Mark T. Barclay’s Holy Spirit Conference 2013: The Counterfeit Spirit

Mark T. Barclay’s Holy Spirit Conference 2013: The Counterfeit Spirit by Ken Mattson

 “In Genesis Chapter 1, it defines the Trinity of God, the three parts of God.” Theologian and Prophet, Mark T. Barclay[1]

 In this new blog post, I want to build upon what was already said concerning Mark T. Barclay’s destructive teachings against the Evangelical doctrine of the Trinity, but first I would like to do a refresh for those who are just tuning in.

 By denying the Persons of the Trinity and teaching that the Godhead is composed of parts like his son Josh. Mark T. Barclay is a heretic and teaching the worst heresy to ever affected and infected the Church.

 Furthermore, we can conclude along with the Creedal statements of the Historical Church that Mark T. Barclay not only has a different God by teaching heretically, but also a different Christ, like all other cults and false religions.

 The doctrine of the Trinity is so basic in Scripture, that it is a non-negotiable doctrine in Christianity. So, when a heretic teaches falsely on the Trinity, a dangerous chain reaction occurs in other foundational doctrines and one immediate catastrophe happens in Christology.

 “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” 1 John 2:22-23

 How can I say that Mark T. Barclay has a different Christ? Well, it is not me who has, but Scripture speaks for itself and the Christ who is self-revealed in Scripture is personal and not only a person, but fully God and fully man. He is not a part of God, but he is fully God as with the other members of the Holy Trinity.

 Here is a little side note: Central teachings in Scripture regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, like the Hypostatic union are attacked by Mark T. Barclay’s Trinitarian heresy and not only by him, but other false prophets from other cults do the same in regards to Christology.[2]

 Only persons interact with others and we see this interaction in Holy Scripture between the Persons of the Trinity. Moreover, the Holy Spirit is not just a part as Mark T. Barclay falsely teaches, but the Spirit is fully God, being Lord. The Holy Spirit is personal, lovingly interacting with the other members of the Holy Trinity and the Church.

 So, by this we can conclude that Mark T. Barclay not only has the wrong Trinity, but by doing so. Barclay like other cults and false teachers has the wrong spirit and not the Holy Spirit.

 The Spirit revealed in the Bible and who was poured out on the Church is fully God and is Lord. He is not a part as Mark T. Barclay heretically teaches, but is personal, being the third Person in the Godhead.

 “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?  Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” Acts 5:3-4

 The above passage specifically teaches that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit and here I would like to point out that only persons can be lied to. Peter also being a strict monotheist referred to the Spirit as God. He knew that there is only one God and yet he referred to the Holy Spirit as God.

 The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons–the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In other words, God is one in essence and three in person. These definitions express three very important truths: 1. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, 2. Each Person is fully God, 3. There is only one God.

 There are dozens of Trinitarian passages in the bible, but let us look at another important one regarding the Logos.

 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” John 1:1-4

 Who is the Word in reference to? Well it is Jesus, the eternal Son of God, who is the Word. We easily find that out by reading further in verse 14 and “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

 Here in John, the Word of God indicates distinction and not only distinction, but also indicates identity within the unity of the Godhead. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not different parts or forms or components appearing in one God, but on the contrary! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are present from the beginning(eternity), which suggest a relationship of close personal intimacy.

 In the Greek, John 1.1 refers to a face to face relationship between the members of the Trinity. It is so important to point out here that ‘if’ the Trinity was made up of parts as Mark T. Barclay teaches, than a face to face relationship would be impossible, because there would be no way that Josh Barclay ‘being made of three parts’ could speak to himself face to face. The New Testament never endorses the idea that the Trinity is made up of parts.

 It is clearly heretical to teach that God is made up of parts! Mark T. Barclay, like the Jehovah Witnesses have warped the Orthodox doctrine of the Trinity by denying the co-equal and co-eternal Persons of the Trinity.

 To the Jehovah Witnesses, the Word is less than deity and not fully God, but is a god and to Mark T. Barclay, the Word is just a part of God. Furthermore, Barclay denies the Word is the Second Person in the Holy Trinity by teaching, “He’s just one, he’s just got three parts”.

 Mark T. Barclay and the Jehovah Witnesses have sister heresies condemned by the Church. Saint Athanasius describes Barclay as a woman, whose father is the devil. So for those who perceive your prophet as an ‘Elder Statesman’. Well, the famous Church father has demoted Mark T. Barclay to his rightful place as an ‘elder sister’. (((insert  laugh))) Yep, the Father of Nicene orthodoxy just made fun of Mark T. Barclay!

 “But, whereas one heresy, and that the last, which has now risen as harbinger of Antichrist, the Arian, as it is called, considering that other heresies, her elder sisters, have been openly proscribed, in her craft and cunning, affects to array herself in Scripture language , like her father the devil, and is forcing her way back into the Church’s paradise.” Against the Arians by Saint Athanasius

 So, by teaching heretically on the Godhead. Mark T. Barclay not only attacks the Evangelical doctrine of the Trinity, but he also attacks the deity of Christ. There is no way around it! If Christ was only a part of God, than the Apostle John would have not referenced the Word as God, ‘the Word was God’ , nor identified him distinctly from the Father.

 “Those that permit the Holy Spirit to be their Father. Those who will allow the Holy Spirit, remember he’s not a third Person, he is God made up of three parts just like…my son Josh and his soul is not somebody else and his spirit is not someone else, and so I got to decipher…Now there’s not three people, it’s just one Josh three parts. There’s not three Gods, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, he’s just one. He’s just got three parts. So this great Holy Spirit wants to father you.” Jesus, the Command Giver – Mark T. Barclay

 Prophetically addressing Mark T. Barclay’s heresy, the Father of Nicene orthodoxy writes:

 “As we said above, so now we repeat, that the divine generation must not be compared to the nature of men nor the Son considered to be part of God nor the generation to imply any passion whatever; God is not as man; for men beget passibly, having a transitive nature, which waits for periods by reason of its weakness. But with God this cannot be; for He is not composed of parts, but being impassible and simple, He is impassibly and indivisibly Father of the Son.” Discourse 1:28 Against the Arians by Saint Athanasius

 In dealing with the Arian heresy, Saint Athanasius also deals with Mark T. Barclay’s heresy.

 So, it is pretty clear that Barclay’s heretical teaching on the Trinity is not only one heresy, but it is also partially Arianism. By the way, for those who are wondering. The modern Arians are non-other than the Jehovah Witnesses, who hold to a modified version of Arianism.

 If the Church, through Christian orthodoxy recognizes the Jehovah Witnesses, who are the modern day Arians have a different Jesus and gospel. Then by the same orthodoxy, we can and should be also able to conclude that Mark T. Barclay has a different God and Christ, by teaching a heretically on the Trinity.

