Thursday, May 14, 2015

JESUS, ON GOD’S RIGHT HAND

The Glorified Christ Dwelling In Light, 1 Tim 6:16
This article is an excerpt from my book "Godhead Theology," Look for it at Amazon Books.

 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. (Acts 7:55-56; see also Ephesians 1:20; Romans 8:34; and Colossians 3:1)


The “Right Hand of God” argument has long been a weapon in the arsenal of the pluralist that is trotted out whenever the debate between themselves and Modalism ensues. It would only be right to present all the New Testament passages that are germane to this topic:
  • “Which he [God] wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,” (Eph 1:20).
  • “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” (Rom 5:34)
  • “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” (Col 3:1)
It is an honest argument, I suppose, and, therefore one deserving a response. The objection to Modalism is simply stated as: “If Jesus is seated on the right hand of God, He must be a different person from God.”
Modalism’s Response
Although the “Right Hand” objection to Modalism is used by both the Trinitarian advocates and Subordinationists alike, the argument has more honesty with the latter than with the former. This is said with confidence for the following reason: Every passage of the New Testament that is used to support the “Right Hand” argument states that Jesus is at the right hand of “God.” This argument has more currency with the Subordinationists (Arian Unitarians) than it does among the Trinitarians because the Subordinationists deny the deity of Christ and could  honestly support a doctrinal position that has Jesus on the righthand of God positionally. For the Trinitarian, however, this is not such an honest argument. Why? Because Jesus is said to be on the righthand of “God.” If this is true, in a literal sense (and that is the sense they mean) then Jesus would NOT be God—since He is to the right of God. The Trinitarian theology could not, then, be consistent with the “Right Hand” argument; at some point it would break down.
An Inconvenient Truth
A biblical truth that is inconvenient for all pluralists (Trintarian and Subordina-tionists alike) is that the “right hand of God” expression is a biblical idiom that is always symbolic in its meaning and application. The laws of Scriptural interpreta-tion demand that we apply, especially, the Law of Context and the law of First Mention to the “right hand of God” sayings. The Law of Context (when related to Scripture) has two categories: local and universal. In our case it is the universal context that is most important. In the universal context we are concerned with how the “right hand of God” is understood throughout the entirety of Scripture. Listed below is a sampling of how the “right hand of God”  sayings are employed by the Old Testament writers. As we list these we first come to the first mention of the right hand of God. The Law of First Mention demands that whatever the meaning of a thing when that thing is first mentioned in Scripture is to be considered the meaning throughout Scripture, unless there is a clear reason not to and that reason is made know by being stated or by strong and necessary inference. So, then, we are concerned with two “laws” of interpretation here: Law of Context and Law of First Mention.

Exodus 15:6 “Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.” ～ This is the first mention of the right hand of God in holy Scripture. According to the Law of First Mention  the meaning of the phrase here is to be the standard meaning for the same phrase throughout Scripture. The meaning of the right hand of God here is a symbolic one that emphasizes the power and favor of Yahweh.

The text that captures the full meaning and intent of the “Right Hand” saying is Psalms 77:7-10,
“Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? 8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? 9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. 10 And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.”

     The right hand of God is forever and everywhere an idiom of God’s power, favor, mercy, judgement etc. This phrase NEVER references a literal right hand position. The following passages are given as a sampling of the usage of the biblical idiom “the right hand of God.”
  • Exodus 15:12 “Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.”   ～ The right hand of God is an idiom for the power of God.
  • Psalm 16:11 “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” The right hand of God is an idiom for the position of the favor of God.
  • Psalms 17:7 “Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou [God] that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.” ～ The right hand of God is an idiom for His saving power.
  • Psalm 18:35 “Thou [God] hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.” ～ The right hand of God is an idiom for the power of God to sustain His children.
  • Psalm 20:16 “Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.” ～ The right hand is an idiom of saving strength.
  • Psalms 44:3 “For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.” ～ The right hand and arm of the Lord are idioms for the favor of the Lord.
  • Psalm 48:10 “According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.” ～ The right hand of God is an idiom of favor, power and judgement.
What has preceded should be enough to convince any that the “right hand” statements are not referencing a literal right hand position. The Bible states that Yahweh will shelter His people beneath His wings. We do not suppose from that that Yahweh actually has wings. No, we understand that it is a metaphor. Even so, when the Bible assigns human body parts to God. Outside of Christ, the Deity is not to be thought of as a human person. We need to understand the purpose and also the limitations of anthropomorphisms.

