Acts 2:38 Comparison: Evangelical vs. Oneness / Baptismal-Regeneration View
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That statement contains a subtle but serious doctrinal error — it’s not biblically sound and edges into modalism (Oneness theology), which the historic church has always rejected as heresy.
Brother, that statement — “One God in 3 manifestations” — isn’t biblical; it’s actually the old Modalist (Oneness) error. Scripture never says God merely appears as Father, Son, and Spirit at different times. It shows all three acting simultaneously and distinctly.
At Jesus’ baptism, the Son is in the water, the Spirit descends like a dove, and the Father’s voice speaks from heaven (Matthew 3:16–17 KJV). That’s not one Person changing forms — that’s three Persons in perfect unity.
Yes, there is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4 KJV), but the Bible reveals Him as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19 KJV). The word Trinity isn’t in the Bible, but the truth of it clearly is. The Father is God (1 Corinthians 8:6 KJV), the Son is God (John 1:1, 14 KJV), and the Holy Ghost is God (Acts 5:3–4 KJV).
So “One God in 3 manifestations” is heresy; “One God in three Persons” is biblical truth.
Grace and peace — always let Scripture interpret Scripture.
What’s truly nauseating isn’t my response — it’s that you have no shame for creating that AI image of a wolf with my username on it in the first place. The fact that the moderators had to remove it for violating forum rules says it all.Nah didn't use AI. Just edited a picture I found. Glad you liked it
Grace and Peace
You deserved it. At least I was direct. Now tell the audience that the post right above mine was your post with a picture of a wolf in sheep's clothing that you used to indirectly smear those who were disagreeing with you. So you started it and cried like a baby when you got it back.
That’s not true, and you know it. The image I shared was a general biblical illustration of a wolf in sheep’s clothing — a warning about false teaching, not a personal attack or an image targeting any user by name.
What you did was entirely different: you generated an AI picture that literally placed my username on a wolf’s hat — a direct, personal smear that the moderators themselves removed for violating forum rules.
There’s a clear difference between using Scripture to warn about deception and using AI to mock another member. One points to truth; the other breaks forum conduct.
Grace and peace — I’ll continue to let my posts be measured by Scripture, not slander.
I don't think I've ever run into someone as "holier than thou" as you are.
That’s fine — you can call it “holier than thou” if you like, but standing on Scripture and refusing to trade insults isn’t arrogance; it’s obedience.
I’ve never claimed to be holier than anyone — only that God’s Word is higher than all of us. If that standard makes someone uncomfortable, that says more about their heart than my tone.
Grace and peace — truth doesn’t need pride to defend it.
This is the same pattern I noted and addressed earlier - shifting the discussion from the Text to alleged personal issues. Labeling disagreement as “hate” or claiming emotional bias is just another way to deflect from the Scriptures presented. The issue is simply whether your interpretation holds up to the actual wording and context of the Scriptures I cited, which it does not. It’s fascinating how these denominational systems adherents almost always resort to deflection and ad hominem attacks instead of actually engaging Scripture beyond a canned point.
Brother, I’m not deflecting from Scripture; I’m calling for the spirit in which it’s discussed. The Bible doesn’t separate truth from character.
James 3:14–17 (KJV) reminds us:
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth… But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits.
And in Acts 17:11 (KJV) we’re told,
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
That’s the spirit I’m encouraging; open hearts, humble minds, and readiness to examine the Scriptures together. My concern isn’t avoiding the Word, but that it be handled with the same Spirit that inspired it.
Let’s reason together through the Word, but let’s do so with grace and humility.
Grace and Peace.
These posts must be quite entertaining for you — or maybe they’re feeding something deeper in your spirit?
The Bible said God manifested Himself into the flesh. Therefore God manifesting is more Biblical than saying God is persons which the Bible never said.
Brother, yes; “God was manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16 KJV) — that verse declares the Incarnation, not modalism. It means the eternal Son, the Word, took on human nature (John 1:14 KJV), not that the Father became the Son or that God merely changed form.