 We have to be fair with this, or we will end up breaking the law of non-contradiction, which we would do so by saying that one group is heretical by having a teaching outside Christian orthodoxy and then saying another group like Mark T. Barclay is not by propagating the same type of heresy condemned by the Church through the Councils and Creeds.

 It is important to remember that when the Church formulated the orthodox statements in the Apostles and the Nicene Creeds, they were formulated before the whole Church initially split between the East and West. So, it was the whole leadership of the Church with one voice gathering to deal with Mark T. Barclay’s heresy and condemned it along with the Arians.

 The doctrinal statements like the Trinity, the Person of Christ, the Atonement, Original Sin, and the Resurrection are so foundational in Christianity. These doctrines form the line of demarcation between heresy and orthodoxy and they also form the line of demarcation between the Kingdom of Christ and the Kingdom of the Cults. These teachings are so important, because the Gospel itself rest upon them.

 “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”   2 Peter 2:1-3

References

 1.“In heaven Jesus was not known as Jesus, he was known as the word. In Genesis Chapter 1 it defines the Trinity of God, the three parts of God. You are made by the way after his image, three parts. There was a Creator, he was later called Jehovah, there was his word, later on when he come here. God said you call this baby, not the Word, but Jesus which really means Yahshua…. which really means the savior….So this Word in heaven he was the Word and then of course the bible talks about the Spirit of God there hovering over the creation of God. So there was the Creator he spoke through the power of his word……now these aren’t three different people. We teach them sorta, kinda almost as three different people for the sake of teaching. Now that Creator, Word and Spirit for the sake of man understanding and relating was changed by God, you can read it in the Scriptures, I know you know this, forgive me this so elementary. But it was changed to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father, the Creator, the Son of God really the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us….and then the Spirit, the great Holy Spirit……So you are three parts right after the image of God.” Mark T. Barclay, Jesus, the command giver.

 2. The Hypostatic Union is the union of the two natures (Divine and human) in the Person of Jesus and is so basic to Christianity. If Christ is only a part(like the other members of the Holy Trinity) and not a Person in the Godhead, as Mark T. Barclay teaches. Then there can be no Hypostatic Union, thus undermining the gospel itself by paralyzing the central eschatological figure in all Scripture, who is Christ.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” John 5:39

New Poll

Top Post for 2012

I just would like to say many blessings to all who have read the blog and followed it through last year.

Top Post for 2012

Until it was confirmed by Barclay himself, I only knew out of inference before 2012 that Mark T. Barclay was teaching falsely on the Trinity. It was from Barclay’s clear lack of understanding basic teachings such as the saving nature of grace, justification by faith, sanctification/holiness, union with Christ, and the resurrection of Christ that I knew it.

I even thought for a long time that Mark T. Barclay was just fumbling like other Word-faith teachers at basic Christian doctrine. The clarity of the Gospel was missing in both Barclay’s books and teachings, and this is because the Trinity was missing, which furnishes the keys to all other doctrines in the entire Bible, thus Mark T. Barclay was teaching a different Christ and prophesying by a different Christ. Moreover, Mark T. Barclay is a heretic who just doesn’t fumble at basic Christian doctrine like many of his pastor followers, but Mark is a false teacher as the Church has declared and self-condemned as Scripture says about other heretics, because of his evil teachings on the Godhead.

A “God” who is made up of parts as Barclay heretically teaches can’t save. Only the Triune Jehovah of Scripture who the Church has faithfully preached saves. The  glorious God who is alone Triune in personality, being God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is the only one true God and Saviour, because it took all members of the divine Trinity to redeem sinfully lost mankind.

So, if you are reading this blog and you don’t know God, and you want to personally know God who is Triune and glorious, you can. It takes repentance and belief. No sin is small and an all sin deserves damnation. Only through believing and totally trusting in Christ can you be saved from eternal hell and have eternal life and given the gift of righteousness. Only by resting on Christ alone and by grace alone can you receive justification and eternal life.

Blessings,

Ken

TOP POST FOR 2012

1. Mark T. Barclay and the Prosperity Gospel.

2. An Assessment on Mark T. Barclay’s False Prophecies Part 2.

3. Mark T. Barclay and Modalism: The Man Outside Ecclesia.

4. Mark T. Barclay Vs George W. Bush.

5. Mark T. Barclay and Modalism: Cult

Mark T. Barclay Vs Doug Wilson: The U.S Flag

Recently, I thought it was ironic to watch Mark T. Barclay’s congregation at Living Word International Church in Midland, Michigan add the United States Pledge of Allegiance to their churches liturgy. What strikes me is odd, it’s very odd indeed. Probably idolatrous!

Let’s listen in on what Doug Wilson has to say about churches who add the flag and the pledge allegiance.

Here is a video from Wilson, called Ask Doug: American Flag and the Pledge of Allegiance in Church?

I have read, watched, listened to Mark T. Barclay for the last 22 years, and it’s become more and more obvious that he is decisively confusing God’s people with many false teachings including teaching that the Godhead has changed and are not eternal co-equal and co-eternal persons in the Trinity. Yet I can only count a few other people who have enough guts to say something and they aren’t even pastors or teachers.

I hope in the next few years more will start saying something though and even pastors in the Mid-Michigan area, but then again most Christians are lazy, even pastors are to lazy to say something or just don’t really care. They don’t realize that when Barclay teaches heretically on the Trinity that it affects the whole Church by corrupting sound doctrine, because false teaching spreads fast.

So back to the flag and the Pledge of Allegiance. I just think it’s very strange that Mark has added it to his liturgy and left out correct worship of the Trinity who alone is glorious and the only God, but this stems from not understanding who God is in the first place. If the Triune God is made up of parts and Jesus is just a part of God along with the Father and the Spirit, than it’s not the biblical God of Christianity and this is what Mark Barclay has done heretically on the Orthodox teaching on the divine Trinity.

“Those that permit the Holy Spirit to be their Father. Those who will allow the Holy Spirit, remember he’s not a third Person, he is God made up of three parts just like…my son Josh and his soul is not some body else and his spirit is not someone else, and so I got to decipher…….Now there’s not three people, it’s just one Josh three parts. There’s not three Gods, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, he’s just one. He’s just got three parts. So this great Holy Spirit wants to father you.” Jesus, the Command Giver – Mark T. Barclay

Mark T. Barclay and the Donkey: The Captivity of Amazing Grace Church

Mark T. Barclay and the Donkey: The Captivity of Amazing Grace Church

By Ken Mattson

“Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.” 2 Peter 2

Just as a donkey spoke to the false prophet Balaam, so to do donkeys speak to Mark T. Barclay today, but these donkeys are only analogous to the dumbness of the animal. The donkeys I am referring to are the men who I have mentioned before in Barclay’s own Preacher of Righteousness Network.[1] These men are theological anorexics who flatter Barclay even as he is in deep error.

