⁸Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”… ¹¹He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; ¹²for the perfecting of the saints to the work of serving to the building up of the body of Christ ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ [the Anointed One]; ¹⁴that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; ¹⁵but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, the Anointed One. (Ephesians 4:8–15)

This passage is quite amazing just because of the amount of things it teaches in such relatively few words. It introduces Jesus and briefly describes what he’s been through. It establishes some of the more influential ministerial giftings. Then it lays out the mission and the intended purposes for growth and mission in the body of Christ. And it also speaks to the aims and challenges of the same.

Notice that one goal of these ministries is to bring all the saints of God unto a spiritual “full grown man.” Along this line of thought, Paul wrote in Galatians 4 that an “heir, as long as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant… but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father” (Galatians 4:1–3). This means that people of God who are held under “governors and tutors” indefinitely are being suppressed and treated like children, when they should be developed by their spiritual leaders into mature, spiritual adults having full, equal legal status within the ecclesia so that they also can join in the work of building up the body of Christ. In other words, the real purpose of the ministry isn’t to permanently oppress a congregation under an overlord to whom the people are ever to be beholden. Rather, the very job and purpose of the ministry is to empower and develop each and every saint to move into their coequal potential of being also contributors in the kingdom of God. But this topic is a whole other subject from our study at hand, so that isn’t going to be our focus in this awesome passage. Still, we did want to point that out because the oppression that God’s people are under is part of what has caused them to submit to the untruths and false teachings that are our subject matter.

What we do want to focus on here, in this passage, is the ultimate goal the apostle just described; namely, to “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” Note carefully that it doesn’t say “unto the knowledge of the third person of the Trinity.” It also doesn’t say “unto the knowledge of the incarnation of God the Father.” It says that “ the knowledge of the Son of God” is part of what is involved in our perfecting and attaining to the unity of the faith that will bring the body of Christ, you and I, unto a “full grown man,” meaning spiritual adulthood. And if we’re still unclear, he’s talking about the “fullness of the Anointed One,” which as we’ve been reiterating over and over is not something God can do unto Himself, since being anointed is something no one takes upon themselves.

Bringing the saints of God unto the knowledge of the Son of God in truth is one of the prescribed and prophetic goals of all the ministry types given by Christ to mankind. So, in this book regarding the Son of God, not only are we on the right side of biblical doctrine, we are also on the right side of biblical prophecy. That’s because we are working toward the goal expressed by Paul!

Having addressed the positive side of the passage, now let’s take a look at the negative side. Let’s ask, what has been hindering Christ’s saints from coming into the fullness of the knowledge of the Son of God? It is spelled out for us: we have been held as children and have been “tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error.” Those who hinder saints of God from coming into the knowledge of the Son of God are detractors of the very ministry and mission of the body of Christ!

And that is what we are going to address in this section: the craftiness and trickery of “winds of doctrine” that are following the “wiles of error.” We’ve already shown many of the actual methods of the “wiles of error,” but we’re not quite done yet.

Now we are ready to demonstrate, beyond any doubt, that Onenessianism is derived by the trickery of men and imposed artificially upon certain passages.

For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13)

As this verse says, the ultimate problem with the Oneness doctrine is twofold. Not only is Modalism “read into” the texts of the Bible, but the true Son of God doctrine is diluted, explained away, and ultimately taught not to be believed.

As we’ve stated many times, the Oneness doctrine can’t be readily found in the Bible like all other essential biblical teachings:

• • Want to know what baptism is for? Go to Romans 6 and read about it.
  • Want to know about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ? Go to 1 Corinthians 15 and read about it.
  • Want to know about the virgin conception of Christ? Go to such passages as Matthew 1:18 and Luke 1:26–35 and read about it.
  • Want to know how the Bible says Christ was made like us in all things? Go to Hebrews, particularly 2:17, and read about it.

But there is no passage that clearly and simply states that Jesus is the very person of God the Father incarnate. There are verses that seem to imply this, but it is never clearly stated or taught. This inherent contrast exists between Onenessianism and all other clear biblical teachings. It makes it obvious that it is only through interpretational methods that Onenessians can try to make the Bible appear to say what they believe. This method, from the very beginning of the fall of mankind, is the same exact method the devil uses, and teaches people to use, for interpreting the Bible. In fact, it is the same method of interpretation used to support all false teachings.

Probably worst of all, Onenessianism makes a liar out of Jesus, who claimed to be the truth. According to Onenessianism, Jesus must have only been telling the truth when he spoke in unclear terms. For example, according to Onenessianism, Jesus wasn’t speaking the clear truth when he said he was “not alone” and could do “nothing” of his own “self.” Instead of listening to what Jesus said, Onenessians have developed a plethora of unbiblical explanations about who and what Christ is, making a complete mockery of the many places that describe Jesus’ personal distinction from the Father.

