Long ago God established a rule of law that truth must be established by two or more witnesses. The two primary reasons for this law were to protect innocent people who were accused of a crime and to establish principles of truth. I am an attorney and I can tell you from 20 years of experience the wisdom of this one rule. I have had many trials before judges where the evidence simply consisted of one party’s word against the other’s. In such cases the judge cannot really know what happened. He can only hope to correctly discern the credibility of each witness, but, without the direct leading of the Holy Spirit, this is an impossible task. On the other hand, if there exists one or more other pieces of evidence which substantiate one witness’ testimony or another witness gives testimony who says the same thing, then the first witness’ original story can be considered true. (By the way, if a judge were perfectly led by the Holy Spirit to discern the truthfulness of witnesses, the Holy Spirit Himself would be the second witness)
The double witness rule can also be used to establish true principles and doctrine. Thus, if what I have taught in these pages concerning man being made into the image of God is correct, we should see this doctrine established by two or more witnesses. I believe I have already given well over two Scriptural references which prove this, but let’s consider even more.
Please read Ephesians 3:1-4:24. The heading on my Bible just before Chapter 3 is interesting; it reads “the mystery of the gospel revealed.” I believe that this heading is correct and that Paul does indeed reveal the mystery of the gospel in this passage. But, like all of Paul’s writings, this passage appears convoluted and difficult to understand. He begins by introducing himself as a prisoner and then says he was appointed to preach “to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God….” He doesn’t really tell us what the mystery is, however, until verse 3:19. Here he tells us that the goal of the gospel is that “you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
But, isn’t that what the Bible tells us about Jesus himself? Does it not say that in him dwelt the fullness of God in the flesh? Colossians 1:19 says, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” Colossians 2:9 says, “For in him the whole fullness of Deity dwells bodily.” So, if Paul teaches in Ephesians that the goal of Christianity is that each of us should be filled with all the fullness of God, how is that goal different than the spiritual essence of Jesus Christ Himself as revealed by the New Testament writers?
Paul continues in Ephesians saying that the goal of his and other anointed ministers’ ministries are, “for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ….” (Eph. 4:12-13) Paul clearly teaches that God’s goal for each of us is to attain the stature of both the fullness of Christ and of God.
If and when I attain to that statute then, and only then, will I have been made into God’s image. So, when we attain to the fullness of Christ and of God, what have we become? “Elohim!” says another double witness.