These men are dumb asses and stupid as the people in Galatia! Men who have no regard for the integrity of Scripture. Men who have lost their call as a minister to love sound doctrine, but in exchange for orthodoxy they worship an idol made by the evil blasphemies from Barclay’s own mouth.[2]

By making God comprehensible instead of being incomprehensible. Barclay has made God into a creature like his son Josh with parts instead of co-equal persons and by teaching that God is not immutable and changes like in the Mormon doctrine of eternal progression, all along destroying the Creator and creature differences. Mark T. Barclay like Balam is leading God’s people away from the God who is Tripersonal and these men follow with vigor like sheep to the slaughter.

“God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom,power,holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” WSC

God is Spirit and not parts! God is divine persons and not parts as heretics teach. God does not change, but false teachers like Barclay teach that God changed some point in time into Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Barclay’s teaching on the Holy Trinity is not only evil by the breaking of the Second commandment, but it is compounded with heresies. In other words, it is not just one Trinitarian heresy he is teaching, but it is manifold and destructive.

“Partialism …taught that Father, Son and Holy Spirit together are components of the one God. This led them to believe that each of the persons of the Trinity is only part God, only becoming fully God when they come together.” Trinitarian Heresies

If Barclay is right as these donkey-men think, than the whole Church throughout history is wrong and every heretic that has been condemned as a heretic for teaching things like Barclay on the Trinity are fully in line with Christian orthodoxy.

“The three Persons are not each part of God, but are each fully God and equally God. Within God’s one undivided being there is an unfolding into three interpersonal relationships such that there are three Persons.”[3] desiringgod.org

Darkness leads to more darkness! In a letter that will be soon made an open public letter to Richard Jolliff at Amazing Grace Church in Wheeler, Michigan. I asked why Barclay was able to teach given that he has taught falsely on the Trinity, but in the end no response was given. Why was flattery given to such a great heretic in the presence of a feeble congregation, who many were confused if Barclay really taught blasphemy? Given Mark T. Barclay Ministries cult status, it is a good question to ask.

“1. All Cults deviate from orthodoxy. 2. Mark T. Barclay Ministries deviates from orthodoxy. 3. Therefore, Mark T. Barclay Ministries is a cult. So it is perfectly and legally right to use the word ‘cult’ when referring to Mark T. Barclay and his ministry at Living Word International and his Preacher of Righteousness Network,[6] because Mark has deviated “from the orthodox teachings of the historic Christian faith being derived from the Bible and confirmed through the ancient ecumenical creeds.”

Why do men like Richard Jolliff and Chuck Seeley need to answer? The reason is this is exactly what God is asking them if they are true ministers of the Gospel. This is a matter of sound doctrine and Christian orthodoxy and the true Church begs the question. So, Richard and Charlie, for the sake of your congregation. Why did you allow Mark T. Barclay to preach after you knew he was teaching a destructive heresy? Moreover, why was the one who stood up for Christian orthodoxy like myself allowed to be dismissed as a wrong doer?[4]

“Those that permit the Holy Spirit to be their Father. Those who will allow the Holy Spirit, remember he’s not a third Person, he is God made up of three parts just like…my son Josh and his soul is not some body else and his spirit is not someone else, and so I got to decipher…….Now there’s not three people, it’s just one Josh three parts. There’s not three Gods, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, he’s just one. He’s just got three parts. So this great Holy Spirit wants to father you.” Jesus, the Command Giver – Mark T. Barclay

God does not bless heresy! God’s judgement is upon all heretics who have been predestined for such blasphemies as Mark T. Barclay! Their condemnation was written about long ago as Scripture tells even though it has not been manifested yet! It is a scary thing to fall in the hands of the Lord. There needs to be great repentance upon Barclay and his network of other Trinitarian deniers. Such men who preach Word-faith ideas on the tithe, yet deny the Trinity who is the only true God.

One person from Amazing Grace Church even condemned me and told me that if I think like this about Barclay than I could delete her off Facebook, but in the end she deleted me. Unlike Chuck Seeley though, who blatantly blocked me and wouldn’t answer me, she went on and told me that everything that comes out of Mark’s mouth is anointed and God ordained.

That is very scary that she would even think that way about Barclay’s words, but this is the kind of teaching coming out of Amazing Grace Church. Chuck Seeley told me six years ago that the condemned heretic Pelagius was actually a saint and he openly denied the historical data condemning Pelagius and his false teachings.[5]

One begs to question the logic in that, but it is an example of darkness. As I said before darkness leads to more darkness and when one is on the road of believing lies it happens little by little like a canker-worm that multiplies into millions overwhelming its host. Did Chuck Seeley lie? Historically against the church, yes. There is no logical way that it could not be one. Believing a lie or protecting a false teaching? There is no doubt that something false and evil was being taught behind that lie.

So using a simple deductive argument one could easily argue that Mr. Seeley is unfit for public service. I mean, if he is getting important historical data wrong on the Church and past heretics and heresies, than how is Chuck Seeley dealing with American history and current history? How can he even interpret American law properly without the history behind it? No American court would do such! Chuck is America founded on communism or democracy? Was Hitler a saint?

All throughout the Preacher of Righteousness network, there are churches like this who like Barclay have factual historical things completely distorted. This type of distortion has led to the acceptance of the greatest heresy to ever affect and infect the Church, which is the denial of the co-eternal and co-equal persons of the Trinity, which things are taught by Mark T. Barclay, Jehovah Witnesses and other cults.

“In heaven Jesus was not known as Jesus, he was known as the Word. In Genesis Chapter. 1, it defines the Trinity of God, the three parts of God. You are made by the way after his image, three parts. There was a Creator, he was later called Jehovah. There was his word, later on when he come here God said you call this baby, not the Word, but Jesus which really means Yahshua….and then of course the bible talks about the Spirit of God……now these aren’t three different people. We teach them sorta, kinda almost as three different people for the sake of teaching. Now that Creator, Word and Spirit for the sake of man understanding and relating was changed by God, you can read it in the Scriptures, I know you know this, forgive me this so elementary. But it was changed to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”Mark T. Barclay

One of the problems is that these donkey-men and Barclay think that they are not accountable to people in the Body of Christ and that they can teach anything they want to. Barclay at one point referred to this blog or a similar one and basically said, “but who is he to correct me?”. Would the Apostle of Paul have said such a thing? Certainly not! Paul after calling the Galatians stupid, told them that even if he came to them speaking another gospel different than what they heard even he should be accounted accursed.

