How did you become "Oneness"?

[CC1]

Originally Posted by Esaias

I was just asking "how you became Oneness", not "are you Oneness".



What in the world does that have to do with anything?

I guess my point was that when you are born into an intense religious belief system it is part of your life from your earliest memories and naturally becomes a part of you.

I mentioned the part about me still being Oneness now but believing the vast majority of Christians believe in one God including trinitarians because my upbringing in the UPC and UPC bible college experience indoctrinated me to believe that trinitarians, the vast majority of Christians, believed in 3 Gods.

I was all in on the us against them godhead position and did my share of debating with any trinitarian who dared to take me on. I was a huge fan of Marvin Hicks and attended one of his famous debates with a trinitarian in person as a teenager (HIcks-Reynolds debate - 1975 I believe).

Once I left the UPC and began attending an exUPC church at the age of 23 I was exposed to more than one point of view and started looking at God's word with fresh eyes and realized almost all christians believe in one God.

The bottom line is that I do not believe any of us will fully understand the godhead until we are in heaven. I was taught "Oneness" from birth on and accept many of the tenants of that belief. I am uncomfortable with aspects of trintarian doctrine as I am Oneness folks. I think God only asks that we believe he is One God when it comes to the godhead and getting bogged down into how we parse that is pointless and diverts us from the great commission. I know there are those on here who think understanding and believing the Oneness view is a litmus test for salvation but I respectfully disagree.

[LOVE JESUS]

Brother, probably a reason a lot do not tell their story is: it ends up going into a debating session and people can say some hurtful things to their brothers and sisters. Baptism and standards get a lot of people riled up. Their true colors come out. I have seen it a lot on here - that is why I don't respond very much. I just read.

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by Michael The Disciple

I accepted Jesus as a hippie in 1974. I devoured his word day and night and April 3 1974 I had an experience with tongues and prophecy. I had not starting attending Church yet and the only Christians I knew were my Grandma and Aunt. I had never been in a Pentecostal Church in my life. I did not realize this was the baptism of the Spirit.

Eventually I started going to Church in various groups. Everyone believed in Trinity so I assumed I did too. After all it was taught that if you did not believe in it you were a cult person. One day my cousin came by who was married to a Oneness Pentecostal. He gave me a few scriptures on Oneness.

It had the ring of truth to it but I think I did not understand Trinity enough to see a lot of difference. Several years later I accepted baptism in Jesus name because I could see thats how the Apostles baptized. This was in a Charismatic Church. They were not Oneness at that time so I was baptized still not knowing the full revelation.

I moved on to another Pentecostal/Charismatic group in 1979. Also Trinitarian. Around then my wife was invited to a UPC Bible study. She went a few times and brought back some Eddie Jones tracts a Oneness Preacher from Linden Louisiana.

I started studying them and to my shock I had never really understood the Trinity was 3 co equal co eternal persons each distinct from the other!

As I poured over the tracts I began to wake up to the truth. I was almost convinced at that time and knew I was not Trinitarian. I called the Pastor back in the Charismatic Church where I was baptized to see what he was teaching.

He had himself just come under the Oneness teaching as presented by John Eckstat of the UPC. He presented it at Church shortly after and I attended. It was altogether glorious and magnificent! The tracts from Eddie Jones had been strong enough to help me see Trinity was wrong and Oneness had to be true.

But when this Pastor brought out the revelation about the LOGOS being the invisible God himself in the Old Testament it just nailed it so powerfully I fully embraced it.

To this day I would rather teach on Oneness than any other topic. It just magnifies Jesus to the highest place in the Universe....exactly where he should be!

Cool

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by LOVE JESUS

Brother, probably a reason a lot do not tell their story is: it ends up going into a debating session and people can say some hurtful things to their brothers and sisters. Baptism and standards get a lot of people riled up. Their true colors come out. I have seen it a lot on here - that is why I don't respond very much. I just read.

Are you serious?

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by Esaias

Did you get the Revelation? Or were you taught some doctrinal points and propositions that needed to be affirmed and maintained?

Here's my story:

I was living in sin, until Christ began to call me through his Word. All my objections and excuses were broken down and demolished, and I was left with nothing but conviction. convicted that I was in sin, a sinner, a rebel against God. Convicted that Christ died for my sin, and took judgment upon Himself that I might escape that judgment. Convicted that if I did not repent and flee to Him for mercy and grace I would die in my sins and suffer eternal judgment.

So I repented of my sins. I began praying and fasting. I knew very little of the Bible, but I knew enough to know I needed whatever salvation those Christians in the Bible had. I prayed for God's Spirit. I had no idea what that meant, I had never met a Pentecostal or charismatic person, I just knew that reading the Bible God's people had something I desperately needed - God in them. A REAL genuine bona fide salvation.

I wound up homeless at a very small independent Baptist church-run mission for street people. I was in service one night, at the tail end of the service, when everyone was "standing with eyes closed and heads bowed" for final prayer. I had been praying and fasting for God to save me, really truly and genuinely save me, to make Bible salvation a REALITY in my life. I clung to His promises in the Word, and this night something happened.

