Many people wonder, “Who Is God?” He is often thought of as a spirit being and independent of the material creation, while pantheism holds that he is the universe itself. Many believe “thereare many such gods” (1 Corinthians 8:5 REB).
This article does not claim to be all-inclusive, but these are some of the primary things we are told in the scriptures about the Almighty, such as who and what he is, but also about what he is not.
“He, Shaddai (Almighty), is far beyond our reach. Supreme in power, in equity, excelling in saving justice, yet no oppressor”—Job 37:23 NJBread more
Is Jesus Christ equal to God? Based on the following scripture, and what they have heard, or been told, many people think so.
“For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God” (John 5:19 NRSV).
If we look at this scripture closely, and think about it logically, there are three serious problems with the claim that Jesus made himself equal with God, and so he must be God..read more
Are God, Jesus, and the holy Spirit a Trinity? – 2 Corinthians
The New Testament book of 2 Corinthians was written about 25 years after Jesus’ death and the start of Christianity. Is the Trinity doctrine in 2 Corinthians?
“The Trinity is one of the most important teachings of the Christian faith. It defines God’s very essence and describes how he relates to us”—The Forgotten Trinity, back cover
Since Second Corinthians was written about twenty-fives after the start of Christianity, we would expect to see at least some evidence of such an important doctrine as the Trinity in the letter’s 13 chapters, if it is a true Christian doctrine. Let’s examine scriptures from this book which tell us something about God, Jesus, and the holy Spirit.read more
The Bible’s final book, Revelation, predicts the future for the Church and humankind. The Trinity doctrine is said to be the main doctrine of Christianity, so we would expect to find the Trinity in Revelation, if the doctrine is true. The very first verse of the Book of Revelation gives us a clue as to the answer to the question of whether the Trinity doctrine is in Revelation:
“The revelation from Jesus Christ, WHICH GOD GAVE HIM to show his servants what must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1 NIV). [Emphasis ours]. Trinitarians claim that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is “fully God”. How can that be, since, first of all, in this verse, we see that “God” is someone other than “Jesus Christ”. Next we notice that “God gave him” “the revelation”. If Jesus was Almighty God, as Trinitarians claim, he would not have to be “given” anything, much less the Revelation by God–he would already have it–and know it! The Trinity doctrine not only is not in the scriptures, it contradicts the scriptures, and it makes no sense! “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33 KJV).read more
Is the Trinity Doctrine Taught in 1 Peter, or Contradicted?
The book of 1 Peter opens up with a statement that has been that has been used to support the Trinity doctrine. The question for us to consider is, “Do we find the Trinity in 1 Peter?”
Written some 30 years or so after Jesus’ death and the start of Christianity, 1 Peter is rich in doctrine. This is why we should find some evidence of the Trinity in 1 Peter, if the doctrine is true.Trinitarians point to the naming of the three who are said to be in the Trinity as proof of its existence. For example:
“Who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood” (1 Peter 1:2 NIV). “God the Father”, “the Spirit”, and “Jesus Christ” are each mentioned, and they do all three exist. But Trinitarians simply count 1, 2, 3, and say, “Aha! There’s the Trinity!”, thus imaging the doctrine right into the text. However, the mere mention of three does not tell us anything about their supposed “equality”, “Godship”, “Almightiness”, “eternity”, nor of the supposed”personhood” of the Spirit, nor of their supposed “oneness” of “substance”, “being”, or “essence”. In fact, only one of the three is identified as God (the Father), which is something else that Trinitarians blindly overlook. Nothing! Rather, “God the Father” is shown to be in control with his “foreknowledge”. In fact, only “the Father” is said to have such “foreknowledge”, meaning that he knows things that “Jesus Christ” doesn’t know, as also proven with other scriptures (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32; Acts 1:7), which is a very clear indication of the Father’s superiority over Jesus (John 14:28; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28; Philippians 2:12), and their separateness and distinction (John 8:17,18). The holy Spirit is here, as always, described by “the”, indicating that it is not a person, and therefore it cannot know anything. Being “sprinkled with” “Jesus” Christ’s “blood” indicates that he “”died” (1 Corinthians 15:3), which also means that Christ cannot be Almighty God, since “God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB).
