In our series about what is stated concerning God, Jesus, and the holy Spirit in the various books of the New Testament, this article will examine the Gospel of Luke. Is the Trinity doctrine in the Book of Luke?

Luke 1:31 – “Name him Jesus,” (not God, or Yahweh)

Luke 1:32 – “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, Yahweh God will give Him the throne of His father David”(LSB margin) – The greater gives to the lesser. He will be called, not God or “God the Son”, but “the Son of the Most High” who is “the Yahweh God.” Jesus has forefathers, such as David, but Yahweh God doesn’t have any forefathers, since he is “from eternity” (Psalm 90:2). This is another reason why Jesus cannot be God.

Luke 1:34 – “But Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?'” (NAB). “According to Luke, the virginal conception takes place through the holy Spirit, the power of God, and therefore Jesus has a unique relationship to Yahweh: he is the Son of God.” (NAB note on Luke 1:34). The Son of God cannot be God, or the Trinitarian-concocted “God the Son”.

Luke 1:35 – “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (NAB) (not God). The holy Spirit is shown in this verse to be”the power” of God, which means it is not portrayed as a person. The angel once again emphasizes the fact that the child will be called “the Son of God,” not God. If the holy Spirit was a person, Jesus would have been ‘the Son of the holy Spirit.’ Without the holy Spirit being a person, the holy Spirit can’t be God, and so the Trinity doctrine is falsified, which means there is no Trinity in Luke.

Luke 2:11 – “the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord has been born,” (not God). God is not the Messiah.

Luke 2:25,30 – “Simeon . . . It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he would not die before had seen the Messiah of the Lord . . . when the parents brought in the child Jesus . . . he took him into his arms and praised God, saying: ‘Master . . . my eyes have seen your salvation'” (NAB). God uses the holy Spirit to accomplish his work, but it is not a person. Without the holy Spirit being a person, there is no Trinity. Jesus is said to be “the Messiah” and God’s “salvation”, not Jesus’ salvation. God is not “the Messiah”. Therefore, Jesus cannot be God.

Luke 2:32 – “A light for revelation to the Gentiles” (NIV; NAB). Jesus is “a light” to reveal God to the nations, (not himself)

Luke 2:40 – “The favor of God was upon him” (ESV). God’s favor was on him (Jesus), which means that Jesus is someone other than God. Without Jesus being God, there is no Trinity in Luke.

Luke 2:49 – “I must be in my Father’s house” – Father-Son relationship is emphasized. Jesus is shown to be subservient to his Father, not equal, as in Trinitarianism.

Luke 2:52 – “Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (NASB). The claim of Jesus’ omniscience is refuted by the fact that he kept increasing in wisdom and learning. If Jesus was God, there would be nothing he needed to learn. Contrast this with “Yahweh,” of whom it is said,“who . . .  taught Him knowledge And made Him know the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:2,14 LSB).– This means that Yahweh God is someone other than Jesus, and is “greater than” Jesus (John 14:28), which debunks Trinitarianism..

Luke 3:6 – “all people will see the salvation sent from God” – sent from God, but not Jesus.

Luke 3:21,22 – “After all the people were baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily from like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son; with you I am well pleased'” (NAB). God speaks from heaven as Jesus comes up from the water in the Jordan River, and the holy Spirit is visible as a dove in the air coming upon Jesus. The three are shown as entirely separate, and being in the form of a dove is an indication the holy Spirit is not person. If Jesus was “God incarnate”, as Trinitarians claim, he would be fully God from his birth, and would already have full use of the holy Spirit, so it would not need to come upon down upon him.

Luke 4:8 – “Jesus . . . said . . . ‘It is written, “You shall worship Yahweh YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY”‘” (LSB margin). Jesus emphasized that Yahweh is to be worshipped exclusively, and no one else, not even himself. Jesus made clear in Luke 4:16 that he isn’t Yahweh, by saying, “the SPIRIT OF Yahweh IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL” (LSB margin). If Jesus was Yahweh, he wouldn’t need to be anointed with Yahweh’s spirit.

Luke 4:9 – “If you are the Son of God . . . “. We notice that God’s archenemy Satan the Devil, challenged Jesus to prove he was “the Son of  God”, not “God the Son“. The issue is not whether or Jesus is God, but whether he is the Son of God.

Luke 4:18-21 – “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach . . . the scripture you’ve heard has been fulfilled today.” Jesus read from Isaiah 61:1, which reads, “The spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me for Yahweh has anointed me” (NJB). Rather than being referred to as a person, the holy Spirit is referred to as “the spirit of the Lord Yahweh,” which proves the holy Spirit is not a person. If Jesus was “God incarnate”, as Trinitarians claim, he would not need to be anointed by God with the holy Spirit, because he would already be fully God, with full use of the holy Spirit. Without the holy Spirit being God, or Jesus being “God incarnate”, there is no Trinity doctrine is proven false.

