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Exploring the Ministry Milestone
Live from Salt Lake City, Utah, this is heart of the MatterTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology. where we do all we can to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. I’m Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion., your host.
Show 10 487 Jesus Christ Part V
March 8th, 2016
Ten Year Anniversary
Our prayer tonight will be offered by . . .
The Lord has blessed us abundantly as tonight we recognize that we have been in full-time ministry here in Utah for ten years. The road has been filled – I mean filled – with tremendous blessings, events, and opportunities for growth. I want to publicly thank all who have been part of the ministry through thick and thin – selfless individuals who have given their all to see us thrive . . . and survive. Many of you have prayed for us, supported us financially, volunteered time and talents, spread the news of the ministry with others, and given me the benefit of the doubt when things looked like I had lost my mind. I don’t want to mention names. You know who you are but more importantly God knows who you are and your heart for Him. I just thank you for all you are and all you do.
Online Resources and Ministry Offerings
As a really quick review, we want you all to know – and to please tell your family and friends – especially seekers of truth – that we have:
Two main websites- www.hotm.tv and www.campuschurch.tv
On HOTM.tv you will find over five hundred hour-long shows, links to our YouTube page, highlighted moments from the shows, and other information relative to the Mormon/Christian debate. You will find a bookstore where we offer our five books, including:
- I Was A Born-Again Mormon
- Where Mormonism Meets Biblical Christianity Face to Face
- If my Kingdom were of this World then My Servants would Fight
- It’s not the End of the World
(And in the next few weeks our newest book) - Knife to a Gun Fight
And a forty-page workbook called, The End of Material ReligionA fulfilled system of temples, rituals, and laws—replaced by direct spiritual relationship.. We also have t-shirts, short films, bumper stickers, and four volumes of scriptures set to music.
Then at www.campuschurch.tv we present something entirely different – better in my estimation: The Word of God taught verse by verseTGNN’s Bible teaching series—book-by-book, through the lens of fulfillment and spiritual liberty.! Our objective is to provide to people (who are utterly fed up with modern Evangelical religion) to tune in and make CAMPUS your home church. You can watch it live or anytime it's convenient. We are there to teach all the ways scripture is seen and understood. There are no memberships and NEVER ever any appeals for money, tithes, or offerings. You can disagree with me (you probably should) and we are here to support you in your walk with Him not to make you support us.
Understanding Rebirth and Jesus' Role
The acronym C A M P U S legally stands for CHRISTIAN ANARCHISTS MEETING TO PRAYERFULLY UNDERSTAND SCRIPTURE. But don’t let this frighten you. All are more than welcome (I think I’m the only Christian Anarchist here, anyway) – take a LOOK! (show NEW SPOT HERE for CAMPUS) So that’s what’s up. We hope you will take advantage of the things we offer and frankly share these resources with others who are seekers of truth. And again we thank God for the opportunity to serve the Lord, Savior, and King.
Alright, let’s get right into the topic tonight.
For the past few weeks, we have been talking about rebirth and what it meant, even in Jesus' mortal life. In some ways this is a troubling subject because it has a tendency to make it seem like Jesus was not God in the flesh. Tonight’s subject will fix this through a very subtle distinction but a VERY important distinction nonetheless.
In John 3:16 we read a very familiar verse:
“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.”
What do you think scripture means when it uses the title, “only begotten Son?” I know I used to think it meant, “Jesus is the only human being God has ever begotten.” Many Christians understand this title in this manner as do the LDS. Is it in reference to the birth of Jesus? Because “begotten” usually refers to human birth (and because we read in biblical genealogies, “and he begat this kid, and then that kid begat this kid,” people often get confused about what it means when Jesus is called God’s only begotten Son.
It doesn’t help matters when we read in Hebrews 1:5
“For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father,
Jesus as the "Only Begotten"
This verse, taken on its own, would appear to tell us that Jesus was begotten on a particular day in time, which would fit well with His physical birth and so most of us assume this is what it means. But perhaps a closer look is necessary, since the Bible says repeatedly that Jesus is eternal, has always existed.
