Modalism is a theology that denies the Trinity by insisting that God is absolutely one Person. Outwardly that may seem biblical and orthodox, but beneath the surface it poses a major fundamental problem: If God is absolutely one Person, then how are we to look at the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Modalists argue that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not eternally coexisting Persons, but rather temporary modes of expression, titles, or functions of God. Their creed is "God is Father in creation, Son in justification, and Holy Spirit in regeneration." Again, that may sound biblical and orthodox, but we must look past the surface.
While Scripture teaches undoubtedly that there is only one God, nowhere does it teach us that God is merely one Person. There are several Scriptures that teach (or at least imply) personal distinctions between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For starters, there is the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:16-17: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (KJV). In this passage (as in Mark 1:9-11 and Luke 3:21-22) we see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all coexisting at the same time as three distinct Persons. There is also John 1:1 which reads, "In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Emphasis added). Although the Word and God are One and the same in essence, this passage also teaches that they have always been (since "the beginning") distinct from each other in a different sense (see also John 14:1, 16, 26, 28; 15:26).
Furthermore, who would argue that mere functions, titles, or modes of expression can love one another (John 3:35; 5:20; 14:31; 15:9), or speak to one another (Matt. 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42; Heb. 1:8-9)? Take John 17:11b where Jesus prayed (to Himself?), "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are" (Emphasis added). If Jesus and the Father are one and the same person, then does God want all of us, His body, to bio-chemically fuse together so we can all be one and the same person also?!
Modalists condemn the Trinity as a pagan doctrine--the worship of three Gods (tritheism), but they have seriously misjudged! The doctrine of the Trinity is by no means three distinct Gods; it is one God who is three Persons eternal and distinct from one another. That is not a contradiction so as to say that God is only one in essence and three in essence simultaneously, or that He is only one person and three persons simultaneously. Obviously that would be illogical and unbiblical. God's ways are often mysterious, but never illogical! Rather the New Testament teaches that God is one in essence but three in person.
To put it blumtly, the god of modalism is not the Triune God of Scripture. It is heresy because it is the worship of a false god. That may be a harsh statement, but this is not merely a peripheral Christian debate. This issue deals directly with the very nature of God, and that is always the very first thing the cults twist and distort. Once the nature of God (theology) is twisted, the nature of salvation (soteriology) is almost always the next thing that gets twisted. Virtually all modalistic churches (as the United Pentecostal Church and the Apostolic Faith) teach that a person must be baptized with the expression "In the name of Jesus Christ" exactly that way in order to be saved. That means the expression "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" is invalid, and the person that is being baptized would still be lost in sin. They also teach that one must speak with other tongues to be saved (but see 1 Cor. 12:30 and Eph. 2:8-9). Religious groups that teach such heresies as these are tantamount to cults. There are other churches with modalistic leanings, that rightfully teach that salvation is by grace through faith and not works. Such churches are not cults, but we should distance ourselves from them and pray for their discernment.
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