The apostle Paul wrote words that should cause every believer to pause.
“For if he who has come to you declares another Yeshua whom we have not declared, or if you have received another spirit which you had not received, or another “good news” [gospel] which you had not accepted, you might well give in.” [2 Cor 11:4]
Think about what Paul is saying. He is not warning about Buddha. He is not warning about Zeus. He is not warning about Muhammad. He is warning about another Yeshua.
A Yeshua who bears the same name. A Yeshua who is proclaimed as the Messiah. Yet one who differs from the Yeshua preached by the apostles. That raises an important question.
How would we recognize the difference?
The answer is not by asking what later traditions teach. It is by asking what the apostles themselves proclaimed.
Throughout this series we have examined their testimony. They preached that יהוה sent His Son. They preached that יהוה raised His Son. They preached that יהוה exalted His Son. They preached that יהוה glorified His Son. They preached that יהוה seated Him at His own right hand. They preached that there is one God, the Father, and one Messiah whom He sent.
That was the apostolic message. So why does our language often sound so different? Today it is common to hear statements such as, “God became a man.” “God died.” “God prayed.” “God was tempted.” “God was raised.”
Yet those are not the expressions we find repeated in the preaching of Acts. Further, they violate other biblical facts: “God is not a man”. “God is LIFE” [cannot die]. “God hears prayers” [He does not pray]. “God cannot be tempted”. “God is eternal”. Non of those previously mentioned manmade statements are found in the words of the Apostles.
Instead, the apostles consistently distinguish between the Father who acts and the Son through whom He acts. This is not a small distinction. It is the language given by the Breath/Spirit of God.
Yeshua Himself prayed, “This is everlasting life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Yeshua Messiah whom You have sent.” Peter preached, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has glorified His Servant Yeshua.” Paul declared, “There is one God, the Father… and one יהוה , Yeshua the Messiah.” None of these diminish the Son. Every one of them magnifies Him.
No prophet has ever been exalted as He has. No angel has ever been seated at the right hand of יהוה. No king has ever received all authority in heaven and on earth. No other human being has been given the Name above every name. The Son of God stands alone. Yet His greatness is found not in replacing His Father, but in perfectly revealing Him.
This brings us to another warning. Paul also wrote to the Galatians,
“Even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we [apostles] preached, let him be accursed.”
Notice the standard: Not tradition. Not popularity. Not eloquence. Not sincerity. The standard is what the apostles originally preached. And what they preached was not convoluted and complex.
Yeshua Himself warned that many would come in His Name and deceive many. He did not merely warn that impostors would claim to be the Messiah. He warned that deception would arise under His own Name. That warning deserves careful thought. The safest place for every believer is not in defending inherited terminology. It is in returning again and again to the words of the prophets, the Messiah, and the apostles. If our language differs from theirs, we should have the humility to ask why?
If our descriptions of Yeshua differ from theirs, we should have the courage to reconsider them. The goal of this series has never been to diminish the Son of God. It has been exactly the opposite: to know Him as the apostles knew Him; to proclaim Him as they proclaimed Him; to honor Him as they honored Him. And in doing so, to glorify יהוה, the Father who sent His beloved Son into the world.
There is no higher calling than to know the Father… through the Son whom He sent.