Jesus-Only doctrine
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The Jesus-Only doctrine is that which is taught by Oneness Pentecostals such as the United Pentecostal Church and other Protestant denominations. A variant of Sabellianism, this belief states that there is no distinct person of God the Father, nor God the Holy Spirit, but that the Godhead is comprised solely of Jesus, or "Jesus Only." They believe that God the Father is incarnate in Christ. They explicitly reject the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
Adherents of this doctrine are taught that a person cannot be saved unless this person first forsakes his belief in the Trinity and is rebaptized "in the Name of Jesus," according to an interpretation of several scriptures, most notably Acts 2:38. In contrast, the baptismal formula accepted by most Christians is found in Matthew 28:19, which commands baptism "in the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Ghost". The same disciples that heard Jesus speak these words, understood & obeyed this command by baptizing in the name of Jesus. See: Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5, 22:16. For the name of the Lord, see Acts 9:5.
Most Oneness Pentecostals take the term Jesus-Only as derogatory and prefer the phrase Jesus-Name when referring to their beliefs or themselves as believers. When considering this topic, it is also important to note that the terms, Trinity, Holy Trinity, Oneness, Pentecostal, Jesus-Only, & God the Son, are not in the Bible.
External links
- The Trinity, the Definition of Chalcedon, and Oneness Theology (http://www.aomin.org/CHALC.html)
- The Oneness of God (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pentecostal/One-Top.htm) Series in Pentecostal Theology, Volume 1 by David K. Bernard, J.D.
- Institute for Biblical Studies (http://www.onenesspentecostal.com) Oneness Pentecostal theological web site