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . he has given us new birth . . . through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3NIV)read more
Can God the Father of the Bible be the only Almighty?
“The Father is Almighty, the Son is Almighty, and the Holy Spirit Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet there are not three Gods, but one God”—The Athanasian Creed
Trinitarians assert, in probably their main creed, above, that ‘God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,’ all rolled into one Almighty God, but three entities at the same time. Of course, this makes no sense, but let’s see what the Bible says:
“We know that, ‘An idol is nothing at all in the world’ and that ‘There is no God but one’. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’), yet for us there is one God, the Father . . . and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ”—-1 Corinthians 8:4-6 NIV.read more
Are God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit a Trinity in 2 Thessalonians?
In the Bible book of 2 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul speaks of God, Jesus Christ, and the holy Spirit. If Paul and/or the early Christians believed Jesus is God or part of a Trinity, we should be able to find evidence of this in the New Testament letters. But is this the case in 2 Thessalonians? Is the Trinity in 2 Thessalonians? Let’s examine some of the pertinent verses to find out.
Paul speaks of both God, Jesus, and the holy Spirit in 2 Thessalonians. But does he believe God is a Trinity?
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Is the Trinity in Philippians? Is Jesus Christ Almighty God?
This article is part of our series about what is stated concerning God, Jesus and the holy Spirit, and whether they together comprise a Trinity, in the various books of the New Testament. We will examine the four chapter book of Philippians. Notice the distinctive relationship between God and Jesus throughout this book of Philippians, especially the superior role of God compared to Jesus. What does it say about the holy Spirit? Is the Trinity in Philippians?
Is the Trinity found in Philippians? The superior role of God compared to Jesus is evident from the Bible book of Philippians
“To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi.” (Philippians 1:1) Notice they are God’s, not Christ’s, holy people. God is always the one in control, and is using Christ to gather his people, which shows his superiority over Christ, and eliminates the equality aspect of the Trinity doctrine (John 14:28).
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ . . . God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:2,8) God and Jesus are presented as separate and distinct, not of the same “being”, “substance”, or “essence”. The holy Spirit, since it is not a person, does not give greetings. Neither does the Trinity, since it doesn’t exist.
“Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:11) Fruitage from God flows through Jesus and brings glory and praise to God. God is presented is someone other than Jesus, and superior to Jesus (John 14:28), which doesn’t support the Trinity doctrine.
“Participation in the Spirit” (Philippians 2:1 ESV). Since some versions render this as “fellowship of the Spirit”, Trinitarians have claimed this means the holy Spirit is a person. However, the rendering “participation in the Spirit” is more accurate. We can’t participate in a person. But we can “have a share in his Spirit” (1 John 4:13 NJB). All this gives evidence that the holy Spirit isn’t a person. Without the holy Spirit being a person, the Trinity doctrine collapses.
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” (Philippians 2:6 LSB; NASB).
