Elijah and `The last message of mercy'.

In one of the recent  postings entitled `The Voice of Elijah', the writer expressed his concern that  `the choice between the Father  & Son verses the Trinity is the choice on Mount Carmel for modern Israel. We are to be the voice of Elijah to modern Israel.'

While this is indeed true, I have found that one of the biggest problems associated with speaking to other Adventists (let alone other Christians) is the preconceived idea that if you reject the Trinity, then you reject the divinity of Christ -  which then makes it difficult to give a proper witness to these people. For many years I accepted this doctrine, because it was unthinkable to think that there might not be a Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. After all, the Bible tells us there is doesn't it? It wasn't until I began to study the doctrinal formula of this doctrine that I began to see the problems inherent in it. Another thing that really got me thinking, was that the `1888' messengers weren't Trinitarian - yet if the corporate body of the Church had accepted `the message' , then Christ would have returned by the turn of the 19th century. It just didn't make sense to me that the beginning of the Latter Rain, as given at Minneapolis, was a non-Trinitarian message that would have heralded Christ's return - yet when the Church became Trinitarian, then what our pioneers believed was accounted as error. Thus this `most precious message' (Ellen White's words) must be accounted as heinous error. This didn't make sense to me.

To my mind (and I might be wrong), the biggest problem which is associated with this doctrine, is not so much that it confuses the identities of the Father and Son by the modalism that is inherent in it, nor is it the idolatry and outright spiritualism which is also associated with it by a misconception of the personality of the Holy Spirit. Instead, although these most grievous errors make the atonement of Christ of none effect, this is not the primary, or root problem  - for these errors are merely the manifestation of a much more serious problem; which is that the doctrine of the Trinity misappropriates the character of God. The result of this is that a host of doctrines then issue from it which further support this misconception  - thus giving it the appearance of great light and truth, when in fact these doctrines present us with `another Christ' and `another gospel'.  But as the character of God is synonymous with His love, then the most basic error of this doctrine is that it presents a wrong conception of the love which the Father and Son have for us.  The statement which prompted me to write this comment is as follows:

Multitudes have a wrong conception of God and His attributes, and are as truly serving a false god as were the worshipers of Baal.

This statement brings to mind a statement which Ellen White wrote in `Christ's Object Lessons', in which she spoke of the darkness which would envelop the minds of men on this very point, shortly before Jesus returns for the faithful:

`The coming of the bridegroom was at midnight--the darkest hour. So the coming of Christ will take place in the darkest period of this earth's history. The days of Noah and Lot pictured the condition of the world just before the coming of the Son of man. The Scriptures pointing forward to this time declare that Satan will work with all power and "with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." 2 Thess. 2:9, 10. His working is plainly revealed by the rapidly increasing darkness, the multitudinous errors, heresies, and delusions of these last days. Not only is Satan leading the world captive, but his deceptions are leavening the professed churches of our Lord Jesus Christ. The great apostasy will develop into darkness deep as midnight, impenetrable as sackcloth of hair. To God's people it will be a night of trial, a night of weeping, a night of persecution for the truth's sake. But out of that night of darkness God's light will shine . . . It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth . . . Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, "Behold your God." The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love. The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them.' (Christ's Object Lessons'. pp. 415, 416.)

The Bible only ever speaks of two minds - the mind of Christ which is unselfish, or unconditional love, and the mind of Lucifer, which is selfish, and conditional love. At the heart of Trinity lies this conception of conditional love, which Lucifer passes off to the gullible and unsuspecting as the genuine love of Christ. But it is a love which rings falsely, for the basis of the Nicene Creed, which is the dogma which conveys to us the inter-relationship of the Godhead, is in fact the doctrine of the divine origin of the soul. (The `sainted' Augustine believed that our souls reflect in an imperfect manner the Trinity.) But as the soul is considered to be immortal and therefore divine of its own right, then therefore the first deception of the Trinity is to negate the atonement by presenting to us a `Christ' Who is too impotent to leave the lofty heights of heaven, and come down to where we are, to save us in the `likeness' of sinful flesh (Romans 8: 3). As a result, doctrines such as the Chalcedonian (Athanasian) Creed and `original sin' further express the Trinity, by building upon this perception that Christ cannot come down to where we are and give us `help' where we need it most, by explaining in doctrinal form how this erroneous conception of the love of God is manifested to us.

The `last message of mercy to be given to the world' that Ellen White spoke of, is indeed a revelation of the true character of God;  given in light of Revelation 14: 6 - 12 in the spirit of Elijah. As it is a non-Trinitarian message, only those who clearly perceive the `agape' (love) of Christ in its true setting, can give it. In my humble opinion, this should be the focal point of our study - Christ crucified at Calvary!