What is the AHFN?
The AHFN is an independent church patterned after the original New Testament believers who met in homes for prayer, Bible study and fellowship. The AHFN strives to fulfill the great commission (Matt 28:19) of our Lord by de-emphasizing the importance of church buildings, growth programs and dogmatic traditions. We focus instead on being spirit filled, fostering genuine relationships and following biblical discipleship principles.
What does Apostolic mean?
The word Apostolic is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “of or relating to an apostle" and “of, relating to, or conforming to the teachings of the New Testament apostles”. The answer is simple then, what we teach conforms to the teachings of the New Testament apostles. If the apostle Peter taught it, so do we and if the apostle Paul said something is important, so do we.
What does Pentecostal mean?
The word Pentecostal is a little more complicated. The word Pentecost refers to the Christian feast on the seventh Sunday after Easter commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles in the upper room in Jerusalem. According to the Bible in Acts, chapter 2, the Spirit of God filled the room where the apostles were praying and waiting. A flame shaped as a tongue rested atop each person and they began speaking in an unknown language. The Bible tells us also that the apostles made their way out of the room into the streets where many people witnessed this event and questioned what was happening. The apostle Peter then explained the reason behind this miracle and the signs following it. So the word “Pentecostal” usually refers to the Christians that that emphasize individual experiences of salvation, spiritual gifts (as faith healing and prophecy), expressive worship, speaking in other tongues and evangelism.
What is the Oneness view of God?
The term "oneness" refers to the belief that there is only one God. This may seem elementary but in reality there are many doctrines taught in today’s churches that aren’t so clear about the nature of God. The Bible clearly states the fact that there is only one God but also refers to a “Father” a “Son” and a “Holy Spirit”.
Because of these descriptions, many Christian groups have wrongly concluded that the one God is divided into three persons. This teaching is commonly known as the Trinitarian doctrine. Actually the Bible never describes God as a person with the exception of Second Corinthians chapter 2, verse 10 where it is talking about the person of Christ. The Father is never called a person and the Holy Spirit is never called a person. This is an important distinction in doctrinal differences and greatly influences how one understands who Jesus really is and what he did for humanity by his death on the cross at Calvary.
Many will dismiss the difference between the teachings of Trinitarianism and Oneness as semantics that Bible theologians and scholars argue over. When in fact, the issue is of great importance to every believer. Has God divided himself into three persons who exist in the spirit world as co-equals? Or did the Father manifest himself on earth in the person of Jesus Christ as a human to die for the sins of mankind and who now operates within every Spirit filled believer as the Holy Spirit?
Oneness people view the teachings of Trinitarianism as a misinterpretation of the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and instead embrace the teaching of the Bible that God is and has always been indivisibly One. Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 4 says: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.
For a comprehensive study of the doctrine of Oneness click the link below
