“God replied to Moses: I am who I am. Then he added: This is what you are to tell the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you”—Exodus 3:14 NAB
“Truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am”—John 8:58 NASB. Many translations of John 8:58 capitalize “I Am” so as to convey the idea of a title. As a prominent Bible study guide says,“The ‘I am’ denotes absolute eternal existence, not simply existence prior to Abraham. It is a claim to be Yahweh of the OT” (Ryrie Study Bible note on John 8:58).`read more
In our series about what is stated concerning Jesus in the various books of the New Testament, this article examines the book of 1 Corinthians. It is claimed by many preachers and denominations that Jesus is part of a Trinity, along with God the Father and the holy Spirit. If this is so, we surely should find evidence of it in a New Testament book such as 1 Corinthians, which covers Christian beliefs. The holy Spirit is real, of course, but it is it a person? Is the Trinity doctrine in 1 Corinthians?
It is claimed by many theologians that the Trinity doctrine is THE most important doctrine of Christianity. For example:
“No doctrine is more fundamental to the Faith than the Trinity”—Dr Norman L Geisler
“The Trinity is a doctrine where error is especially deadly”—Dr John MacArthur
We believe that John MacArthur is onto something when he says, The Trinity is a doctrine where error is especially deadly”, although we disagree about exactly what that error is. Let’s examine 1 Corinthians for evidence for, or against, the Trinity.
1 Corinthians 1:1 – “An apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” – God and Jesus are presented as entirely separate and distinct individuals. Why is the holy Spirit not mentioned here?
1 Corinthians 1:2 – “To the church of God in Corinth and to those sanctified in Christ Jesus.” – Two distinct beings – God and Jesus are mentioned, but no holy Spirit, or Trinity, here. Why?
1 Corinthians 1:3 – “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” – Again, God and Jesus are presented as entirely separate and distinct individuals.. And, once again, no greetings from the holy Spirit or the Trinity are mentioned. Of course, the holy Spirit is real, even though it is not mentioned here. If God and Jesus were part of a Trinity, as is claimed, this would be a logical place to mention the holy Spirit, and/or Trinity, in these opening greetings.
1 Corinthians 1:4 – “I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” – No holy Spirit, nor any Trinity or duality, is mentioned here.
1 Corinthians 1:6 – “God thus confirming our testimony about Christ concerning you.” God and Jesus are separate and distinct. No holy spirit or Trinity is mentioned.
1 Corinthians 1:9 – “God is faithful who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Two individuals named, God and Jesus, but no Holy Spirit, or Trinity.
1 Corinthians 1:28,30 – “God chose the lowly … It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God.” – Jesus comes from God, but is not God. God does not come from Jesus.
If the holy Spirit was a person, and also if the Trinity really existed, it would seem like we should have seen mention of them in this first, or introductory, Chapter of 1 Corinthians. Why don’t we? We’ll find out why as we analyze the next chapter of the book.
1 Corinthians 2:10 – “This God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God” (NAB). In this very first mention of the holy spirit in 1 Corinthians, it is called “the Spirit,” or “his spirit” (NIV). This language is indicative of the fact that the holy spirit is not a person. Without the spirit being a person, there is no Trinity.
1 Corinthians 2:11 – “Among human beings, who knows what pertains a person except the spirit of the person that is within? Similarly, no one knows what pertains to God except the Spirit of God” (NAB). The Spirit of God is compared with the spirit of humans. The activity of this “spirit” is compared with the “spirit” of the self-consciousness of humans. The spirit of humans is to their own individual thoughts as the Spirit of God is to his own thoughts. Holy Spirit is therefore “holy intelligence,” a revelation of the actual mind of God.
1 Corinthians 2:16 –“Who has known the mind of the Lord?… But we have the mind of Christ.” – “The Lord” here is Almighty God the Father. There are distinctive differences between God and Jesus. The holy spirit is not mentioned here, not because it is not real, but because it is not a person, but is God’s “power” (Acts 1:8). The Trinity is not mentioned because it is not real.
1 Corinthians 3:23 – “You are of Christ and Christ is of God.” – Christ comes from God the Father. He said, “I came from God” (John 8:42 NAB). He is “the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15 ESV; NASB; NAB; KJV). Jesus had a beginning to his life, so he has not been eternal, which means he is not God.
1 Corinthians 4:1 – “As servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.” – Two separate, distinct individuals are mentioned, “Christ,” and “God.” Notice, however, that it is God who has revealed the “mysteries”, not Christ. God here is “the Father”, who Jesus said “is greater than” he is.
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– “called the Son of the Most High, the Lord God will give him the throne of David” – The greater gives to the lesser. He will be called, not God, but “the Son of the Most High” who is “the Lord 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).
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. 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, it 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 – “=&0=&God uses the holy Spirit to accomplish his work, but it is not a person. 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 grew in favor with God” – This means that God is someone other than Jesus.
Luke 3:6– “all people will see the salvation sent from God” – sent from, but not, God
Luke 4:16-21– “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me” – (God’s Spirit on Jesus) – “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.” Without the holy Spirit being God, there is no Trinity in Luke.
Luke 4:34– “you’re the Holy One of God” – but not God, not “God the Son”.
Luke 4:41 – “you are the Son of God” – but not God, not “God the Son”.
Luke 4:43 – “that’s why I was sent” – Who sent him? from God. The greater sends the lesser.
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 him 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” (NLT2013). 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, but to God.
Luke 6:22– ” . . . denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of the Man” (NAB). Jesus said his disciples follow the Son of Man. “The Son of Man” cannot be God. Why? – Because “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19).
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.
.jpg)