The Apostle did not put himself above the correction of the Christian community as Barclay and his donkey-men do, but Paul recognized the seriousness of error and the consequences it has on the Church. Paul also did not believe in some sort of clericalism that Barclay learned from the U.S Military, which only a person above him can correct him for error. In the Church this is worldly and at best cultic and it reminds me of the super-apostles of Paul’s day, but even the Apostle said, “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe.”1 Corinthians 3:5

Paul, like the other Apostles recognized the authority of Holy Scripture and put his ministry under the criticism of it by the Body of Christ. “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11

A vivid picture is beautifully manifested of the early Church here and that is a church who has leaders like Paul who are under the authority of Scripture and who are even rebukable or worse by the community of believers, if they do not preach sound doctrine. It is also a Church that has people who like the Bereans who were accounted more noble when they eagerly examine the Word to see if what Paul said was true.

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” Galatians 1:8-9

All Christians are called to contend for the faith as Jude tells the Church. It is not just a select few people or scripture would not have commanded believers to do so or even given the even simplest Christians an anointing to know the difference between error and sounds doctrine.

I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him. 1John 2:26

So is this contending for the faith happening today? No, not in to many places in Mid-Michigan! At Amazing Grace Church it is not happening. The door has been shut off to any kind of Scriptural accountability, but only to Mark T. Barclay and maybe a few others who are donkeys also. I have watched Amazing Grace Church for years now and the people that have moved on from there had many gifts to offer. Musicians, international actors, artist, video professionals, theologian teachers, and the list goes on and on, but it was Jolliff’s lack of leadership that didn’t keep them.[6]

Why do I say that and how? Because it happened over and over and what is left is a people who are not theological enough to stand up to false teaching, even a evil denial of the orthodox teaching of the Trinity! Richard Jolliff with his southern back woods mentality is so focused on trying to be a ‘leader’ that he has not been capable of being an “unprofessional” as John Piper puts it and be a pastor of people-delighting in theology. This is a big problem, because in the end, instead of finding his identity in Christian orthodoxy, Richard Jolliff finds identity in the heretic Mark T. Barclay.

Lastly, one of the characteristics we read is if one is in Christ, that person would recognize false teaching. It is a rightful question to ask many of these people like Richard Jolliff and Charles Seeley if they are really indeed in Christ. They clearly are not able to recognize heresy, even a flat out denial of the orthodox teaching on the Trinity! Either scripture is true or it is not… Scripture is infallibly true though and the problem here is not with Scripture, but there is something drastically not right with Jolliff and Seeley.

Why can I say that? Because as we read in John every person in Christ has an anointing to recognize false teachers and heresy. If Jolliff and Seeley had that anointing than there is no way they would have accepted a false teaching, especially one that denies the Tripersonality of God like Mark T. Barclay.

“All Christians believe the doctrine of the Trinity. If you do not believe this—that is, if you have come to a settled conclusion that the doctrine of the Trinity is not true—you are not a Christian at all. You are in fact a heretic. Those words may sound harsh, but they represent the judgment of the Christian church across the centuries. Christians in every land unite in proclaiming that our God eternally exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Those who deny that truth place themselves outside the pale of Christian orthodoxy.” Ray Pritchard

P.S. Those who say that “Mark T. Barclay is my pastor”. I just want to tell you that unless Mark is present in your churches on a weekly basis, properly administer Word and Sacrament that there is no biblical way that he can be your pastor, but only on a cultic level can he even be your pastor! Just think of all the tithes and offerings that you robbed your own churches of only to give it into the hands of a cult.

To be continued in act two.

References

1.I say all of that because you have stated that you and your other Preacher of Righteousness members have tested your relationship with Mark T. Barclay and “the man’s life and his doctrine and all of them are shining like gold.” That’s absolutely frightening that you would say something like that and you are a pastor, given Mark T. Barclay’s heretical teaching on the Holy Trinity. Heresy doesn’t get more clearer, but then again you are very ignorant!

2. As the dog that turns to his own vomit, so these men are drunk from the vomit that flows from Barclay’s heresy.

3.“The three Persons are not each part of God, but are each fully God and equally God. Within God’s one undivided being there is an unfolding into three interpersonal relationships such that there are three Persons. The distinctions within the Godhead are not distinctions of His essence and neither are they something added on to His essence, but they are the unfolding of God’s one, undivided being into three interpersonal relationships such that there are three real Persons.” desiringgod.org

4. This is because both of them are stupid as the Galatians while even yet being ministers. I can quote to them all day the church fathers to the Wesley’s to every single charismatic and Pentecostal theologian-pastors who some of them I personally know and been in their conferences! They to like Mark T. Barclay are standing outside the pale of Christian Orthodoxy.

5. After Chuck disagreed on the historical data from the Church on Pelagius telling me he was a saint, he said that he loved me. That’s fine Seeley, but I’m not looking for you to love me, because the God who is Tripersonal loved me and thus everlastingly loves me with his election unto salvation in Christ. I am wondering if you are in Christ and love the truth of Christianity! There is something greatly wrong with you if you are not believing historical truth and accepting a heretics like Pelagius and Barclay and not recognizing the greatest error to ever affect the Church, which is very evil, a denial of the Triune God, who alone is Tripersonal and glorious!!

6.The legacy of Amazing Grace Church from Richard Jolliff onwards is one of moving away from Christian orthodoxy. There are no other words for it! Why would any pastor let a person preach fully knowing they deny the orthodox teaching on the Trinity? Moreover, the removal of good ministers, the evil condemnation of Protestantism and the acceptance of the leadership of an heretic who is in denial of the evangelical doctrine of the Trinity. Error that is so great that it destroys the Gospel and Biblical Christianity! “So(Amazing Grace Church), because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich(with Barclay’s heretical leadership); I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold(Christian orthodoxy) refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” Rev 3:16-18 You may be wondering why I just put Amazing Grace Church into those verses and used it allegorically. This is because I can and it’s nothing new, because in the history of Christianity, the Church fathers did the same when dealing with other great heretical deniers of the Triunity of God.

Mark T. Barclay and Modalism: The Man outside Ecclesia

Mark T. Barclay and Modalism: The Man outside Ecclesia by Ken Mattson

“Those that permit the Holy Spirit to be their Father. Those who will allow the Holy Spirit, remember he’s not a third Person, he is God made up of three parts just like…my son Josh and his soul is not some body else and his spirit is not someone else, and so I got to decipher…….Now there’s not three people, it’s just one Josh three parts. There’s not three Gods, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, he’s just one. He’s just got three parts. So this great Holy Spirit wants to father you.”Jesus, the Command Giver – Mark T. Barclay

In one of my last posts I wrote, “one of the striking realities in both Barclay’s books, teachings and worship services is the lack of Trinitarianism and it’s easy to see why with such devastatingly definitions as we see above. In one single swoop Barclay dismantles biblical orthodoxy and the chain reaction to other biblical doctrines is cataclysmic.” [1]

After writing that I started wondering how cataclysmic this heresy was in the life of Mark T. Barclay’s church, because as we seen in other post the guy does not understand basic Christianity. So in this post I will look at the destructiveness of Barclay’s denial of the Christian orthodox teaching of the Trinity and how it affects worship in his services, but first I want to take a little time an talk about worship.