Luke 4:34,41 – “you’re the Holy One of God”. “you are the Son of God”  – Demons knew who Jesus was, but they never called him God or “God the Son”. The titles “The Holy One of God” and “the Son of God” both prove that Jesus wasn’t God.

Luke 4:43 – “that’s why I was sent” – Who sent him? Jesus said, “God sent me” (John 8:42 NIV), and “I came from God. I came from the Father” (John 16:27,28 NAB). The greater sends the lesser. Without equality, the Trinity doctrine collapses.

Luke 5:20-24 – “Your sins are forgiven . . . Who but God alone can forgive sins? . . . that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . .” (NAB) – Who gave Jesus this authority? – God the Father did! In the parallel account at Matthew 9:8, “the crowd . . . praised God for sending a man with such great authority” (NLT 2013). Almighty God the Father, the superior, “sent” his Son Jesus with the “authority” that he God gave Jesus his Son, the inferior.

Luke 6:5 – “the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” – Jesus referred to himself as “the Son of Man” – not as God, not as “God the Son”, not as the Trinity.

Luke 6:12 – “He spent the night in prayer to God” (NAB). Jesus prayed to God all night, the scripture reports – not to himself, not to Trinity, but to God. This shows that God is someone other than Jesus.

Luke 6:22 – “Raising his eyes toward his disciples he said . . . ‘Blessed are you when people . . . denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of the Man” (NAB). Jesus said his disciples because of the Son of Man, which, of course, is himself. “The Son of Man” cannot be God. Why? – Because “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19).

Luke 7:12 – “As He approached the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only begotten son of his mother, and she was a widow” (LSB margin). No one would think of this “dead man . . . the only begotten son of his mother” as being eternal. Jesus is Almighty God’s “only begotten Son” (John 1:14; 3:16,18; 1 John 4:9 KJV; LSB), which is the exact same word in Greek (“monogenes”) used to describe the widow’s son, and Trinitarians claim he is eternal. (“The Son eternal”–Athanasian Creed). Examining the scriptures exposes the false claims of the Trinity doctrine.

Luke 7:16 – The crowd praised God, saying “A mighty prophet has risen among us and God has visited his people” – A mighty prophet is what Jesus was called by the crowd. Jesus, the “mighty prophet”, represented God, which is what true prophets do, so he couldn’t be God.

Luke 7:23 – “God blesses those who do not turn away from me.” – The blessings Jesus spoke of come from God, who is portrayed as someone other than “me”, Jesus said.

Luke 7:34 – “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking” – Jesus referred to himself  as the “Son of Man,” not as God. God is not “the Son of Man”, so Jesus couldn’t be God.

Luke 8:21 – “those who hear God’s Word and obey” – Jesus referred to “God’s word”, not his (Jesus’) word.

Luke 8:28 – “Jesus, Son of the Most High God” – Jesus is referred to as “the Son of the Most High God,” but not as God. Jesus thus proves that Yahweh God the Father is supreme over everyone, including himself.

Luke 8:42 – “A man named Jairus . . . had an only begotten daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying” (LSB margin). No one would think of Jairus’ “only begotten daughter” as being eternal. Jesus is Almighty God’s “only begotten Son” (John 1:14; 3:16,18; 1 John 4:9 KJV; LSB), which is the exact same word in Greek (“monogenes”) used to describe Jairus’ daughter, and Trinitarians claim Jesus is eternal. (“The Son eternal”–Athanasian Creed). Examining all the scriptures carefully exposes the false claims of the Trinity doctrine.

Luke 9:20 – “You are the Messiah sent from God” – Being “sent” makes them separate. The greater, God,  sends the lesser, the Messiah, Jesus. Without equality, there is no Trinity in Luke.

Luke 9:22 – “Son of Man must suffer” – Jesus called himself “the Son of Man”, not “God the Son”, not God, not the Trinity. “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19), so Jesus can’t be God.

Luke 9:26 – “the Son of Man will be ashamed” – Jesus called himself “the Son of Man”, not God the Son, not God, not the Trinity. “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19), so Jesus can’t be God.

Luke 9:35 – “This is my Son, the Chosen One” – God the Father from heaven said of Jesus, “my Son,” not me, not “God the Son”, which an unscriptural expression.