Onenessianism’s “Trickery of Men” and “Wiles of Error”

Let’s take a look at some of the biblical teachings that Modalism must make a mockery of, if their interpretation is true. According to the Onenessian position (and contrary to the otherwise plain reading of these passages):

• • It was Jesus himself who counseled with himself to come to earth to save mankind (Philippians 2:6–11).
  • It was Jesus himself who impregnated his own mother Mary with himself so that he could become his own father and his own son to himself (Matthew 1:18), contrary to every biblical meaning and definition of the terms “son” and “father.”
  • It was Jesus himself who swore an oath to himself that he would make himself a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:21).
  • And then, even though he was God himself, he still had to become human before he could actually be touched by our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15), or could become a surety of a better covenant (Hebrews 7:22), or even be able to save us or intercede on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25). (So much for God being so all-powerful that nothing was impossible for him (Luke 1:37); that is, at least, before he became human!)
  • So then, when the time came to reveal himself he called out to himself at his baptism saying, “This is me in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17), yet somehow the words that slipped out otherwise may confuse us to believe he was personally distinct from his Father.
  • It was at that time that he anointed himself and sent himself, even though the Bible says he couldn’t anoint himself because that would be contrary to the biblical teaching that anointing yourself disqualifies you from the anointing (Hebrews 5:4–5).
  • After his baptism he led himself into the wilderness to be tempted (Hebrews 2:18), which is something that is actually impossible for him personally (James 1:13). In other words, the Oneness Jesus pretended to be someone he was not, so He could not do something that was impossible for him, personally, to do (lie or sin) in order to show us how to be what we’re truly supposed to be.
  • Then of course there was the Garden of Gethsemane, where he prayed to the point of bloody sweat, “Please, Myself, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not My will be done but My will be done” (Luke 22:41–44). At least, that is what Onenessianism claims he meant, even though that wasn’t what he actually said.
  • Then came the time while he was on the cross that he called out to Himself asking Himself why He had forsaken Himself (Matthew 27:46). Hmm, what would He have answered to Himself if He had answered?
  • And then after he died, he of course raised Himself from the dead, which was a particularly neat trick since the Bible says there are no works, or even knowledge or wisdom, in the grave (Ecclesiastes 9:10), which means if he was conscious and could work (the work of raising himself), then he didn’t really ever fit the biblical definition of death, which implies that Onenessians really don’t believe or accept that Jesus fully and completely died, which would make our faith vain according to Paul (1 Corinthians 15:12–15).
  • Then after he had raised himself from the dead, he told the apostles not to touch him because he hadn’t ascended to Himself, which Himself was his God and their God and his Father and their Father.
  • Some time after that he told his disciples he had given himself all authority in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18).
  • At this present time, that is after having sacrificed himself to Himself, he is now currently under an oath to Himself that he will sit on the right hand of Himself until he makes his own enemies his own footstool (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:44; Hebrews 10:7–14).
  • Finally, although he is reigning now, he will only reign until death has been destroyed, at which point, in the future, once he has subdued all things under himself he will also himself be subject to Himself, by delivering the kingdom up to Himself, so that He, God, may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:24–28).

All of this, and more, is what the “revelation” of Onenessianism will get you, regardless of what these Scriptures actually say about Jesus. And then, of course, if you come to believe such passages at face value, rather than what Onenessians interpret them to mean, then Onenessians will accuse you of not having a true “revelation” of Jesus’ deity (just as Trinitarians accuse Onenessians for not having a “revelation” of the Trinity).

For us, all of these “Oneness views” are certainly examples of the “trickery of men” and “wiles of error” that are keeping a large block of God’s people from coming into a mature knowledge of the true Son of God.

Do Onenessians Even Hear the Words of Jesus?

Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn’t do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell, and great was its fall. (Matthew 7:26)

So far, we have shown that the teaching we call the Son of God doctrine is not built on sand, but that it is built on an extremely rock-solid foundation throughout the Bible from beginning to end. The true Son of God doctrine, with flying colors, satisfies all the biblical rules for interpreting God’s word, particularly including the words of Jesus to “hear him.” Like any true teachings of the Christian faith, this “Son of God” teaching is clearly stated in Scriptures and does not require jumping to conclusions, or stringing Scriptures together to attempt to arrive at a “logical conclusion” or a “solution” to an assumed problem, or proof-texting.

On the other hand, this is not the case with the Oneness position. In this section we intend to show that the Oneness view is built on nothing more than a sandy foundation of presumptions, opinions, and jumping to conclusions.

Of course, that isn’t to say Onenessians don’t believe they see their doctrine clearly in their Bible. How can this be? Let us try to explain through a similarity of interpretation.