Christianity is a true religion and a revealed faith or in other words it is a religion of revelation. Our knowledge of God does not come through anything human made, but it comes because God reveals himself. The bible is a book of revelation and we see God’s self-revelation in the Trinitarian economy of Salvation.

The doctrine of the Trinity states that God is one, yet in some mysterious sense also three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the work of redemption is one in which all three act together, the Father purposing it, the Son securing it and the Spirit applying it.[2] Thus, against all heresies the Church has stated the Divine Trinity is the full revelation of God.

So what is the practical outworking of the doctrine of the Trinity? 1. That Christian worship first must be governed by God’s revelation of Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 2. True worship is grounded in that truth God is Triune and that true worship must be centered in the Trinity. This means that in a worship service, the contents of the service must be Trinitarian.

What I mean by the contents of the service is what is called liturgy. No church is without liturgy, even churches who say they have no liturgy do have liturgy and usually it is a bad liturgy born out of practices done over time. This is why the Church through out history has endeavored to be faithful to Trinitarian worship in its liturgy by singing the Doxology[3] which is a Trinitarian hymn and reciting the Apostle’s and the Nicene creeds which are Trinitarian confessions.[4]

The outworking of Trinitarian worship is accomplished by the liturgical practice of the administration of the Word and Sacraments or what are know as ‘means of grace’ in Protestantism. The Church is most truly the Church as it celebrates both Baptism and Holy Communion which is the Eucharist.[5] Thus, worship takes its sharpest focus in the Eucharistic celebration.

The Eucharist does this precisely, because when receiving the Church participates in the life of the Trinity. Believers are spiritually nourished feeding upon Christ crucified and all the benefits of his death are received by faith. The Second Person of the Trinity is truly spiritually present via God the Holy Spirit by faith to the believer in the Eucharist celebration. Moreover, the benefits of Christ’s redeeming work on the cross are given by the gracious work of the Spirit and received by faith alone. [6]

So how does this contrast with Barclay’s heretical teachings on the Divine Trinity? The contrast is so drastic that it brings devastation to biblical worship on a seismic scale. The flood of false teaching that sweeps through Barclay’s services as in his books can only be likened to the raging waves of a tsunami, pillaging Trinitarian worship wherever it goes.

Barclay’s entire liturgical focus in his service is the tithe and multiple offerings. His services do not culminate in the celebration of Christ’s life, vicarious death and resurrection celebrated in the Holy Eucharist. Worship though, culminates in heretical practices born out of the Prosperity Gospel on sowing and reaping of money, which takes center stage in Mark T. Barclay’s services.

The true New Testament Church is not a tithing Church, but it is a Eucharistic Church, worshiping one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. When Barclay teaches on the Trinity it is heresy by describing the Godhead as parts and not Persons and teaching their eternal names were changed.[7] His teachings on the Trinity are akin to Modalism and this has devastating repercussions both to the whole of Christian doctrine and to the life of the Church as we have seen above. This is because doctrine should never be seen as an abstraction to Christian life.

In the life of the Trinity, relational terms given in the bible are not accidental, but they are permanent features in the life of God. The Son is always the Son and the Father is always the Father and same with the Spirit. Simply put, the Triune Jehovah is eternal and as we are taught in scripture does not change. “Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is from eternity……..and everything to the contrary must be rejected as heretical.” Thomas Aquinas

Mark T. Barclay states that he is considered a leader among other leaders and even in one publication calls himself a global leader, which should be considered frightening. I think that the Antichrist will do the same thing, because he also will be a liar. When Barclay falsely teaches on the Trinity it is heresy and it is not by the Spirit of God, but it is by the spirit of error. Scripture is super clear where all false teaching comes from and Barclay like other heretics stands outside the Church.[8]

Lastly, I want to end with the Pentecostal view of the Eucharist, because I can most likely guess that Barclay is not teaching this, given that he has not studied Christian history.

I’ve always chuckled when I read about Pentecostal history and Barclay’s shaming discourse against Calvinism at Richard Jolliff’s church. I have ‘chuck’old, because it is like a satire. [9] Here the ‘theologian’ condemns Calvinism, yet John Calvin’s fingerprint can be seen in key doctrines in Pentecostalism, such as Ecclesiology, Sanctification and especially the Lord’s Supper. He not only condemns Calvinism by lies, but he also inadvertently speaks against his own tradition being a Pentecostal/charismatic.

P.S. Mark, the next time you salute, please make your hand into an ‘L’ shape on your forehead.

Pentecostal teaching of on the Eucharist

The book Foundations of Pentecostal Theology

“The elements, when received by faith, mediate to the believer the spiritual benefits of Christ’s Death, held by Calvin and the majority of the reformers. The elements in themselves are only tokens, but when received by faith, real communion with the Lord is experienced and the benefits of that communion may be mediated. This seems to be the more scriptural view.” (See 1 Cor. 10:16; 11:27, 28, 29.) “Foundations of Pentecostal Theology” written by Foursquare stalwarts Nathaniel Van Cleave and Guy Duffield

The book Pentecostal Sacraments, 2010

“A Pentecostal theology implies that the Spirit moves upon the sacramental elements which become a “means of grace” in the context of the worshipping church as a Trinitarian fellowship.”

“Sacraments are charismatic by nature. Sacraments are spiritual graces and those who participate in faith encounter the “real presence” of Christ through the Holy Spirit.”

“Wesley held to a Pneumatic view of the ‘real presence’ in Holy Communion, similar to John Calvin.”

Quotes taken from “Pentecostal Sacraments, Encountering God at the Alter.” Written by Daniel Tomberlin, 2010.

References

1. Mark T. Barclay and Modalism. https://thetheologyofmarktbarclay.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/mark-t-barclay-and-modalism/

2. Knowing God by J.I. Packer.

3. Doxology: Praise God from whom all blessings flow;Praise Him, all creatures here below;Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost;Amen

4. Apostle’s and Nicene Creeds, http://www.creeds.net/ Also, in faithfulness to the Trinity, the Church baptizes in the Trinitarian formula.

5. This is a beautiful passage, “We are one body because we partake of one loaf” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). “The church can be found in all its fullness wherever the eucharist is being celebrated”. Eastern Orthodox John Zizioulas’s theology on the Being as Communion taken from Introduction to Ecclesiology by Pentecostal Theologian Veli Matti Karkkainen, page 101.

6. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XXIX Of The Lord’s Supper. http://www.reformed.org/documents/wcf_with_proofs/  Also noted in the bloggers mind is Martin Luther’s Marks of the Church, which is also a Protestant view. 

