[Paul Miletus]

Originally Posted by KSA

Okay, let me state my reasons for starting this thread. One of the major accusation against LC is that of modalism. However, I found out that those who set this accusation do not really know theology well. My discussion at the Bereans proved it. When we touch this matter two things usually come up: 1) Is Witness Lee's theology scriptural? 2) Is Witness Lee's theology "orthodox" i.e. in accordance with historical Christian faith. At the beginning of this thread I stated that Witness Lee's view of incarnation is not "orthodox" - he taught that Christ was the incarnation of the entire Trinity, when "orthodox" or "historical" approach is that Christ was the incarnation of the 2nd Person of the Trinity - the Son. Now we have to face a question: which position is scriptural? And is it important? If not, why? If yes, why?

For clearer discussion, please allow me to post the following excerpts from "The Move of God in Man" how Brother Witness Lee taught regarding this subject:

IV. ALL THE DIVINE TRINITY PARTICIPATING
IN THE INCARNATION

All the Divine Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—participated in the incarnation. Many Christians are accustomed to saying that the incarnation is merely the incarnation of Christ, but we must realize that this is the incarnation of Christ with the Divine Trinity.

A. Being the Incarnation of Christ as God

The incarnation is the incarnation of Christ as God. First Timothy 3:16 says that Christ was God manifested in the flesh. John 1:14 says that the Word became flesh. This is the incarnation of the Word. But verse 1 says that the Word was God, and God here is the complete God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The incarnation is the incarnation of Christ, who is the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9). Therefore, the incarnation of Christ is the incarnation of the Triune God.

B. Being the Incarnation of the Son of God

God's incarnation was the incarnation of the Son of God (Rom. 8:3). In His essence God is one, but in His economical move, God is three. This is why we do not say that God the Father accomplished redemption. We say that God the Son accomplished redemption. Acts 20:28, however, says that God obtained the church with "His own blood." Thus, the blood of Christ is the blood of God. This implies that the Lord Jesus is God. This shows that we have to be very careful when we talk about the Divine Trinity in His person and in His work. The safest way is to just follow the Bible. Whatever the Bible says, we should say. The Bible reveals the economical aspect of the Divine Trinity and it also reveals the essential aspect. Our redemption was accomplished by God the Son economically, but God the Father and God the Spirit also took part in this accomplishment. Whatever the Son did was with the Father and by the Spirit because the three are essentially one.

C. God the Father Having Participated
in the Incarnation

God the Father participated in the incarnation. Isaiah 9:6 says that a Son was given to us. This was the incarnation. According to Isaiah 9:6, the Son given to us in incarnation is called the eternal Father. Is this One the Son or the Father? John 5:43a says that the Son came in the name of the Father. We need to consider what this means. If a person goes to the bank to cash a check signed by another person, he must go there in the name of that person. To go to the bank in the name of another person is to go there as that person. The Son coming in the name of the Father means that He came as the Father. This is equivalent to the Son being the Father; hence, He is called the Father in Isaiah 9:6.

In the Divine Trinity, the Son, the Father, and the Spirit are all one. The Son came, but the Son and the Father coinhere. To coinhere is to mutually indwell each other. The Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son (John 14:10). The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are really one. No one can divide Them. There is a distinction among Them but there is no separation. In the Lord's prayer in John 17, He revealed that He and the Father are one (vv. 21-22). From all of this we can see that the Father participated in the incarnation.

D. God the Spirit Having Joined the Incarnation

God the Spirit also joined the incarnation. In Luke 1:35 the angel told Mary that the Holy Spirit would come upon her as the power for her to conceive the holy child. Matthew 1:18 and 20 tell us further that Mary "was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit" and that "that which has been begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit." This indicates that the divine essence out of the Holy Spirit had been begotten in Mary's womb before she delivered the child Jesus. The incarnation was of the Son of God, but it was carried out by the Spirit. The Spirit also participated in the incarnation.

Now we can see that the entire Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—was incarnated. All three participated in the incarnation. When we say "God's move in man," we mean the Triune God's move in man, the move of the Three of the Divine Trinity. God's incarnation was the start of God's direct move in man. The Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—all came out of eternity with divinity to enter into a human being to be one with man, to make Himself a man, and to participate in man's nature (Heb. 2:14a). This is so great and is far beyond our natural thought and understanding. God came in a silent way, in a secret way, and even in a small way. He came in His Divine Trinity to enter into a human being and be born there. By this He made Himself one with man and a part of man. From the time of His incarnation, He began not only to be in man but also to be a man.