When you read the whole of Scripture, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are all shown as distinct Persons sharing the one divine essence:
- At Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3:16–17 KJV):
The Son is baptized, the Spirit descends, and the Father’s voice speaks. Three Persons act together. - In prayer (John 17 KJV):
The Son prays to the Father — not to Himself. - In sending (John 14:26 KJV):
The Father sends the Spirit in the Son’s name.
To say “God manifested Himself in the flesh” is absolutely true;
to say “God is three manifestations” changes the meaning and denies the real distinctions Scripture reveals between Father, Son, and Spirit.
Acts 17:11 (KJV): These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Grace and peace
Modalism (also called Oneness theology) teaches that God is one Person who appears in different forms — sometimes as the Father, sometimes as the Son, and sometimes as the Holy Spirit.
But Scripture shows all three acting simultaneously and distinctly — the Father speaking from heaven, the Son baptized, and the Spirit descending (Matthew 3:16–17 KJV).
That’s why the Bible teaches one God in three Persons, not one Person in three manifestations.
Modalism is heresy.
It denies the Biblical distinction between the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, teaching instead that God is one Person who merely appears in different forms or “modes.” This directly contradicts Scripture, which shows all three acting together and distinctly (Matthew 3:16-17 KJV; John 14:26 KJV). The historic Christian faith affirms the Trinity — one God in three Persons — not one Person changing roles.
Grace and Peace
But Scripture shows all three acting simultaneously and distinctly — the Father speaking from heaven, the Son baptized, and the Spirit descending (Matthew 3:16–17 KJV).
That’s why the Bible teaches one God in three Persons, not one Person in three manifestations.
Modalism is heresy.
It denies the Biblical distinction between the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, teaching instead that God is one Person who merely appears in different forms or “modes.” This directly contradicts Scripture, which shows all three acting together and distinctly (Matthew 3:16-17 KJV; John 14:26 KJV). The historic Christian faith affirms the Trinity — one God in three Persons — not one Person changing roles.
Grace and Peace
Brother, “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24 KJV), but that verse describes God’s nature, not His personhood. The Bible repeatedly shows that God — though Spirit — has personality: He speaks (Genesis 1:3 KJV), loves (John 3:16 KJV), wills (Ephesians 1:11 KJV), and grieves (Ephesians 4:30 KJV). Those are all personal attributes.
To say “Spirits aren’t ever a person” isn’t scriptural — the Holy Spirit Himself is called “He,” not it (John 16:13–15 KJV). He teaches, guides, and intercedes; actions of a divine Person, not an impersonal force or mere manifestation.
Yes, God can manifest, but “manifest” simply means to make visible or reveal. It doesn’t mean God becomes something else. When Christ came in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16 KJV), that was the Son revealing God, not the Father changing forms.
Scripture shows one God in three distinct Persons — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost — working together in perfect unity (Matthew 3:16–17 KJV).
That’s not philosophy; that’s what the Word of God reveals.
Acts 17:11 (KJV): “They received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
Grace and peace
Everyone knows the Johanna Comma is a later add in. The original 1 John 5:6-8 reads
6 This is he that came through water and blood, Jesus Christ: not in the water only, but in the water and in the blood; and it is the Spirit that testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
7 For they that testify are three,
8 the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are one.
But I misposted about manifesting into 3. Not sure how that worded that way.
Brother, that’s fine — even setting the textual issue aside, the Trinity doesn’t rest on 1 John 5:7 KJV alone.
The same truth is shown throughout Scripture: the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are distinct Persons acting together (Matthew 3:16-17 KJV; John 14:26; 17:5 KJV).
Whether or not one includes the longer reading, the Word of God still presents one God revealed in three divine Persons, not one Person changing forms.
Acts 17:11 (KJV)
Grace and Peace
Nowhere does the Bible claim God is a person.
That is what man said.
I thought this Thread was about what the Bible says not how people choose to interpret it?