in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” By neglecting communion with the Spirit and asserting it is unnecessary to acknowledge Him in conjunction with the Father and the Son, they clearly stand against God's directive. If they claim that this unity in the Lord lacks true communion, let them clarify their perspective and propose another illustration of unity that is more fitting. However, if the Lord did not establish the Spirit in communion with Himself and the Father during this command, then they should not place the blame on us for asserting this unity, as we are simply vocalising what the Lord has established.
If the Spirit is indeed unified with the Father and the Son, and no one would dare argue otherwise, we must not be accused of deviating from Scripture. We find ourselves at the center of an assault, with every hostile thought aimed at us; the words from those who deny truth are like arrows shot with greater fury than the stones cast at Stephen by the attackers of Christ. The surface of their accusations serves as mere pretense; their true objective is far more lofty. While they prepare for battle against us and summon each other for strength, the core of their attack targets faith. All who oppose the sound doctrine share this singular goal: to undermine and dismantle the steadfastness of faith in Christ and to disrupt the apostolic tradition. Outwardly, they appear as sincere seekers demanding scriptural proof while dismissing the testimony of the fathers as lacking authority if not explicitly supported by Scripture. Nevertheless, we shall remain steadfast in the truth and never retreat from it due to fear. If the Lord has established the necessity of the Holy Spirit's union with the Father as a saving doctrine and they argue otherwise, segregating and downgrading the Spirit while relegating Him to a mere ministerial role, they effectively elevate their blasphemy over God's command.
Let us set aside all disputes and consider what we have on hand. Why do we identify as Christians? Everyone will respond: by faith. And how do we attain salvation? Through regeneration, specifically, the grace received in baptism. For how else could we be saved? When we acknowledge this salvation, confirmed by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, should we veer from the doctrine we have been taught? It would be a profound disgrace if we now find ourselves further from our salvation than at the onset of our belief by choosing to reject what we have received. The loss is the same whether we perish unbaptised or receive a baptism lacking any essential element of the faith. Whoever fails to preserve the confession we made at our initial conversion—when we turned from idols to serve the living God—and does not uphold it throughout his life as a sacred trust, distances himself from the promises of God, acting in contradiction to the faith he professed.
If baptism is my commencement of true life, marking the day of my rebirth as the beginning of all days, it is clear that the words I have spoken in the grace of my sonship are invaluable. Therefore, shall I be led astray by the beliefs of those who seek to change that tradition which brings me into the light, the tradition that unveiled the knowledge of God to me, transforming me from a former enemy of God due to sin into a child of God? On the contrary, I fervently wish to depart to the Lord with this confession, encouraging them to preserve their faith unblemished until the day of Christ, keeping the Spirit inseparable from the Father and the Son, and maintaining the doctrine of baptism both in the admission of faith and in the expression of glory.
THEOSIS