There are many religions in the world. A significant number of them predate Judaism, and the vast majority predates Christianity. All religions have various sects and subgroups that are also called denominations in Christianity.
Denominations have most often come about as the result of differences in beliefs. Many of them started because of a great move of God at a specific time and place in history. After several years, they became a religious organization that operates with its own identity, doctrinal beliefs, traditions, and legal hierarchy.
Some Denominations claim they are the only "true" church, while others say they are a non-denomination, even though they have 100's of churches under their 'banner' that are required to operate by specific rules of conduct, doctrine, and procedures.
Others claim direct mystical revelation from God, and many allege that Jesus, as well as Angels, visit them in person. Some say that they have visited Heaven many times and had conversations with Jesus as well as the Prophets and Apostles, which, by doing so, denigrates the authority of Scripture and creates a non-biblical experience-oriented theology that is based on emotionalism and suffused in mysticism. Others claim that they are a 'Prophet' or 'Apostle' and have divine authority to interpret or even change the Bible by adding to it.
There are also aberrations of Christianity known as 'cults' in the world today that have beliefs that are not supported by the Bible or historical orthodox Christianity.
Some of those various contrary beliefs are as follows:
1. There is only one Person or one 'Being' called "God."
2. The terms "Father," "Son," and "Holy Spirit" refer to three manifestations of one Person or one Being.
3. The Father is the only Person who is divine; the Son was created by the Father; and the Holy Spirit was created by the Son (AKA-Arianism).
4. God consists of three Persons in one Person, or three Beings in one Being.
5. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are essential parts of one Being, just as humans are made up of body, soul, and spirit.
6. God is a universal mind, conscience, love, goodness, and power filling all space and matter.
7. Jesus Christ is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Every human being has beliefs based upon a confirmation bias of selective thinking because people often look for what confirms their beliefs (be they truly correct or incorrect) and ignore, undervalue, or not look for, information or facts that could contradict those beliefs.
Brilliant biblical scholars throughout history have looked at the same Scriptures and interpreted them very differently. That has happened since the beginning of time and why we have so many denominations and specific identifying beliefs such as Jesus did or did not drink or make alcohol, the present use of supernatural gifts, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, saved by grace versus salvation by works, partaking of communion only once a year versus daily, weekly, or monthly; baptism of infants versus adults by emersion, or sprinkling of water; the office of Apostle or Prophet are for today versus they are not; divorce is OK (even though God hates it) versus it is not OK; it is OK for women to have authority over men in the church versus not OK. I could go on and on ad-infinitum.
Those who disagree with a person's misinformed confirmation bias rightly use common sense, reasoning and logic to present their understanding of the original language used in context within the Scriptures, but are then often labeled as a liar, heretic, full of the devil, perverting, twisting or eisegeting the Scriptures, spouting doctrines of demons, or a being a false prophet, etc., etc., etc.
Despite man-made religious nonsense that has caused wars over differences of belief and interpretation, there are some fundamental essentials that are the absolute foundational truths of Christianity. The Bible warns its reader about accepting another Gospel other than the one the original Apostles witnessed and preached.
"…if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!" (Gal 1:8 NIV)
One Eternal God
The infinite Majestic God is not some universal mind or consciousness that fills space and matter. He is both omnipotent and omnipresent. He is not confined to three dimensions of space and one dimension of time. He can be in more than one place at a time. God has been seen physically by human eyes many times (Gen 18:1-33; 19:24; 32:24-30; Ex 24:11; 33:11-33; Josh 5:13-15; Judges 6:11-23; 13:3-25; 1 Chron. 21:16-17; Job 42:5; Isa 6; Ez 1:26-28; 10:1,20; 40:3; Dan 7:9-14; 10:5-10; Acts 7:56-59; Rev. 4:2-5; 5:1,5-7,11-14; 6:16; 7:9-17; 19:4; 21:3-5; 22:4).
The Bible declares there is only one eternal God who always existed in eternity past and into eternity future in three persons in what is known as the Trinity – God, the Father, God, the Son, Jesus Christ, and God, the Holy Spirit, who each have their own personal spirit-body, mind, and spirit (Deut. 33:27; Isa. 44:6; 57:15; 1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chron. 2:6; Ps. 147:5; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:24-28).
God, the Father, and God, the Holy Spirit are unique and separate individuals with their own personalities and are not the essential parts of one Being. They have always existed together with no point of origin. The Triune God can be clearly seen, "being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20 KJV).
