In our series about what is stated concerning God, Jesus, and the holy Spirit, is there any evidence of the Trinity doctrine in the various books of the New Testament? This article examines whether the Trinity is in Romans.

“Romans is theologically the most important of all the epistles written by Paul, and it contains his most comprehensive and logical presentation of the gospel . . . this foundational New Testament book”—Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts, page 380

Since Romans is said to “this foundational New Testament book,” we would expect to at least find some evidence of the Trinity doctrine, if it is true, in this important book of Romans.

Notice the relationship between the two – God and Jesus. How about the holy Spirit, how does it play a role?

Romans 1:1 – “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News” (NLT). ” . . . and set apart for the gospel of God” (NAB). The gospel, the good news, belongs to God, the superior one, not to Jesus. This eliminates the equality aspect of the Trinity doctrine. Also, there is no mention of the holy Spirit or the Trinity in this verse. Why? Because, the holy Spirit, although it is real, is not a person.

Romans 1:2 – “God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy scriptures” (NLT). “God”, not Jesus, not the holy Spirit, nor the Trinity, is the one who is in control, or Almighty, and he promised the gospel..

Romans 1:3 – “the gospel about his Son” (NAB), “regarding his Son” (NIV). The gospel is about God’s Son, Jesus Christ. We see from the book of Romans that the focus is on God, who deals with humankind through his Son. In no way does Romans give any indication that the Son of God is God, or part of a Trinity, as Trinitarians like to claim.

Romans 1:4 – “Established as Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness through the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (NAB). Jesus was “appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord” (NIV). If Jesus has been Almighty God from eternity, as Trinitarians claim, why would he need to be ‘appointed, or established, as the Son of God by his resurrection’? Since he was “appointed,” that means that God, who did the appointing, is the superior. Therefore, there is no equality, as the Trinity doctrine claims. Here, as in the rest of the Bible, Jesus is presented as “the Son of God,” not “God the Son” – entirely separate and distinct from the God the Father.  Since “God has resurrected this Jesus” (Acts 2:32 HCSB), and Jesus “was dead” (Revelation 1:18), it means that Jesus has not been eternal, as the Trinity doctrine claims.

Romans 1:7 – “from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (NIV). It is admitted by Trinitarians that, “two divine persons are in view here . . . the Lord Jesus Christ . . . is shown to be another person besides the Father” (The Forgotten Trinity, p 157). As Jesus plainly said, he and his Father are “two witnesses” (John 8:17,18). But, why isn’t the letter also from the holy Spirit, the supposed third person of the Trinity, if the Trinity doctrine is true? Why is the holy Spirit AWOL from this scene?- Because the holy Spirit is not a person. “God” is shown in this verse to be the “Father,” and not “the Lord Jesus Christ,” who is an entirely separate individual.

Romans 1:8 – “I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ” (NAB) – Notice that he thanks God, not Jesus, or the Trinity. But he does so “through Jesus.” This is the proper way to pray, not to Jesus or the Trinity, but through Jesus (John 14:6; Matthew 6:9). “My God” is clearly shown not to be Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:9 – “God, whom I serve in preaching the gospel of his Son” (NIV) – Paul says he is serving God, not Jesus, or the Trinity, in the preaching of God’s Son. “God” is clearly shown to be someone other than “his Son.”

Romans 2:16 – “God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ” (NIV) – “God” is presented as someone other than Jesus, and is the ultimate “judge of all” (Hebrews 12:23), doing so “through Jesus Christ.” “God” is obviously superior to Jesus Christ (John 14:28), which fact negates the “eternal” clause of the Trinity doctrine.

Romans 3:22 – “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ” (NAB) – God’s righteousness flows through Jesus Christ to believing  humans. This shows that God the Father is supreme over his Son, Jesus Christ (John 14:28).

Romans 3:24-26 – “They are justified by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation through . . . through the forbearance of God–to prove his righteousness in the present time, that he might be righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus” (NAB) – These verses indicate that the channel to and from God is Jesus, but God is not Jesus. God presented Christ, who died, as a sacrifice of atonement. This shows that God, not Jesus, is the one who is in complete control. God uses Jesus mightily, but Jesus is obviously not equal to God. “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood” (Romans 3:25 NIV). “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement” means that “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), whereas “God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB).

Romans 3:30 – “God is one”. The Greek word for “one” is “heis”, which is the numeral one. “God is only one” (Galatians 3:20 NASB). “Yahweh our God is one Yahweh” (Deuteronomy 6:4 LSB). This truth eliminates any possibility that God can be more than one person, such as the 3-in-1, God in three persons, Trinity!