The verse that I quoted last week and the verse in question today relative to Jesus being begotten is taken from Psalms 2:7-8 which says:
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
This last verse connects Christ being “begotten” to His triumph over the nations, which took place at His return. So there is one place where Psalm 2:7-8 is applied – when Jesus will triumph over the nations at his return.
Then as we mentioned last week Paul also quoted Psalm 2:7-8 in Acts 13:33:
33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
Here, this very same passage is connected to Christ’s resurrection – which we covered last week. So the fact of the matter is in these two places the line that Jesus “is begotten of the Father” relates to His resurrection from the dead and His triumphal return.
From these passages alone we can see that whatever this passage in Psalms means it is applied to subjects far more extensive than the time when the Son of God became a man and was born as Jesus of Nazareth.
Understanding "Only Begotten"
Here’s where it gets interesting. The title “Only begotten” comes from a single Greek word, “monog-a-nace.” This is a compound word, with the first half monos meaning “only.” And the second half either coming from the verb ghin-om-ahee (which means “to be” or “to come into existence” or “to be made”) or its noun form, ghen-os (meaning “family” or “kind” which is related to our modern English word “genetics”).
Now listen – most modern translations translate the Greek word monog-a-nace as “only,” “one and only,” or “unique.” But the Authorized Version (the King James) translates it to “only begotten.” As we’ll see, there is no one or two-word translation into English that fully gets the meaning of this word — so it is a word that needs some explanation.
First of all, John is the only one who uses “only begotten” in reference to the Lord Jesus. Four places in his Gospel (John 1:14, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:18) and once in the epistle of I John 4:9. Luke also used it three times but he referred to someone’s only child.
This being said there is one other place where the word MONOG-A-NACE appears and it is revealing. It’s in Hebrews 11:17-18 and speaks of Abraham and Isaac. Here are the passages:
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his MONOG-A-NACE (his only begotten son),
18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Now, listen, Isaac is called Abraham’s “only begotten son” here using the same Greek term MONOG-A-NACE that is applied to Jesus being the only begotten Son of God — but Abraham had an earlier son, Ishmael, by a concubine (Hagar). So we KNOW that Ishmael truly was physically a son of Abraham, but God here says that Isaac was his MONOG-A-NACE, or what the King James calls his only-begotten, son.
This usage clearly shows that “only” or “one and only” is a poor translation for MONOG-A-NACE — because Isaac was not Abraham’s “only” son. “Uniquely begotten son” might work better. How is Isaac Abraham’s uniquely begotten son? He was born of Abraham’s true wife, not of a concubine, and according to the promises and will of God. Stay with me here.
Analyzing the Compound Word
We’ve taken Only from Only Begotten and decided that Only is not the best term – using the example of Ishmael and Isaac. And we’ve replaced it (the mono part of MONOG-A-NACE with “uniquely.”
But looking at the second part of the compound word we have a decision to make – Is it best understood as “GHEN-OS” or “GHEN-OM-AHEE?”
GHEN-OS means family, same-kind, offspring of and GHEN-OM-AHEE means existing, being, coming into existence.
Understanding the Phrase "Only Begotten"
“Uniquely more of Abrahams offspring” or more “uniquely existing or coming into existence?”
I would say the former, and therefore I believe that we should see the phrase Only Begotten changed to “uniquely of God’s kind” or “uniquely of the same kind.” Ishmael had been born and came into existence but he was not truly of the same family (ghen-os) in the way Isaac was. “Only begotten” from the Authorized Version sounds like “an only child but it doesn’t mean that at all! How do we know this? By reading this passage in Hebrews and its use of it for Isaac who was NOT Abraham’s only son, but was the only son of Abraham’s true family. When modern translations use “unique” or “only”, they try to prevent confusion over this — but they also create another kind of confusion.
The example in Hebrews shows this is an incomplete translation of the word. If God had wanted to say “only” or “unique” He could have just used the Greek word monos alone. But the way it is used in Hebrews appears to mean “the only one (uniquely of) the same kind.”
