One of the basic doctrines of the Christian Church is the Trinity. If one does not believe in the Trinity, one is not a Christian. The Church has consistently taught for the last two thousand years that there is only one true God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are distinct from one another and each person has his own role and function within the Godhead. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. The Church has also consistently taught that any confusion or combination of the persons is a heresy. For example, modalism, which teaches that the one true God is also only one person who sometimes takes on the mode (appearance or role) of the Father, sometimes the mode of the Son, and sometimes the mode of the Holy Spirit, is a heresy.
But combining the persons of the Father and the Son is precisely what Elevation Worship does in its song, “Sing Forever,” which they released in 2012. As I wrote in an earlier blog, Elevation Worship is the worship band of Elevation Church, which is headed by Steven Furtick. Here are the lyrics to the song:
We were lost but then you rescued us
Through your son, on earth you came
You took our guilt, you took our shame away
With our hands raised high
We shout your praise
Because it’s by your blood, by your blood we have been saved
We will sing forever to you God
Because of your great love
We’ll lift our lives
On the ground we bow before our king
Lifting up our hearts to you
The one who saved the one who took our blame
With our hands raised high we sacrifice
Because it’s by your blood, by your blood we are alive
We will sing forever to you God
Because of your great love
We’ll lift our lives
Our God is an awesome God he reigns
From heaven above with wisdom
Wisdom, power and love
Our God is an awesome, awesome God
The person to whom the song is addressed is simply called “God,” but the phrase “through your son” in the second line shows that the “you” in the song is God the Father. Yes, it is true that through his Son the Father took our guilt and shame away. But he did not save us by his blood. The Father did not come to earth; the Son did. The Father did not take on flesh and blood; the Son did. The Father was not crucified; the Son was. The Father did not shed his blood to save us; the Son did. By saying that we were saved “by your blood,” that is, the blood of the Father, the song is combining the persons of the Father and the Son.
This demonstrates that Elevation Worship has strayed so far away from the truth of the Scriptures that they do not understand one of the basic doctrines that the Christian Church has taught for two thousand years. How much further they will go astray remains to be seen.
So they’re saying through “His” Son, on earth He came. He – God the Father, was standing in the shoes of Jesus?
Yikes…