There are a number of New Testament passages which state that the power of God has a right hand. Are we to, then, say that Power is, yet, a fourth person of the Godhead? Certainly not. (See Matt 26:64; Mark 14:62; and Luke 22:69.) 

It is time for some hard truths:
Truth of Scripture
God is omnipresent. Yahweh asked a question in Jeremiah 23:24, “Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.” We all agree that the answer to Yahweh’s question is: Yes, He does fill Heaven and earth.
Truth of Reason
If, metaphorically, God is a circle whose center is everywhere and whose cir-cumference is nowhere—if He fills all space and there is nowhere where He is not—then, it is impossible to occupy a position to the right of God. In other words, to be at God’s right hand in any literal sense one must occupy a position that God, Himself, does not occupy. This should demonstrate the absurdity of such literalism concerning the the right hand of God.
Truth of Reason and Scripture
If, for the sake of argument, God has a literal right hand, it would follow, then, that He has a literal right knee. The problem that this presents is an insurmountable one. For, you see, the Scripture states emphatically that every knee in Heaven and earth will bow to Jesus Christ (Phil 2:10).  So, then, according to the Trinitarian’s understanding of the “right hand of God” the First Person of their Godhead un-deifies Himself to worship the second Person of their Godhead. However, the Subordinationists do not fare any better; for their only God (the Father) is dethroned and worships the created Son of God. Am I being silly? No more silly than the pluralists’ position demands. 

We introduced this subject with the narrative of the deacon Stephen describing his vision of heaven as he died. Luke recorded that Stephen saw the “glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.” These words spark the imagination of the pluralists and visions dance in their heads of the Father seated on the throne and Jesus standing at His right side. But, one must desire and seek a biblical understand of this narrative or violence will be done to the sanctity of monotheism in general and the Shema in particular.

We will first began by acknowledging that God (outside of Christ) is invisible. Now, we know this is true because John wrote, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” And Paul wrote, “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” And again in the same letter the Apostle wrote, “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”

Second, we will acknowledge that the only way to see God is in the person of Jesus Christ. Now, we know this is true because Paul wrote that Jesus, “...is the image of the invisible God, ...” Of course Paul is only stating what the Lord  had said concerning Himself: “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?” Jesus further stated, “And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.” “If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.”

We know then, that when Stephen saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God, he did not see another person of deity apart from Christ. We know this is true because: 1. God is invisible, and 2. Jesus is the only way to see God for He is the visible image of the invisible God. 

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So, what did Stephen see?

The Scripture is clear enough: Stephen saw the “glory of God” (not the person of God), and the “Son of man” (not God the Son). Stephen saw the “glory of God” and the human Christ. We are now arriving at the biblical understanding of what the deacon saw. The “glory of God” is described as “light,” “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” Luke records that: “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.” So, then, Stephen’s vision was of the light of God’s glory and the Son of man, the human Christ. Stephen saw the glorification of Christ into deity. The Apostle Paul writes to his son Timothy concerning this glorification this way, “Who [the Lord Jesus Christ] only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”

The evangelist Luke tells us what Stephen saw: i.e. “the glory of God.” Then Stephen, himself, explains how he saw “the glory of God:” “I see ... the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” What Stephen saw was a fulfillment of Matthew 26:64//Mark 14:62//Luke 22:69, “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, ... .” The Jews became very angry at this point for they understood the idiom of “the right hand of God.” This made Jesus God. The effect Stephen’s vision had on the Jews is the same effect that Jesus’ words had on them when He had said that He was the Son of God. In both cases the Jews reached for the stones—for the same reason. 

Stephen understood his vision. He understood that the light of God’s glory and Jesus engulfed within that light meant that Jesus had been glorified into deity. Stephen’s way of expressing that truth was with the Old Testament idiom—that Jesus was on the “right hand of God.” In other words: Jesus was the force of Deity. This incensed the Jews! The Jews and Stephen understood, for Stephen dies calling on God ... he was not calling on the pluralists’ god-person to the left of Jesus .. No! he died calling on the only God he knew; and he said “Lord Jesus receive my spirit.”

