Is the Trinity doctrine in the book of Colossians? Let’s examine all the verses in this Bible book where God and Jesus are mentioned in relation to each other. Also. let’s look for any references to the holy Spirit, which is said to be the third person of the Trinity. Then, let’s see whether what Bible says agrees with Trinitarianism, or proves it to be false. Notice all the references in this letter to the superior position of Almighty God toward his Son, Jesus Christ, and the subordinate position of Jesus Christ in relation to his heavenly Father.

Colossians 1:1 – “An apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God”  (NIV). Christ is clearly subordinate to God.

Colossians 1:2 – “To the holy ones and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae: grace to you and peace from God our Father” (NAB). “God” is clearly stated to be “the Father.” Notice the relationship that Christians have—the scripture says they are brothers of Christ, but “children of God” (Galatians 3:26 NAB). This clearly places Almighty God in a superior, and higher, position in relation to Jesus Christ. 

“Epaphras . . . has made known to us your love in the Spirit” (Colossians 1:8 NRSV). This is the only mention in the book of Colossians of the holy Spirit, but it does not provide any evidence that the holy Spirit is a person, as Trinitarians claim it is. The reference to “the Spirit” is actually a clue that the holy Spirit is not a person

Colossians 1:3 – “God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The Father is distinct from, and superior to, the Son.

We notice in these opening introductory verses of Colossians very clear references to “God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” but no references to the holy Spirit, or to the Trinity. If the holy Spirit was actually a person, one who is equal to the Father and Jesus, the third person of the Trinity, we would expect such a mention, but there is none.

Colossians 1:12,13 – “Giving thanks to the Father, who . . . transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (NAB). The Father is obviously the one who is in control, and is the one who effects this transference.

Colossians 1:15 – “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (NRSV; NAB). The “image” is never the same as, or equal to, the original. Also, Jesus was “firstborn”, which can never be said of Almighty God, and Jesus is referred to as part of creation, as a “creature” (KJV), which can never be said of Almighty God. Jesus is clearly shown throughout the Bible to have a beginning to his existence. His “origin is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2 NRSV). The Trinity doctrine asserts that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is eternal, but the scriptures prove that idea to be false.

“Through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth . . . Everything was created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16 NLT). Jesus is neither the originator, nor the Creator. Almighty God is, but notice that he created everything “through” Jesus. “Christ . . . is preeminent and supreme a God’s agent in the creation of all things” (NAB note on Colossians 1:16).

“The firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18). Jesus was the very first one to receive a permanent resurrection, that is, to heaven. The fact that God resurrected Jesus from the dead, in, and of,  itself, proves his superiority to Jesus. Additionally, since “Christ died” (1 Corinthians 15:3), “Yahweh . . . God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB), Jesus cannot be Yahweh God.

“God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (Colossians 1:19 NIV). This verse shows that God the Father, not Jesus, not the holy Spirit, or the Trinity, is the one who is in total control, by putting “all his fullness in” Christ.

“Through him [Christ] to reconcile to himself all things” (Colossians 1:20 NIV). God, the one who is in control, uses Christ to “reconcile”, or bring to him, “all things”. How?

“By making peace through his blood” (Colossians 1:20 NIV). God, the one in charge, uses his agent, Christ, to ‘make peace’ by ‘using Christ’s sacrifice’ as the basis for “peace”.

“This includes you who were once far away from God . . . now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ . . . As a result, he has brought you into his own presence” (Colossians 1:21,23 NLT). God uses Christ to bring people to himself, which implies strongly that God and Christ are not the same.

“God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too” (Colossians 1:27 NLT). Again, this verse shows that Almighty God is in control, and that he and Christ are separate and distinct individuals.

“So we tell others about Christ . . . we want to present them to God” (Colossians 1:28 NLT). God and Christ are again shown to be separate and distinct.

“And grasp God’s secret, which is Christ himself” (Colossians 2:2 REB). The “mystery”, or “God’s secret”, “is “Christ himself”, giving evidence of their separateness and distinctiveness. Also, notice: “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ” (Colossians 2:2 NIV). Contrary to Trinitarian teaching, which asserts that God remains mysterious and unknowable – even for Christians – we are told that we, as Christians, can “have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ”. Knowing what the Bible actually says protects us from false doctrines and teachings, such as the Trinity.

“In him, in bodily form, lives divinity in all its fullness” (Colossians 2:9 NJB). Trinitarians assert that this means that Jesus is Almighty God. However, if Jesus was Almighty God, why would Paul even need to make this statement? Jesus, in that case, would, by definition, already have all of God’s “fullness”. “He has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through these you may come to share in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4 NAB). Christians also share in the “divine nature.”

“In Christ you have been brought to fullness” (Colossians 2:10 NIV). If Christ’s having God’s “fullness” makes him to be God, as Trinitarians claim, then Christians, who have God’s ‘fullness in Christ,’ would be God also!

“God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12 NIV). Almighty “God” who “never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB), resurrected Jesus, who was “was dead” (Revelation 1:18), not the other way around. Jesus died, which means he can’t be God.

“Christ sits in the place of honor, at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1 NLT). While Jesus is honored with the highest position in existence next to his Father, he is obviously not Almighty God, since he sits next to him, at the most favored position, the right hand. Where is the holy Spirit in these pictures, if it is the third person of the Trinity?

“Do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17). Once again, “God” is clearly stated to be the Father, and someone other than Jesus. In going through Jesus, praying to the Father, it shows Jesus’ important role in our relationship with the Supreme being, Almighty God the Father.

“That God may open a door to us for the message, to speak the mystery of the Messiah” (Colossians 4:3 HCSB). This shows God’s complete control of all matters, and it is also notable that Jesus is is referred to as the Messiah, but God never is.

Is the Trinity doctrine in the book of Colossians? Colossians thus eliminates the equality aspect of the Trinity doctrine, as well as the claims that Jesus Christ and the holy Spirit are Almighty God, by showing the impossibility of such assertions.