Part 8

The doctrine of justification by faith is one of the great pillars of the Christian Church.  Justification by faith explains the means by which God not only remits sins but credits to the bankrupt account of man His perfect righteousness on the grounds of faith alone, apart from any works, including water baptism.  Oneness Pentecostals, on the other hand, maintain that water baptism is a necessary component for salvation and that without it, one cannot be born again.  Jesus Name Pentecostals teach that it is through water baptism that a man’s sins are forgiven.  Is this what the New Testament epistles teach?  What about those few verses in the Gospels and the Book of Acts which seem to teach that water baptism is necessary for salvation?  

All of these questions and more shall be addressed in this teaching, and in conclusion, it shall be shown that while water baptism should always follow salvation, it does not contribute to it.

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Colossians 3:5-11

A series of expository sermons, walking through the Book of Colossians.  Preached in the Sanctuary of Bethesda Shalom, England, Sunday 1st March 2026. 

Part 7

When one encounters a suspected cult member, one of the surest ways to ascertain whether they are sound in faith is to ask a simple but effective question: What must I do to be saved?  If the answer to this question is not that of Paul and Silas, then one can be almost certain that one is speaking to a cult member.  How did Paul and Silas answer the Philippian jailer?  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).  No matter the cult, every last one will deny that salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.  When one asks a Jesus Name Pentecostal, "What must I do to be saved?" It should come as no surprise that they cannot answer as Paul and Silas since they are a cult.

For Oneness Pentecostals, salvation is not as simple as placing faith in Jesus Christ.  Other components are also required, including repentance, baptism in Jesus name, receiving the Holy Spirit with the initial sign of speaking in tongues and holiness of life.

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Colossians 3:1-4

A series of expository sermons, walking through the Book of Colossians. Preached in the Sanctuary of Bethesda Shalom, England, Sunday 22nd February 2026. 

6. Shadows of the Trinity in the Old - Paul M. Williams

Part 6

The charge is often put to Christians that the doctrine of the Trinity is a New Testament perversion that is nowhere present in the pages of the Old Testament.  This claim, however, is false and does not stand up to the biblical standards of scrutiny.  Christians concede that the doctrine of the Trinity is brought into full light only in the New Testament dispensation of the gospel.  However, one would be terribly mistaken to think that there are no foreshadowings of this doctrine in the Old Testament Scriptures.  What has been revealed in the New was concealed in the Old, and what was concealed in the Old has been revealed in the New.

This sixth teaching shall aim to provide evidence to show that the doctrine of the Trinity is present in type within the pages of the Old Testament Scriptures.  

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Colossians 2:16-23

A series of expository sermons, walking through the Book of Colossians.  Preached in the Sanctuary of Bethesda Shalom, England, Sunday 15th February 2026. 

Part 5

When engaging with an Oneness Pentecostal, as with all cults, they have their favourite go-to passages that they hope will prove their case for the particular doctrine they are seeking to substantiate.  Admittedly, as one gives ear to their arguments, they appear at first to be convincing.  Obscure texts and isolated verses are lifted out of context; difficult verses to understand are presented as though they support the erroneous heresies being propagated.   The man standing on the Word of God ought never to be afraid of the cultist.  No matter how convincing his opponents' arguments may be against the historical position of orthodoxy, the man standing opposite has been labelled a heretic for a reason.  He is a heretic because he has deviated from the straight path and turned aside to damnable doctrines against the clear testimony of Holy Scripture.  

When dealing with the nature of God, Oneness Pentecostals have several passages that they hope to use for their own advantage.  This fifth teaching aims to discover what these are and to offer a sound exegesis of the passages to refute the error of the Oneness understanding.  

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Colossians 2:10-15

A series of expository sermons, walking through the Book of Colossians.  Preached in the Sanctuary of Bethesda Shalom, England, Sunday 8th February 2026. 

Part 4

In attempting to interpret passages in the Bible which clearly point to a distinction in the persons of the Father and the Son, Oneness Pentecostals obfuscate the meaning of these passages by making an artificial distinction between Jesus’ human nature and His divine nature.  

In responding to this position, one cannot do so without referring to early Church history.  Does Jesus have a dual nature such that His divine self-consciousness can be distinguished from His human self-consciousness?  When Jesus forgave sins, calmed the storm, and cast out devils, did He do so as God but not as man?  When Jesus grew weary, hungered and thirsted, did he do so as man but not as God?  These questions and more shall be discussed in relation to the doctrine of the incarnation in this fourth teaching.   

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Colossians 2:1-9

A series of expository sermons, walking through the Book of Colossians.  Preached in the Sanctuary of Bethesda Shalom, England, Sunday 1st February, 2026.