The Father is a distinct person from Jesus, the Son, and He is a distinct person with personal expressions from God, the Holy Spirit. Yet, they share together 100% the one identical full and complete divine nature, having all the essential attributes possessed of each because God is one and three in the doctrine of the Trinity; the Father is God. Still, not the Son, the Son is God but is not the Holy Spirit, who is God. This truth is beyond human comprehension or understanding, so we need to stop using analogies to explain it.
God, the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is another Person, distinct from both the Father and the Son (John 5:32, 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15). He is symbolized as a separate person from Jesus (Rev. 1:4-5; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6). He was sent from the Father to endow Jesus with power through the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38; Isa 11:2; 42:1-7; 61:1-2).
The Holy Spirit is fully God, the pre-existent Counselor, and Comforter who lives inside every Born-Again Christian and will remain in them to help, guide and change those who willingly want to be changed (Isa 40:13; 1 Cor. 2:12; Ps. 139:7; Job 33:4; Rom. 8:2; Gal. 5:22; John 14:17). He is not a "spirit guide," or "pure energy." Nor is He a "ghost," spirit, or phantom. He has a will, mind, and feelings with His personality (1 Cor 2:10-11; Eph. 4:30; 1 Cor. 12:11; Acts 16:6-11). He is not a raw power that exerts energy or the effluence of the eternal God that resonates through eternity. He is the third person of the Triune God (Gen 1:2; Matt 12:28, 31-32; 28:19; Acts 1:8).
The Holy Spirit is responsible for filling the Born-Again Christian daily with power to serve and preparing them for the coming of the Lord. It is He who "began a good work" and He "will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil 1:6 NIV). It is His sole responsibility to sustain and keep the Born-Again Christian as guiltless, and keep them from stumbling and finally present them blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, and He will never let them die, be thirsty again, leave, forsake, cast out, or drive them away, nor can anything grab hold of them to separate them from His love, because He is their guarantee of salvation (John 4:14, 6:37, 8:12, 10:27-29, 11:25-26; Rom 8:38-39; 1 John 2:1; Jude 1:24; 1 Cor 1:8).
God the Son, Jesus Christ
Jesus is God, the Son (John 1:1; Col. 1:15-19; 1 John 5:7-8; Luke 4:34) and came to Earth as 100% fully human and 100% fully God from a reality eternally separate from Earth (John 8:23-24). He had no beginning and has no end. Jesus has been given all authority in Heaven and Earth. He willingly chose to come to Earth as a human in the flesh which gave Him the essential power to save anyone, who receives Him as Lord and Savior, from the penalty of sin through His shed blood on the Cross (Matt 1:18; 4:2; Luke 2:40; John 4:6; 8:40; 11:35; 19:28; Heb. 2:16-18).
Jesus is not the Father or His offspring, Jesus claimed that He came from God, the Father, and was going back to Him (John 8:42, 16:5, 10:36, 17:8). The Father was in Heaven all the time that Jesus was on earth (Matt 5:16, 48). Over 80 times Jesus affirmed that He was not the Father (example John 14:1-9). Jesus made it clear that He and not the only person in the Godhead was not the Father. Jesus was the speaker, but not the one spoken of or to (Matt 7:21; 11:27; 18:10,35; Luke 2:49; John 5:17-43; 8:19-49; 10:17-37; 14:7-28; 15:1-26; Rev. 1:1; etc.).
Jesus had a virgin birth from a surrogate mother. He is not "a" god or the biological offspring of God or humanity (Matt 1:18; Luke 1:35). As 100% human, He relied on His own divinity as well as the Father and the Holy Spirit to perform miracles to prove He was also 100% fully God (Luke 4:18; John 10:33-39; Mark. 4:35-41).
Jesus did not seek His own glory, but that of the Father (John 8:50-54,17:4). He received all power in heaven and in the earth (Matt 28:18). He was resurrected and exalted by the Father (Eph 1:20-23; Phil. 2:9-11; Heb 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22).
Jesus always prayed to the Father as a separate Person (Matt 11:25; John 17). Jesus committed His spirit to the Father, not to Himself (Luke 23:46). Jesus called God "My Father" 57 times (see examples John 15:1; Rev. 2:27). Jesus said He did not come to do His own will and that He could not, and did not, do anything of Himself, but that of the Father who had sent Him and worked through Him (John 5:19, 30; 6:38; 7:16-18, 8:26-40; 12:49-50).
