Some people say Jesus and the Father are the same person. This theory is known as 'oneness.'  But I have discovered that nearly all of my fervent Christian brothers and sisters who zealously seek God's Word and are exceedingly careful to only trust in God's Word for truth, firmly believe that Jesus is not the Father, even though they believe that Jesus is Deity in the same way that the Father is Deity. To understand why the teaching of 'oneness' is truly dangerous and the critical need to understand the truth of the Trinity teachings please see the following article located on this website: Trinity Truths  

Here are the reasons why it is believed  that Jesus is not the Father as conveyed clearly in Scripture:

 

First, let's look at several Scriptures that show the Father and the Son as being two separate persons when we see the word "AND" in them.

 

2 Peter 1:2  -  "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."

 

Phil. 1:2  -  "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

 

2 John 1:3  -  "Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love."

 

1 Cor. 1:3  -  "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

 

1 John 2:22-25  -  Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us - eternal life.  These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you."

 

So we see clearly from the above Scripture that the apostles Peter, Paul, and John believed and wrote that the Father and Son were two separate persons. There is definitely plurality between Jesus and the Father, and John did not want Christians to get deceived by those who might try to teach them differently concerning this.

 

 

2.  Second, let's look at some Scriptures that use the word "BOTH" to show that the Father and Son are two separate persons.

 

John 15:24  -  "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both  Me and My Father."

 

2 John 1:9  -  "Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son."

 

 

3.  Third, let's look at some Scriptures that use the word "WITH" that teach that Jesus is a separate person from the Father who was "WITH" the Father before He lived on the earth.

 

John 17:5  -  "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."

 

John 8:16  -  "But if I do judge, My decisions are right, because I am not alone.  I stand with the Father who sent Me."

 

1 John 1:2  -  "The life (Jesus Christ) appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us."

 

 

4.   Fourth let's look at some Scriptures that use the words "WE", "OUR", and "US" to show the plurality of Father and Son.

 

Genesis 1:26  -  "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle...."

 

John 14:23  -  "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loves Me, he will keep My words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

 

John 17:11  -  "I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name - the name You gave me - so that they may be one as we are one."

 

John 17:22  -  "I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as we are one."

 

When we read John 17:11 and John 17:22 above we see these verses refer to "one" in unity, not one in person. Jesus expresses how in Him, we can see how the Father would convey and express Himself in the same situations. This is seen clearly in the following Scripture:

 

Heb. 1:3  -  "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."

 

Also, let's look at John 14:9 where Jesus says to Philip:  "Don't you know Me Philip; even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say 'show us the Father?' "

In this Scripture of John 14:9 above, Jesus is showing Philip that everything that Jesus does is the same as the Father would do and behave under the same situations and circumstances. 

 

Jesus prayed to the Father and desired that all believers might be one as He and the Father were one. In John 17:21-22 Jesus prayed for believers and prayed  "...that they all may be one as You Father are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one, just as we are one. I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one..."

 

Jesus was not praying above for all believers to form into one physical human body which would be a complete impossibility, but rather for all believers to be one in purpose and mission and be united exactly as Jesus and the Father were united into one.

 

Just because Jesus and the Father are separate persons, it does not mean that they are separate 'gods' as shown clearly throughout Scripture. They are one God.  

 

 

5.  Fifth, there are Scriptures that teach that while Jesus was on the earth, that His Father was in Heaven.

 

Matt. 7:21  -  "Not every person that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

 

Matt. 10:32-33  -  "Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, he will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whoever shall deny me before men, he will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."

 

Matt. 12:50  -  "For whoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister, and mother."

 

6.  Sixth, there are Scriptures that clearly share that the Father spoke from heaven to the Son and that the Son spoke and prayed from the earth to His Father in heaven.

 

Luke 3:22  -  "And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said 'Thou art My beloved Son; in thee, I am well pleased."

 

Luke 23:46  -  "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, 'Father into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said this he gave up the ghost."

 

Matt. 27:46  -  "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say 'my God my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

 

John 17:1  -  "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify Thee."

 

 

7.  Seventh, the Scriptures clearly teach Jesus and the Father as two separate persons together in heaven.

  

Acts 7:55-56  -   In this Scripture, Stephen saw two persons when he was dying:  "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God."

 

Heb. 1:3  -  "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High."

 

Heb. 10:12  -  "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God"

 

Rev. 5:7  -  In this Scripture, we see Jesus is shown as taking the scroll from God the Father who was sitting on the throne: "He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne."

 

 

8.  Eighth, we see that there are various Scriptures that teach that the Father sent Jesus into the world.  If we  don't believe that the Father sent Jesus, then we'd have to believe that Jesus sent Himself which does not make any sense:

  

  

John 17:23  -  "I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as you have loved Me."

 

John 10:36  -  "do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

 

John 17:18  -  "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world."

 

John 17:21  -  "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."

 

Also see:  John 5:30 and John 6:37-40

 

 

9.  Ninth,  Here is a small list of other Scriptures that show true distinctions between Jesus and the Father.

 

Mark 13:32  -  "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."

 

John 3:16  -  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

 

John 5:20  -  "the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth..."

 

John 5:22  -  "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son..."

 

John 14:6  -  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me."

 

Romans 15:6  -  "That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

 

1 John 5:7  -  "For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."

 

Conclusion:  I would like to share the following short message from the website so4j.com which stands for "sold out for Jesus" in which they explain the dangers behind the "oneness" false teachings:

"UNITED PENTECOSTALS (a.k.a. ONENESS PENTECOSTAL) (United Apostolic Church). It is reported that there are many other groups that follow this doctrine such as the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible Way Churches of Our Lord Jesus Christ. These do not believe in one God manifested in three, eternally existing Persons. These baptize in the name of Jesus only. They skillfully use baptizing people in the name of Jesus as a come-on to deceive people, but seldom tell them initially that they baptize this way, because they don’t believe in the Trinity as the Bible teaches. They believe that God is one person who has revealed Himself as the Father, then as the Son, and presently as the Holy Spirit. In other words, Jesus is God the Father and the Holy Spirit. These deny the Son being with God-(ref John 1:1), and that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven-(ref Mark 16:19 and Rev 5:7). They believe that baptism by immersion in the name of Jesus and administered by a "oneness" minister is a necessary part of salvation. They believe that speaking in tongues is evidence of the Holy Spirit. They have a strict code for women to follow as well as men. On the surface, this aggressive cult can sound very biblical to one not well-grounded in the Scriptures or not well-informed. They skillfully combine biblical truth mixed with error and falsehood, leading people astray. They believe that their way is the only right way to heaven and all others will perish."


The 'oneness' theory seems to be causing a lot of confusion and discord in the Body of Christ, and the people who adhere to it don't have a lot of Scripture to back up their claims so sometimes they'll say they received "revelation" to come to their conclusions. The best way to know the truth is to simply seek God's Word prayerfully and diligently and let the Holy Spirit guide you into all truth. If we simply seek the truth found in Scripture instead of the words of men, the truth will set us free! 

 

Here is a link to another helpful article on this subject:

https://www.gotquestions.org/United-Pentecostal-Church.html 

 

Article by F. A. Butler