7. “In heaven Jesus was not known as Jesus, he was known as the word. In Genesis Chapter 1 it defines the Trinity of God, the three parts of God. You are made by the way after his image, three parts. There was a Creator, he was later called Jehovah, there was his word, later on when he come here. God said you call this baby, not the Word, but Jesus which really means Yahshua…. which really means the savior….So this Word in heaven he was the Word and then of course the bible talks about the Spirit of God there hovering over the creation of God. So there was the Creator he spoke through the power of his word……now these aren’t three different people. We teach them sorta, kinda almost as three different people for the sake of teaching. Now that Creator, Word and Spirit for the sake of man understanding and relating was changed by God, you can read it in the Scriptures, I know you know this, forgive me this so elementary. But it was changed to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father, the Creator, the Son of God really the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us….and then the Spirit, the great Holy Spirit……So you are three parts right after the image of God.” Mark T. Barclay, Jesus, the command giver. http://www.cfaith.com

8. 1 John 4:1-6, also look at the warning to false teachers like Barclay. Notice it says falsehood. If there is any sin that is the king of falsehood it is heresy, because it’s the twisting of eternal truth. Rev 22:11 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

“In the Trinity, there are three distinct Persons in one being, and each one is fully God.  Yet there is only one God, not three Gods (that would be tri-theism, which is polytheism). The problem with the son/husband/father analogy is that you have only one person—a man. He’s one man playing three different roles. This isn’t the Trinity.  It’s an ancient heresy called modalism, which teaches that God simply exists in three different “modes.” That isn’t the orthodox, historic teaching of the church.” Christianity 101, Fred Sanders

NOTE: “The ancient church did in fact speak strongly on this issue, and decided that in fact the broad outlines of trintarian Christianity are among the things necessary for salvation.” Fred Sanders

“Whosoever will be saved,before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic [universal] faith; Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit…..So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;  And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.” 5th-century Athanasian Creed 

Partialism
…taught that Father, Son and Holy Spirit together are components of the one God. This led them to believe that each of the persons of the Trinity is only part God, only becoming fully God when they come together. http://www.monergism.com/Trinitarian%20Heresies.html

9. Barclay distorted Biblical Calvinism by calling it ‘once saved always saved’ and referred to Calvinism as damnable doctrines. Further, under Barclay’s leadership, Jolliff’s church has stated that the false teacher Pelagius was a saint. But this is in contrast to what the Church has stated that indeed Pelagius and his teachings(pelagianism and semi-pelagianism) were and are heresy and condemn Pelagius as a heretic. SEE Roger E. Olson, Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2006, Page, 30.) Olson continues: “Today, semi-Pelagianism is the default theology of most American evangelical Christians. This is revealed in the popularity of clichés such as `If you’ll take one step toward God, he’ll come the rest of the way toward you,’ and `God votes for you, Satan votes against you, and you get the deciding vote,’ coupled with the almost total neglect of human depravity and helplessness in spiritual matters. Arminianism is almost totally unknown, let alone believed, in popular evangelical Christianity.”  Arminian scholar Roger Olson on Spiritual Abuse, “Pentecostalism, fundamentalism and the charismatic movement as those segments. What I am saying is not that these are bad movements; I am saying they tend to be breeding grounds where toxic faith and spiritual abuse can grow. Too often the leaders do not address the problem because the underlying ethos is authoritarian and the people engaging in spiritual abuse are powerful and influential……But most often, in my experience, there’s nothing anyone can really do (except run) because the spiritual abusers are autonomous; there is no one over them to hold them accountable. They are religious entrepreneurs who have a solid grip on their churches and organizations. In many cases they own them outright or have set them up so that nobody can challenge their leadership.”

Mark T. Barclay and Modalism: Reverend Sam Cottle’s…… ‘Gold’

Mark T. Barclay and Modalism: Reverend Sam Cottle’s Gold by Ken Mattson

So what are your credentials? Why should I trust anything you say? For that matter why should anyone? What is your real problem with Dr. Barclay?

He Further Writes…If you knew Dr. Barclay you would realize his teaching/training to those of us credentialed with him is biblically sound. He himself states that what he is saying is not extra Biblical revelation. You have to follow his teachings more closely to understand that though. He teaches over and over that no one should blindly follow anyone. We don’t blindly follow, we have tested the relationship, the man’s life and his doctrine and all of them are shining like gold.

Relationship is what the Gospel of Jesus is all about.

Fight the fight it is for your faith!

Sam Cottle [1]

Dear Reverend Cottle,

Every believer has been given the privilege and the right to recognize false doctrine and false teachers by the third person in the Trinity. Not one of God’s children including myself needs ‘special credentials’ as you are seeking. Mr. Cottle, read your bible!

These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. 1John 2:26

But if you want to know my credentials they are such, unlike you I’ve been taught by leading biblical scholars who are Anglican, Pentecostal, Lutheran, and Reformed from all over the world and I study have studied to show myself capable. By the way, if it’s any indication by the first men who Jesus picked, you would know what the Lord Jesus thinks about degrees such as PhDs!

If you listened to sound doctrine, you would hear what I’m saying, because what I’ve wrote are things which aren’t myself, but what the church has stated over and over about who God the Trinity is and the salvation which was purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ precious sacrificial life, death and resurrection. These are things which Mark T. Barclay has twisted and erroneously taught in heretical error just like his false prophecies.

Moreover, sound doctrine does matter and those who are the true church, which some have called the invisible church will listen. They are whom who will hear what I’m am saying, those who are children of God by grace of adoption and true members of Christ by sanctification of the Holy Spirit. You Samuel, though are very ignorant of basic christian doctrine such as the teachings on who Christ is being the God-man, the Holy Trinity, and the saving nature of Grace by the substitutionary atonement of Christ. Teachings that are central to the gospel are not in your vocabulary, but Barclay is.

fool’s gold

I say all of that because you have stated that you and your other Preacher of Righteousness members have tested your relationship with Mark T. Barclay and “the man’s life and his doctrine and all of them are shining like gold.” That’s absolutely frightening that you would say something like that and you are a pastor, given Mark T. Barclay’s heretical teaching on the Holy Trinity. Heresy doesn’t get more clearer, but then again you are very ignorant!

God is triune; there are within the Godhead three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and the work of salvation is one in which all three act together, the Father purposing redemption, the Son securing it and the Spirit applying it.[2]

I have come to the conclusion that you don’t know what sound doctrine is or even care what the bible and the church has stated about who God is three in one, eternally Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is so completely foundational in Christian doctrine that all other doctrines in the New Testament are connected to it and Barclay clearly stands outside Biblical orthodoxy and Evangelicalism teaching that God is parts and not persons and teaching their eternal names were changed. Which teachings are so completely erroneous such things only heretics have taught.

This will probably be a shocker to you, but what Mark T. Barclay teaches is extra-biblical, because his formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity isn’t found in Scripture and you are ignorant enough to write me that his doctrine is as good as shining gold. Now, Mr. Cottle, you couldn’t of tested that upon Scripture and it’s very possible that your ignorance is from deception, because you’ve believed a lie over the biblical truth of the Trinity.