The Old Testament was written at least 300 years before the historical Jesus was born. There are over 350 predictions of His coming and His ministry. The Old Testament even predicted the precise time Jesus would be put to death! (see Isaiah 9 which is known as the "'seventy-sevens" prophecy). His birth, ministry, suffering and death were foretold in the Bible (Isa 7:14; 9:1-2; 52:13-115; 53; Jer. 23:5-6; Ps. 16:10; 22; 41:9; 68:18; 69:21; Mic. 5:2; Daniel 9:25; Zec. 9:9, 11:12).
The prophet Isaiah accurately described the beating that Jesus would endure (Isa 50:6). The prophet Zechariah predicted the "piercing" of the Messiah, which occurred after Jesus died on the Cross (Zech 12:10). The Bible also prophesied Jesus would come while the Temple of Jerusalem was still standing (Mal 3:1; Ps 118:26; Dan 9:26; Zech 11:13; Hag 2:7-9. - Note: The Temple only existed at certain times in Jewish history and was totally destroyed in 70 A.D.).
No other person in history is like Jesus. He alone met the prophetic criteria clearly laid out by the Prophets of the Old Testament. The mathematical probability of just 11 of those prophecies coming to pass is one chance in 10 to the 19th power or 10 billion times 10 billion!
The Claims of Jesus
Jesus claimed the authority of God (Mark 2:10; 14:6; John 6:39-40; 10:17-18) as the Creator and the sustainer of all things (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:3; Colossians. 2:9). He asserted Himself as the only way to salvation and did what only God could do and then voluntarily sacrificed His sinless life on the Cross as a legal substitute to atone and make the final payment for the sins of every human being on Earth (Isaiah 52:13-53:12; John 14:6; Luke 22:35–37; Acts 8:26–35; 1 John 2:2). A person can appropriate His forgiveness by acknowledging their sinfulness and repenting of it when they choose to make Him their personal Lord and Savior.
Jesus is absolutely and distinctly different from every other religious leader who has ever lived. He is the only person in history who claimed to live a sinless life and to be fully God, as well as having shared the glory of God in Heaven (John 1:1-5, 8:28-29, 46-47, 17:5; Matthew 12:6,22:37; Mark 2:1-2). When He was accused of claiming to be God, He did not deny it (John 10:30). Jesus did not correct the disciple Thomas when he said to Him, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28 NIV). Jesus willingly received worship and claimed the role and functions reserved only for the Creator God in the Old Testament, such as being the Shepherd, the Rock, and the Sower (Matthew 2:11, 7:24-27, 13:24-30, 14:33, 21:15-16; Luke 15, 24:52; John 9:38).
Jesus declared that He had the same level of authority as God; that He existed before Abraham and that He had the name of God (Exodus 3:13,14; John 5:19, 6:35, 8:24, 58-59, 10:11-14, 11:25). He also said that He was the truth, the Lord of the Sabbath and those who have seen Him have seen God (John 14:6,9; Matthew 12:60). Jesus said to the Apostle John "I am the Alpha and the Omega,…who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8 NIV). He also prophesied that He would die and come back to life and that He would return again to judge the world (Luke 18:31-33; John 10:17,12;32-33,16:16; Matthew 24:27-30, 25:31-32; Mark 14:61-62).
Jesus also said that if a person believes in God, they should believe in Him (John 14:1). He claimed to be the ONLY way to God and that He was able to forgive sins as well as to give everlasting life - starting at the very moment a person chooses to make Him their Lord and Savior (Matthew 11:27; John 14:6; Luke 5:20-21,7:48-49; John 6:40,47, 10:28-30, 11:25). This profound claim is why He was put to death by the religious leaders of His day.
The Eternal Word
Jesus, the eternal Word, possessed a full undiminished human nature and a full undiminished divine nature (John 1:1). Jesus is the complete word (Gk: Logos), and revelation of God made flesh. He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped and emptied Himself as an act of divine humility to prove His love as He took on the "form of a bond-servant" while remaining 100% fully God (Philippians 2:5-8 NIV).
Jesus, being God the eternal "I AM," did not empty Himself of His divine nature or give up some, several, or any of the divine powers and essential attributes of deity to assume the form of a servant and become incarnate as a human being. He said He would raise His body from the grave in the resurrection (John 2:19-22; Acts 2:24, 3:15, 4:10, 5:30, 10:40, 13:30; Romans. 8:11, 10:9, 1 Corinthians 6:14, 1 Peter 1:21; Galatians 1:1).