It is God alone that receives the spirits of men at death (Ecc 12:7). Jesus had prayed a very biblical prayer when He prayed, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” The prayer of Jesus was the prayer of Stephen the deacon.



Excerpted from the author's book entitled "Godhead Theology." Published by Seven Millennium Publications. Order your personal copy today: 




The Hayes vs Mulbah Debate is a formal written debate on the subject of the Godhead, between Bishop Jerry L Hayes (Onenessarian) and Minister Andrew Mulbah (Trinitarian). This work contains the debate in its entirety plus other related material. Included are the two Creeds from which both disputents argue their respective views: The Apostolic Creed (the statement of faith for the Oneness/Modalistic Monarchian theology) and the Athanasian Creed (the official statement of faith for the Trinitarian theology). (194 pages) Order your personal copy today at the link provide here:https://www.amazon.com/Hayes-Mulbah-Debate-Oneness-Trinity/dp/1727358953/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=Bishop+jerry+hayes&qid=1555188071&s=gateway&sr=8-8





The Jesus debate is a formal discussion on the person of Jesus Christ between the Modalist and Unitarian theologies. Modalism holds that God has manifested Himself in the economy of One triune being. The One Being existing in the different modes of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. While the Unitarian view holds that God is but one being Who is limited to the Father; that the Son is separate and distinct Being from the Father Who is not God, but the Son of God.  (220 pages). Order your personal copy today at the link provided here:




THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT BY PURCHASING MY BOOKS FOR YOUR LIBRARY -JLH
Apostolically Speaking
☩☩ Jerry L Hayes
(Mar David Ignatius)

Read other essays from the Bishop on the subject of the Godhead:

"The Dual Nature Of Jesus Of Nazareth"

"The Worlds, Made By The Son"

"Hebrews 13:8 vs 1 Corinthians 15:28"

"Glory With The Father"

"Philippians 2:6-8, Answering Trinitarian Objections"

"How Is God One?"

"Hebrew Monotheism"


"The Apostolic Creed"

"Jesus Is Father God"

"Homoousia And The Creed Of Nicaea"

"The Triquetra And Modalism"

"Modalism, Simultaneous Or Sequential?"

"Micah 5:2-4, An Exegesis"


"Elohim, the Plural form For God"

"Can the Deity of Jesus Be called The Son Of God?"

"Mathematical Equation For The Godhead"

"Hebrew Monotheism, Second Edition"

"Jesus, On God's Right Hand"

"The Name of the Deity" (The Tetragrammaton)

"Christology of the Apostolic Church Fathers"

"Christian Modalism challenged by the Greeks"

"The Apologists and the Logos Christology"

"Logos Christology"

"The Seven Spirits of God"

"Historical Numerical Superiority of the Monarchians"

"How Is God One?" Second Edition

"Creed of Nicæa (Creed of the 318) Affirmed"

"Another Comforter (Answering Objections to Modalism)"

"Echad vs Yachid (Answering Objections to Modalism)"

"The Godhead Teaching of Ignatius of Antioch"

"Hebrews 1:8, (Answering Objections to Modalism)"

"Godhead Theology of the Tabernacle of Moses"

"Proper Biblical Understanding of the Word 'Person'"

"Defense of Isaiah 9:6, Answering Objections to Modalism"
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2017/04/defense-of-isaiah-96.html

Defense of 1 Timothy 3:16 (Answering Objections to Modalism)



Godhead Theology is a study of Christian Godhead theology. ... Was He God or not? In Godhead Theology Bishop Jerry Hayes follows that debate through the first 300 years of the Church's history. Our book is in five sections: Section One ... demonstrates Modalistic Monarchianism as the original orthodoxy of the Chruch; Section Two introduces the Apostolic Creed ... ; Section Three is an affirmation of Modalistic Monarchianism; Section Four is Modalism's responses to objection from the pluralists Trinitarians, Binitarians, Arians and Semi-Arians. Included are two comprehensive indexes: Subject Index and Scripture Index. 613 pages.

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