I haven't been following this thread because discussions like these usually only distinguish the informed from the misinformed.....as Jesus and his disciples knew, also from first hand experience, what ignorance does to gullible people....it just confirms what Jesus said in John 15:18-21.
The ones who gave Jesus and his disciples the hardest times were those who purported to worship the same God....history repeats because satan can rely on ignorance to do his work for him.
Paul makes a distinction between the soul, spirit, and body in one verse.
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and
I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (
1 Thessalonians 5:23).
Well actually, if you read the verse in context, he is not talking to individuals here but addressing the body of Christ...as a group, God's elect have a
spirit that unifies them, a
soul which describes their faithful life-course, and a
body to which they belong, and as a whole must faithfully follow the teaching of their Master.
This verse is not saying what you want it to say....
So if God has three parts or aspects to Him (like how God is three persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and yet he is one being, then we also have three parts to ourselves, as well (with us being one being). We have a soul, spirit, and body; And yet we are one.
God does not have three parts, and no scripture says he does.....please find me one that says anything contrary to Deuteronomy 6:4 or 1 Corinthians 8:5-6.... Is God a split personality, or are there three gods living in one head? Who can explain this belief which did not exist in Judaism nor did the first Christians, who were all Jewish, believe that their God was anything other than what Christ told them he was.
Collectively the apostles believed what they stated...clearly and unequivocally that their "one God" was "the Father" and that their "one Lord" was Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 8:5-6) There was no ambiguity...no confusion about that....the confusion began to emerge after the end of the first century when all the apostles had died and the foretold apostasy was taking hold of the Christian faith.
The parable of the "wheat and the weeds" goes unnoticed because no one believes that it happened. The doctrines formulated by an apostate church over many centuries were carried over, and even after the Reformation, it failed to rid the church of its God-dishonoring doctrines. This is the only Christianity that people know, just as the Jews were practicing the only Judaism that they had ever known....those who think that the church today is the real deal are fooled in exactly the same way as those first century Jews were in believing their religious leaders and accepting their doctrines.....but what did Jesus say about them?
Matthew 15:7-9...NKJV...
"Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
It happened again, but no one noticed.....Jesus said that the planting of the "weeds" was "while men were sleeping"....that can mean one of two things....it either refers to the death of the apostles who were restraining the foretold apostasy by their powerful presence....or it could be referring to the spiritual drowsiness that took over the church after the authority of the apostles was no longer there. Either way, the counterfeit "Christianity" that the devil sowed was to do what "weeds" do best.....they took over the church like weeds take over a garden, almost choking the wheat out of existence. But in the "time of the end" Jesus was to appoint a "faithful and wise slave" who was assigned to "feed" Christ's household their "food at the proper time" (Matthew 24:45)....those who have found that "slave" and who eat at his table are a united global Christian brotherhood who all believe and teach the same truth, no matter what country they live in, or language they speak....as Paul said...
"Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (1 Corinthians 1:10 NKJV)
Now, if you think that the divided and fragmented mess that Christendom is, fits that description, then I have a very beautiful parcel of land at the North Pole to sell you.
The Bible most certainly speaks about God the Father; it speaks about his son whom he sent to redeem mankind, and the actions of his Holy Spirit with which he empowers those who need strength to do God's will, and for those in the first century to accomplish supernatural things in order to convince a disbelieving nation that Jesus was the Christ....but NEVER does it ever say that God is three persons...or three gods.
At the end of the day, we will all know for certain who was
"doing the will of the Father" and who was only pretending to....who will be on the receiving end of Jesus' rejection when the judgment comes? (Matthew 7:21-23) Those whom Jesus refuses entry into the Kingdom have no idea that their "Christianity" was based on the doctrines of the "weeds" of Jesus' parable. They will try to offer him their excuses, but Jesus is firm. When he says...
"I never knew you" he means that he has NEVER recognized those fake disciples as his own. It will be a very rude awakening for the "many" but a glorious day for the "few" who were not taken in by satanically inspired lies. (Matthew 7:13-14)
We all make our choices and every choice has consequences.
