The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, and not only death but eternal death. If Christ paid that debt, how did Christ die an eternal death? Does the Trinity doctrine provide for an Atonement by way of any form of eternal death? Some anti-trinitarians are teaching that Christ died the sinners death for them, but their teaching denies the Atonement sacrifice just as surely as does the trinity doctrine itself. Why is this? Because such teachers do not fully understand the Godhead and the function of each member of the Godhead.
Eze 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die an everlasting death--a death from which there will be no hope of a resurrection; and then the wrath of God will be appeased." E.G. White, Early Writings, p. 218.
If the wrath of God will not be appeased until unrepentant souls die an everlasting death--a death from which there will be no hope of a resurrection, what does this have to say about an Atonement for sin in which the Atonement does not provide for any eternal sacrifice of an everlasting death? The trinity doctrine teaches that Christ came, lived on earth for 33 years, spent 3 1/2 days in the tomb, was resurrected, remained here another 40 days, and was translated to heaven to be restored (glorified) to His former glory. How does that constitute any semblance of an everlasting death for the wages of man's unrepented of sins? This is the problem of the trinity doctrine. This is essentially why all Adventist pioneers taught that the trinity doctrine worked despite to the Atonement. Without some form of eternal death for sin, on the part of the Testator of the Everlasting Covenant, there has been no Atonement for sin, and the Sanctuary Service is incomplete. As Ellen White stated in The Upward Look:
Sanctuary Gone Atonement Gone -- "In a representation which passed before me, I saw a certain work being done by medical missionary workers. Our ministering brethren were looking on, watching what was being done, but they did not seem to understand. The foundation of our faith, which was established by so much prayer, such earnest searching of the Scriptures, was being taken down, pillar by pillar. Our faith was to have nothing to rest upon--the sanctuary was gone, the atonement was gone." E.G. White, The Upward Look, 152.
God predicted the same thing concerning the inability of the watchmen shepherds (ministering leaders) to understand:
"His WATCHMEN are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and THEY ARE SHEPHERDS that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant." Isaiah 56:10-12.
"The Bible Prophets Wrote for Our Time.--Never are we absent from the mind of God. God is our joy and our salvation. Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours, so that their prophesying is in force for us. 'Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come' (! Cor. 10:11). 'Not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into' (1 Peter 1:12).'" E.G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 3, p. 338.
If you believe God, there should be no question as to why the SDA church committed the Omega Heresy in 1931, by introducing the Trinity doctrine into the church and now pledges its members to that doctrine by including it in the baptismal vows. They simply do not understand what the have done. Why do they not understand? For at least three crucial reasons:
- They have chosen peace and safety for popularity, Isaiah 56:12.
- They have desire to pattern themselves after the other churches.
- They decided to join ecumenical bodies of fallen churches in numerous countries of the world.
- Selected Messages, vol. 1, 204-5, lists numerous other reasons.
"A new order of things has COME INTO the ministry. There is a desire to pattern after other churches and simplicity and humility are almost unknown. The young ministers seek to be original, and to introduce new ideas and new plans for labor. Some open revival meetings, and by this means call large numbers into the church. But when the excitement is over, where are the converted ones? Repentance and confession of sin are not seen. The sinner is entreated to believe in Christ and accept Him, without regard to his past life of sin and rebellion. The heart is not broken. There is no contrition of soul. The supposed converted ones have not fallen upon the Rock, Christ Jesus." E.G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 2, pp. 18, 19.
"Here we see that the church--the Lord's sanctuary--was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus 'Peace and safety" is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together." E. G. White, Testimonies, Vol. 5, 211.
"The Spiritualistic theories regarding the personality of God, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy. They estimate as nothing the light that Christ came from heaven to give John to give to His people. They teach that the scenes just before us are not of sufficient importance to be given special attention. They make of no effect the truth of heavenly origin and rob the people of God of their past experience, giving them instead a false science (and gospel)." E.G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 1, 204.
The Alpha Had to do With Specualtion in Regard to the Personality of God and Where His Presence Is
"It (Kellogg's book) introduces that which is nought but specualtion in regard to the personality of God and where His presence is.. No one on this earth has a right to speculate on this qauestion. The more fanciful theories are discussed, the less men will know of God and of the truth that sanctifies the soul." E.G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 1, 202.
Many make the mistake of deducing that "spiritualistic theories" are limited to pantheism because the Alpha included that realm, but the Omega will include and transcend that arena of spiritualistic theories, and the trinity doctrine is the most abominable of all speculative spiritualistic theories because no Scripture exists that proves that the Holy Spirit existed as a third person prior to the Incarnation when the Holy Spirit became the successor to Christ. Of course the One eternal Holy Spirit of God the Father and the Son existed eternally, but no successor to Christ existed before His Incarnation.
What you have just read in a description of what transpires in the Alpha and the Omega Heresy, only the Omega was to be, and is, far more transcending in scope than was the Alpha. It involves the entire professing SDA Church.
