The appearance of Christ in the flesh was merely a Theophany similar to the Theophanies of the Old Testament, when God appeared before men in the quiescent form of an angel. The incarnation was thus not real; it was temporary, not permanent. There was no actual assumption of the human, no glorification of it, no resurrection and ascension.
Sabellius was also grasping at the truth, but he did not grasp it, for Christ was an objective reality. His life and death were real. John insists that this is so when he says in his epistle, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you." (1 John 1:1, 2.) We also recall this statement: "Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God." (1 John 4:2), and he declares that he who denies it is anti-Christ.
Sabellius taught that the Trinity of Father,
