal to the bible to validate their own claims (the Quran does twice; both watchtower and L.D.S do); then at some foundational level the bible must be seen as being the ultimate authority on all matters it address. And here we have one that it addresses so frequently and so abundantly that it cannot be denied.

Here is the axiom that we can go upon:

Since there is one true God; therefore, he has only provided one way for man to be saved from their sin. 

We can all agree on that I hope.  There are no other paths that lead to salvation; because there are no other true Gods and there are no other true religion. In other words, all other gods and all other religions are of the Devil. He brought them into existence as means of leading astray and away from God unto their own devices. It is what Satan has always done and he done it with the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden (Gen.3:1-12) And the clear testimony of God' very means of accomplishing the salvation of men and women is by the work of His blessed Son Jesus Christ. And this is a truth that scriptures everywhere declares. 

Let us take not of a few examples of this very fact:

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matt. 7:13-14)

If this passage has any meaning at all; and has anything to say at all. Then there is a distinction being made between true and false paths in life; true and false religions; true and false prophets; and true and false believers.  And here is the kicker to those who do not know they both seem to be identical on the outside. So how do we know the truth of this matter?  Matthew goes onto say that you can tell by the kind of life that the leader leads and even promotes and instils in His followers. The true religion; true prophet; true followers will be known by an exemplary manner of living: they will be holy in conduct and speech because of who they are representing. And here is who they are representing? Christ and Christ alone.

And that is because He is the sole means of redemption:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me... Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?   (John 14:6; 8-10)

let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men[c] by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:4-6)

So-- why is Jesus the only way for men to be saved?  It is because God has established that such would be the case; and it is to his praise and glory that He done so in the Work of His Son Jesus Christ. No other religion; no other philosophy can compete because they are men failed attempts. And they all posit works of men either as a catalyst (Islam; and the cults) or a component part (Catholicism) of the method to gain salvation. 

V.  The bible nowhere teaches that Jesus id the Son of God-- why do Christians claim he is?

This question often come from people who are either ignorant of the scriptures because they have never read them, but simply are parroting the thoughts of others; or it comes from someone who is a part of a world religion which at the heart of it denies such a reality based on misunderstanding and misidentification of what is meant. For example, under the second of these categories, we have the religion of Islam whose teachings on who Christ is (at least according to this false religion). He is no more than a mere man; and a prophet as well as the Messiah, but he is not the Son of God. And in this identification is to be either a biological son by means of sexual union between God and Mary or a Son through adoption (Quran 5:73-75 also 116-117; and 6: 101) But neither of these understanding are what the scriptures and Christians have ever held too. 

So what do we Christians mean by the term "Son of God"?  To put it simply there are two Greek terms that are used in the scriptures  (1) Teknon which refers to someone who has been made a part of a family through the act of being legally adopted into said family. (2) Huios which refers to a son who has the same nature as the Father-- often through procreation. But there is a special sense in which this term means one who has the same nature but not through procreation but through eternal generation. And it is this second, and special sense that the New Testament defines the relationship between God the Father and the His Son Jesus Christ. And we must always start with the New Testament; and the bible in general on such matters.

Let us take note of the testimony of scriptures on this matter:

1. God the Father calls Him His Son in Matthew 3:16-17 and 17:5-6.

2. Christ calls Himself God's Son in John 5:16-25 and John 3:15-16.

3. The Apostles call Him God's Son in Mark 1:1; Luke 1: 32-33; John 1:18; Romans 1:1-4.

4. His enemies called Him God's Son  Matthew 27:51-54; James 1:1; Jude 1:1.

All of these testimonies make it clear about who Christ truly is: the Son of God. But let us note another thing that these statements have in common; they were all borne along by the Spirit of God who either made men write them out in these New Testament books or His brought certain one to confess Him as being the Son of God after being hostile towards Christ.  In this answer I have only given a simple sampling of this powerful testimony on this point.