True worship must be governed by God’s self-revelation as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The church throughout history has endeavored to be faithful to this truth in her liturgy with constant affirmation of the Trinitarian faith as in the singing of Trinitarian hymns as the Doxology. Thus, true worship is Trinitarian and only. It’s not just Jesus nor singling out one of the other members of the personal Trinity, but worship is rendered to the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost;

Amen.[3]

Furthermore, worship garners its sharpest focus in the Eucharistic celebration and the church is most truly the church as it celebrates both the Eucharist and baptism. This is the Trinitarian pattern of worship the Lord Jesus Himself gave to his church and has been celebrated by Christians for thousands of years. This is in stark contrast to Mark T. Barclay’s liturgy which is based on Word-faith tradition.[4] Such practices are not Eucharistic nor Trinitarian, but centers on the unsound exhortation of the offering time, which were born out of the heretical prosperity gospel and thus have warped the means of Grace.

I wont even ask you if you believe in the Evangelical doctrine of the Trinity, because you clearly don’t have a correct understanding of who God is and isn’t. Nor do you worship as the church has worshipped in Trinity by following Barclay’s heresy. Mr. Cuttle, you clearly need deep repentance as Mark T. Barclay, because with other heretics Barclay stand outside the church.

In Christ alone,

Kenneth

P.S. Mr. Cottle, I would like to thank you for advising me to follow Mark T. Barclay’s teachings more closely. It was only out of inference that I knew Barclay didn’t understand basic bible doctrine like the Trinity and the saving nature of grace, but now I know straight from the horses mouth.[5]

P.S.S. You better get that gold checked out again, because according to the church’s creedal statements and liturgy you’re holding fools gold!

References

____________________________________________________________________________________

1. Wednesday Feb 8, 2011. “Ken, So what are your credentials? Why should I trust anything you say? For that matter why should anyone? What is your real problem with Dr. Barclay? You can argue politics if you want to, that seems like what this blog and email is all about. You can quote all you want about the CIA, George Bush, and whomever. I have spoken with those on the ground fighting the battle. There is no point in that argument believe what you will and so will I. Why are there military documents that are classified for years before they are made public information? If you knew Dr. Barclay you would realize his teaching/training to those of us credentialed with him is biblically sound. He himself states that what he is saying is not extra Biblical revelation.  You have to follow his teachings more closely to understand that though.  He teaches over and over that no one should blindly follow anyone. We don’t blindly follow, we have tested the relationship, the man’s life and his doctrine and all of them are shining like gold. Relationship is what the Gospel of Jesus is all about. Fight the fight it is for your faith! Sam Cottle What is your real problem with him because the rest of this is just the mask?”

2. Knowing God by J.I. Packer, http://www.amazon.com/Knowing-God-J-I-Packer/dp/083081650X
3. The Doxology sang by David Crowder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xRWWG2Wuds

4. Pulpit dominated ‘word’ churches resemble mosques. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hrWprl6LdM
5. “Moreover, the lack of the Gospel in Mark T. Barclay’s preaching is a manifestation from the lack of trinitarian theology or it could be said the other way around. The lack of the Trinity in Mark T. Barclay’s preaching is because of the lack of the Gospel and this can be said of others who preach the Prosperity Gospel like Kenneth Copland who has publicly stated heretical ideas of the God-head resembling that of Mormonism.” Mark T. Barclay and the Prosperity Gospel Part II https://thetheologyofmarktbarclay.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/mark-t-barclay-and-the-prosperity-gospel-part-ii/

Mark T. Barclay and Modalism

Mark T. Barclay and Modalism by Ken Mattson

“In heaven Jesus was not known as Jesus, he was known as the Word. In Genesis Chapter. 1, it defines the Trinity of God, the three parts of God. You are made by the way after his image, three parts. There was a Creator, he was later called Jehovah. There was his word, later on when he come here God said you call this baby, not the Word, but Jesus which really means Yahshua….and then of course the bible talks about the Spirit of God……now these aren’t three different people. We teach them sorta, kinda almost as three different people for the sake of teaching. Now that Creator, Word and Spirit for the sake of man understanding and relating was changed by God, you can read it in the Scriptures, I know you know this, forgive me this so elementary. But it was changed to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Mark T. Barclay, Jesus the command giver. [1]

So what do we learn from Mark T. Barclay’s teaching on the Trinity? 1. That God is three parts. 2. God is not persons. ‘People language’ is only used for the sake of teaching, 3. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not their eternal identity. 4. It’s drastically different from the biblical orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. 5. Barclay is not a theologian nor a biblical scholar as he claims.

“Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is from eternity……..and everything to the contrary must be rejected as heretical.” Thomas Aquinas [2]

About the only thing that Barclay gets right in this definition is the name ‘Trinity’, but his definition is heresy, because it’s not the truth found in Scripture. As we will see below this is warped and touches on the heresy of Modalism, which denies the ontologically distinct persons of the Holy Trinity. So for Barclay to teach that the persons of the Godhead are merely parts instead of persons is serious and heretical and stands outside Christian orthodoxy. [3]

One of the striking realities in both Barclay’s books, teachings and worship services is the lack of Trinitarianism and it’s easy to see why with such devastatingly definitions as we see above. In one single swoop Barclay dismantles biblical orthodoxy and the chain reaction to other biblical doctrines is cataclysmic.

I say cataclysmic, because in Barclay’s preaching and teaching we don’t find a clear understanding of the orthodox teaching of justification by faith, nor sanctification which both are by the substitutionary atonement of Christ. Those teachings which are central to the gospel are just not found and it’s caused from this chain reaction of not understanding the Trinity. In other words, the domino effect is detrimental not only to other doctrines but to the gospel itself. The gospel is Trinitarian in shape, because salvation proceeds from the Holy Trinity.

The Trinity is the foundation of the Christian faith, but the church has also stated that it’s a mystery. God is love, because he is Trinity. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not nicknames but is the proper name for the God of the bible. They weren’t changed to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as Barclay falsely teaches, but they are eternal. The Father uncreated and eternal, the Son uncreated and eternal, the Spirit uncreated and eternal. Their biblical names correspond to who they are and their relations to one another first and then to creation. [4]

Neither do we confound the persons nor divide the substance. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, nor is the Spirit the Son or the Father. They are eternally united and distinct persons, the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, but there are not three Gods, but one God. [5]

“We understand equality to be in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, inasmuch as no one of them either precedes in eternity, or excels in greatness, or surpasses in power.” Saint Augustine [6]

So what is the biblical definition of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity?

The doctrine of the Trinity is there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In other words, God is one in essence and three in person. These definitions express three important truths: 1. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons, 2. Each person is fully God, 3. There is only one God.