Insights from John 1
Turn to the infamous first chapter of John 1 and let’s read verses 14 then 18.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Then verse 18
18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
In verse fourteen, and then in eighteen, John refers to Jesus as the MONOG-A-NACE, translated as “the only begotten Son,” in the King James. Why? What is he telling us?
Well, let’s read the two verses immediately preceding verse 14 beginning at verse 12.
Here John says:
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
So right before Jesus is called “the only begotten,” John tells us that those who receive Him become the sons of God, His children, born of God. John is drawing a clear contrast between the sons of God mentioned in verse 12 and Jesus, who is not just any Son, but the only one uniquely from Him. So where human beings may become “the sons of God by and through believing on Jesus” we are not “uniquely of the same Kind as the Father.”
Jesus as the Unique Son
Our ghen-os, our family or kind, is very different. We must be born again into God’s family, but Jesus always was, is and always will be uniquely of the same Kind, of the same “genetics” if we may say so, as the Father. We are sons, but we are not sons the way He is a Son. He is MONOG-A-NACE – and listen. This does not refer to His birth. It refers to Him pre-incarnate. This is the means to see and understand Him as the MONOG-A-NACE of God – from before the earth was.
Let’s look at John 3:16 and then 18 where again, he writes:
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.
And then verse 18
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Here again we see the term referred to Jesus, and here again context is vital to comprehension. Go back to John 3:5-8.
There Jesus said, (in the well-known “born again” discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus)
5 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of GodGod’s spiritual reign—fulfilled and present, not political or future..
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
To enter the kingdom of God, we must be born again, born of the Spirit, and thus become God’s children. But not Jesus — SPIRITUALLY.
The Unique Nature of Jesus as the Only Begotten Son
He is, and always has been, the only one “uniquely of the same kind as the Father.” Again then, here in John 3, his use of MONOG-A-NACE contrasts Jesus and those who are God’s children by the new birth.
Then let's look at MONOG-A-NACE in 1st John 4:9 where John writes:
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
This is the only other place, besides John chapters 1 and 3, where Jesus is called the only begotten Son. And again, the context is helpful, for two verses earlier, we read the following at verse 7:
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
Immediately before calling Jesus MONOG-A-NACE (or “only begotten”), John spoke of us as being born of God. As with all the other places John used the word, there was a sharp contrast between those who are born again, born of God, sons of God, and the One who is God’s Son in a very unique way. But even unique is an inferior way to describe Him. He is unique, but He is more than unique, He is the only One who is of the same Kind as the Father.
The Misinterpretation of "Only Begotten"
And here’s the deal – AGAIN – His being the “only one who IS of the same kind as the Father” did not happen at His birth. He has always been of the same kind as the Father. In other words, the Greek term, MONOG-A-NACE does not mean Jesus came into existence by being born. “Only begotten” when attributed to Jesus means He is the “only One of the same Kind” as the Father. This is how John uses the word. And we can see this interpretation holding water when the writer of Hebrews describes Isaac — he was Abraham’s only son who was truly of his family, born of his wife as God had promised. John uses MONOG-A-NACE to sharply contrast us, God’s second-birth children, with Jesus Christ, the “Unique Only-One-of-the-Same-Kind Son” who was this from the beginning.
So in receiving the fact that we, as human beings, can be born of God, John does not want us to lose sight of just who the Lord Jesus Christ is. Remember, Jesus made the differences between He and us clear when He said:
John 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
And then in
John 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
The Mormon/Christian Debate on "Only Begotten"
This clarification, that the term, “only begotten” refers to Jesus as the “Unique Only-One-of-the-Same-Kind Son” from the beginning and NOT to Him becoming God’s only begotten through physical birth is REALLY important in the Mormon/Christian debate. And for reasons that you might not expect.
First of all, modern Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus is called or known as “the Only begotten Son of God” because of His physical birth. LDS prophet and president, Joseph Fielding Smith wrote the following in his, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5:33.
“All through the ministry of our Savior He acknowledged the fact that he is the only begotten Son of God in the flesh.”