Luke 9:38 – “A man from the crowd shouted, saying, ‘Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only begotten” (LSB margin). No one would think of this man’s demon-possessed son (Luke 9:39) as being eternal. Jesus is Almighty God’s “only begotten Son” (John 1:14; 3:16,18; 1 John 4:9 KJV; LSB), which is the exact same word in Greek (“monogenes”) used to describe the man’s son, and Trinitarians claim Jesus is eternal. (“The Son eternal”–Athanasian Creed). Examining all the scriptures carefully exposes the false claims of the Trinity doctrine.

Luke 9:44 – “the Son of Man is going to be betrayed” – Jesus called himself “the Son of Man”, not “God the Son”, not God, not the Trinity. “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19), so Jesus can’t be God.

Luke 9:48 – “Welcomes my Father who sent me” – Jesus said he was sent by his Father, who is separate, distinct, and superior to Jesus.

Luke 10:21 – “At that very moment he rejoiced in the holy Spirit and said, ‘I give you praise, Father, lord of heaven and earth” – Jesus was not praying to himself, nor to any Trinity, but to his Father, Almighty God, his superior. His rejoicing “in the holy Spirit” indicates that it is not a person. Without the holy Spirit being a person, the Trinity doctrine collapses.

Luke 10:22 – “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Father but the Son, no one truly knows the Son but the Father” – ‘Entrusted to me,’ by his “Father”, Jesus said, indicating his Father has greater power, eliminating the equality claim of the Trinity. ‘Knowing’ each other indicates they are “two” entirely separate and different people (John 8:17,18), who have a very close, intimate relationship.

Luke 10:27 – “YOU SHALL LOVE YAHWEH YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART …” (LSB margin) – Love Yahweh God foremost, not Jesus, not “the Trinity”, which shows the supremacy of Yahweh God the Father, and eliminates the equality claim of the Trinity.

Luke 11:2 – “this is how you should pray: Father, may your name be kept holy” – His Father is the one to be prayed to, showing “the Father is greater than” Jesus (John 14:28); and therefore an entirely separate and distinct person. The Father is the superior, Jesus is the inferior. Without equality, the Trinity doctrine collapses.

Luke 11:13 – “if you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (NAB). – Notice, it is the heavenly Father who gives the holy Spirit, not the Son of God, Jesus Christ, showing the Father is superior. “THE holy Spirit” indicates that it is not a person. Without equality, the Trinity doctrine collapses.

Luke 11:30 – “What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign that he was sent by God” (NLT) – Jesus “was sent by God,” so he obviously cannot be God. The greater, sends the lesser, so the equality . Jesus’ title, “the Son of Man”, also indicates that he cannot be God, because “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19). Without equality, the Trinity doctrine collapses.

Luke 12:5 – “Fear God” (NLT) – Not “the Son”, not “God the Son”, nor “the Trinity”, terms which are never found in the Bible.

Luke 12:10 – “Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes  the holy Spirit will not be forgiven” – The Trinity doctrine claims the three, God, Jesus and the holy Spirit, are equal, but this scripture clearly shows that God the Father is greater. How so? The holy Spirit represents God the Father, which shows the Father is “greater than” Jesus (John 14:28).

Luke 12:20 –  “the holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say” (NAB). On another occasion, Jesus was teaching the same thing, but he expressed it slightly differently, by saying,  “It will not be you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:20 NAB). By comparison, we note that “the holy Spirit” is “the Spirit of your Father,” which indicates the holy Spirit is not a person.

Luke 17:22-26, 30; Luke 18:8, 31; Luke 19:10 – Jesus refers to himself as “the Son of Man”, not “God the Son”, or part of a “Trinity”, which are two terms which are never mentioned in the Bible. Since “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19), Jesus could not be God.

Luke 18:19 – “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone” (NAB) – “Good’, that is, in the absolute sense, which clearly demarcates the difference between God and Jesus, with “God” being both superior and someone other than Jesus.

Luke 18:38-39 – “Jesus, Son of David”, which is a title that could not be applied to God. God is no one’s son (Numbers 23:19; Psalm 90:2), which is another proof that Jesus isn’t God.

Luke 19:11,12 – “While they were listening to him speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God would appear there immediately. So he said, ‘A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return” (NAB). In the parable of the Ten Minas, or Gold Coins, the nobleman” (Jesus) would go to a “distant country” (heaven) “to obtain the kingship” (from God) – Jesus is shown to be entirely separate, distinct, and inferior to God. If Jesus was God, as Trinitarians claim, he wouldn’t have to “obtain the kingship”, he would already have it, which is another proof that Jesus isn’t God.

