The “Jesus Only” also known as the “Oneness Holiness” doctrine was invented by men and is contrary to the word of God in the Bible. The way this false doctrine got started was John G. Scheppe claimed that it was revealed to him in a vision, the truth of “Jesus only”. They claim that Jesus is the only person in the Godhead and that there is no God the Father or Holy Spirit. They didn’t get their theory out of the Bible, but they got it by a “claimed” revelation in 1914 in which their UPC Manual (page 13) states, “In the year 1914 came the revelation on the name of Jesus Christ”. In doing this they deny that Jesus is the Son of God and that God is His Father.
The “Jesus Only” doctrine is in the following “Pentecostal” groups: United Pentecostal Church, Apostolic Church, Church Of The Firstborn, and Pentecostal Assemblies Of Jesus Christ. There are many scriptures that contradict their false doctrine of “Jesus Only”, but let’s look at just a few.
Jesus says to his apostles, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Was Jesus mistaken about there being a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit? No. The Scriptures teach that there are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but the “Jesus Only” teach that there is no God the Father and no Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 1:1 says, “God, who at various times and in various, ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son”. God in speaking through His word says that He has a Son, but the “Jesus Only” groups say that He doesn’t have a Son. Then Hebrews 1:5-6 says, “For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You’? And again: ‘I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son’?”. Is God the Father to Jesus Christ, His Son? Yes, God says so. 1 John 4:9 says, “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.” God did not send Himself but the Bible says that God sent His only begotten Son.
Ephesians 4:4-6 says, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all”. God’s word says there is one Spirit (Holy Spirit), one Lord (Jesus Christ) and one God and Father. One, plus one, plus one equals three.
“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:16-17). Was God well pleased with His beloved Son? Yes, because He said He was. Later Jesus says, “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30). Jesus says that He was sent by the Father. Jesus says he sought to do only the will of the Father, who sent Him to this earth, and not to do His own will.
Again Jesus says, “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe” (John 5:37-38). Jesus told people in His day that they did not have God’s word abiding in them because they did not believe Him whom God sent. The same is true today in that the “Jesus Only” groups do not have the word of God dwelling in them since they do not believe Jesus who said the Father had sent Him and that Jesus is the beloved Son of the Father.
When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, “He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will but as You will'” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus was pleading with His Father in Heaven for some other way so He would not have to die on the cross. But Jesus said “not as I will, but as You will”. Since Jesus and God His Father are two separate persons in the Godhead, there are two different wills mentioned here in God’s word.
While Jesus was on the cross, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying…’My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me” (Matthew 27:46). Did God, the Father, forsake His Son, Jesus Christ, while He was suffering on the cross? Yes, during the six hours Jesus was on the cross, God did forsake His Son because God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Then when Jesus died, “And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed His last” (Luke 23:46). As Jesus was dying He cried out to His Father. Was He crying out to himself? No. The Bible says He cried out to His Father and He committed His spirit to His Father in Heaven.
Jesus says to His apostles, that after He ascended back into Heaven, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you” (John 14:26). After Jesus ascended back into Heaven did the Father send the Holy Spirit to this earth to guide the apostles into all truth? Yes, we can read of this in the book of Acts chapter 2.
These are only a few of the many Bible verses that speak about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We could go on and on with many more. The “Jesus Only” or “Oneness Holiness” say that besides Jesus there is no Holy Spirit and no God the Father. Anything that differs with what the Bible says is false doctrine. “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God” (Psalms 14:1).