Romans 5:1 – “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” – A Christian’s peace comes from God, the supreme being, through Jesus Christ (1 John 4:8; John 14:6).

Romans 5:5 – “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us” (NAB). ” . . . through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (NRSV). God operates through the holy Spirit. These translations accurately render the Greek text. Even though many translations use the pronoun “who,” or “whom” here in referencing the holy Spirit, it is clear from the Greek that “that,” or “which,” is the thought intended. This verse makes it clear that the holy Spirit is not a person.

Romans 5:8,10 – “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us . . . We were reconciled to God through the death of his Son” (NAB) – Jesus, not God, died for us. “The death of his Son” means that “Christ” actually “died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), so he cannot be God because, “Yahweh . . . God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB).

Romans 5:9 – “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” (NIV). This verse once again shows that God operates through Jesus, which gives evidence that God, not Jesus, is the superior one.

Romans 5:11 – “We boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (NAB) – We always have to go through Jesus to get to God, in fact we can only know God through Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

Romans 5:15 – “Even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift to many through this other man, Jesus Christ” (NLT) – The supreme being, God, channels his blessings through Jesus Christ. Jesus is called a “man,” which proves he can’t be God, because “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19).

Romans 5:17 – “Even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness . . . through this one man, Jesus Christ” (NLT) – God’s gifts and provisions flow through Jesus, which shows that God is superior over Jesus. Jesus is again called a man, proving he’s not God.

Romans 6:4,9 – “Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father . . . Christ was raised from the dead, he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him” (NLT) – In these verses, it is shown that the God who resurrected Jesus is “the Father” (Acts 2:32), brought him back to life, which proves that Jesus can’t be God because he “died” (1 Corinthians 15:3), and “God . . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12). This means that God is superior over Jesus (John 14:28).

Romans 6:10: 8:3 – “The life he lives, he lives to God” (NIV). “God has done this by sending his own Son” (NAB) – Jesus is said to be ‘living to God,’ that is, not literally, but, in godly submission, which, once again, indicates that God the Father is superior over Jesus. The lesser submits to the greater. The sender is greater than the one sent, as Jesus said: “No slave is greater than his master, no messenger is greater than the one who sent him” (John 13:16 NAB).

Romans 6:11,23 – “Consider yourselves . . . alive to God through Christ Jesus . . . The free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (NLT) – God the Father deals with humans, not directly, but “through” his Christ, his Son Jesus (John 14:6). “Christ Jesus” is the “one mediator between God and the human race”  (1 Timothy 2:5 NAB). God has always dealt with his people through covenants, and he deals with Christians through the New Covenant, which is mediated by Christ (Hebrews 9:14,15). This is why all of God’s dealings with humans are “through Christ Jesus”, rather than directly. All of which means that Jesus is not God.

Romans 7:4 – “you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.” (NIV). Christ was resurrected from the dead by God (Acts 2:32), so he can’t be God, because “Yahweh . . . God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB).

Romans 7:25; 8:32 – “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (LSB). “He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all” (NIV). God operates and sends his blessings through Jesus, and he gave Jesus for the salvation of all, therefore, God is “greater than” Jesus (John 14:28).

Romans 8:11 – “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you” (NRSV). The fact that God resurrected Jesus Christ from the “dead” (Revelation 1:18) is twice stated in this verse. Since “God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB), Jesus Christ cannot be Almighty God. The holy Spirit is referred to as “the spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead,” and “his Spirit that dwells in you,” so it is God’s spirit, and not a person. Without the holy Spirit being a person, the Trinity doctrine collapses.

Romans 8:16,26,27 – “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God . . . the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will” (NAB). An American Translation (AAT) renders the verse similarly, but most translations translate these verses in a Trinitarian biased way, as “himself” (v16,26) and “he” (v27). However, according to the highly respected Nestle-Aland Greek text, the accurate rendering is “itself” (v16,26) and “it” (v27). Therefore, according to the accurate rendering from the Greek, these verses use the pronouns “itself” and “it” to describe the holy Spirit. The pronouns “it” and “itself” do not describe a person, proving that the holy Spirit is not a person. Without the holy Spirit being a person, the Trinity doctrine collapses.

Romans 8:29 – “God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among brothers and sisters” (NLT) – Almighty God, not his Son, exclusively has the ultimate power to foreknow the future. Jesus said there were some things that he did not know (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32), which means that Jesus can’t be God. We also note from this verse that Jesus has “brothers and sisters” (Matthew 25:40; Hebrews 2:11). In contrast, God has “children” (Galatians 3:26; Revelation 21:5-7), but no “brothers and sisters,” which testifies to the fact that Jesus cannot be God. Jesus is also referred to as “the firstborn among brothers and sisters”, which means that he came first in time, as the very first Christian “brother”. Trinitarians deny that “firstborn” at Colossians 1:15 means first in time because of their “eternal God the Son” dogma. However, “firstborn” in any sense, never applies to one who is eternal, such as Almighty God.

