“¹⁶…To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey… ¹⁸Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness… ²⁰For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.” (Romans 6:16-20, KJV)

“Free from righteousness”? Did you know that the devil thinks he is a savior? That’s right. As an opposite type of Jesus, who saves us from our sins, the devil’s perspective is to “liberate” or “save” us from what he considers the constraints and bondage of God’s word. And, he has a certain method toward that end that he consistently uses that he has found to be particularly effective. Unfortunately for him… “we are not ignorant of his schemes” or “devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11). Fortunately, our mission is to “set captives free” (Luke 4:18) from bondage to sin and the lies of the devil and his followers.

So, we’re going to talk about the method the devil used in tempting Eve in the Garden, and the same method he used to try to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, and then we are going to show that this is the consistent method that both Trinitarians and Onenessians use to “prove” their doctrines. Here it is:

“¹…Has God really said… ⁴…You won’t surely die, ⁵ for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)

What the devil did here is called “proof texting.” It is the devil’s way of interpreting God’s word (Genesis 3:1-5) or the Bible (Matthew 4:5-7). Using the devil’s process looks like this:

1. Refer to a “proof text” (such as “of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it”) that doesn’t explain the “jumped-to” conclusion…

2. Jump to a conclusion that creates a false dilemma (i.e., “you will be like God knowing good and evil”).

3. Negate what IS explained (i.e., Romans 5:17 “For… by the trespass of the one man, death reigned…”)

This method and process is used to create every false doctrine there is. Here’s how it looks in a chart…

Then the devil did the same thing in tempting Jesus. He used Psalm 91:11-12 as his “proof text,” and then jumped to a conclusion attempting to make a false dilemma–the hook–by which to “trick” Jesus–

When Jesus contended with the devil in Matthew 4, he showed us how to both overcome the temptation and deal with the false dilemma: by harmonizing “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” He did not resort to an exegesis of the devil’s proof text; he didn’t even acknowledge it! That would be stooping to the devil’s level and falling into the devil’s snare. Rather, he addressed and dealt with the devil’s jumped to, false dilemma, “conclusion” by quoting scripture that clearly negated the devil’s “imagination.” If you use the devil’s false dilemma as a “scheme” or “device” to negate the scriptures, then you are acting as the devil’s servant. Jesus said…

“⁴¹‘You do the works of your father.’… ⁴⁴ You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father . He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father . ⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me. ⁴⁶ Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of God’.” (John 8:41-47)

When the devil speaks a lie, he speaks on his own: that refers to the way he jumps to conclusions that aren’t stated in the word of God and creates false dilemmas that are contradicted by God’s word! “Speaking on his own” is the point where he determines his own morality!

How many times have we heard this verse quoted: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV)

Now then, if someone interprets the Bible the way the devil interprets God’s word, by creating a false dilemma which negates what God’s word does say, is that person “rightly dividing the word of truth” or is that person doing the works of the devil? The latter, right? On the other hand, if someone uses the quoted word of God (like Jesus did) to negate the jumped to conclusion and false dilemma that isn’t stated in the Bible, that person is following Jesus’ example and serving righteousness. Isn’t that right? And wouldn’t Jesus’ method be the right way to “rightly divide the word of truth”? Of course. The question then becomes, who will listen to which kind of “interpretation”?

Now then, if I can show you how Onenessians consistently and exclusively depend on using the devil’s method of false interpretation, would I be doing you a favor or would I be a threat to you? Paul wrote, “So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16). Before you answer that, first ask yourself, “Who is your true enemy, the one who interprets like the devil, calls that “rightly dividing the word,” and gets you to go along with them, or the one who speaks the truth and interprets like Jesus even though you may not readily agree?

Seen in a meme: “You don’t measure the truth of something by the number of people that believe it. You measure the truth of something by whether or not the word of God says it is true.” Amen?

As mentioned before, as Christians, “⁴… the weapons of our warfare are…mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, ⁵throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ .” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

Did you know that the Trinity doctrine is a “stronghold” and an “imagination” that needs to be “cast down” and we have been given the authority and commission to do that? Well, the same is true of the Oneness doctrine. It is a “stronghold” and an “imagination” because it is not spelled out in scripture but is imagined and read back into scripture, just like the Trinity . Therefore, having this mandate to cast down imaginations, we’re going to do just that with the “Oneness” imagination, by showing you how it can only be taught and defended by using the devil’s reversed method of warfare: casting down the word of God with imaginations.

“³But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness , so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4)

Many, if not all, false doctrines are taught and spread using proof-texting, or eisegesis, (reading ideas and biases into the text that aren’t stated or meant by the text). This was explained earlier. It’s critical to understand and be able to recognize how proof texting works if you don’t want to be deceived by the devil’s method of interpretation that he used in deceiving Eve. In Psalms 91:11-12 (the one about angel’s protection from dashing your foot on a stone) there are no “conditions” on God’s protection stated in that passage other than if you abide in God and make Him your refuge. The devil quoted that passage flawlessly in order to tempt Jesus in Matthew 4:5-7. Jesus used a completely separate verse, from a different book and chapter in the Bible to refute the devil’s jumped to conclusion about the passage. He did not give the devil a better interpretation of Psalms 91:11-12 . He did not “properly exegete” (or explain) what Psalm 91:11-12 really meant to say.

Why is this important? Because some people think you are obligated to give a “better exegesis,” a better interpretation, of their “proof-texted” verse before you can “excuse” their “jumped to conclusion” based on that verse. They believe that the battle is about “who has the better proof text.” Jesus didn’t play that game, and neither should we. It would be as if the devil responded back to Jesus, “Hey Jesus, Psalm 91 doesn’t say anything about not tempting God! You just don’t believe what the scripture says in Psalm 91!” Do you see the fallacy that kind of response would be, considering Jesus’ reply to the devil? But that kind of response is often given in defense by Trinitarians and Onenessians. They want to reduce the discussion to the veracity of their interpretation and conclusion of certain proof texts against the veracity of someone else’s. Since the “force” of their “position” is on their “interpretation,” they don’t seem to recognize they are negating the word of God in one area to bolster their conclusion. And that explains why they attempt to claim you don’t believe the scripture if you don’t believe their false dilemma based on their extrabiblical conclusion. And that is why it is so important to be able to quote scripture that openly and clearly names, proclaims, confesses, AND explains a doctrine. That is the ONLY sure way to know that a doctrine, such as the “son of God” doctrine, is both biblical and true.

You see, the question we need to be asking, and finding an answer for in the scriptures, is not so much “what does the proof text seem to state or imply,” or “what can be concluded,” rather, the more important question is, “Does the conclusion based on the proof-text harmonize with all scriptures that speak more directly about the subject?” This is why Jesus told the devil, “Man does not live… but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

For example, when Jesus told Peter, “Get thee behind me Satan,” was he exposing Peter as a literal incarnation of the devil? Preposterous, right? But that conclusion could be jumped to if no other scriptures were used, and the text itself doesn’t say he wasn’t, does it? Even though that “jumped to conclusion” sounds preposterous, that is exactly the type of reasoning some people use and seem to think they are being very clever by; when in reality, they are simply being disobedient to the scripture which commands us to “teach no other doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:3).

With that in mind, we will demonstrate some typical “proof-texts” that Onenessians use to attempt to “prove” their conclusion… and show how they precisely fit the devil’s method (schemes and devices).

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