Jesus did not become an indwelling Spirit. He has always been and always will be God, the Son. He willingly set aside the visible manifestation and exercise of His Glory as the Triune God and sometimes chose not to use His divine attributes. He was not confined to the form of a servant, nor was He limited by it.
He continued to exercise His divine attributes when a situation demanded it. He demonstrated His complete power and sovereignty because ALL the fullness of God dwelt in Him bodily during His earthly ministry! (Matthew 18:20, 28:18-20; Mark 2:28; Luke 7:14; John 1:48, 2:24-25, 3:13,35, 5:21-23, 6:64, 70-71, 10:17-18, 11:11-14, 43-44, 17:2, 18:5-6; Hebrews 1:1-3; Colossians 1:17, 19-20).
Jesus did not give up His essential holiness. In His prayer, to the Father, He asked for the return of His Glory, but He did not ask for the return of His power or attributes because He already had them. He did not change because He was, is, and will always be, "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb 13:8 NIV).
The Greatest Mystery
Jesus, as a human being, loved, lived His life and spoke like no other man has ever done or ever will. Through His act of ultimate humility He suffered and died on the Cross as completely God and completely as a human being. In His act of atonement, Jesus chose to be the legal substitute for every person, and took all their sins upon Himself and defeated the evil one completely for eternity at the Cross because He is love.
"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV)
The ultimate magnitude of God's love is manifested in the Cross where Jesus experienced wrath on behalf of every person who has, is now, or will ever live in this world. At the Cross, the Trinity was involved as the Father poured out His wrath, the Son paying the absolute price for the remission of sins as the final sacrificial lamb turning away divine wrath (Romans 1:18, 3:25-2, 5:8-11), and the blood of Jesus offered through the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 9:14) for the sins of all human beings. This act of love is the greatest mystery that came directly through love Himself (Romans 16:25, 1 Corinthians 2:7, Ephesians 1:9, 3:4, 3:9, Colossians. 1:27).
It was the blood of God that was shed and poured out to redeem and set free all who willingly choose to accept Him as their personal Lord and Savior and become Born-Again by surrendering their life to Him (John 3:16; Acts 20:28).
The most profound mystery of God's love is that the King of the Universe - the beautiful God - the supreme Lord of all creation is so passionately in love with every Christian that the Bible describes it as the love of a groom for his bride!
"Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready." (Revelation 19:7 NIV)
His heart is ravished by them for He takes great "delight in you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride" (Isaiah 62:4-5).
"You have ravished my heart, My sister, my spouse; You have ravished my heart With one look of your eyes, With one link of your necklace. How fair is your love, My sister, my spouse! How much better than wine is your love, And the scent of your perfumes Than all spices!" (Song 4:9-10 NKJV)
Jesus intercedes from Heaven for all Born-Again Christians (Matthew 3:17, 14:27; Mark 6:50; John 1:1; 1:14; 8:24, 58; 10:30; Titus 2:13; 1 John 5:20). He is both love and the Word incarnate. He is the only mediator between God and human beings and is the proper and only object of a person's faith. Salvation is found in no one else (See 1 Timothy 2:5, Acts 4:12; Rom. 10:9). He said that if a person does not believe He is God - the "I am" of Exodus 3:14, and receive Him a Lord - they will die in their sins (John 1:1,14, 3:18; 4:2-3, 8:24, 58; 10:30-33, 14:6; 20:28; Colossians 2:9; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 1:8).
The Resurrection of Jesus
Jesus said; 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die...'" (John 11:25 NIV). The physical resurrection of Jesus is at the very core of faith. Without the resurrection:
"…our preaching is useless and so is your faith"….. "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17 NIV- See also John 2:19-21)
The Great Promise
Jesus commanded the Disciples after the Resurrection and before His return to Heaven to:
"not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 1:4-5 NIV, see also Luke 23:49)
He promised to permanently send the Holy Spirit, "the Counselor… from the Father" who would "testify" or prove, affirm and demonstrate that Jesus is Lord (John 15:26 NIV) so that all those who would put their trust in Him would "receive power" to be His "witnesses…both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8 NIV). This was not a new promise. The gift of the Holy Spirit had been promised in the Old Testament:
"...for with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people. To whom He said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing..." (Isaiah 28:11-12 KJV)
After His resurrection, Jesus regenerated ten of the Apostles when He "breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven" (John 20:22-23 NIV). At that moment they were Born-Again because they received the Holy Spirit. However, they had not yet been endued with power. That would come on the Day of Pentecost and was a totally separate and distinct experience.
