The Apostles' Doctrine: An Apostolic Guide to New Testament Teaching

By Rev. William H. Carey

The second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles tells us that the new Christian church continued steadfastly in the Apostles' Doctrine. But what was/is that doctrine? This book covers important topics such as the nature of God, sin, the plan of salvation as found in Acts 2:38, holiness, and more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lighthouse
• Release date: Mar 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9798985956757

Rev. William H. Carey

Rev. William H. Carey is a retired Apostolic minister. He was cofounder of the National Gay Pentecostal Alliance (NGPA), later known as Apostolic Restoration Mission (ARM). He has worked in ministry in the LGBTQ community around the United States, and has published numerous books and tracts on topics including Church Administration, doctrine and the nature of the Godhead, published in English, and some also in   Russian, Spanish, French and Hebrew. Rev. Carey began studying Greek at the age of 11, and Hebrew at the age of 19. He taught beginning classes in both languages for many years. He attended Apostolic Pentecostal Bible School and Wide World of Truth Ministries Bible School (both formerly in Schenectady, NY), and wrote most of the ministerial training curriculum for the Apostolic Institute of ministry, the educational division of ARM. This same curriculum has been used by other denominations as well. A native of Brooklyn, NY, he attended high school in Galway, NY, and college in Schenectady and Albany, NY. He currently resides in Ferndale, Michigan with his husband,   Larry. Other books by this author include: New Testament – A new modern English translation of the Westcott-Hort Greek text How Many is God? – A short explanation of the difference between the Trinitarian doctrine and the teaching of Oneness. Derailed – The true story of how one man’s ego and pride destroyed a mighty move of God. Repairing the Apostolic Church – replacing the traditional Protestant model of church administration with the original Apostolic model. The Basics of New Testament Teaching: An Apostolic Guide to Doctrine Inside – A novel (fantasy/fiction)

Book preview

The Oneness of God

There is only ONE God. The teaching of one, undivided Godhead, manifested in flesh, is called Oneness.

Throughout history, many other names have been assigned to this teaching, usually by people who didn’t understand Oneness, and therefore rejected it as heresy. Some of the names assigned to this teaching are Sabellianism, Modalism, and Jesus Only. Let us examine the scriptural teachings about the nature of the Godhead.

(The following material is adapted from the book How Many is God? © 2022 by Lighthouse.)

There is one God. (Deut. 6:4; Mk. 12:29; James 2:19)

God is a Spirit. (John 4:24)

This one Spirit, (known as Jehovah or Yahweh)[1] caused Mary to conceive. (Mt. 1:18, 20)

From the physical perspective, the resulting baby was the son of God, since the Spirit Jehovah was his Father.

The Spirit then inhabited this body for the purpose of our salvation. (2 Cor. 5:19)

The child was named Jesus.[2]

The son could rightly be called the Father (Is. 9:6), because the Father, that is God, the one Spirit, was in the son, that is, in the flesh. The son refers only to the physical body of Jesus. The son is not a Person in the Godhead, and did not exist until Mary conceived him. (Trinitarian teaching maintains that the Son always existed.) Ps. 2:7 and Hebrews 1:5 teach us that the son did indeed have a beginning. Jesus was Immanuel, that is, God with us, because all the fullness of the Godhead was in Him (Col. 2:9).

From His mother, Jesus inherited a human body and a human nature. As a human, he felt hunger, thirst, pain and fear. He prayed and cried as a man. But the Spirit of God also inhabited that body. As God, He forgave sins, healed the sick and raised the dead. Did God die on the cross? No. By definition, God is immortal and cannot die. It was the son, the flesh, the man Jesus who died. By becoming the sacrifice, Jesus became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). In so doing, he took upon himself all sins that were ever committed. The Spirit of God would not remain in the presence of sin, and withdrew from Jesus (Mt. 27:46; Mk. 15:34). Thus, only the man, the son, remained on the cross and died. The Spirit and flesh were reunited following the resurrection (Jn. 20:17).

In Trinitarian theology, the Jehovah of the Old Testament is understood to be God the Father. With this thought in mind, let us make some comparisons, and draw some conclusions:

Is. 44:24 and 45:18 say that Jehovah created the heavens and the earth. John 1:3 says that Jesus created everything.

Is. 43:11 says that Jehovah is the only Savior. Mt. 1:21 says that Jesus will save us.

Is. 44:6 says that Jehovah is the First and the Last. Rev. 1:11, 17, 18 and 22:13 say that Jesus is the First and the Last. Can there be two Firsts and Lasts? 

Is. 54:5 says that Jehovah is our Husband. Rev. 21:9 says that we are the Bride of the Lamb, that is, Jesus.

We believe that the Bible does not contradict itself. Therefore, we have no choice but to admit that the Jesus of the New Testament is the Jehovah of the Old Testament.

SOME QUESTIONS

Isn’t the Godhead a mystery? 1 Tim. 3:16 calls it a mystery, but the same verse reveals the mystery, so that it’s a mystery no more:  ...God was manifest (i.e., shown or revealed) in the flesh... 2 Cor. 5:19 says it again: "...God was in Christ...."

Doesn’t Matthew 28:19 prove that God is three Persons? Does it? What does the previous verse say? Jesus said that all power was given to Him, and went on to say in v. 19 "Go ye therefore (that is, because I have all power)... baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost...." So Jesus said that because He had all power, we were to baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And I ask you, what is the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost? Father, Son and Holy Ghost are not names, but titles. And the word name in verse 19 is singular, indicating that there is one name that applies to all three titles. There’s no question that the Son’s name is Jesus (Mt. 1:21). But what is the Father’s name? Is it just God? No, that’s also a title. Is it Jehovah? It was, in the Old Testament. But the name Jesus contains the name Jehovah. Jesus, as a man, said, I have come in my Father’s name... (Jn. 5:43). The Greek preposition translated in implies using. So if the name that Jesus was using as His own was the Father’s, then the name Jesus must apply to the Father as well as the son. In prayer, Jesus said, I have manifested (that is, shown or revealed) thy name... (Jn. 17:6). The only name He manifested was Jesus. And logically, a son should bear his Father’s name.

What about the Holy Ghost? Does the Holy Ghost have a name? Jn. 14:26 tells us that the Holy Ghost also comes in (using) the name of Jesus.