Recently, in July of 2015, there was news floating around the Internet of a Pentecostal man in Jenson, Kentucky, who died from being bitten while practicing snake handling. This tragedy reminds us how very real and literal the Scriptures are that say, “there is a way that seems right to a man, but it is the way that leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25)! Most of us are aware that these misguided folks use verses such as Mark 16:18 and Luke 10:19 to justify their practice. Certainly, these passages do clearly promise that believers “will take up serpents…” that “will in no way hurt them.”

The point is, snake handlers have good Scriptures that they use in wrong, even disastrous, ways.

We do not discount the Scriptures they use that promise us protection. We wholeheartedly believe such words, when taken in context. But we are sure that certain misguided souls believe they are being true to God’s word, but are not. That is because they have an imbalanced view of the whole of the Scriptures.

That is, we are equally aware of the Scriptures, such as the one Jesus quoted, that command us not to tempt or test the Lord our God (e.g., Deuteronomy 6:16). Using qualifying Scriptures to interpret unclear Scriptures allows us to see the error of false doctrines like snake handling. Purposely doing such a thing like snake-handling is very much “tempting” the Lord God every bit as much as when the devil tempted Jesus to jump from a pinnacle. Jesus’ method of searching the Scriptures for clear statements, also allows us to see the errors in Trinitarianism and Onenessianism because those doctrines necessarily must ignore the qualifying Scriptures that speak against their positions.

Moreover, we have yet another biblical advantage beyond comparing each other’s “interpretations” of what these Scriptures may state or imply: we have the apostle’s examples. As a case in point, the only place in the Bible where we find an NT believer bitten by a snake was in Acts 28:3–6, where Apostle Paul was accidentally bitten.

³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand… ⁵However he shook off the creature into the fire, and wasn’t harmed. (Acts 28:3–5)

As we see here, Paul did not institute the practice of taking up snake handling; he merely happened to be accidentally bitten, and, true to the Scriptures, he was not harmed. But he also stayed true to the commandment not to tempt the Lord, as exemplified by Jesus.

So in the case of snake handling, we have a) the scriptural promise that we won’t be hurt, and b) the apostle’s example of how that looked in real life. No snake handler, however, can point to a Scripture where anyone purposely took up the practice of handling poisonous snakes to prove their faith!

Likewise, we have a similar contrast between the Son of God doctrine and the Oneness doctrine. We have a) the apostle’s examples to support the true Son of God doctrine, and b) all the examples where the apostles preached Jesus as a man anointed by God. Onenessians, however, do not have a single example of anyone ever preaching their jumped-to conclusion that Jesus is a “God-man”!

It is a matter of biblical record that no apostle ever preached that Christ was an incarnation of God the Father. No apostle ever preached a modalistic view of Jesus, just as no apostle ever preached a Trinitarian view of Jesus. Just as consistently as they preached the Son of God, so also did the apostles practice “baptism into the name of Jesus Christ” and not the Trinitarian formula. And likewise, the apostles always and consistently preached Jesus as a man who was anointed by God and never, ever preached him as personally being God the Father himself incarnate.

Modalism is just as illegitimate, biblically speaking, as is the doctrine of taking up snake handling to prove your faith!

Onenessianism’s Magical House of Cards

Now imagine someone building a huge house of seemingly dozens of cards with a foundation of only a few cards supporting the whole structure. It would look like an upside down pyramid. Imagine how precarious it would be if the foundation were unsettled. The whole structure would come tumbling down. We are going to show that this card tower analogy is very much what the Oneness doctrine is like. When it comes right down to it, there are really only about eight or so key verses that Onenessians use to support and defend their teaching. If those eight verses were to be removed from the base of their theory, the whole tower (that is to say, all the rest of their other minor proof texts) would go tumbling down like so many cards. Those key supporting verses are Matthew 4:10, John 1:1 and 14, John 8:24, John 8:58, John 20:28, 1 Tim. 3:16, and Colossians 2:9. (We could add Hebrews 1:8, but we already covered that in Chapter Six.) Let me state categorically that if these verses were not in our Bibles, there would be no Oneness doctrine.

We’re going to limit our direct refutation of modalism in this section by showing that these eight verses just don’t say what the Oneness view requires them to mean for the doctrine to be true.

We hope that once people see how the Scriptures are taken out of context to bolster the Oneness position, then those who have a sincere love for the truth will see Onenessianism as the spiritual optical illusion that it really is. Once you see how their magic trick is performed, it is hoped you won’t ever fall for such a hoax again.

It is amazing to the point of shocking just how much Scripture is provided in plain sight, but some still refuse to see. But it isn’t really a vision problem. It is a heart issue. God’s word also calls it a sifting of the wheat (Luke 22:31), whereby those who are determined to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God can be distinguished from those who only love the word of God in pretense and appearance.

¹²Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from YHWH of Armies. ¹³It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen, said YHWH of Armies. (Zechariah 7:12–13)

But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.” (Luke 11:28)

Most assuredly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. (John 5:24)

1He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of God. (John 8:47)

A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” (Mark 9:7)

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