This is what the Church has believed and it has reflected this in its historical writings and creeds for the last 20 centuries. Early church fathers saw these threats similar to Dr. Mark T. Barclay’s definition as heresy and ultimately threats to the Gospel itself. The Godhead is indeed real persons and the early church fathers in the face of attacks such as Arianism and Modalism labored on the truth that God is simultaneously one and three. Not three manifestations nor creatures, or parts, but God is three distinct persons, yet one in essence or substance, “tres Personae, una Substantia.” Church Father Tertillian 160-225 AD[7]

There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker, and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  Thirty-nine Articles

Barclay also has his Christology wrong and is this from his refusal to acknowledge the Eternal distinct persons of the Trinity being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son is the eternal only begotten Word(Logos)of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only begotten Son of the Father, the Second person in the divine Trinity.

Moreover, though the Lord Jesus Christ was the pre-incarnate Word his name wasn’t changed to ‘Son’ as Barclay teaches. On top of that Barclay shouldn’t be so quick to correct even the apostle Paul who when writing of the preexistence of the Son referred to him as Christ Jesus. Christ didn’t become the Son at his incarnation, but was already in existence as the Son, a person present with God the Father from all eternity.

Jesus Christ, then is the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. He is God the Son first for Trinitarian reasons and when he became incarnate he became the son of Mary, the promised son of David, the Messiah.

Without the Trinity there is no salvation, because salvation proceeds from the persons of the Trinity. The father so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son and whoever believes in Him shall be saved. This salvation, the eternal redemptive work of Christ is then applied to the believer by the ministry of the third person, the Holy Spirit.[8]

“The more we explore and understand the depths of God’s commitment to salvation, the more we have to come to grips with the triunity of the one God. The deeper we dig into the gospel, the deeper we go into the mystery of the Trinity.” Fred Sanders [9]

It’s no wonder why Barclay gets Christian history like Calvinism wrong like he preached at Amazing Grace Church in Wheeler, Michigan, it’s because he doesn’t understand basic doctrine. He has proven it time and time again. Church history and bible doctrine go hand in hand and Mark’s heretical definition on the Trinity found above clearly stands outside biblical orthodoxy.

Moreover, Dr. Mark T. Barclay cannot call himself evangelical without an orthodox understanding and teaching of the divine persons of the Trinity. No matter what’s on paper or a statement of beliefs, what really matters is what he is teaching. In Mark T. Barclay’s ministry statement of beliefs it states that God is Triune, but when worked out theologically by himself it is not only deficient but doctrinally outside biblical orthodoxy, because his definition is heretical.

This isn’t something new though, because many Word-faith ministers do exactly the same who are part of the Prosperity Gospel. They appear to teach biblical orthodoxy with a statement of beliefs posted on their website, but in reality they vomit falsity. For example Kenneth Copland has teachings concerning the Godhead which resemble that of Mormonism.

It’s easy to see the doctrinal destructiveness of Mark T. Barclay’s heretical teaching on the Holy Trinity. From the eternal persons of the Trinity, to the Person of Christ which is Christology, to the redemptive work of Christ, his substitutionary atonement and doctrines like justification, sanctification of the believer are all corrupted by the domino effect from an warped doctrine of the Trinity. Without the Trinity one has a different gospel and a different god and not the Triune God of the bible.

Barclay’s definition is heresy because its not the truth and like his false prophecies is a fabrication of lies.

“What need would there be of the gospel, which is the substance of the New Covenant, laying down (as it does) that the Law and the Prophets lasted until John the Baptist, if thenceforward the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not both believed in as Three, and as making One Only God? God was pleased to renew His covenant with man in such a way as that His Unity might be believed in, after a new manner, through the Son and the Spirit, in order that God might now be known openly, in His proper Names and Persons, who in ancient times was not plainly understood, though declared through the Son and the Spirit. Away, then, with those “Antichrists who deny the Father and the Son.”Church Father, Tertullian, Against Praxeas written before 208A.D.[10]

____________________________________________________________________

References

1.“In heaven Jesus was not known as Jesus, he was known as the word. In Genesis Chapter 1 it defines the Trinity of God, the three parts of God. You are made by the way after his image, three parts. There was a Creator, he was later called Jehovah, there was his word, later on when he come here. God said you call this baby, not the Word, but Jesus which really means Yahshua…. which really means the savior….So this Word in heaven he was the Word and then of course the bible talks about the Spirit of God there hovering over the creation of God. So there was the Creator he spoke through the power of his word……now these aren’t three different people. We teach them sorta, kinda almost as three different people for the sake of teaching. Now that Creator, Word and Spirit for the sake of man understanding and relating was changed by God, you can read it in the Scriptures, I know you know this, forgive me this so elementary. But it was changed to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father, the Creator, the Son of God really the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us….and then the Spirit, the great Holy Spirit……So you are three parts right after the image of God.” Mark T. Barclay, Jesus, the command giver. http://www.cfaith.com

2. Summa Theologica by Saint Thomas Aquinas, written 1265-1274 A.D

3. Modalism is a “heretical view that denies the individual persons of the Trinity. [It] views biblical terminology of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as merely modes of existence or manifestations of the one God” http://thecripplegate.com/modalism_oneness_and_td_jakes/

Mark T. Barclay’s denial of the real persons of the Godhead and his insistence that they are parts is akin and a form of Modalism.

Modalism is probably the most common theological error concerning the nature of God.  It is a denial of the Trinity. Modalism states that God is a single person who, throughout biblical history, has revealed Himself in three modes, or forms. http://carm.org/modalism

“The church rejected modelism as a heresy. It is clearly unbiblical, for the three persons enter transaction with one another. Jesus prays to the Father(John 17); the Father speaks from heaven while Jesus is on earth(Matt 3:17). The Father and the Son together send the Spirit into the world(John 14:16), and the spirit bears witness to Jesus.” John M. Frame, Salvation belongs to the Lord.

4. “Overall, the relations of the three are summarized in the concept of love, which involves a dynamic of both giving and receiving. The persons are what they are by virtue of what they give and receive from each other. As such, they constitute the being of God, for there is no being of God underlying what the persons are to and from each other. God’s being is a being in relation, without remainder relational.” Colin E. Gunton The Promise of Trinitarian Theology, page. 143

5. Athanasian creed http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/creeds/athanasn.htm

6. Summa Theologica by Saint Thomas Aquinas, written 1265-1274 A.D

7.Tres Personae, una Substantia, coined by Tertullian and means Three Persons, One Substance.

8. “Christian worship is specifically the encounter with the Triune God whose is revealed in the mystery of salvation, in the work of the Father sending the Son and the Spirit for the redemption of the World. This is why as noted above, the traditional Christian doxology was to the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.” Pentecostal Theologian Simon Chan, Liturgical Theology pg. 58.

9. The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything by Fred Sanders.

10. Church Father, Tertullian, Against Praxeas written before 208AD.