The other 110 Disciples who were with them in the Upper Room were still not yet regenerated. They believed in Jesus, but they had yet to receive the Holy Spirit to become Born-Again. Believing that Jesus is God is not the same as receiving Him. Even the "the demons believe that - and shudder" (James 2:19 NIV). This is also the case with Samaria's men, the men at Ephesus, and those at Cornelius's house who were not yet Born-Again because they had not yet received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14; 10:44; 18:24).
Pentecost - The Promise Poured Out
"When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." (Acts 2:1-4 NIV)
God chose to give the Holy Spirit during the Jewish observance known as the Feast of Harvest or Pentecost. For this reason, what is considered by many the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is often called a 'Pentecostal' experience. It was the celebration of the wheat harvest, and it marked the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai.
Pentecost was a national holiday where the people would be reminded of their time in Egypt and bring offerings to God to celebrate with great rejoicing in music and dance that they had been delivered from their bondage. Everyone was invited to this feast, including Levites, servants, sons and daughters, the fatherless, the widow, and even strangers (See Deuteronomy 16:9-12).
The Day of Pentecost was so incredible that it affected the entire human race and their relationship to God because it was the birth of the universal Church when the Holy Spirit was given as a gift from the Father as a confirmation that the New Covenant of grace - paid for by the shed blood of Jesus, and now written on the heart of every Christian - is more effectual than the Law given at Mt. Sinai that was written on stone (See 2 Corinthians 3:3-18).
The Holy Spirit was given to indwell those who believe in and receive Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior at the moment of their salvation through repentance of their sin and submission. The Day of Pentecost also confirmed that those who place their trust in Jesus find true deliverance and healing from the penalty of sin. There is no better reason to celebrate with great rejoicing in music and dance!
The Holy Spirit seals the Born-Again Christian in Christ at the moment of salvation. They were bought and paid, and they are no longer their own (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Corinthians 6:20). There is no need for a second Pentecost, nor is there any prophecy in Scripture about one taking place. The Day of Pentecost was not a down payment from God. It was full and complete as the revealing of the great mystery of God and His plan to reconcile human beings back to Him before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:3-14, 3:9; 6:19; 2 Cor 5:18-19).
It is clear from the New Testament that there is the underlying assumption God is Triune. The Triune God is co-eternal and of the same nature. One God in three persons means one personal multi-dimensional God who lives and works in three different ways at the same time outside of all human imposed restrictions of knowledge, comprehension, and understanding (Exodus 20:3-6; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6, 8; 45:5, 14, 18, 21, 22; 46:9; 47:8; Deuteronomy 6:4). This doctrine is represented throughout the Bible and is arrived at systematically by looking at the totality of Scripture. It is the proper representation of Scriptural revelation concerning the nature of God.
The Triune God is love (Hos. 11:4; Jeremiah 31:3; Mark 1:41; 10:16; 1 John 4:8, 10),
all powerful (Job 42:2; Psalm 115:3; Jeremiah 32:17; Matthew 19:26),
all knowing (Psalm:1-6; Isaiah 46:9-10; John 2:25),
does not change (Ps. 102:27; Heb. 13:8; James 1:17),
holy (Exodus 15:11; Psalm 24:3; Isaiah 40:25; Habakuk 1:13),
a spirit (John 1:18; 4:24; 1 Timothy 1:17; 6:15-16)
and truth (Isaiah 44:8-10; 45:5; Numbers 23:19; Romans 3:3-4; John 14:1, 2, 6; Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2).
The Triune God exists together and for each other as infinite love that defies human description, understanding, or comprehension. Because they are love, they trust one another without hesitation and will do whatever the other asks. They desire to find those who will love and trust Them just as They love and trust each other. The Bible says that God is omnipresent throughout the Cosmos (Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah :24) and cannot be contained by it.
"….the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? (2 Chronicles:6 NIV – also 2 Chronicles 6:18; 1 Kings 8:27)
God is not pantheistic nor does He omnipermeate things because He created all things out of nothing. The entire sum of reality, which is made up of time and eternity, Heaven and Hell, light and darkness, is not a seamless one with God. He is not 'mother nature' and does not permeate or fuse His being or presence with, or into, His creation, as He is holy and exists eternally separate from the temporal creation (Isaiah 40:18-22; Romans 1:19-23; Revelation 1:10-11).
Christians are commanded by Jesus to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19 NIV - see also Matthew 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:4-6).