This is truly a fascinating statement by this LDS prophet of modernity because no statement in the LDS standard works ever refer to Jesus as “the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh.” Quite frankly, and this is really interesting, but Only Begotten in the Book of Mormon seems to only recognize Jesus as being the only Begotten of the Father from before the foundation of the world, the way all Christians today OUGHT to see this term as it relates to Him.
In other words the BOM talks of Jesus as being the “Only Begotten” who WOULD come INTO this world, proving that this was the stance of Smith at the time.
2nd Nephi 25:12 says:
“The Only Begotten of the Father . . . shall manifest himself . . . in the flesh,” showing again, that the term has nothing to do with His physical birth.
Likewise, Alma 5:48 says:
“The Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and mercy and truth . . . COMETH to take away the sins of the world.”
So NOWHERE in the BOM does the term Only Begotten refer to Jesus becoming the only begotten through fleshly.
Understanding 'Only Begotten' in LDS Doctrine
In Smith’s Book of Moses, which describes the story of creation, Smith inserts numerous references (25, if you can believe that) which borrow from John’s term, Only Begotten, but these all seem to refer to Jesus' relationship with the Father from the beginning! (see Moses 1:6, 32, 5:7, 6:52 and 7:59)
Then Smith’s Doctrine and Covenants also suggest that Christ was the Only Begotten Son in Glory FROM THE BEGINNING! (see D&C 29:46, 49:5, 76:13,23,25;93:11; 124.123) With Doctrine and Covenants 76:23-24 saying that those who – “come unto Him may likewise become God’s sons and daughters. Doctrine and Covenants 93:22 goes so far as to say that where “Jesus is the Only Begotten of the Father in pre-mortality all others are spiritually begotten through the Son!”
In fact, all of these canonized references in LDS books of scripture seem to support the traditional Christian understanding that Jesus, as the Only Begotten Son of the Father, refer to His glorified status before the world was.
Joseph Fielding Smith's Interpretation
So what gives with Joseph Fielding Smith and his applying the term to Jesus' birth? Can’t say. But what we can say is his son-in-law, a guy named Bruce R. McConkie, took the faulty, non-scriptural idea of his father-in-law and supported the idea that Jesus was literally the only begotten of the Father because He literally impregnated Mary (since He is in a body of flesh and bone) creating His actual and only begotten Son. McConkie said: “Only begotten Son,” means, “the only Son of the Father in the flesh,” and “is to be understood literally … (that) Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers.” (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine 546)
Under the leadership of LDS Prophet Joseph F Smith, this was presented in a Message from the First Presidency: “The Christian denominations believe that Christ was begotten not of God but of the spirit that overshadowed his mother. This is non-sense… We must come down to the simple fact that God Almighty was the Father of His Son Jesus Christ. Mary, the virgin girl, who had never known mortal man, was his mother… Mary was married to Joseph for time. No man could take her for eternity because she belonged to the Father of her divine Son.” (Messages of the First Presidency 4:327-30)
Reflection on the Trinity
So again, and in another place, we can help show LDS people today how far afield the religion has gotten from its canonized tenets (which I believed were merely echoed by Smith who understood the Bible very well). All of this plays into bringing the walls of the institution down today doctrinally and helping LDS people come to Christ who was once properly described in much of their earliest revelations.
What does this say to the idea of the Trinity, being that we have proven that Only Begotten refers to Jesus' pre-incarnate state rather than his physical birth? First, God is spirit, so him having an only begotten Son is way out beyond our ability to understand what that means – especially if we add in Trinitarian concepts of His Only Begotten being, Uncreated, co-eternal, and co-equal.
Secondly, this is a discussion of God, who John says had His Word become flesh. Are we to see God’s Words as His only Son? Don’t know. And finally, my issue with the Trinity has never been with the pre-incarnate uniquely of the same kind Son, my issue has to do with persons and beings named Jesus as being pre-incarnate and with the Trinitarian idea of the Holy Spirit being a person too.
Next week, we’ll continue on with our discussion of Jesus. Let’s open up the phone lines: (801)