Romans 8:34; 14:9– “Christ Jesus who died . . . who was raised to life . . . is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us . . . For to this end Christ died and returned to life” (NIV).  Christ died and return to life – God didn’t die, Jesus did. This proves Jesus has not been eternal, and the Trinity doctrine is contradicted by Romans. Christ, at the right hand of God, intercedes for us with God as the “one mediator between God and the human race” (1 Timothy 2:5 NAB), so Jesus can’t be God

Romans 8:39 – “From the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Since “the love of God . . . is in Christ Jesus our Lord”, Jesus cannot be God, who put his love into Christ.

Romans 9:5 – “Theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh is the Messiah. God whois over all be blessed forever. Amen” (NAB). The NAB explains the reason for its translation in its footnote on the verse: “Paul’s point is that God who is over all aimed to use Israel, which had been entrusted with every privilege, in outreach to the entire world through the Messiah.” Many other translations render the verse like this:“Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised” (NIV). Translations like this one render the Greek in a way that makes Jesus “God over all.” However, this statement contradicts the Trinity doctrine itself, by making Jesus supreme over all, even over God and the holy Spirit. How is that? “In this Trinity . . . None is greater, or less, than another. But the whole three persons are . . . coequal” (Athanasian Creed). Even worse, this translation contradicts the Bible itself: “Supreme over the nations is Yahweh, supreme over the heavens his glory” (Psalm 113:4 NJB). “One God and Father of all, who is over all” (Ephesians 4:6). the Bible says that it is God the Father who is over all, not the Messiah. The “Lord” “God” is referred to in the Bible as having “his Messiah” (Revelation 11:15; 12:10). The NIV translators admit that the Greek of Romans 9:5 can also be properly be translated as, “the Messiah. God who is over all be forever praised” (NIV marginal reading).

Romans 10:9 – “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (NIV). This verse shows us that “God” is someone other than “Jesus,” which puts Trinitarians in a corner, because they claim “Jesus is God”. Then who is the “God” that resurrected Jesus? Trinitarians claim “the Son has always been eternal”, contradicting this scripture that says Jesus was “dead” (Revelation 1:18). Trinitarians claim that only “the human part of Jesus died, not the God part”, contradicting the scripture that says Jesus “was fully human in every way” (Hebrews 2:17 NIV). If any part of Jesus remained alive, he couldn’t have died for our sins. Since “Yahweh . . . God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB), this is yet another powerful proof that Jesus is not Almighty God. Without Jesus being God, and being eternal, there is powerful evidence against the Trinity doctrine in Romans.

Romans 14:18; 15:5-7 – “Anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God . . . May the God who gives endurance… Give you the same attitude… that Christ Jesus had . . . You may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . As Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (NIV). These four scriptures show that: (1) God and Jesus to be two entirely separate persons, never the same “being”, “substance”, “essence”, or “nature”; (2) God is someone other than Christ; and (3) God is the Father. 

Romans 15:8 – “Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promise he made to their ancestors” (NLT). Since God has never been anyone’s servant, we can see Christ cannot be God.

 Romans 15:16-18; 16:26,27 – “To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles… And offering acceptable to God . . . I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God . . . What Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God . . . According to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith–to the only wise God be glory forevermore” (NIV; ESV). In these four scriptural texts, God is said to be eternal, Jesus is not. Glory to God goes through, not to, Jesus Christ. As Jesus said, “The Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory” (Matthew 16:27 NIV). These factors prove that Jesus isn’t God, and the Trinity doctrine isn’t in the book of Romans.

Romans 15:19 – ” . . . through the power of the Spirit of God” (NIV). The holy Spirit is here identified as “the Spirit of God”, but we also notice how “power” is connected with the holy Spirit. The scriptures seem to indicate that the holy Spirit is essentially God’s “power”, what he uses to get his work done, both physical and spiritual (Psalm 104:30; Luke 1:17; Acts 1:8).

God and Jesus are presented throughout the book of Romans as separate and distinct persons, who are not of the same “essence”, “substance”, “nature”, or “being”, but they’re working in perfect harmony, with God the Father as superior and Jesus his Son as subordinate (John 14:28). The holy Spirit is never identified as a person, but rather as an “it” (Romans 16:17,26,27). There is no mention, nor any evidence,  of any aspect of the Trinity doctrine in the book of Romans.