“Who, although he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness, and found human in appearance”—Philippians 2:6,7 NAB
“What the man Jesus refused to grasp at to attain divinity . . . Jesus, though . . . in the form of God (Gn 1:26-27) did not reach out for equality with God, in contrast with the first Adam in Gn 3:5-6”—NAB note
“Ureil ben-Mordechai[1] points out that the Greek negative in this verse (ouk) is not attached to the verb (hegesato) but rather to the noun harpagmon. That means the reading of this verse should be “counted not something to be grasped,” instead of “not counted something to be grasped.” Let me make the difference clearer. The standard Christian translation of this Greek phrase suggests that Yeshua did not consider equality something to be grasped. But the actual Greek text reads, “counted equality not something that could be grasped.” In other words, if the negative particle ouk is tied to the noun rather than the verb, the implication is the Yeshua saw equality with God as something unattainable. Do you realize what this means? It means that this verse does not say that Yeshua gave up equality with God voluntarily because it did not serve the purposes of the Messiah. It says that Yeshua never aspired to be equal with God because equality with God is not possible.”—Skip Moen, Phd
Since many translations render Philippians 2:6 with Trinitarian bias, let’s look at some other accurate translations of Philippians 2:6:
“He was in the form of God, yet he laid no claim to equality with God, but made himself nothing, assuming the form of a slave. Bearing the human likeness”—Philippians 2:6,7 REB
“who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped”—ESV
“Who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped”—NJB
“Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped”—BSB; BLB
“who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped”—LSB
“who, being in the form of God, counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God”—ERV
“In God’s own form existed he, and shared with God equality, deemed nothing needed grasping.”—LSV
“Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped”—MSB
“who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped”—NET
“who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped”—NHB
“who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped”—WEB
“who, being in the form of God, thought [it] not something to be seized to be equal to God”—LSV
“who, though he was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be seized”—CPDV
Being,”in the form of God”, means that Jesus is not God! Someone who already has something does not have to ‘grasp’ for it. Jesus would not even think about trying to be equal to God. Christians are to have the same attitude of humility. Obviously, Jesus is separate from, and inferior to, God. Philippians 2:5,6 flatly debunks the equality aspect of the Trinity doctrine.
“He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted him.” (Philippians 2:8,9 NASB) God is clearly shown to be someone other than Christ. Jesus’ obedience bespeaks of his submission to his Father. His death means he is not God, and not eternal, since he was not in existence while he “was dead” (Revelation 1:18). The scriptures make clear that “Yahweh . . . God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB). God, the superior one, highly exalted Jesus, not the other way around. Thus, three Trinitarian pillars of Jesus being God, eternal, and equal are eliminated by these scriptures.
Philippians 2:10,11a – “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and every tongue should acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord” (NIV). Trinitarians often stop their quote of the scripture at this point, and use this to “prove” that Jesus is God. Here is a typical example of a Trinitarian claim:
“God the Father stated, “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear” (Isaiah 45:23). The same exact description is also applied to Jesus (Philippians 2:10-11). This means that both the Father and the Son are Yahweh.”read more
Is The Trinity In Ephesians? Is Jesus Christ Almighty God?
This article is one of a series about what is stated concerning Jesus in the various books of the New Testament, the book of Ephesians. Almighty God and the holy Spirit are also discussed to see if there is any evidence of a Trinity doctrine in this Biblical letter, which is all about doctrine. A key component of the Trinity doctrine is that the holy Spirit is a person. In this article, we’ll see whether the Trinity is in Ephesians.
The Book of Ephesians provides some clues as to whether or not Jesus Christ is Almighty God
Does the Trinity matter? It matters because the Bible says:
“There is no wisdom, there is no discernment And there is no counsel against Yahweh”—Proverbs 21:30 LSB
Does this picture make sense? It is confusing and contradictory!
“Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” (John 17:3)
The Bible says our eternal life depends on knowing the only true God the Father, and His Son, whom he sent, Jesus Christ. “Knowing” would have to include knowing who they are.
The Athanasian Creed, which many denominations accept, says a person’s eternal life depends on acceptance of certain statements of belief about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit (Ghost).
“Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled; without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.”
“So that in all things, as aforesaid; the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, let him thus think of the Trinity.”
“Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation; that he also believe faithfully the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess; that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the Substance [Essence] of the Father; begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the Substance [Essence] of his Mother, born in the world. Perfect God; and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.”
“And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire. This is the catholic faith; which except a man believe truly and firmly, he cannot be saved.”—Book of Common Prayer translation. See Schaff (1877b, pp. 66–71)read more
The Bible’s final book, Revelation, predicts the future for the Church and humankind. The Trinity doctrine is said to be the main doctrine of Christianity, so we would expect to find the Trinity in Revelation, if the doctrine is true. The very first verse of the Book of Revelation gives us a clue as to the answer to the question of whether the Trinity doctrine is in Revelation:
