Heresies in TPM – Part 1

One of the biggest problems with sermons going unquestioned in TPM is that preachers get away with anything, no matter the extent of heretical content in their messages. I happened to listen to one such message by Pas. M.T. Thomas recently. The sermon is titled “Mind of God concerning man” and 12 minutes into the sermon we can hear the Him say the following,

Below is the View of  Trinity according to TPM as mentioned by Pastor M T Thomas

“ Before the heavens were created God was there. He was seen as the triune God. There are 3 persons in the Trinity. For creation, for the sake of mankind, God became a trinity. If he did not become a triune God, the work of creation could not have taken place”

Christian Trinitarian View

This is a major deviation from the orthodox and biblical belief that God has ALWAYS been a trinity. Christians throughout history have always understood the Godhead as the following,

• There is one and only one God.
• God eternally exists in three distinct persons.
• The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
• The Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Father; the Father is not the Spirit.

TPM Trinitarian View

The pastor here seems to say that there was a point in time God “became” a Trinity as if God didn’t eternally exist as The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. This teaching seems eerily similar to the heresy of Modalism that is taught in Oneness Pentecostal churches. This teaching of Pastor MT seems to be a variation of that heresy.

Modalism was a belief that God is one person who has revealed himself in three modes in contrast to the Trinitarian doctrine where God is one being eternally existing in three persons. According to Modalism, during the incarnation, Jesus was simply God acting in one mode or role, and the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was God acting in a different mode. Thus, God does not exist as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time. Modalism thus denies the basic distinctiveness and coexistence and co-eternality of the three persons of the Trinity.

Pastor MT teaches that God did not always exist as a Trinity but instead “became” a Trinity later for the sake of Man. He also goes on to say that if God did not “become” triune, the creation work would have been impossible. The pastor is treading on dangerous waters here by questioning the sovereignty of God in the midst of teaching heresy.

Conclusion

The co-eternal aspect of the Godhead is a well-established doctrine from John 1:1, John 8:58, Rev 1:8, Heb 9:14, Isaiah 9:6 etc. To preach anything contrary to this doctrine is a heresy. Unfortunately, the man-made theology of TPM is very weak. They are obsessed with the unbiblical doctrines such as New Jerusalem and Zion and have made these “deeper truths” their all-in-all. Therefore, they are ill-equipped with defending the core essential doctrines of Christianity. This is such a dangerous place to be as errors have a way of creeping in when the foundational theology is so weak. Isn’t it a sad state of affairs when you would get excommunicated for refusing to believe an unbiblical doctrine like “Zion” but a pastor can openly teach heresy with no consequences? Sad indeed.