While praying I eventually ran out of things to pray. I just surrendered myself to God. I cannot describe it too well, it was just a simple and yet total surrendering of myself to God. And something fell out of Heaven into my very soul, my very inner being. It exploded inside and shot out like a geyser. The distinct impression I had at the time was like Old Faithful blowing up and gushing forth, only instead of actual water gushing out it was the most marvellous prayer, in another language. I could sense what the prayer involved, but not specifically word for word, just the general import. I was totally overwhelmed with DIVINE LOVE, the Love of the Saviour towards ME, me personally. The Great God of Heaven knew me personally, and loved me personally, and somehow had expressed His love to me in a most direct and personal way. God Himself had literally come inside of my very Being, and I was crying, shaking, and praying in some other language.

I had never heard "Oneness", knew nothing whatsoever about theology, or theology disputes, or "Godhead issues". But one thing I KNEW the moment it happened, and while it was happening: It was JESUS CHRIST who was now inside me. Inside my innermost being. Spirit, soul, heart, whatever you want to call it, it was JESUS CHRIST who came to me and took up residence in me. I knew that I knew that I knew it. And what was startling was it was not at all what I expected. I had no expectation of Jesus himself taking up residence in my soul. I was just praying to get good old fashioned bible salvation. I was praying for God to give me His Spirit... and He gave me JESUS!

From that moment on I KNEW who God was. I knew He was JESUS CHRIST, the One who suffered and died on a cross for me, who came out the tomb alive and victorious because death had no hold on Him - because HE IS GOD ALMIGHTY.

A couple days later I met a man who invited me to visit his church. I went and discovered there were other people who had experienced this overwhelming, mind blowing immersion in the love of JESUS CHRIST. This brother showed me three scriptures - Matthew 28:19, Isaiah 9:6, and Acts 2:38. It made perfect sense to me. JESUS CHRIST is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. He is GOD. Later that week I was baptised in His saving Name in obedience to the scriptures.

It would be a couple years before I ever heard the term "Oneness" or had any clue what it meant. If you had asked me "do you believe in the trinity?" I would said "Of course! Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! And His name is JESUS CHRIST!!!!" It would be years afterwards that I would discover what trinitarianism actually proposed, and that there was an alternative view called "Oneness" that seemed to express what I had not only experienced but confirmed in the Scriptures. Whenever I would hear preachers say "you need a Revelation!" and "It's a Revelation!" I knew EXACTLY what they meant, because I had it!

And I got it independently of man, before I ever heard the term "Oneness" or ever even met a Oneness apostolic believer or even knew they existed.

In the years since God brought me this precious Truth by direct Revelation and Experience, confirming His Word with signs and wonders following, I have met an increasing number of people who seem to be Oneness as taught to them by flesh and blood. I don't mean they were given a Bible study and saw the Truth, I mean something else. They seem to have an academic understanding of being a "Oneness adherent" but they do not seem to have had an actual Revelation from God. Oneness is just a convenient theological explanation that, in their minds, is somewhat more satisfactory than say trinitarianism or some other -ism. And so I wonder how they ever became Oneness to begin with, because from a philosophical point of view Oneness doctrine is foolish and rather low-brow. It's not nuanced and technical enough, it's "theology for dummies and hillbillies", or so it seems to the mass of the theological illuminati.

Anyway, I always wonder... when I meet "trinitarian Pentecostals", I like to ask them: "When you got the Holy Ghost, just exactly WHO DID YOU GET?"

I cannot even fathom receiving the Holy Ghost and not knowing intuitively and immediately by direct knowing that JESUS CHRIST is the Alpha and Omega, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Jehovah God Himself, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Son of God, firstborn of Creation, and all of it. It's All In him indeed.

So... how did YOU come to be "Oneness"?

Awesome!!!!!!

[CC1]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

Are you serious?

I have no doubt he is serious. It has gotten to where I hate posting anything here because it gets picked apart and criticized. I am not talking about posts that are intended to be debated but just anything. No doubt you will have some snarky answer to this as well.

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

Are you serious?

Are you serious?

[Esaias]

I appreciate all the responses.

BTW, I did not start this thread to create opportunity for debate or any such thing, I just wanted to hear about how folks here became Oneness. Even if you don't have a testimony of getting a revelation, even if you were just raised in it so accepted it as the de facto way things were, that's still interesting to me. I cannot debate someone's actual history, anyway! lol

I'm just fascinated in seeing how people came to believe what they believe. So, again, thanks to all who responded.

[CC1]

Originally Posted by Esaias

I appreciate all the responses.

BTW, I did not start this thread to create opportunity for debate or any such thing, I just wanted to hear about how folks here became Oneness. Even if you don't have a testimony of getting a revelation, even if you were just raised in it so accepted it as the de facto way things were, that's still interesting to me. I cannot debate someone's actual history, anyway! lol

I'm just fascinated in seeing how people came to believe what they believe. So, again, thanks to all who responded.

It would have been nice if people could have responded without being criticized and grilled for their posts.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by CC1

It would have been nice if people could have responded without being criticized and grilled for their posts.

I simply tried to get some clarification from you as you responded but did not seem to understand what I was asking. Hence, your remark concerning trinitarians being monotheists was completely outside the ball park of what I was asking. Also, simply saying you were born into a Oneness family did not clarify for me why you yourself were Oneness or even If you were.

What I find fascinating is people on this forum seem to be wired to debate and argue about the minor stuff like how they perceive other people's "tone of voice" (???) or what they SUSPECT is other people's motives for posting instead of actually just talking like normal people about the subject that was brought up. It's like we want to talk about how we talk more than what is actually being talked about?

But anyway, thanks for clarifying things.