The Alternative to the Trinity Doctrine or How Christ Died an Eternal Death for Man's Sin
The alternative to the Trinity Doctrine is a true understanding of the identification of the Holy Spirit and what it did and is doing for you and I. Ellen White said that the Holy Spirit is the life and soul of Christ. Scripture says the same thing--to wit:
Jhn 4:24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.
"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." II Cor. 3:17.
Hbr 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Ellen White further says that the Holy Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ:
"The Holy Spirit is the breath of spiritual life in the soul. The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the attributes of Christ. Only those who are thus taught of God, those who possess the inward working of the Spirit, and in whose life the Christ-life is manifested, are to stand as representative men, to minister in behalf of the church." Desire of Ages, 805.
Ellen White further states that the gift of the Holy Spirit (The Life of Christ) is the crowing gift; the greatest gift that God could bestow:
"Christ declared that after His ascension, he would send to his church, as his crowning GIFT, the comforter, who is the Holy Spirit,--THE SOUL OF HIS LIFE, THE EFFICACY OF HIS CHURCH, THE LIGHT AND LIFE OF THE WORLD. With HIS SPIRIT Christ sends a reconciling influence and a power that takes away sin. In the gift of the Spirit, [HIS LIFE--THE SOUL OF HIS LIFE] Jesus gave to man the highest good that heaven could bestow." E.G. White, Review and Herald, May 19, 1904. Book 5, p. 42.
"The Spirit was given as a regenerating agency, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail." E.G. White, Review and Herald, May 19, 1904, The Promise of the Spirit, pr. 3.
"In the twelfth chapter of Romans we read, 'I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your REASONABLE SERVICE. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.' Much is comprehended in this. Here the apostle beseeches us to reach the high standard that it is possible to attain. Christ made it possible when He LAID ASIDE His royal robes, His royal crown, stepped down from His royal throne, clothed His divinity with humanity that humanity might touch humanity. He could not with His glory and majesty take His position among men. The glory must be LAID ASIDE. He must take the rude garments of humanity that He might be afflicted with all the afflictions of humanity, that He might understand their temptations. He would become a faithful judge of how much they had to contend with in the conflict with satanic agencies. Through this experience Christ was enabled to give power to His people, for to 'as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.' See where our power is. It is not in ourselves." E.G. White, Review and Herald, 01-07-02, pr. 2.
WHEN did Christ make it possible for us to reach the high standard that it is possible to attain? "Christ made it possible when He LAID ASIDE His royal robes, His royal crown, stepped down from His royal throne, clothed His divinity with humanity that humanity might touch humanity"
The above statement makes it abundantly clear that Christ made the high standard possible "...when He laid aside His royal robes, His royal crown, stepped down from His royal throne, clothed His divinity with humanity that humanity might touch humanity." This was at His Incarnation. He did not "lay aside" such on the cross. He laid aside all that was "laid aside" at His Incarnation. This was when His Holy Spirit, His VERY LIFE, BREATH AND SOUL, became His successor, for the purpose of aiding men in reaching the Standard.
“Cumbered with humanity Christ could not be in every place personally, therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He should leave them to go to His Father and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit.” E.G. White, (Manuscript Releases Volume 14 (No’s 1081-1135) MR No.1084.
The logical conclusion to all you have just read is that the Holy Spirit is not a third totally distinct person from the Son, which existed from eternity. It is, but it IS NOT! What do I mean? It is in light of the fact that Jesus laid aside that life, soul, as a crowing, regenerating gift to us. When? Obviously, at His Incarnation, when His Holy Spirit (Post Incarnation life) was laid aside to constitute His first death sacrifice. It is not a totally distinct person in that the Holy Spirit shared by both the Father and the Son was the sire of Jesus to the womb of Mary.
So, the Holy Spirit is not a third person existing eternally entirely distinct and separate from Christ, but is rather the person of the Son Himself that He laid aside
as a gift to us so that we could partake of His DIVINE NATURE as a regenerating agency.
The Trinity doctrine subverts the above facts by speculating that the Holy Spirit pre-Incarnation life of Christ was not sacrificed eternally as an Atonement for sin, but is rather another aspect of God which has existed from eternity as another person other than the Father and the Son. This does total despite to the fact that the Holy Spirit was the life and soul of the Son, which the Son sacrificed (laid aside) eternally as a crowning, regenerating gift to repentant man. To miss this fact is to totally void the Atonement and the Sanctuary Service.
The Testator
Some are teaching that the Testator of the Everlasting Covenant was the Father. He was party to the Covenant, but He was not the Testator, because the death of the Testator was required by that covenant, and the Son died. The fault of the trinity doctrine is that the death of the Son was not eternal in any way, and it defines the Holy Spirit as a person other than the pre-Incarnation life of the Son. Any definition of the Holy Spirit that does not include this fact is heretical and blasphemy. Some are guilty of both these violations. Some are guilty of only one.
Ron Beaulieu