Luke 20:9-19 – “The owner of the vineyard said . . . ‘I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him'” (LSB). In the parable of vineyard, the owner (God) sends his servants (prophets), and finally sends his son (Jesus), to the tenants (the Jews, repenting the Jewish nation), who kill them all. God and Jesus are again shown to be “two” entirely separate and distinct people (John 8:17,18), with the owner of the vineyard, God, being superior to his son, whom he sent and was killed. The separateness and superiority of God over his Son, and the fact that his Son died but God never dies, all serve to expose the false doctrine of the Trinity.

Luke 20:41-44 – “Then he said to them, ‘How do they claim that the Messiah is the Son of David? For David himself in the Book of Psalms says: “The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool”. Now if David calls him “lord”, how can he be his son?'” (NAB). – Trinitarians would have us believe the scripture reads something like, ‘God said to God’, or “Yahweh said to Yahweh”. But Jesus is quoting from Psalm 110:1,  “Yahweh says to my Lord: Sit at My right hand'” (LSB), confirms God’s identity as “Yahweh”, and Jesus’ identity as the Messiah, the Son of God. The separateness of Yahweh God and Christ is highlighted here. Jesus not only doesn’t  claim to be Yahweh God here, but identifies himself as the Messiah. God is obviously not the Messiah.

Luke 21:27 – “Then they will see the Son of Man.” (NAB) – Trinitarians would have us believe that Jesus was a “God-Man”, with a supposed “dual nature”, who is “fully God and fully man”, they assert; none of which is scriptural. However, the Son of Man can’t be God, because “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19). When he came to earth, Jesus, “The Word became flesh”, “fully human in every way” (John 1:14 LSB; Hebrews 2:17 NIV).

Luke 22:20 – “This cup is the new covenant sealed by my blood” (ISV) – Since Jesus is “the mediator” of the new covenant (Hebrews 9:15), he can’t be God, because, “there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5 NAB).

Luke 22:22 – Jesus said, “It has been determined that the Son of Man must die.” (NLT) –  Notice that Jesus did call himself “God the Son”, “God”, or “Trinity”. Since “God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB), Jesus couldn’t be God, because he was to “die” (John 11:51,52).

Luke 22:29 – “Just as my Father has granted me a kingdom.” (NLT) Receiving  a kingdom by grant from his Father, means he’s not God. God the Father is shown to superior over Jesus, which means there is no equality, so that eliminates the Trinity claim of equality..

Luke 22:42-43 – “Father . . . not my will, but yours be done” (NIV). – Jesus spoke of two different wills – “yours…mine” = “two”  entirely separate people (John 8:17,18), therefore none of the claimed same “essence”, “substance’, “nature”, or “being” of Trinitarianism.

 Luke 22:69 – “From this time on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God” (NAB). – Trinitarians claim Jesus went around proclaiming himself to be God. However, here, when he was on trial under oath, this would have been the time to admit he was God, if that was the case. But, instead, Jesus said that he and God his Father are two entirely separate individuals, not two parts of a three-in-one Trinity God. Jesus referred to himself as “the Son of Man”, his favorite self-identification. Since “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19), and Jesus was “fully human in every way” (Hebrews 2:17 NIV), he could not be God. Jesus said that, he, the Son of Man, will be at God’s right hand (Colossians 3:1), which proves that God is someone other than Jesus, and that Jesus cannot be God.

Luke 22:70 – “They all asked, ‘Are you then the Son of God?’ He replied to them, ‘You say that I am'” (NAB). – Jesus, in effect, agreed that he claimed to be God’s Son, but certainly not “God”, or “God the Son”, which is a Trinitarian term not found in the scriptures. Notice that these enemies had Jesus on trial before the Jewish high court for being “the Son of God,” not God, not ‘God the Son’, not ‘the Trinity’.

Luke 23:2 – “Claiming he is the Messiah, a king.” (NLT) – The Messiah is not God. His enemies did not accuse Jesus of claiming to be God. In fact, Jesus did not claim to be God.

Luke 23:35 – “If he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” (NLT) “God’s Messiah”, by definition, can’t be God. Notice, they didn’t accuse Jesus of claiming to be God, which is something he never did..

Luke 24:19-21 – “Jesus… was a prophet… a mighty teacher in the eyes of God… we had hoped he was the Messiah.” (NLT) – His disciples thought of Jesus as ‘a prophet and teacher in the eyes of God,’ are powerful evidences that Jesus is not God.

Luke 24:52 – “They did him homage” (NAB). – Many translations render the Greek word as “worship” rather than “homage,” but “to crouch down,” or “bow down”, is what the word Greek word here, “proskyneo”, basically means. Since Jesus said, “The true worshippers will worship the Father” (John 4:24), we can be confident that “homage” is the accurate renderng of Luke 24:52.

Is the Trinity in the book of Luke?—No!

All scriptures quoted from the NIV, unless otherwise stated.