the moment you accept trinity you reject Father and Son which makes you antichrist....
1 John 2:22
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
I in no way reject Jesus as the Christ.
Let's see how much you are willing to ACCEPT him:::::
The Church started with a bang, 3000 members the first day, and that was probably just counting the men. There could have been hundreds, maybe even thousands, more – wives, children, maidens, widows – who were not counted. Quite literally one sermon into the Church age and the congregation in Jerusalem had become a mega-Church. What was it that caused such an explosion? When we read Peter's sermon in Acts 2, and ask ourselves what prompted his hearers to say, "What shall we do?" it becomes evident that something very profound and unsettling had taken place in their cognitive networks, a terrifying realization had invaded their psyche. It is not just that they had killed an innocent man; although that was bad enough (Remember, it was only fifty days prior that many of the same crowd had cried, “Crucify him. Crucify him”). There is more to it than that. Peter's immediate call to repentance was a call for them to change their minds about not only their charge against Jesus but the very person of Jesus himself. Specifically, it was a call to belief in Jesus as both their Lord and their Christ. Peter was actually quite emphatic: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!” What, we must ask, is the significance of Peter's exclamation?
Please consider this with me: the Hebrew-speaking Jews present that day would have heard Peter saying that Elohim has made this Yeshua, whom they crucified, both Yahweh and Messiah. What exactly would this statement mean to a first century Jew? In considering this, let us first identify the characters. Elohim is the Hebrew way of saying God; it is a descriptive noun more so than it is a name. Yeshua is Jesus, which literally means Yah saves. Yahweh is the very personal name that God gives himself in his covenant-keeping relations with Israel; it is translated LORD in English. And Messiah, “the Deliverer,” is the same as saying Christ. What did Peter mean that “Elohim has made that same Yeshua ... both Yahweh and Messiah”? He means to communicate that God has announced from on high that Jesus is the one whom the Jews*had been worshiping*as LORD throughout their history as a chosen people. The eternal Son is the member of the Trinity who participated in that roll throughout the OT period (cf., just as in the NT he states, “Before Abraham was I AM,” it was he who in the OT declares, “I AM who I AM”).
Peter is saying to them that the one whom they had nailed to the cross was the very covenant-keeping YHWH of their fathers, his name so sacred they wouldn't even whisper it. Furthermore, this Yeshua was also the physical/human son of David, the promised Messiah, their Christ, the one who was to deliver them from oppression. And what had they done? They had not only crucified the Christ, they had nailed their very God to a cross – God on the cross with his people crying out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” That's when the unthinkable registered. For the first time the weight of their crime fell upon them. “What now?” they must have asked, in a state of utter hopelessness and despair, their voices filled with panic. “What shall we do?” Peter's answer was emphatic: They must repent – as in change their minds about this Jesus – and be baptized – in his name no less – into (Gr. eis) the forgiveness of sins, whereupon they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. In the haunting face of God-gallowing, Christ-killing crucifixion, there was hope – yes, the forgiveness of sins. It seems the only appropriate response is, “Wow, sign me up!” Now we may ask, is it any wonder that three thousand of them were added that day?
Let's look at Peter's sermon in Acts 2.14-26 and see if in the person of Jesus Christ there is evidence to support an understanding of him as having two natures, a human nature and a divine nature united in such a way as to make one person: the God-man, Jesus Christ.
"Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.' Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know – Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.' Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”' Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
Let us look first for evidence in the person of Jesus Christ that he had a divine nature. Ah, there it is:
25 "For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the LORD [Yahweh: i.e., a divine nature] always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
Well, that was fairly simple. Lets look now to see if this person of Jesus Christ had a human nature. Ah, there it is:
30 "Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body [literally “genitals”], according to the flesh [i.e., a human nature] He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
Okay, so we've got a divine nature and a human nature. How about a union of the two? Ah, there it is:
36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both [denoting union between...] LORD [divine nature...] and Christ [human nature]."
If you have a heart for under-standing (literally hypo-stasis in Greek), that should pretty much shut down this thread.
Blessings, T.
lain:
